Chileans Vote No to Pinochet

On October 5, 1988, Chilean voters went to the polls in a nationwide referendum that determined the future of General Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship. The vote was structured as a straight yes-or-no choice on whether Pinochet should remain president for another eight-year mandate under the terms of the 1980 constitution. When the ballots were counted, the No vote prevailed with 54.7 percent of the ballots cast against 43 percent for Yes, abruptly cutting short the regime's plan to extend Pinochet's personal rule into the late 1990s.

Pinochet had initially seized power on September 11, 1973, when armed forces staged a violent coup d'état that deposed democratically elected Socialist President Salvador Allende. Following the coup, a four-man military junta suspended the 1925 constitution, shuttered Congress, and established itself as the supreme authority in the country. Although the junta initially discussed rotating leadership, Pinochet soon consolidated power with the backing of loyal army officers, taking executive power as Supreme Chief of the Nation in June 1974 and the title of President in December 1974, while the junta kept a legislative role.