ABSTRACT
The coup d’état of the Chilean armed forces in September 1973, which overthrew the democratic government of Salvador Allende, and the dictatorial regime that followed, was experienced by many Chileans as a social trauma that radically disrupted their life projects and their daily lives. This was particularly the case for those who were classified as enemies by the dictatorship, and were consequently persecuted, tortured, executed, and “disappeared”. From 1990, with the beginning of the transition to democracy, to the present, Chileans have had to face this recent past, reflecting on this social trauma through initiatives generated by civil society organizations and also the state.
This chapter hypothesizes that in the post-dictatorship period, Chilean society has engaged in a process of reflection on this trauma – produced by the coercive policies of the military regime – which has implied a consensual recognition of the veracity of the violations to human rights committed by the dictatorship, and a condemnation of them. However, the Chilean state has failed to incorporate the traumatic memory of the repression and its devastating effects on citizens as a means of societal learning for a more democratic coexistence and a deepening of democracy. This was evident in the sustained violation of human rights committed by police officers and the military in the context of the social uprising that Chile experienced between the middle of October 2019 and March 2020.
