I only post these articles after it was acknowledged in a tutorial yesterday that it was the 11th of September, 2013 - 40 years since the establishment of General Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship. In 1970 Salvador Allende was democratically elected as president of Chile, governing through a somewhat muddled coalition of parties. His rule was regarded as "the only time in Chilean history when the working class and the poor gained a genuine stake in running the country and the economy". Allende campaigned on a socialist platform which was at odds with nationalist/conservative political factions within Chile at the time, and the interests of the United States. In 1973 Pinochet, backed by the Nixon administration and the CIA, staged a military coup against democratically elected Allende, ending 40 years of democracy in Chile. The coup, and the following 17 years of Pinochet's regime were characterised by the heavy suppression of dissent, and it is estimated 2000-3000 people were killed, 80,000 imprisoned and 30,000 tortured. These two articles from The Guardian, give an insight to the tragedy that occurred in Chile when Allende was deposed.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/07/chile-coup-pinochet-allende
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/11/chile-coup-anniversary-victor-jara-murder