The Popular Unity: between the wall and the Navy

Abstract

The majority of the studies on the role of the military during the Popular Unity Government have concentrated on describing and analysing the role of the Army and certain of its members such as generals Carlos Prats and Augusto Pinochet in the events that led up to the 11th of September of 1973. Nevertheless, and in the light of the information gathered, it is possible to state that it was the Navy, through José Toribio Merino and other admirals, that was the institution most determined to interrupt and overth row the constitutional government of President Salvador Allende. In this context, the following work analyses the concerns and actions carried out by certain members of the Navy and certain sectors in opposition to the government of President Salvador Allende between the years 1970 and 1973.