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Clashes as Chile mourns US-led coup victims

Monday, 12 September 2016 4:31 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 12 September 2016 5:33 AM ]

Demonstrators clash with police during a march in Santiago on Sept. 11, 2016 commemorating the 43rd anniversary of the US-backed military coup. (AFP Photo)

Masked men have clashed with police during a march commemorating the 43rd anniversary of the US-backed military coup in Chile which put long-time dictator Augusto Pinochet in power.

The activists threw stones, bricks and bottles at police on Sunday in the capital, Santiago, while thousands of people marched through the streets to pay tribute to those killed under Pinochet's dictatorship.

Pinochet's dictatorship began on September 11, 1973 with the US-supported coup that overthrew the democratically-elected government of President Salvador Allende, killing Allende in the process.

During Pinochet’s dictatorship, the nation suffered systematic violations of human rights, seeing at least 28,259 victims of political imprisonment and torture; 2,298 people executed and 1,209 disappeared persons.

People put flowers on the tombs of people killed in the US-designed military coup, during the commemoration of the 43rd anniversary of the military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet in Santiago on September 11, 2016. (AFP Photo)

Pinochet, who was backed by the West during and after his reign, was facing numerous charges when he died in late 2006 at the age of 91.

The charges against him included many instances of human rights violations, tax evasion and embezzlement. He had corruptly amassed at least $28 million.

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