Photos: Sporadic clashes as Chile marks coup anniversary

Violence broke out after people took to the streets of Chile to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the 1973 coup that installed the murderous Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

Left-wing parties, with key political figures and members of the government, paid homage on Sunday to the statue of former President Salvador Allende outside the Presidential Palace. Allende died on the day of the coup.

According to government figures, during General Pinochet’s dictatorship, at least 3,095 people were killed and tens of thousands more tortured or jailed for political reasons.

Participants laid flowers at Allende’s monument as well as at the entrance of the palace where he used to enter while president.

Musicians and dancers – known as “The Red Devils of Victor Jara” – were dressed as devils to protest the arrest, torture, and murder of Chilean folk singer and political activist Victor Jara. Jara was shot to death just days after the 1973 coup.

Hundreds of demonstrators marched to the monument of those who were detained or disappeared. On the outskirts, police and some demonstrators clashed.