On September 11, the memoirs recount a stark statement: some believed Pinochet should be jailed. The morning after, memories return with sharper edge. Was the head of the army truly aligned with the people, or was the position simply a bitter concession to force? The question would surface again in the minutes to come.
Pinochet assumed command of the Army on August 23, 1973, following advice from General Carlos Prats. Prats, who had relied on Pinochet’s competence, wrote a letter of praise when the change occurred, expressing sincere friendship and recognizing the delicate circumstances facing them. The letter remained private, part of Prats’s papers. Yet Prats soon found himself sidelined, a casualty of shifting politics. The year 1972 had already placed the Popular League in a precarious position, and the power dynamics within the armed forces were about to harden.
Pinochet later distanced himself from Marxist-Leninist doctrine, explaining that his views had grown from early interactions with communist representatives in Pisagua in 1948. In a decisive work published in 1980, he presented a personal account of those days, a self‑justifying narrative that asserted his central role in the events that followed. With the dictatorship firmly established, no rival challenged his primacy at that time.
From the early moments, Pinochet expressed concern about the left’s electoral gains, noting that social and political coherence in Chile had begun to unravel amid hardship. The response, as he portrayed it, was a firm resolve to act and to curb what he saw as tyranny. He asserted that secrecy was essential even as plans took shape, demanding unwavering loyalty from the generals and sealing commitments to confidential actions behind a ceremonial sword replica. What would be said from that moment onward was meant to remain strictly hidden.
The coup planning initially targeted September 14 but moved three days earlier. Pinochet reportedly did not sleep well the night before the shift. At 5:30 on Tuesday the 11th, a coded radiogram was sent from Army headquarters to all garrisons, ordering the occupation of mayoralties and provincial authorities without delay, signaling a coordinated seizure of power.
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Pinochet emerged as a central figure in the overthrow, driven by a blend of revenge and strategic intent. Yet the precise moment of his personal conversion, and the role he played with respect to others in the conspiracy, remains a matter of interpretation. Some sources suggest that doubts about loyalty to the regime cast a shadow on the narrative surrounding his actions. The conspirators moved forward as plans matured, with the rebellion evolving over years of preparation.
The book Complo, authored by a National Journalism Award recipient, became a significant counter-narrative about the lead-up to the coup. Drawing on diaries from General Sergio Arellano Stark, the text chronicles the northward caravan of death and the exchange of trusted assurances. Arellano is quoted describing uneasy certainty about confronting a large portion of the armed forces, and his decision to inform Pinochet at the last moment demonstrating a measured approach to acting as an institution rather than risking broader collapse.
González’s account emphasizes that the decisive day was a bold rewrite of history written without modern devices to span the globe instantly. Early in the attack, Pinochet’s demeanor suggested tension but remained focused. Arellano’s nocturnal search for Pinochet underscores the uncertainty among senior officers from the Navy, Air Force, and ground forces. That night, Pinochet spoke little and appeared anxious, his allegiance not immediately clear to the field leaders.
Added at the last moment
The future dictator’s involvement in bypassing resistance to the government quickly took shape. He sent his wife and children to a distant school in case events escalated, and some claims about a formal oath on the eve of the attack are treated with skepticism. Senior officials did not corroborate a sworn-in ceremony on the eve of the operation.
The decisive day saw Pinochet positioned at the Army Telecommunications Regiment in Peñalolén, just outside Santiago. Critics describe his stance as extreme in response to mounting opposition, emphasizing that the use of force can corrupt even the strongest convictions. An official from the Armed Forces Operations Command attributed the actions to a need to defend institutionally guided decisions, while stressing that human rights concerns must remain at the forefront of public memory.