Aylwin won by a large majority of votes defeating the official candidate put up by the military dictatorship. Pinochet was rejected by the voters of Chile on October 5, 1988. Stories about torture and threats never got published.ĭictatorships however have failed to kill the spirit of democracy. The Press was put under strict censorship. The rest of the population including the wives of miners who had been shot was threatened that if they dared to oppose, they would suffer a similar fate. Several miners believed to be sympathetic to the former President were arrested, taken away from their homes and shot. General Augusto Pinochet who took over as President after the death of Salvador Allende was no exception. Military dictatorships are infamous for torturing those who oppose them. The governance of the country was taken over by the military (such changes are referred to as military coup). Later the President’s House was surrounded and bombed by the military. The Defence Minister went there to find out what the real situation was. A section of the navy took over the sea port. Salvador Allende was targeted because he was opposed to his country’s resources like copper being taken away by foreign companies. In his last address to the people, he had said, “Workers of my homeland, Chileans will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason became dominant… I have certainty that my sacrifice will not be in vain… I will be a moral lesson to castigate felony, cowardice and treason.” He had to suffer for his vision of Chile becoming a country where men would be free and the country would march onwards to a better society. He had agreed to neither of these conditions. Allende died in the military attack.Įarlier he had been asked by the military leaders to either go out of the country or resign from the office of the President. The President’s house was surrounded and bombed. On September 11, 1973, military leaders staged a coup in the country. For that one reason, his policies were not liked by the rich people of the country. Salvador Allende was opposed to the exploitation of Chile by foreign companies. The educational system was reformed and land was redistributed among the farmers. He introduced a number of social and economic reforms in the country. Salvador Allende had become the President of the country after the elections held in 1970. Situated on the western coast of South America, the country resembles Kerala in our country. Yet another example of democracy getting derailed is that of Chile in South America. They have failed to stabilize democracy and thus consolidate the gains of achieving freedom from foreign rule. This is the story in many other African countries too. In 1972 the government was taken over by Colonel I.K. He was removed from power by the police and the armed forces under General E.K.Katoka when Nkrumah had gone to China. Opposition developed against his great personal power in 1966. The name of the country was then changed to Ghana. That made the people of Gold Coast achieves independence. The people demanded independence from British rule in 1950. He had formed the Convention People’s Party. Opposition to foreign rule grew under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah in 1949. Ghana was formerly the Gold Coast Colony. Democracy is yet to take roots in a number of African countries. The country has gone through a long process of coups and military dictatorships after independence. Not all of them have been able to successfully transform their political systems from colonialism to self governing democracy. A number of African countries attained freedom after the Second World War.
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