TANQUETAZO: ANTECEDENTS, CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2024

El Tanquetazo, also known as Tancazo, was an attempted coup against the government of Salvador Allende in Chile. The uprising took place on June 29, 1973, when Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Souper, in command of an armored regiment, a fact that gives its name to the attempt, tried to overthrow the president-elect.

The victory of the Popular Unity in the 1970 elections provoked the malaise of the most conservative sectors of Chilean society. Their commitment to a democratic socialism made them fear a change in social and economic structures. To this internal opposition must be added the open hostility of the United States.

Salvador Allende - Source: Library of the National Congress of Chile

Starting in 1972, the Chilean economy suffered major problems. Internal and external factors caused problems with the food supply and the black market increased. For its part, a large sector of the Armed Forces, traditionally conservative, decided to act on their own.

Despite the failure of the Tanquetazo, only a few months later another coup occurred that overthrew Allende from the presidency. The leader of this uprising was Augusto Pinochet, who had played a rather obscure role during the first attempt.

Background

The Popular Unity was a unitary candidacy of several parties of the Chilean left before the elections of 1970. In January of that year, Salvador Allende was named candidate for the presidency.

On September 4 of that same year, the voting was held and Allende took over the presidency.

The Popular Government

The government headed by Salvador Allende was a novelty in the region. It was the first time that socialism had been attempted to be implanted by democratic means.

One of the first measures of the new ruler was to resume diplomatic relations with socialist countries, including Cuba, which was under a blockade imposed by the United States.

In the socioeconomic sphere, Allende deepened the Agrarian Reform, expropriating land. Thus, in 1972, he put an end to the large estates. In addition, he began to nationalize copper, something that even the right-wing parties approved in Congress.

The State began a process of recovery of the main companies in the country, buying the 100 most important. Similarly, it nationalized private banking.

All these measures were not to the liking of the more conservative sectors, formed by the Chilean financial oligarchy.

U.S

The Allende government not only encountered opposition from the Chilean right. Abroad, the United States' reaction was swift. Among the reprisals taken were the freezing of copper sales, in addition to blocking a large part of the imports.

In the same way, as the documents declassified by the United States itself demonstrate, it soon began economic sabotage campaigns in the interior of Chile, in addition to pressuring the Armed Forces to carry out a coup.

1973 Parliamentary Elections

The Chilean economy began to falter in 1972. However, the legislative elections of March 1973 represented a victory for the Popular Union, which obtained 45% of the votes.

The hit

The Tanquetazo was led by Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Souper. With the Armored Regiment No. 2, he tried to overthrow President Allende on June 29, 1973.

The name comes from the fact that tanks were mainly used in the uprising. After a few hours of tension, the soldiers loyal to the commander in chief of the army, managed to quell the rebellion.

Causes

International context

The Cold War and the Cuban Revolution were two of the factors that provoked the hostility of the United States against the leftist government of Allende. The documents declassified by the US authorities show that the movements against him began from the very election.

In the conversations, also declassified, between President Nixon and the National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, details can be heard about the US participation in the destabilization of the Allende government.

In those same conversations, the two US politicians explained how their main problem with Allende, apart from ideological considerations, was the decision to nationalize the US companies operating in Chile.

Among the measures taken by the United States was the pressure against credit institutions not to grant loans to the Chilean government, preventing it from renegotiating its foreign debt.

Economic crisis

After a few first months with good economic results, starting in 1972, Chile entered a major crisis.

The public deficit increased notably, due to state spending dedicated to social affairs and aid to public companies. This expense, due to the impossibility of resorting to abroad, was financed through Central Bank issues.

Shortages soon followed and the black market appeared in force. Some basic products were no longer found in stores.

Political crisis

The parliamentary elections of March 1973 were won, again, by the Popular Unity. The opposition had run in coalition with the intention of winning two-thirds of the seats and thus removing the president.

Allende tried to approach the Christian Democrats to seek solutions to the crisis, but found a good reception, not even when he had the mediation of Cardinal Raúl Silva.

By that time, the president was already afraid of a military coup. The only thing that prevented it was that the commander in chief, Carlos Prats, was faithful to the Constitution.

Consequences

When Souper realized that his uprising had been defeated, he proceeded to surrender to the authorities. Allende called during the afternoon on the same day 29 a demonstration in front of the Palacio de la Moneda. The President came out to the balcony with the three Commanders-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and thanked them for their performance during the coup.

That same day, Allende asked Congress to declare a State of Siege for six months.

Pinochet

According to historians, the Tanquetazo's failure was due to the actions of Carlos Prats, the commander-in-chief of the Army. Another cause was that the Buin No. 1 Infantry Regiment did not join the attempt, contrary to what was expected.

Precisely, in the Buin was Augusto Pinochet, then chief of the General Staff. The general appeared in La Moneda at noon, in combat uniform. By that time, however, the rebels had already decided to retreat. This has led many experts to think that Pinochet was playing two cushion.

Coup d'état of September 11

Augusto Pinochet led the coup that, on September 11 of that same year, ended the government and the life of Salvador Allende.

On this occasion, the three branches of the Army acted in coordination and did not encounter much resistance in much of the country.

General Pinochet himself affirmed that the Tanquetazo had served for the intelligence services of the Armed Forces to verify the ability of the supporters of the Popular Unity to defend themselves with arms.

References

1. The citizen. 34 years after an attempted coup with more than 30 murders: Chronicle of the Tanquetazo that killed Leonardo Henrichsen. Obtained from elciudadano.cl
2. Andrés, Roberto. El Tanquetazo: the military uprising that anticipated the overthrow of Salvador Allende. Obtained from laizquierdadiario.com
3. Chilean Memory. The Popular Unity government (1970-1973). Obtained from memoriachilena.gob.cl
4. Devine, Jack. What Really Happened in Chile. Retrieved from foreignaffairs.com
5. Kornbluh, Peter. Kissinger and Chile: The Declassified Record. Retrieved from nsarchive2.gwu.edu
6. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Salvador Allende. Retrieved from britannica.com