René Schneider (General)

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René Schneider

René Schneider Chereau (born December 31, 1913 in Concepción , † October 25, 1970 in Santiago de Chile ) was a German-born Chilean general and commander in chief of the military . He was shot dead in 1970 by opponents of the newly elected Salvador Allende government while attempting to kidnap.

Life

Schneider stood loyal to the constitution and guaranteed a free vote in Congress on the election of Salvador Allende as head of state. On October 22, 1970, the general was ambushed by a CIA- supported killer squad and badly shot. He stood in the way of the coup plotters, who were supposed to safeguard American interests (including those of the ITT group). Popular outrage over the attack on Schneider and the US intentions it made clear was one of the reasons that led the Christian Democratic Party to support Allende in the October 24 presidential election. Schneider died in hospital three days after the attack, one day after Salvador Allende was elected.

Schneider's successor as Commander in Chief, General Carlos Prats , had to resign shortly before the coup of September 11, 1973 and was killed in an assassination attempt in Buenos Aires the following year.

According to documents from the US secret service, President Nixon's security advisor Kissinger is said to have initiated the assassination of General René Schneider in 1970.

Literature and documentation

The involvement of the USA, in particular Henry Kissinger, in the murder of Schneider is discussed in the book The Kissinger Files and the documentary " Accused: Henry Kissinger ". Schneider's son and Alexander Haig , who were interviewed for the documentary, comment on its murder.

See also

Web links

Commons : René Schneider Chereau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ $ 50,000 bounty , December 1, 1975 article on Spiegel Online
  2. ^ Murder in Chile: Kissinger sued. the daily newspaper, September 11, 2001
  3. ↑ Why the law wants a word with Kissinger - Sidney Magazine 2002 . Smh.com.au. April 30, 2002. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
personal data
SURNAME Schneider, René
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chilean general
DATE OF BIRTH December 31, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Concepción
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 1970
Place of death Santiago de Chile