Thousands of Chileans were beaten and sprayed with high-pressure water guns while marching to pay tribute to the victims of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship. This September 11th, it will have been 51 years since the fascist coup against the Popular Unity Government, fully supported by the United States.
The traditional march, held annually to commemorate those murdered by the dictatorship, left at 10 a.m. from the Plaza de los Héroes, on La Alameda Avenue, passed by the Palacio de La Moneda, the seat of the presidency, and traveled several kilometers to the General Cemetery.
The demonstration was led by groups of relatives of detainees, disappeared and executed politicians of the dictatorship.
For the second consecutive year, the government has ordered the repression of leftist and independent organizations of this government, just as the march to the General Cemetery began 51 years after the military coup. #Boric #repression #carabineros #11deSeptiembre #palestina pic.twitter.com/x6QB3qmC36
— La Izquierda Diario Chile (@LID_Chile) September 8, 2024
The Revolutionary Workers Party (PTR) said:
We march to commemorate the workers who organized and confronted the right and the business community through the birth of the Industrial Belts, which on this date celebrate 52 years since their formation in the midst of the Popular Unity Government, arising as a response to the employers’ strike of 1972.
NOW | Carabineros cut the march and pilgrimage to the General Cemetery in two, putting the safety of the attendees at risk, who had to enter amid tear gas, a rain of stones and water thrown by COP pic.twitter.com/HEWSR2NJ3Z
— PIENSAPRENSA 351 thousand Followers (@PiensaPrensa) September 8, 2024
Several people and media outlets have denounced through social networks the repression of the Government of Gabriel Boric against the people, who were walking peacefully.
According to the protesters, the water cannons and the police arrived at the place throwing tear gas, leaving one injured so far.
On the other hand, the workers of culture and memory denounced through the National Network of Memory Sites the closure of several places throughout the country, due to the lack of funding and interest of the Government.
In this sense, the London 38 Memory Center expressed that “after 50 years of the Coup, the State seems to have forgotten memory again. Today there are two memory sites (Cultural Center and Museum and Memory Neltume and José Domingo Cañas Memory House) that have had to close and another eleven sites that are in danger of seeing their activities suspended due to not having security of financing, not even in the basic amounts committed in 2023.”
He also blamed the Chilean government for not guaranteeing resources:
The government has not understood the importance of the sites in the obligations of the State in terms of human rights and, in particular, in guarantees of non-repetition.
According to official data, during the 17 years of Augusto Pinochet’s military regime, 1,469 people were detained, disappeared or executed without their bodies being handed over; at present, the whereabouts of 1,100 people are still unknown.