Thousands of Chileans march to cemetery 53 years after coup to remember victims

Thousands of Chileans walked through Santiago carrying red carnations and old black-and-white photographs of relatives killed or disappeared during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. The four-kilometer march to the General Cemetery marked 53 years since the coup, whose anniversary falls on Sept. 11.

Human rights organizations, left-wing political figures and families joined the traditional pilgrimage, held since the 1980s. This year's march took place during the first presidency of far-right leader José Antonio Kast, after he ruled out an official memorial event on the anniversary.

"It gives much more strength and a greater presence in the streets to those we remember, to our own people," said José Pérez Debelli, president of Chile's national association of public employees, referring to Kast's decision.

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It gives much more strength and a greater presence in the streets to those we remember, to our own people.

The march coincided with the death of Camilo Escalona Medina, the former president of Chile's Socialist Party, who died at 71 from prostate cancer. Escalona was described as a key figure in the political coalition that bridged the end of military rule and the democratic governments that followed.

"Where are they?" remained the most repeated slogan as marchers headed to Recoleta. The cemetery includes Block 29, where the dictatorship illegally hid and buried victims of persecution and repression. It also holds the remains of former President Salvador Allende and singer-songwriter Víctor Jara, while families continue demanding answers about those whose whereabouts remain unknown.

Lira said the memorial honored relatives, the Popular Unity government and the continuing human rights struggle. Organizers also warned that Kast's government threatened rights gains. One speaker said 1,092 people remained detained and disappeared, while the bodies of 377 people who were executed had not been returned.

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Where are they?