Isabel Allende Bussi presents an intimate account of the coup d’état in Chile

Chilean Senator Isabel Allende Bussi presented her book yesterday September 11th: That weekin which he intimately recounts the 1973 coup d’état in his country and the days that followed until he reached his shelter in Mexico.

At the headquarters of the Inter-American Conference on Social Security (CISS), the politician and sociologist stressed that her father, Salvador Allende, always had a firm belief in dialogue and legality, and that his role as an educator in order to raise awareness in people was paramount in his ideology.

It was announced that today, at 11 a.m., a ceremony will be held to commemorate the coup d’état in Chile, in which a sculpture will be unveiled that refers to the leading role that Allende played in the founding of the CISS.

Allende Bussi led the world launch of the text, published by Debate, in Mexico. The presidium was flanked by a photo of the president ousted by treason and weapons, with his hand extended and looking straight ahead.

In conversation with Álvaro Velarca, secretary general of the conference, the author expressed her pride that the CISS is paying tribute to the career of her father, who always advocated for social security, since he was a doctor.

Allende Bussi said with emotion and gratitude that Mexico had opened its doors to Chileans. He praised the fact that then-ambassador Gonzalo Martínez Corbalá had made arrangements on behalf of his family and other refugees.

He commented on several events that exemplified the danger that democracy faced in Chile in 1973 due to previous coup attempts and, especially, those anecdotes about his father that are included in the volume, which reveal the historical figure and at the same time reflect his simplicity.

The author was adamant that her father never accepted the armed path to make the profound changes that Chile needed; instead, he believed in democracy and institutions to carry out the great transformations in order to reverse the terrible inequality in his country.

He mentioned that Salvador Allende never believed that the solution was to break the law, no matter how strong the confrontations were, and that he always maintained his support for democratic mechanisms; that is why society, which felt part of history, took to the streets to show its support for the government.

In contrast, the founder of the Salvador Allende Foundation criticized the United States’ intervention against the Chilean path to socialism through popular elections.

Regarding last year’s commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the military uprising in his country, he said that he feels a setback, because at the same time as the tributes to his father around the world, in Chile there was an atmosphere that leaned towards the right, denying the break with democracy in 1973.

Allende Bussi said that writing what he experienced in his country was not It was easy, but I had to do iteven if it was 50 years later.

The feelings are super strong and one takes refuge in the superficial layer. I am happy and I know that it did me good because it is healing to tell things in detail.