Wednesday marked the 46th anniversary of the coup that in 1973 brought General Augusto Pinochet to power. His 1973-1990 dictatorship saw 40,000 people disappeared, killed, imprisoned or tortured.
ADVERTISEMENTWednesday (September 11) marked the 46th anniversary of the Chilean coup that in 1973 put General Augusto Pinochet in power.
During Pinochet's 1973-1990 dictatorship, 40,000 people disappeared or were killed, imprisoned or tortured.
Supporters of overthrown president Salvador Allende, who committed suicide to escape capture by the rebel militia, placed red carnations at the door of La Moneda, the presidential palace, through which Allende's body was carried.
The memory of the September 11 coup continues to divide Chileans and remains a political flashpoint. President Sebastián Piñera was criticised this year for not holding an event marking the coup at La Moneda.
While Pinochet's followers almost never organise public events in his memory, this year a group called for a march in a well-to-do area of the Chilean capital.
One Pinochet supporter said: "This country is what it is today thanks to the work of General Pinochet, thanks to the work of four uniformed men, who decided to end the Marxist tyranny."
Another added: "Chile is today a colony of the UN and we need another independence and get up again as we did in 73 with the people in the street asking for the intervention of the army."
Pinochet died in 2006 under house arrest, without being tried on charges of illegal enrichment and human rights violations.