Officials in Chile exhumed Salvador Allende’s body in an attempt to discover the truth about his death. If it is found out that Allende was murdered the impact of such a revelation would be tremendous, it would change the political and social landscape of Chile. For people who have studied the coup and the mystery surrounding the events of September 11 1973 such news would not be a surprise. Chile is still a nation coming to grips with the coup and the military dictatorship that followed, the wounds are not healed and the revelation that Allende was murdered would bring up more issues and perhaps more divisions. For many countries in Latin America that underwent military coups and dictatorships it has been a struggle to reconcile with the past. In nations like Argentina, Uruguay, and El Salvador the military personnel have been given amnesty from being persecuted for human rights violations seemingly in an attempt to appease these powerful institutions. In Chile the process has been difficult to persecute military and government officials because of laws that Pinochet put in place on top of making himself a “senator for life.”
There is no question that if it comes to light with certainty that Allende was indeed
murdered the problem remains as to what would happen next? Would there be a thorough
non-partisan investigation just to find out the facts or would there be a formal criminal
investigation where the purpose would be to find the guilty party and bring them to
justice. With the last option it would open out a huge set of problems because there
would be many people involved not just the person who fired the gun. Finally, would the
Chilean people actually want this? Do they want to continue to relive the pain; do they
want to know the truth, even if it may change they perspective.
Chile has been going through a process of reconciliation and remembrance as a way to
deal with the Pinochet era. By looking at Chile and other cases in Latin America we come to see how socieities deal with the past especially in the era of human rights. Hopefully the investigation into Allende's death can provide some answers but we will see how Chileans respond.
There is no question that if it comes to light with certainty that Allende was indeed
murdered the problem remains as to what would happen next? Would there be a thorough
non-partisan investigation just to find out the facts or would there be a formal criminal
investigation where the purpose would be to find the guilty party and bring them to
justice. With the last option it would open out a huge set of problems because there
would be many people involved not just the person who fired the gun. Finally, would the
Chilean people actually want this? Do they want to continue to relive the pain; do they
want to know the truth, even if it may change they perspective.
Chile has been going through a process of reconciliation and remembrance as a way to
deal with the Pinochet era. By looking at Chile and other cases in Latin America we come to see how socieities deal with the past especially in the era of human rights. Hopefully the investigation into Allende's death can provide some answers but we will see how Chileans respond.
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