Violent protests rocked Santiago de Chile on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the US-backed military coup that overthrew the democratically elected self-proclaimed Marxist Salvador Allende and brought fascist Augusto Pinochet to power. Protesters confronted Carabineros with Molotov cocktails, rocks, and anything else they could get their hands on.
Self-proclaimed leftist President Gabriel Boric, heavily criticized by leftists in Chile, initially joined the protests but distanced himself from the event when clashes broke out. Later, he went online saying, "I categorically condemn these events" and threatening that the protesters involved "must face the rule of law." Police forces arrested three people, according to their reports.
Clashes also broke out between Chile's notorious anti-riot police, called Carabineros, and protesters at Allende's grave, shelled with tear gas. The anniversary of the coup is accompanied by an annual day of struggle called Romería, which demands justice for the victims of the Pinochet era.
During Pinochet's 17-year rule, at least 40,000 people, mainly communists and their allies, were killed, imprisoned, tortured, or disappeared. Pinochet had close ties to the CIA and the White House and turned the country into a laboratory for neoliberalism.
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