Weekly Report - 17 September 2026 (WR-26-37)

The most polarising date in the Chilean calendar held a unique resonance on 11 September under the first head of state since the restoration of democracy to have voted in the 1988 plebiscite for General Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) to remain in power. President José Antonio Kast did his level best to ignore the date altogether, scrapping the commemorative event held every year since the coup d’état that culminated in the suicide of Salvador Allende (1970-1973) and the imposition of the military dictatorship. Instead, he delivered a short speech in southern Chile that skirted the issue entirely, stressing that the country should look to the future rather than being fixated on the past.