Chile: Salvador Allende (1908-1973), 30th President of Chile (1970-1973)

Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908-11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and politician, known as the first Marxist to become president of a Latin American country through open elections. On 11 September 1973, the military moved to oust Allende in a coup d'etat sponsored by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). As troops surrounded La Moneda Palace, he gave his last speech vowing not to resign. Later that day, Allende shot himself with an assault rifle, according to an investigation conducted by a Chilean court with the assistance of international experts in 2011. Following Allende's 'resignation', General Augusto Pinochet declined to return authority to the civilian government, and Chile was later ruled by a military junta that was in power up until 1990, ending almost four decades of Chilean democratic rule. The military junta that took over dissolved the Congress of Chile and began a persecution of alleged dissidents, in which thousands of Allende's supporters were kidnapped, tortured, and murdered.