Deep divide over Pinochet coup pushes Chile’s polarisation to extremes

Sitting at the counter in his daughter’s grocery shop in downtown Santiago, Hugo Toro recalled his relief when, in 1973, Chile’s military overthrew the democratically elected government of socialist president Salvador Allende, installing rightwing dictator Augusto Pinochet.

“Many people wanted [the coup] to happen,” said Toro, who remembers standing in long lines for food as shops ran low amid economic havoc triggered by Allende’s policies. “People were shouting ‘coward’ at soldiers in the street because they weren’t stepping in.”