Tanquetazo
Encyclopedia
El Tanquetazo or El Tancazo (both Spanish for tank putsch) of 29 June 1973 are the names used to refer to the failed coup
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

 attempt in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

  led by Army Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Souper
Roberto Souper
Lt. Colonel Roberto Federico Souper Onfray was a Chilean military officer who launched an unsuccessful coup d'état against the regime of Salvador Allende, surrounding the presidential palace with a tank regiment....

 against the government of Socialist
Socialist Party of Chile
The Socialist Party of Chile is a political party, that is part of the center-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy coalition. Its historical leader was the late President of Chile Salvador Allende Gossens, who was deposed by General Pinochet in 1973...

 president
President of Chile
The President of the Republic of Chile is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Chile. The President is responsible of the government and state administration...

 Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....

. It is called such because the rebelling officers primarily used tanks. It was successfully put down by loyal Constitutionalist soldiers led by Army Commander-in-Chief Carlos Prats
Carlos Prats
General Carlos Prats González was a Chilean Army officer, a political figure, minister and Vice President of Chile during President Salvador Allende's government, and General Augusto Pinochet's predecessor as commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army...

.
(Not to be confused with the Tacnazo insurrection
Tacnazo insurrection
Tacnazo insurrection was a brief revolt of the Tacna artillery regiment, led by General Roberto Viaux, in what turned out to be a non-violent demonstration against the government of Chilean President Eduardo Frei Montalva.-Background:...

 started 1969 from the "Tacna Regiment" in Santiago.)

Background

By the beginning of June, 1973, an important part of the high command of the Chilean Armed Forces had lost all respect for the Popular Unity
Popular Unity
Unidad Popular was a coalition of left wing, socialist and communist political parties in Chile that stood behind the successful candidacy of Salvador Allende for the 1970 Chilean presidential election....

 government of President Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....

. These officers had already discovered, during the so-called Tacnazo
Tacnazo insurrection
Tacnazo insurrection was a brief revolt of the Tacna artillery regiment, led by General Roberto Viaux, in what turned out to be a non-violent demonstration against the government of Chilean President Eduardo Frei Montalva.-Background:...

, that by exerting pressure as a group, they could achieve wide ranging changes within the military, such as high command changes and an increase in the Armed Forces' budget. As a result, they started to plot against the government.

A week before the attempt, the conspiracy was discovered at the Santiago
Santiago
Santiago is the capital city of Chile. Santiago may also refer to:*Santiago *Santiago , a Spanish given name*Santiago!, a shortened form of the Reconquista battle cry "Santiago y cierra, España"...

 Army garrison. The garrison commander, General Mario Sepúlveda Squella, informed his immediate superiors at the Army General Staff, and also informed José Tohá
José Tohá
José Tohá González was a Chilean journalist, lawyer, political figure, and Socialist politician.He was born in Chillán, the son of Spanish immigrant José Tohá Soldavilla and of Brunilda González Monteagudo. After completing his secondary studies in his natal city, he studied law at the ...

, the Minister of Defense. Nine people involved in the conspiracy were immediately arrested, and Minister Tohá decided to go public with this information on the afternoon of 28 June.

Putsch

Early in the morning of the following day, Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Souper
Roberto Souper
Lt. Colonel Roberto Federico Souper Onfray was a Chilean military officer who launched an unsuccessful coup d'état against the regime of Salvador Allende, surrounding the presidential palace with a tank regiment....

, who had just learned that he would be relieved of his command for his part in the conspiracy, left the Second Armored Battalion in Santiago at the head of a column of sixteen armored vehicles, including six Sherman tanks, plus eighty soldiers. The mutinous column rapidly made its way to downtown Santiago and encircled the presidential palace, La Moneda
Palacio de La Moneda
Palacio de La Moneda , or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the President of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency and General Secretariat of the Government...

, and the building housing the Ministry of Defense, just across the Plaza de la Libertad. At two minutes before 9:00 AM the tanks opened fire on these buildings.

At the Ministry, a tank made its way to the main entrance after obliterating a utility pole, climbed the steps leading into the building, and with its guns began an intense attack on the Ministry's offices. Sergeant Rafael Veillena, of the Army's Second Division, was killed when he looked out of a ninth floor window. The firing of machine guns and tanks panicked workers in the area, who at that hour were making their way to their jobs downtown. A woman working at the State Bank near the Ministry was killed, as well as a couple who were caught in cross-fire. At least 16 people were wounded, four of them seriously.

Immediately on learning the news, General Mario Sepúlveda Squella called General Guillermo Pickering, commander of the military institutes, requesting loyal troops to suffocate the rebellion. After securing these troops, he called Army Commander-in-chief, General Carlos Prats
Carlos Prats
General Carlos Prats González was a Chilean Army officer, a political figure, minister and Vice President of Chile during President Salvador Allende's government, and General Augusto Pinochet's predecessor as commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army...

 already with a ready plan to neutralize Souper's forces. General Prats approved it immediately and a few minutes later General Sepúlveda Squella started to position his own troops.

Earlier that morning, Salvador Allende spoke to the people of Chile from the presidential residence at Tomas Moro in Santiago. In a 9:30 AM radio address, the president announced his unequivocal decision to defend the constitutional government against an attempted coup d'état. He called upon the workers of Santiago to occupy the factories "and be ready in case it is necessary to fight alongside the soldiers of Chile."

In the meantime, General Prats went to visit all the nearby military regiments around Santiago to secure their support against the mutiny. The General encountered some resistance from the officers at the Junior Officers' Academy, who claimed that they did not want to fire against fellow soldiers. Prats would not take no for an answer. He insisted that the insurrection against the constitutional government had to be put down, and as Army Commander-in-chief
Chilean Army
The Chilean Army is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 45,000-person army is organized into seven divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade....

, he ordered them to the streets. After a brief moment of indecision, they decided to support him, and soon after 10:30 AM, combat-ready units from the Academy joined the fight against the rebels.

Now, as General Prats drove his car toward La Moneda, he was thinking that it would be logical to suppose that the Second Armored Battalion was not acting alone. That other military units were either taking part in a putchist conspiracy or, at least, were waiting to act until they had seen the initial results. Prats therefore decided to use all the resources available to him to crush the rebellion before noon.

General Prats got out of his car near the presidential palace carrying a Thompson machine-gun. A large number of people had congregated nearby, watching nervously the movement of troops. Colonel Julio Canessa
Julio Canessa
Lieutenant General Julio Canessa Roberts is a Chilean military and political figure. He was a member of the Government Junta that ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, representing the Army. He was also a designated Senator between 1998 and 2006....

 arrived with forces from the Junior Officers' Academy, and General Prats ordered that pieces of heavy artillery be deployed along the principal Avenue that bisects Santiago in two. Then he took what he subsequently called "a calculated risk", deciding to speak directly to the mutinous soldiers in an effort to convince them to give up their fight. By taking this course of action, Prats sought to prevent a long confrontation and unnecessary military and civilian casualties. According to Prats's later account: "I then decided to advance in the company of Lieutenant Colonel Osvaldo Hernández, Captain Roger Vergara, and First Sergeant Omar Vergara. Extremely moved, Villaroel, the Military Chaplain, gave us the last absolution."

At 11:10 AM, the three men walked along Alameda Avenue carrying assault weapons. When they reached the palace, they were within steps of Tank E-2814. The commander of the tank trained his machine gun on the group but did not fire. Prats ordered him to come down, identify himself, obey his orders, and surrender to the soldiers of the Junior Officers' School. According to the account of a journalist watching the events nearby, "the soldier came down, stood at attention before the general, and saluted. That tank would not again fire against the Ministry of Defense or La Moneda on that morning." Prats successively repeated these orders to the other tanks and combat vehicles located south of the Palace. Then he reached a tank from which a soldier shouted: "I will not surrender, General!", while pointing his machine gun at Prats's group. Suddenly, Major Osvaldo Zabala sneaked up on the threatening soldier from behind and put a gun to his temple, thus disarming him and bringing the tense standoff to an end.

A few of the tanks fled rather than surrendering, however, after reinforcements from the "Buin" First Infantry Regiment arrived at the scene. This military unit, led by General Augusto Pinochet, quickly deployed its cannons and machine guns. The last rebelling unit to flee was a group of tanks and military vehicles stationed north of La Moneda. As this convoy fled south, General Prats was able to see Lt. Colonel Roberto Souper
Roberto Souper
Lt. Colonel Roberto Federico Souper Onfray was a Chilean military officer who launched an unsuccessful coup d'état against the regime of Salvador Allende, surrounding the presidential palace with a tank regiment....

, "who looked disoriented and lost."

Immediately thereafter, General Prats entered the palace and ordered a general search of the buildings nearby. General Pickering had meanwhile cleared the rebels out of the western sector near the presidential palace. By 11:30 AM, the shooting around La Moneda had subsided and the coup attempt appeared to be over.

Aftermath

Souper surrendered later that day, after units from the "Tacna" regiment encircled and fired on the Second Battalion's barracks where he had taken refuge. Other military officers involved in planning the putsch were René López, Edwin Ditmer, Héctor Bustamante, Mario Garay, Carlos Martínez
Carlos Martínez
Carlos Martínez is the name of:* Carlos Martínez , Spanish actor* Carlos Martínez , Spanish football player* Carlos Martínez Fernández, , Spanish football player...

, Raúl Jofre, and José Gasset. It was soon discovered that the main leaders of the extreme right-wing group, Fatherland and Liberty
Fatherland and Liberty
The Fatherland and Liberty Nationalist Front was a nationalist and authoritarian political and paramilitary group...

, had been the instigators. Pablo Rodríguez Grez, John Schaeffer, Benjamín Matte, Manuel Fuentes, and Juan Hurtado sought asylum in the Embassy of Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

. From there they released a communique acknowledging that they had promoted the attempted coup.

During the evening, President Allende addressed a massive demonstration of support in front of La Moneda. As he neared the end of his speech, he said: "...trust your government. Go home and kiss your wives and children in the name of Chile."

Though the tanquetazo was unsuccessful, it was a turning point in the deterioration of political situation in Chile. Though previous to the tanquetazo there had been idle talk of a coup d'état, the failed incident showed both sides of the polarized Chilean society how potentially easy it would be to take the presidential palace. This realization by all sides made the possibility of a coup more real.

This directly led to further and larger weapons procurement and distribution among Allende-supporters' paramilitary group, and an increased sense among the Chilean military that these paramilitary groups represented a clear insurrectionist threat to the country.

The political and social situation deteriorated further during the winter of that year, leading to the successful coup of 11 September 1973.

See also

  • Tacnazo insurrection
    Tacnazo insurrection
    Tacnazo insurrection was a brief revolt of the Tacna artillery regiment, led by General Roberto Viaux, in what turned out to be a non-violent demonstration against the government of Chilean President Eduardo Frei Montalva.-Background:...

  • 1970 Chilean presidential election
  • History of Chile
    History of Chile
    The territory of Chile has been populated since at least 2,000 BC. By the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors began to subdue and colonize the region of present-day Chile, and the territory became a colony from 1540 to 1818, when it gained independence from Spain...

  • Salvador Allende
    Salvador Allende
    Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....

     - deposed by 1973 coup
  • Chile under Allende
    Chile under Allende
    Salvador Allende was the president of Chile from 1970 until 1973, and head of the Popular Unity government; he was the first Marxist ever to be elected to the national presidency of a democracy...

  • 1973 Chilean coup d'état

  • Government Junta of Chile (1973)
    Government Junta of Chile (1973)
    Government Junta of Chile was the military junta established to rule Chile during the military dictatorship that followed the overthrow of President Salvador Allende in the 1973 Chilean coup d'état. It was the executive and legislative branch of government until December 17, 1974...

  • Augusto Pinochet
    Augusto Pinochet
    Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...

     - took power in 1973 coup
  • Chile under Pinochet
    Chile under Pinochet
    Chile was ruled by a military dictatorship headed by Augusto Pinochet from 1973 when Salvador Allende was overthrown in a coup d'etat until 1990 when the Chilean transition to democracy began. The authoritarian military government was characterized by systematic suppression of political parties and...

  • Project FUBELT
    Project FUBELT
    Project FUBELT is the code name for the secret Central Intelligence Agency operations that were to prevent Salvador Allende rise to power before his confirmation, and promote a military coup in Chile....

     - secret CIA operations to unseat Allende.
  • U.S. intervention in Chile
  • List of Chilean coup d'état
    Chilean coup d'état
    This is a list of the coups d'état that have taken place in Chile during its independent history:-1780s:...



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