El Tanquetazo or El Tancazo (Spanish: "The tank putsch") was an attempted coup d'état that occurred in Chile on 29 June 1973.

Elements of an armored regiment of the Chilean Army led by Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Souper tried to overthrow the Popular Unity government of President Salvador Allende. Souper's regiment fired on buildings of the Chilean Government in central Santiago with tanks and small arms in which 22 people were killed. Loyalist soldiers led by Army commander-in-chief Carlos Prats successfully put down the coup within hours. Souper and most of the soldiers involved in the coup surrendered to Prats while some fled in exile to Ecuador.

The Tanquetazo was unsuccessful but is considered to have weakened Allende's Popular Unity government and contributed to the successful 1973 Chilean coup d'état three months later.

Background

By the beginning of June 1973, an important part of the high command of the Chilean Armed Forces had lost all respect for the Popular Unity government of President Salvador Allende, which had been in office since November 1970. During the so-called Tacnazo of 1969, high-ranking officers learned that by exerting pressure as a group, they could achieve wide-ranging changes within the military. In 1969 they had achieved high command changes and an increase in the Armed Forces' budget. In June 1973, some began plotting against the Allende government.

Putsch

Early in the morning of the following day, Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Souper, who had just learned that he would be relieved of his command for his part in the conspiracy, led a column of sixteen armored vehicles, including six M41 tanks, M3 half-tracks, plus 80 soldiers from the 2nd Armored Regiment in Santiago. The rebel column rapidly traveled to downtown Santiago from its base in Santa Rosa Avenue and encircled the presidential palace, La Moneda, and the building housing the Ministry of Defense, just across the Plaza de la Libertad. Two minutes before 9:00 AM, the tanks opened fire on these buildings.

General Mario Sepúlveda Squella immediately called General Guillermo Pickering, commander of the military institutes, requesting loyal troops to suppress the rebellion. After securing these troops, he called Army Commander-in-chief General Carlos Prats with a plan to neutralize Souper's forces. General Prats approved it immediately, and a few minutes later General Sepúlveda Squella started to position his own troops. Christian Democracy's leader Patricio Aylwin demanded the formation of a coalition cabinet, to include members of the armed forces. Allende rejected his proposal.

The tanquetazo is seen as the prelude to the successful coup of 11 September 1973. Amongst other consequences, Army Intelligence officers conducted a thorough study of the weaponry used against the rebelling troops, and the locations from which they were fired. Additionally, the strength of the so-called "industrial belts", traditional strongholds of pro-government workers, was accurately gauged and concluded to be weak, even after Allende's call on all workers to defend the government.

See also

  • 1970 Chilean presidential election
  • Chile under Allende
  • Chile under Pinochet
  • Government Junta of Chile (1973)
  • History of Chile
  • Project FUBELT - secret CIA operations to unseat Allende.
  • U.S. intervention in Chile

References

<!--(1) Ahumada, Eugenio et al. Chile: la memoria prohibida I, (1989), p. 10. Santiago, Chile: Pehuén Editores

(2) Ahumada (1989), Chile, p. 5

(3) Ahumada (1989), Chile, p. 5

(4) El Mercurio, (30 June 1973). In Los mil dias de Allende I, (1997). Miguel González Pino, et al., eds. Santiago, Chile: Centro de Estudios Públicos

(5) Ahumada (1989), Chile, p. 17

(6) Prats, Carlos. Memorias: testimonio de un soldado, (1985), pp. 418-419. Santiago, Chile: Pehuén Editores

(7) Prats (1985), Memorias, p. 419

(8) Ahumada (1989), Chile, p. 8

(9) Prats (1985), Memorias, pp. 419-420

(10) Prats (1985), Memorias, p. 420

(11) Ahumada (1989), Chile, p. 18

(15) Ahumada (1989), Chile, p. 19

(16) Ahumada (1989), Chile, p. 19

(18) Ahumada, pp. 19-24

(19) Prats (1985), Memorias, p. 422

(20) Ahumada, p. 29

-->

  • Alleged US intervention
  • Martínez Torre, Ewin. "Second Coup Attempt: El Tanquetazo (The Tank Attack)", in History of Chile Under Salvador Allende and the Popular Unity, New York (2000), at Evergreen University