Santiago, Chile.
Coup d'etat, September 11, 1973
Around 07:30-08:00hrs in the morning of Sept. 11, 1973
Keeping the curious and President Allende supporters at bay.
The armored cars which had surrounded the Moneda are leaving.
The carabineros take the prisoners with them as they leave the 'Intendencia'
When the tanks arrive the journalists and the carabineros leave.
Around 09:45 hours. the carabineros have changed sides and leave the Intendencia.
Aides-de-camp desert La Moneda palace.
The carabineros have changed sides and are leaving.
After what seems about half an hour, the tanks and ground troops are leaving after having fired massively at the front facade of the Moneda palace.
Tanks and troops are leaving, only to return around 12:30, after the Moneda has been bombed.
The Moneda has been bombed, the tanks return firing their 50 cal machine guns, the remaining spectators head for safety. (12:30hrs)
His weapon misfired, he tries to unblock it.
Tank rattles down Calle Moneda, cal. 50 machine gun roaring. soldiers hide in doorways.
Calle Moneda just after the first bomb dropped on the Mopeda palace.
And the National Congress was closed.
General Pinochet with Cardinal Raul Silva Henriquez. Archbishop de Santiago.
The newly blessed members of the Junta.
And the stock market was open again.
And the shoe shines were back.
In the early morning of September 11, 1973, around 0700 hrs, the telephone rang.
“Chas! Wake up!”
“Silvain? Is that you?”
“Listen! I can see from my hotel window that the Carabineros have surrounded the Presidential Palace with armored cars. You better get your ass over here, something is happening!”
In a hurry I packed my camera bag with my four Nikon F’s, four lenses: a 24mm, 35mm, 105mm and a 200mm and around 30 rolls of b&w and 20 rolls of color film. Half an hour later I arrived in front of the Moneda Palace and saw President Allende on the first-floor balcony of the Moneda. I took two shots, he was turning away. Did I get him? Or was I a second too late? Damn! (Years later I saw many of my images I took that day for sale on the Getty and Reuters websites. Some of these images could not have been taken by another photographer because there were no other photographers there. The moment the tanks arrived, around 09:30 hrs that morning, all the journalists had disappeared down the off-ramp into the underground parking lot of the Carrera hotel.) And Sylvain Julienne and I were the only two photographers left till we were told at gunpoint, by a sergeant and two soldiers, to leave or else. We left, it wast 15:00hrs.