Chileans march to remember Pinochet victims

Human rights activists celebrate Augusto Pinochet's death in Santiago 11 December 2006. The former strongman died in 2006 at age 91, having evaded years of efforts to bring him to trial for thousands of cases of murder and torture arising from his 1973-1990 regime. Chile's government has denied him a state funeral. EITAN ABRAMOVICH/AFP/Getty Images)

Tweet

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

SANTIAGO - Thousands of Chileans took to the streets Sunday in a march to remember those abducted and killed in the coup that brought Augusto Pinochet to power, almost 39 years after the turmoil.

Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd after some marchers threw rocks at government buildings and destroyed some traffic lights.

Many demonstrators waved Chilean and Communist Party flags, or carried family photos of beloved kin who went missing and were killed in the Cold War-era bloodshed.

Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, came to power in a military coup that toppled elected socialist president Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973.

His dictatorship caused the death or disappearance of more than 3,200 people, and another 37,000 people were imprisoned and tortured during the general's 17-year rule, according to human rights organizations.

Pinochet died in 2006 without ever having been convicted of crimes committed during his regime.

Follow @interaksyon