September 11: Chile Still Owes Its Victims

Amid the cold and drizzle, thousands of Chileans marched this Sunday to mark the 52nd anniversary of the coup d’état that, with U.S. support, overthrew the legitimate government of Salvador Allende and unleashed one of Latin America’s bloodiest dictatorships.

The military coup that ousted President Salvador Allende in Chile is 52 years old.

The crowd walked along La Alameda, passed La Moneda Palace, and reached the General Cemetery, where acts were held in tribute to the victims of repression. Young people, adults, and the elderly walked side by side, united by the same demand: memory, truth, justice, and reparation.

The wound that won’t heal

More than five decades have passed, yet the State’s debt to the victims of dictatorship remains unpaid. Exonerated workers, torture survivors, former political prisoners, and families of the disappeared are still forced to survive on miserable pensions, barely 50% of the minimum wage. A mockery of their suffering, a national disgrace.

To this injustice we must add the omission of both the right and the left, which in every campaign promise truth and justice, but once in power forget their commitments and focus on improving their own economic status. Meanwhile, hundreds of boxes containing unidentified human remains remain stored at the Medical Examiner’s Office, an insult to families who have been waiting more than half a century for answers.

Voices of memory

“We are remembering the victims of State terrorism, of the civic-military dictatorship. We say ‘civic’ because civilians were the instigators of the coup and today they enjoy total impunity,” declared Alicia Lira, president of the Association of Relatives of Executed Political Prisoners (AFEP).

We will continue to fight for memory, truth and justice for the victims and for a more just and equal society.

Lira denounced the denialism of right-wing candidates such as Evelyn Matthei, who justified the coup as “necessary” and described the deaths as “inevitable.” She also condemned the bill seeking to release perpetrators of crimes against humanity imprisoned in Punta Peuco.

“We will continue fighting for memory, truth, and justice for the victims, and for a more just and equal society,” she affirmed.

The president of ANEF, José Pérez Debelli, also joined the march: “We have a moral obligation to stand with human rights organizations. Our commitment is against the denialist currents the right seeks to impose.”

Meanwhile, Communist Party lawmaker Boris Barrera warned that the fascist threat is once again “just around the corner,” and called to redouble efforts so that Chile never again repeats its darkest history.

Between memory and impunity

The day unfolded mostly peacefully, although small groups carried out violent incidents near the cemetery, leading to 17 arrests. Inside, however, a moving political and cultural act honored the victims.

What must no longer be a hollow ritual is the State’s indifference toward reparation. Every September 11, speeches are repeated, yet the survivors of repression remain condemned to live on shameful pensions, without full truth or justice.

Chile must wake up. This is not just about historical memory: it is about a present marked by impunity, abandonment, and political negligence. Because while criminals die in luxury prisons and their accomplices in politics still enjoy privileges, the victims of State terrorism survive on scraps — and the remains of hundreds of Chileans remain piled up in anonymous boxes, awaiting justice that never arrives.