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Thousands marched through the streets of Santiago on Sunday in a coup memorial march as organizations marked the 53rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 1973, coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende and brought Gen. Augusto Pinochet to power.
The annual demonstration, organized by political and human rights groups, honored the more than 3,200 people killed and around 40,000 victims of human rights violations under Pinochet’s 1973-1990 dictatorship.
Attendees gathered at memorials in the General Cemetery to honor victims of the military dictatorship, highlighting the ongoing search for more than 1,500 Chileans whose whereabouts remain unknown.
Police detained 24 people after clashes broke out when masked protesters erected barricades and hurled Molotov cocktails, stones and fireworks at officers, who responded with water cannons and tear gas.
The march toward the General Cemetery featured strong denunciations of policies under President Jose Antonio Kast, particularly cuts to public funding for memory and human rights institutions.
The demonstration continues a long-standing tradition of remembering victims of the civil-military dictatorship. In 2026, though, organizers say the event carried added urgency, as activists warned recent budget reductions threaten the operation of sites dedicated to historical preservation and reparation.
Human rights groups, unions, student organizations and the National Human Rights Table took part in the mobilization, stressing the need to protect memory spaces and ensure accountability for past and present violations.
The march served both as an act of remembrance and a call to strengthen mechanisms for truth, justice and reparation.
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