– My parents worked as teachers before the coup. They wanted to help with President Allende’s project, Salinas told news. Then a military junta led by General Augusto Pinochet took power. It was the start of what many call the darkest time in Chile’s history. – Resistance to the dictatorship was not allowed, so my parents and friends went underground, says Salinas. Deborah Salinas lived in Argentina as a child, and grew up in the generation after the coup. Photo: Johan Moen / news Today she is a nurse and university lecturer at Oslo Met University. Over 3,200 people were kidnapped or killed and 38,000 people were tortured during the Pinochet rule, writes Deutsche Welle. Over 200,000 ended up in exile after the democratically elected president was overthrown. The dictatorship lasted until 1990. Then it came to light that the American CIA was involved in the coup. It showed documents that were originally top secret, but which have now been downgraded. “Never again” is what it says on the notes during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the coup. Here the train passes the presidential palace La Moneda where the then president Salvador Allende took his own life instead of giving up power to the coup masters. Photo: PABLO VERA / AFP Took power President Salvador Allende won the democratic election in 1970. During the coup in 1973, he sought refuge in the presidential palace, which was bombed. – I will not be leaving. I will pay with my life for the people’s loyalty, he said in a radio speech. This is how it went, and Allende took his own life rather than surrender to the military coup masters. The late president Salvador Allende is being drilled out of the presidential palace. Photo: AP It was the end of a three-year conflict with the United States, which saw the Chilean president as a communist in league with the Soviet Union and Cuba. The military junta led by Pinochet took over and removed social support schemes. They introduced extensive market reforms and began selling off state-owned enterprises. Mourners place red carnations at the monument to the imprisoned and the disappeared in the capital, Santiago. Photo: PABLO VERA / AFP Leading up to the coup, the country was in economic crisis, with annual inflation of over 600 percent. Liberalization meant that they could buy what they needed with money, but more and more people ended up in poverty. On Sunday, the 50th anniversary of the coup was marked around the country. In the capital, Santiago, there was a clash between demonstrators and police outside the presidential palace. Family all over the world The coup d’état destroyed many lives, and would forever affect tens of thousands of families. Deborah’s father was imprisoned in Argentina, and her mother took her to Belgium. Her musician uncle was on tour in Italy when the coup happened, and sought refuge there. Salinas’s uncle played together with the political artist Victor Jara who was killed by the Pinochet regime. In 2018, seven retired soldiers were convicted of the murder. – In addition, I had aunts in France, and grandparents in both the USA and Europe. We, the grandchildren, are scattered to all winds and full of trauma, says Salinas. At the age of seven, Deborah moved back to Chile. The fight against the regime had to continue, said the mother. During the ten years Deborah lived in Chile, she had to move 14 times. – My mother never went in to be a law-abiding citizen. She returned to carry out resistance activities against the dictatorship, and had to go underground. I think the country needs a settlement Today, Deborah Salinas has a conflicted relationship with her homeland. – The dictatorship introduced a market-driven economy, which has meant that Chile has great economic differences to this day. At the same time, there has not been a court settlement against the military, which still does not recognize that Pinochet was a dictator, she believes. A man holds up a picture of former president Salvador Allende during the commemoration on Sunday. Photo: Matias Basualdo / AP The regime also contributed to a lack of trust in society. Only 28.7 percent of Chileans trust the authorities today, figures from the OECD show. – I hope we get there that the institutions can be trusted, and that there will be proper structures and systems. On election day here in Norway, I am always moved, because democracy is not a matter of course, says Salinas.
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