heiss93
26th September 2009, 07:00
Did Allende commit suicide or did he die shooting?
Wikipedia says the following:
Controversy
At the time and for many years after, his supporters nearly uniformly presumed that he was killed by the forces staging the coup, and many theories have been made up to imply he was ruthlessly assassinated. The rumor can be originally traced to a speech given in Havana's Plaza de la Revolución on 28 September 1973 (only two weeks after Allende's death.) On that day Fidel Castro told a crowd of about 1 million Cubans that Allende had died in La Moneda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_de_La_Moneda) wrapped in a Chilean flag, firing at the army with Fidel's rifle. Another version stated that Allende was killed in combat on the steps outside the Presidential Palace.
The "murder-in-battle" theory that states that Allende was killed by Pinochet's military forces while defending the palace was officially set forth in 1975 by Robinson Rojas in his book The murder of Allende and the end of the Chilean way to socialism[9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Salvador_Allende#cite_note-Rojas-8). The book has become widely discredited since the return to democracy in Chile.[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)]
For years after Allende's death, Fidel Castro in public addresses continued to promote the story that Allende had died while exchanging gunfire with Chilean troops. He finally spoke of Allende's suicide as a fact only in 2002.[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Salvador_Allende#cite_note-9)
In recent years, the view he killed himself has become more accepted, particularly as different testimonies are confirming the details of the suicide in news and documentary interviews[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Salvador_Allende#cite_note-Gonzalez-1). Also, members of Allende's immediate family including his wife and his daughter,[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Salvador_Allende#cite_note-PERIODISTA-10) always outspoken, never disputed that it was a suicide.
However some supporters still refuse to accept the suicide.[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)] In 2008 the Chilean doctor Luis Ravanal published an article in the magazine El Periodista stating that Allende's wounds were "not compatible" with suicide. Asked to comment on Dr. Ravanal's hypothesis, the Chilean congresswoman Isabel Allende (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Allende_%28politician%29), the President's daughter, said that the suicide version is the correct one[12] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Salvador_Allende#cite_note-Allende-11).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Salvador_Allende#Controversy
Wikipedia says the following:
Controversy
At the time and for many years after, his supporters nearly uniformly presumed that he was killed by the forces staging the coup, and many theories have been made up to imply he was ruthlessly assassinated. The rumor can be originally traced to a speech given in Havana's Plaza de la Revolución on 28 September 1973 (only two weeks after Allende's death.) On that day Fidel Castro told a crowd of about 1 million Cubans that Allende had died in La Moneda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_de_La_Moneda) wrapped in a Chilean flag, firing at the army with Fidel's rifle. Another version stated that Allende was killed in combat on the steps outside the Presidential Palace.
The "murder-in-battle" theory that states that Allende was killed by Pinochet's military forces while defending the palace was officially set forth in 1975 by Robinson Rojas in his book The murder of Allende and the end of the Chilean way to socialism[9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Salvador_Allende#cite_note-Rojas-8). The book has become widely discredited since the return to democracy in Chile.[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)]
For years after Allende's death, Fidel Castro in public addresses continued to promote the story that Allende had died while exchanging gunfire with Chilean troops. He finally spoke of Allende's suicide as a fact only in 2002.[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Salvador_Allende#cite_note-9)
In recent years, the view he killed himself has become more accepted, particularly as different testimonies are confirming the details of the suicide in news and documentary interviews[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Salvador_Allende#cite_note-Gonzalez-1). Also, members of Allende's immediate family including his wife and his daughter,[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Salvador_Allende#cite_note-PERIODISTA-10) always outspoken, never disputed that it was a suicide.
However some supporters still refuse to accept the suicide.[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)] In 2008 the Chilean doctor Luis Ravanal published an article in the magazine El Periodista stating that Allende's wounds were "not compatible" with suicide. Asked to comment on Dr. Ravanal's hypothesis, the Chilean congresswoman Isabel Allende (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Allende_%28politician%29), the President's daughter, said that the suicide version is the correct one[12] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Salvador_Allende#cite_note-Allende-11).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Salvador_Allende#Controversy