On September 11, 1973, the armed forces overthrew the government. They bombarded the Government Palace and the president died in a controversial way. The military suppressed 40% of the media, the Congress, the Constitution (valid since 1931), and established a stage of siege.

First thing they did was to censor the press and arrest and imprison 40,000 “political enemies” in the National Stadium of Chile. The number of people they tortured was more, and I was one of them. I saw corpses thrown from helicopters in front of the bay of Antofagasta with my own eyes. I’m not sure if we will never know how many people were killed and how many “disappeared” during this military coup.

An unknown military officer replaced the President of the University in which I was teaching at that time. Twice after the coup armed police and military personnel armed with machine guns and rifles with bayonets searched my house. They mistreated me physically and they burned all my books that had a red cover. Including Little Red Ridding Hood, mysteries by Agatha Christie, William Faulkner and The Revolution of the Atom.

During this “visit” my housemate was taken to a bedroom by the officer that was in charge of the team. Soon after I heard a gun shot. One of the policemen who were guarding me saw my expression and, looking at me compassionately, he shook his head, while checking if any of the other armed guys were looking. I knew she was okay.

I was erroneously accused of knowing martial arts and hiding arms in my house. The only thing they found were the records of my students that I had put in my car (smelling like fish) to protect them. Later I learned that one of my neighbors had told the police that I had brought several boxes to my house full of guns. Everybody was informing against others, to the armed militia, hoping not to be arrested or harmed themselves–even close friends.

One day several policeman came to my office at the university and arrested me. They blindfolded me and made me enter in a vehicle. When we arrived at a Police Station, they took the blindfold off, and they confiscated my ID papers and the laces of my shoes. I was then taken to a tiny room where I could listen to shouts of men and women down the hall.

When my turn came, I was again blindfolded and taken through what felt like a patio with grass to another room and seated on a chair that had metal restraints that were placed around my wrists and my head and my ankles. My imagination told me that it was an electric chair, but there was really no way to tell. Then a guy with a strong voice and very uneducated Spanish started asking me questions full of sexual innuendos and degrading remarks about me teaching at a university and being an unmarried woman. He also asked me about my cousin who was the Navy Attaché to the president and had been killed before the coup. I had not seen my cousin for a time and I could not answer any of the questions concerning my cousin assassins either so they tied even more the metal gadgets around me. But I could not answer what I did not know. Finally, I was released. I left the room while hearing the cursing of my interrogator.

Later, I had to go stand in a long line to be able to get my ID papers again because they did not return them to me after the first arrest, nor the second.

By that time, at least 4 students and a secretary at the university had been killed. I was asked to recognize some students at the morgue. When classes were renewed, I found that two detectives were attending my Public Relations classes.

The second time I got arrested they put me in a small room full of women. Whispering we identified each other. Most were professors at different universities. We told each other how we had been arrested and what we were doing when it happened. This time I was again at my office. My secretary was trying to get rid of the big picture of Che Guevara he had proudly hung when he became my secretary. Two guys in uniform, one police and the other army, came with bayonets and guns, asking for me. I said I was the one they were looking for, and they said to follow them to an old jeep that was parked right in front of my office on top of the carefully manicured garden my friends in maintenance had planted for me. Again, they confiscated my purse, the shoe laces, and a scarf I was wearing.

I expected to be interrogated again, but after about 3 hours, a policeman came and called one of the women out. She was taken away. We heard her shouting. Then after about another hour, another women was taken away. Shortly after that I was called and they took me to a desk. They gave me my scarf and purse back, but not the shoe strings, and was told I could go. To return to the university that was quite some distance away was a challenging odyssey because buses were not running and nobody will lend me a phone to call someone to pick me up. Finally, after walking for more than 45 minutes, I got brave and stopped a car and told the driver that I needed a ride. It turned out to be a lawyer who knew some people at the university and she took me there. She also offered the name of one of her lawyer friends who could help if needed.

After the violent Coup d’Etat, a junta consisting of three generals and an admiral, led by General Augusto Pinochet as president, was established. Initially, the junta garnered support from the oligarchy and a significant portion of the middle class. The Junta was backed by moderate political factions, including numerous Christian Democrats. However, I think it was because they perceived the dictatorship as a necessary transitional phase to restore the status quo that existed prior to 1970. Their erroneous perception promptly disappeared. The Dictatorship lasted until 1990!

A national referendum was conducted on October 5, 1988, to determine whether the Junta, led by Pinochet, should remain in power for an additional eight years. The “NO” vote prevailed with nearly 56%, thereby concluding the Junta’s 16-year rule.

Presidential and parliamentary elections were held as planned on December 14, 1989, resulting in the victory of Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin, who assumed office the following March.

The Chilean dictatorship of Pinochet was the first in world history to conclude through a vote.