Salvador Allende

The socialist president who came to power through elections and died in the 1973 coup.

Life

Physician

Allende was a physician by training and one of the founders of the Socialist Party of Chile, running for president several times. In 1970 he was elected President as the candidate of the Popular Unity coalition.

Popular Unity

He nationalized the copper mines, accelerated land reform and expanded social welfare; but the economy suffered severe inflation and shortages, and social polarization deepened. The US government applied economic pressure on Chile, and the CIA funded the opposition.

September 11

On September 11, 1973, the military staged a coup and bombed the presidential palace; after delivering his final radio address, he died inside the palace.

Legacy

Allende was the first Marxist president to come to power through democratic elections, and his fate remains a landmark event in the political history of Latin America.

Did you know? His last radio address said: "I have faith in Chile and its destiny... one day the great avenues will open again."

Key dates

• 1933Co-founds the Socialist Party
• 1970Elected President
• 1971Nationalizes copper mines
• 1973Dies in the coup