On September 11, 1973, the Chilean military, backed by the CIA, overthrew the controversial popular unity government led by Socialist President Salvador Allende. Allende, Isabel Allende's uncle, reportedly committed suicide during this coup d'etat, and General Augusto Pinochet established an anti-Communist military dictatorship that lasted until 1990. While Chile had experienced prior political unrest, strikes, and food shortages, under Pinochet's military government and free-market ...