September is a
very important month in Chile. September 18th is celebrated as Independence
Day. It is a huge deal. We have a week off of school. There are all sorts of festivities
that will go on throughout the country. There are Chilean flags and other
decorations all over the place.
On September 18th, 1810, Chile
declared itself free of Spanish rule. It was a corrupt government (like usual)
that led the Chileans to revolt against the Spanish. The Spanish governor of
Chile at the time, Francisco Antonio García Carrasco, was directly involved in
a scandal in 1808, in which he ordered a shipment of smuggled merchandise to be
stolen from the ship at port. During the robbery, the captain of the ship and
most of the crew were murdered. When word of this got out, Chileans were
outraged and the governor went into hiding. This scandal, led by a Spanish
official, pushed Chile to cut ties with Spain.
Another big
factor in Chile’s independence was the French invasion of Spain in 1808.
Napoleon captured the King of Spain and put his brother on the throne. Even the
colonies that were loyal to the Spanish throne (Chile, for the most part, was
not), did not want their taxes going to the French.
Anyway. Back to
the Future.
In 1973, there
was a coup d'etat to overthrow the elected president, Salvador Allende and the
oppressive government. It came to a climax on September 11th, 1973,
when the Chilean army bombed the presidential palace in Santiago. Augusto
Pinochet, who was made commander in chief by President Allende, took the
opportunity to rise to power. Pinochet disbanded all political parties and
thousands of Chileans were kidnapped, tortured, killed or exiled under his rule.
Many people just disappeared. He was dictator until 1990.
Like in the
United States, this is a sad day. Many schools and businesses close early.
We have a lot planned for this weekend and next week, so I'll have a lot to write about soon.
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