Last Monday 26th, January 2015, was the 41st anniversary of the publication, in the American newspaper The New York Times, of the picture of the only Chilean photographer winner of the prestigious prize World Press Photo of the Year 1973, awarded by the World Press Photo Foundation in the Netherlands. It is the world’s most important prize in Photojournalism.   The image shows one of the last photos of Chilean President Dr. Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens alive, wearing a helmet and rifle on his shoulder, inside the Chilean Palace of Government, La Moneda, the day of the Coup d’état, on September 11, 1973. It was taken that fateful morning at about 09:40 a.m. by Leopoldo Víctor Vargas– presidential photographer and non-commission officer (NCO) of the Chilean Air Force. [1] Since it’s publication in The New York Times this picture has become a truly world photo icon.

The World Press Photo of the Year 1973  depicts Chilean President, Dr. Salvador Allende, during his tour of inspection through La Moneda Palace of government, looking for the best positions for its defense, while the Coup is in progress. Allende is flanked by two members of his personal guard, known by the acronym GAP, which in Spanish stands for “Group of Personal Friends” of the President. On Allende’s far right is Héctor Daniel Urrutia Molina (a.k.a. Miguel) and to the far left side is, the tallest one, squinting, Luis Fernando Rodríguez Riquelme (a.k.a. Mauricio). Right behind the President is José Muñoz, Captain of the Carabineros Presidential Guard, and Allende’s friend Dr.Danilo Bartulín Fovich.

The photo actually won two awards at the World Press Photo Foundation that year: World Press Photo of the Year 1973, the grand prize , and the 1st Prize in Spot News. [2] Nowadays, the photo winner of the grand prize is considered a photography belonging to the universal visual heritage. It’s placed among the most important photographs of the 20th century in world literature. Also, it’s on countless websites, in the most diverse languages, as well as in films and documentaries based partially on the award-winning photography. [3]

“The six photos that photographer Leo Vargas shoot  that fateful day is the only visual material existing and preserved of inside the Chilean Palace of government.”

Since mid-1974, presidential photographer Leopoldo Víctor Vargas [4] was aware that one of his photographs had been chosen as the world’s best press picture of the year 1973, awarded by the World Press Photo Foundation, in the Netherlands. A prize that he was not able to accept for fears of retaliation, and the imminent danger on his personal safety and that of his family. He had to keep his own identity anonymous, in secrecy, due to the clear and present danger at that time. Think of it, first of all, the prize had been awarded only seven months after the coup, [5] while in full motion of the repressive paranoia of the rebels. [6] Secondly, it was granted by an organization of a country from the Socialist orbit- seen as “a red country” by the insurgents. Thirdly, the award was conferred by a picture of a President just deposed, with all the political implications that this might imply to the new military regime. Fourth, at that time, between 1973 and 1974, photographer Leopoldo Vargas was a non-commissioned officer (NCO), in active duty, of the Chilean Air Force. Fifth, NCO Vargas worked until the very same day of the Coup for President Allende, at La Moneda Palace, and after September 11, 1973 he was commissioned to work as a photographer for the Military Junta, at the Diego Portales building. Therefore, Vargas was right in the middle of the very top of the clashing forces. And finally, as the only photographer of the Junta  right after the Coup, Leopoldo Vargas became the author of the first Official Portraits of the four rebel generals. You don’t have to be a real genius to realize that NCO Vargas was literally between a rock and a hard place. For these reasons, Leopoldo Vargas and his family had to be very cautious. The existence and paternity of those photos was something talked about only within the immediate family circle. Because of this precaution, during the following 17 years of dictatorship in Chile, NCO Vargas was never questioned or found himself on the edge of being exposed as the author of those compromising photos.

Leopoldo Vargas had pretty clear in his mind that the winning picture had acquired some importance. At one point in time, anyone who regarded himself as a fairly informed person had observed really carefully his photographic work. But it was not until the mid of the year 2007, when his sons began a thorough investigation, that Leo Vargas found out the true dimension that his work had reached. At present one of his photos is regarded as an iconic photo belonging to the universal photographic heritage.

Due to the necessity of the photographer Vargas to keep his identity and the photos’ paternity in secret for so many years, over time, a true veil of urban legends has formed around them. The words of the writer, speaker and Roman politician Cicero have been fulfilled: “Truth is corrupted as much by lies as it is corrupted by silence.”

Some have abused the silence of the real heroes of the day to validate their fables. They have reproduced basic mistakes, endlessly, everywhere were they are given the chance to, looking after their own interest, not for the real truth. In order to do so, they have sheltered themselves under the Goebbels’ Nazi method: “if a lie is repeated often enough it becomes the truth”. But no matter how often enough a lie is repeated it still is a lie.

As soon as Leopoldo Vargas and his sons began their own investigation in 2007, they quickly realized that what by then was known as the story of those photographs, of 9/11/73, was a real mess. There were a multitude of mistakes, omissions, and inaccuracies- particularly in details. Many of these errors have been repeated over and over again, here and there, without making the slightest questioning of the accuracy of the data and/or the credibility of the sources. Unfortunately when these errors are repeated by some well known institutions they tend to perpetuate them by backing them up with their prestige as respectable institutions. This in turn adds even more confusion to an already perplexed rooky on the subject- thinking that this institutions know better, but they don’t.

Basic and recurrent errors

An elemental error has been to assume that Vargas’ picture won the World Press Photo (WPPh) award because it was the last picture of President Allende alive. For instance, on the Website of the Salvador Allende Foundation (FSA), it reads: this photo… won the World Press [Photo of the Year 1973 prize] for being considered “the last photo of Salvador Allende”. [7] Definitely not. It won the Grand Prize because it has what, later on French philosopher, Roland Barthes defined as punctum (a Latin word derived from the Greek word for trauma). Punctum is that rare detail or “partial object” that “shoots out of [the photograph] like an arrow and pierces”, bruises, pricks or wounds the observer. [8] That element that makes the observer to pause and to look again, only this time, with much more intensity, capturing his full attention. That unexplainable thing that makes it stands out and takes over the entire viewer’s attention.

A photograph’s punctum is created or produced, for example, by an efficient eclectic juxtaposition of objects or subjects in the frame- a duality. And it’s understood or perceived by that mixed emotion that arouses and surprise the observer. Is that “je ne sais quoi” that takes the viewer out of his comfort zone, and that attracts, and holds the Spectator’s gaze. The thing that makes the observer feel that something seems to be out of place and it just doesn’t feel right because something doesn’t really match; it’s discordant, incompatible, inconsistent or even contradictory. But it’s not to be confused with a shocking feeling because that might cause repulsion and rejection. On the contrary a punctum photo is loved by the observer, so to speak. When this feeling is experienced by anyone, anywhere in the world, we are in the presence of a punctum image. So, the power of the photo does not rely on the viewer’s interest of its subject because the image is so powerful that it can stand on its own.

In Vargas’ picture it’s clearly seen the thick tension and the clear determination in the face of a democratically elected President, not precisely dress for war although he is wearing a helmet and a gun machine, and is being accompanied by a small group, some of them armed, stepping outside, and moving decisively towards the camera, as if ready to engage in combat at any given moment. The juxtaposition or duality of elements that exist there and that is seen in this photograph creates the punctum. That surprising: What?! That strikes and moves the observer.

Amongst many visual specialists, Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzmán said that Vargas’ picture: “… is an image that has something, some vitality, an energy that reaches out… it’s a striking photo.” [9] Likewise, the legendary photo editor of The New York Times (NYT) (1967-1975), John Godfrey Morris, [10] who published the photo, and member of the Jury of the 1973 contest, said that: “when The New York Times published this photo on page one and that was months after the Coup D’état… because the Coup was on September 11… When The Times published it… it was months later. But it was still worthy news because it is very rare to see a head of State on the day of the revolt, and especially when he carries a weapon.” Here, President Allende “…is coming towards the camera… He is under great stress… holding a weapon in hand… surrounded by his nervous supporters. No wonder this is a great prize. It shows the true image of the end of the regime of Allende in Chile.” [11] Therefore, that’s the reason why it won the Grand Prize by unanimous decision of the 1973 contest Jury. [12]

 “Not Just an extraordinary photo but an iconic one.”

So, what is it that separates this picture from among all other punctum photos and gives it an iconic status? Because Leo Vargas’ image of Salvador Allende, during the 1973 coup, records, forcefully and emphatically, the last moments of an emblematic democratically elected government crumbling. [13] Because it represents a whole era when there were many Coups, particularly in Latin America. [14]   According to David D. Perlmutter, Professor of Mass Communication, Allende’s picture “is an icon because it sums up a lot of facts that occurred during the era when, in Latin America, military governments were overthrowing civilian Governments.” [15]

To corroborate that statement, Leopoldo Vargas’ photo, of Chilean President Salvador Allende and his entourage during the 1973 coup, is one of the four pictures seen in the documentary “Looking for an Icon“, alongside other three WPPh award winners; Eddie Adams’s 1968 photo of the public execution of a Viet Cong prisoner, Charlie Cole’s 1989 photo of a lone student confronting tanks in Tiananmen Square, David Turnley’s 1991 photo of a grieving soldier during the first Gulf War. In this documentary these pictures are brought out as iconic images belonging to the universal photographic heritage.

Now, the assumption that it won the Grand Prize “for being the last” photo of the President alive, came up presumably because of the literal interpretation of the brief press report of the official presentation of the prize in 1974. It says: “The World Press Photo exhibition in Amsterdam. Prince Bernhard hands over the prize to a representative of ‘ Time Life’ for the last picture of president Salvador Allende of Chile.” [16] French journalist Marie-Monique Robin, in her influential book, repeats it almost word by word and without giving further explanations. This will induce many others to err that in time will continue to mistakenly repeat that this was the reason why the photo won the Grand Prize of 1973. Clearly, the 1999 edition of her book is the source of this and many other mistakes. [17]

Notice that this brief news report from WPPh Foundation refutes another small error, the second one, stating that the Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands hands over the Grand Prize to a representative of ‘Time-Life‘, not to The Associated Press (AP) agency. Additionally, this press release mentions that Time-Life was the one responsible for the initial distribution of the photo. [18]

Later on, the same official newsreel of the inauguration of the exhibition of the WPPh 1973 mentions that the portrait of Ms. Hortensia Bussi, [19] wife of President Allende, won the first place in the category of Portrait that year 1973. Captured by Russian photographer Alexander Rubachkin. [20]

A third very basic error has been to assume that the award winning picture depicts the President and his entourage coming outside of the Palace of government. Leopoldo Vargas captured this photo exiting the Salón O’Higgins, when they came out to one of the courtyards of the Palace. [21] Since the President entered the Palace that day, at about 07:30 a.m., at no time he came outside La Moneda, until he was carried out dead by the exit at Morandé 80, in the afternoon. But he made a really brief appearance on one of the balconies of the second floor, overlooking Moneda street, earlier that morning, at 08:40 a.m. [22]

Is it a picture from the day of the Coup D’état or from the day of the failed Tanquetazo putsch?

The fourth basic mistake, on the story of the winner of the World Press Photo of the Year 1973 (WPPh1973), shot by Chilean presidential photographer Leopoldo Víctor Vargas, is to suppose that the image was captured on the day of the failed Tanquetazo putsch [a.k.a. Tancazo], on 6/29/1973, i.e. three months before the Coup D’état of 9/11/1973. [23]

The Website of the Salvador Allende Foundation (FSA), states: “… it is believed that the image is from June 29th, 1973; day in which the [Chilean] armed forces put on a failed putsch known as the Tanquetazo. Collection FSA, Chile, 1973.“ [24]

Where did the idea that the photo was captured the day of the Tanquetazo come from? The truth is that it came from a real children’s story that has spread unquestioned through people and organizations from which you might expect that they should know better. And, to make the damage control even harder, it spread faster than a middle school rumor, under the shadow of silence of the real heroes of the day.

In 1997, Amadeo Becquer Casaballe released, “The last photo of Salvador Allende“, [25] a ludicrously biased report which only aims is to discredit the award winning photograph of the Grand Prize of the WPPh1973, and to highlight a really poor picture of Allende, on that day, by Argentine photographer Horacio Villalobos.

Bécquer Casaballe wrote that the photo that “won that year the World Press award… would had been taken several months earlier, in June 1973, during the failed military putsch known as the Tancazo.” What’s the proof he presented to make such statement? A truly ridiculous one, giving no names, saying that “an acquaintance of Allende, who was exiled in Buenos Aires, confirmed that presumption, admitting that one of the men in the picture was not in [the Palace of Government] La Moneda the day of the coup, but was on guard duty at the presidential residence at Los Arrayanes.” [26] Ask yourself, is this cogent evidence? Nope. Actually, it isn’t.

A. Bécquer Casaballe provided no detail in terms of: Who is that supposed acquaintance that said it? Is it a trustworthy person? Was he/she in La Moneda Palace that day? Then again, who is that person that supposedly was not present at the Palace on 11-S-73? Was it one of the Carabineros’ Presidential Guard or one of the members of the president’s personal guard, known as GAP? [27] There are no names, and no specific data, ergo there’s no proof. It is something that really insults the reader’s intelligence.

All legit scholars on the subject and all inside eyewitnesses of that day acknowledge the legitimacy of the photograph and recognize it as an authentic picture from the day of the Coup in September 11th, 1973. To begin with, the picture was taken undoubtedly inside the Palace, however the day of the Tanquetazo, President Allende did not arrive at La Moneda Palace but right after that the rebels were subdued. [28] And, that day of 6/29/1973, no member of the GAP entered La Moneda that was defended only by the Carabineros’ Guard of Palace, under the command of Lieutenant Guillermo Pérez.

Moreover, according to Dr. Oscar “Cacho” Soto, one of Allende’s close personal friends and doctor, the day of the Tancazo or Tanquetazo, the President wore a “dark suit, a white shirt and a tie.” [29] A pretty different attire from what he wore the day of the Coup, when he was “wearing a grey color jacket, and under it a grey turtle neck sweater with brown rhomboid figures, dark grey trousers, and black shoes.”  [30]

American journalist and historian, James Whelan, adds an interesting detail, when describing President Allende as “wearing a grey tweed jacket, a woolen turtleneck sweater of the same color with dark grey geometric designs, a sport shirt, dark grey trousers, and black shoes… always the dandy, he tucked a blue silk handkerchief with red dots in the upper left breast pocket of his jacket.” [31] The same handkerchief that is seen in Vargas’ photo and that is listed in the inventory of the President’s belongings, after his death, by the Chilean Policía de Investigaciones (PDI). [32]

Remarkably, in all six photographs captured that fateful day of 9/11/73, by La Moneda’s photographer, Leopoldo Víctor Vargas, President Salvador Allende is dressed exactly the same way as he was found lifeless, [33] according to the forensic report of the Homicide Brigade’s Fourth Precinct of the Chilean plain clothes Police (PDI). [34]  Years later, in the Special Unit of Forensic Identification, the Chilean Coroner (Servicio Médico Legal), on May 26^th 2011, in regards to the attire President Allende was wearing the last time he was seen alive, Dr. Arturo Jirón, one of Allende’s staff doctors, pointed out that Allende “had on a grey jacket, a raised neck sweater with rhombuses, comfortable large shoes, dark trousers, a white shirt, a big watch… and very thick framed glasses.” On that same occasion, the President’s youngest daughter, Sen. Isabel Allende Bussi, “recalled that he had dark trousers, grey tweed jacket with black dots and a grey sweater with lighter grey rhomboid [shapes].” Exactly the same outfit that the President is seen in the six photographs that Vargas shoot that day, and the known available forensic pictures.

Notice that these are not only the same garments but in Vargas’ six photos, as well as in those from the PDI of the dead President, is clearly seen that the President wears the lower button of his jacket fastened while the top button is loose. Note also some other details like in all Vargas’ photos the President is wearing the Carabineros’ helmet with its straps untied, and his rifle hangs on his right shoulder in all six pictures, which is the same weapon that was found later on next to his lifeless body. These are specific details. Truth is that there are too many similarities to be just a coincidence.

There is also the undeniable testimony of Dr. Danilo Bartulín Fovich, Allende’s close friend and family doctor, the same person that appears behind the President, in three of the six pictures. In the documentary “Stronger than fire. The last hours in La Moneda“, Dr. Bartulin said: “immediately after his last words, by President Allende addressing the people, he began a walk through La Moneda [Palace]… In this tour, a La Moneda’s reporter took several photographs. From this material… only five photographs depicting President Allende alive are preserved“. Then, while Vargas’ six photographs are displayed, one by one, the narrator says: “the last photographs of Salvador Allende, six in total, after many delays, are published in January ‘74 through the photographic service of the New York Times. One of the photographs shows President Allende still in his office. The others are during his walk through of La Moneda looking for the best defensive positions.” [35]

But despite it being an evident mistake, and really easy one to figure out on top of that, it’s surprising how it is repeated over and over again. For example, in a recent publication, despite putting two of Vargas’ photos of the Coup, one in front of the other, showing the President Allende dressed in exactly the same clothes, they failed miserably by making the same mistake, when it is stated that the winning photo of WPPh1973 was captured during the Tanquetazo, on June 29, 1973, while the other of Allende on the phone, would be from September 11th, 1974. [36] This was done despite that all the facts and small details indicate unequivocally that they were both captured the same day. Now, this in turn arises serious doubts as to the accuracy of analysis and study of the rest of the book.

As if all above mentioned was not enough, we might add another three pieces of solid and irrefutable evidence. First, those two pictures debuted together in the first page of the American newspaper The New York Times, Saturday, January 26, 1974, as part of the same film strip. Secondly, it’s obvious that they were captured with the same camera and lens, because both full frame photos have the same thread or filament in the upper left corner. And thirdly, in the handing over of the prize in the Netherlands in 1974, for the WPPh1973, they were both presented on the same display of the winner of the photo of the year award, and as part of a series of six photos in the same strip of film. The burden of evidence is simply overwhelming.

 

Please see the upcoming posting of this series. Debunking the Myths and Legends surrounding the World Press Photo of the Year 1973.

^* This is the first paper published at piensaChile.com, by Marcos J. Vargas, of a series of three papers on the subject World Press Photo 1973. It was first published online  on January 26^th, 2015 [1].
Since then it was available only in Spanish. With this posting in English we correct that matter. Also, this is an updated and improved version  of that original paper. It is a work in progress as well.

ENDNOTES:

[1]  See World Press Photo 1973 posted @ piensaChile.com online magazine, on January 26, 2015.

[2]  For a summary about the World Press Photo Foundation, the prize and the judging among all the participants, see History of the WPPh Foundation, and the Photo Contest Prizes . See also (in Spanish) the news report “El mundo tras el lente, World Press Photo, en Ámsterdam”, by Antonio Astudillo, section El Sábado, Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, Santiago, Chile, Saturday 3 March 2001.

[3]  See “Photos That Changed the World“, edited by Peter Stepan (Prestel Publishing, Munich, London, 2006). Also see “Les Cent Photos du siècle” (The One Hundred Photos of the Century), Marie-Monique Robin (Publisher: Köln – Evergreen; Paris: Éditions du Chêne. 1999), page 061. As well as the documentary “Looking for an Icon“, a film by Hans Pool and Maaik Krijgsman (A First Run/Icarus Films Release, 2005); and the feature of Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzmán  entitled “Salvador Allende” (2004), which was awarded at the 2006 Cannes Festival.

[4]  For a brief biography see Leopoldo V. Vargas. See also Leopoldo Vargas, el fotógrafo de las últimas horas de Allende en La Moneda, Hermes H. Benítez, @ online magazine piensaChile.com, Monday 25 June 2012.

[5]  The winners were announced on March 27, 1974, see The New York Times, Thursday, May 28, 1974, p. 8. The picture was chosen from among 3.532 photos, of 603 participating photographers, from 38 countries. See WPPh Contest 1973 in Context

[6]  With the enactment of the military proclamations of the coup, we observe in Chile, the establishment of a police state, with the suppression of some civil and judicial, rights and freedoms, and the application of a systematic ferocious repression through arbitrary arrests, harassment and intimidation, exonerations, imprisonment, exile, summary executions, torture, and disappearances.

[7] See “La que se creía la última foto de Salvador Allende”, Fundación Salvador Allende (FSA), Santiago de Chile, September 4, 2010. Checked on January 1st, 2015.

[8] See  “Camera Lucida, Reflections on Photography”, Roland Gérard Barthes (New York: Hill and Wang, 1981) (Translation by Richard Howard of: La chambre claire). Page 27-41.

[9] See “Es una foto impresionante” (It’s a striking picture), BBC Mundo, Wednesday, February 1st, 2006. Rafael Estafanía interviews Patricio Guzmán. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/forums/espacio_del_lector/newsid_4670000/4670320.stm

[10] Nominated the Best Photo Editor of 20th Century by the International Center of Photography (ICP), New York City, that in 2010 awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Morris was one of the nine members of the jury for the World Press Photo 1973 contest. Actually he lives in Paris, France. At 98 he’s currently retired and preparing his memoirs.

[11] See “Looking for an Icon”, a film by Hans Pool and Maaik Krijgsman (A First Run/Icarus Films Release, 2005).

[12] See http://www.worldpressphoto.org/content/1974.

[13] http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2013/09/130906_chile_11_septiembre_golpe_emblematico (Why The Coup D’etat In Chile Is So Emblematic), by Dalia Ventura, BBC Mundo, Wednesday, September 11th, 2013. Checked on January 1st, 2015.

[14] An era that coincide with the implementation of the Truman Doctrine and the creation of the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) in The United States at the beginning of the Cold War in 1947. For example, in Latin America, the case of Guatemala, the democratically elected Government of Colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán was overthrown by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas in an operation organized by the CIA, with the code name Operation PBSUCCESS when the American owned United Fruit Company was in danger of losing its concessions in the region. See “Secret History: The CIA’s classified account of its operations in Guatemala, 1952-1954”, by Nick Cullather (Stanford University Press, 1999). In 1953, in the Middle East, under the operation (TP) AJAX planned by the CIA’s operative Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. (a grandson of Theodore Roosevelt), with the support of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), the Prime Minister of Iran, democratically elected Mohammed Mossadegh, was deposed when he dared to nationalize the Iranian oil. Thus, leaving out the immensely profitable Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) [renamed British Petroleum Company (BP) in 1954], which was the pillar of the British economy, and that provided it great political influence in the region. They brought back, for another 25 years, the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and Mossadegh was replaced by General Fazlollah Zahedi, a puppet PM, a selection pretty much in agreement with the British and American interests. His first act as Prime Minister was the denationalizing of the oil and the offering of the sale of 60% of its production to North American companies. For an updated analysis of the causes of the instability of the Third World governments, see “The Untold History of the United States“, by Oliver Stone and Peter J. Kuznick (New York: Gallery Books, 2012). For the Chilean case, see Chapter 9, appropriately called, “Nixon & Kissinger: The ’Madman’ and the ’Psychopath’”, pp. 372-379. For works based on recent declassified documents from the CIA about the Chilean case, see also the documentary “EEUU versus Salvador Allende“, Directed by Diego Marín Verdugo (son of Patricia Verdugo), based on the book “Salvador Allende; Cómo la Casa Blanca provocó su muerte” (Salvador Allende. How the White House Caused His Death), by Patricia Verdugo (Buenos Aires : Editorial El Ateneo, First Ed., 2003). Also see the documentary “Disparen sobre Santiago. La CIA en la caída de Allende” (Shooting over Santiago. The CIA’s role in Allende’s downfall) (Román Lejtman, and Evangelina Díaz, 2008). See also “The Pinochet File: A declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability“, Peter Kornbluh, A National Security Archive Book, (New York: The New Press, 2004).

[15] See “Looking for an Icon”, ob. cit.

[16] In Dutch it says: “De World Press Photo-tentoonstelling in Amsterdam. Prins Bernhard overhandigt de prijs aan een vertegenwoordiger van ‘Time Life’ voor de laatste foto van president Salvador Allende van Chili”. See the  newsreel (in UTube) https://youtu.be/M0kfz2gfz3U [World Press Photo (1974)], uploaded by Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid. Checked on January 1st, 2015.

[17] See “Les Cent Photos du Siecle” (The Photos of the Century: 100 Historic Moments), Marie-Monique Robin, Publisher: Köln – Evergreen (Paris: Editions du Chene. 1999), image 061.

[18] Santiago Llanquín, Photo Lab Technician at the Associated Press (AP) agency, at the time of the Coup, denied that the pictures had passed through his desk days after 9/11/1973. See “El mundo tras el lente, World Press Photo, en Ámsterdam” (The world behind the lens, WPP, Amsterdam), by Antonio Astudillo; section El Sábado, Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, Santiago de Chile, Saturday, March 3rd, 2001.

[19] She passed away on Thursday, June 18^th, 2009, age 94, at Valparaíso, Chile.

[20] See the newsreel World Press Photo (1974), ob. cit.

[21] Filmmaker Patricio Guzmán proves it in the feature film “Salvador Allende” del 2004.

[22] The precise time that the president stepped out of the balcony was stablished by using a Sun Dial. See Exact time of Allende’s balcony appearance

[23] See images in UTube: Noticiero Nacional Edición Especial “El Tancazo”   y El Tanquetazo, Capítulo 3 de Los Mil Dias: La Antesala del Golpe, checked on January/22/2015.

On the morning of June 29th 1973, starts the uprising of the tanks army unit, Regimiento Blindado N° 2, action known as Tancazo or Tanquetazo, under the command of Armies’ Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Souper.

At 08:30 a.m., 16 military vehicles of the Armored Regiment No. 2, come out from their barracks located in the intersection of Coquimbo and Santa Rosa streets, in Santiago, heading to La Moneda Palace.

At 09:58, after the tanks spread about the Santiago de Chile’s civil center, the first shots were fired. Crossfire mainly aimed towards the Palace of government and the building of the Ministry of Defense right across the Alameda Avenue.

The putsch would be put off by the Armies’ Commander in Chief himself, General Carlos Prats González..

At 10:50, General Prats along with loyal troops start to besiege the insurgents and restrained them shortly after 11 a.m.

At 11:32, the last rebel tanks abandon La Moneda surroundings.

At 11:41 a.m., President Allende finally arrives at the Palace.

After the Coup, former Army General Prats would be assassinated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, along with his wife Sofía Ester Cuthbert Chiarleoni, on September 30th 1974, by the Chilean military regime secret police (1973-1977), Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), within the framework of Operación Cóndor. See “Los crímenes del Cóndor”, Alejandro Carrió (Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana, 2005).

[24] See “La que se creía la última foto de Salvador Allende“, Fundación Salvador Allende (FSA), Santiago de Chile, Septiembre 4, 2010. Checked on January 1st 2015.

[25] See “La Ultima Fotografía de Salvador Allende”, A. Becquer Casaballe, Archivo Chile, Centro de Estudios Miguel Enríquez (CEME), Fuente: Fotomundo, 1997.

[26] Ibid.

[27] The acronym GAP stands for “Grupo de Amigos Personales” (Group of Personal Friends of the President), the president’s partisan guard. President Allende was also escorted by the paramilitary Police, or the Carabineros’ Palace Guard (Guardia de Palacio del Cuerpo de Carabineros), and by the guard of the Chilean plain clothes Police (Policía de Investigaciones), whose acronym is PDI.

[28] President Allende and his entourage, stayed in his residence, located at Tomas Moro Street, until around 11:30 a.m., when he headed to La Moneda Palace. See documentary “Im Feuer bestanden. Die letzten Stunden in der Moneda” (“Stronder than fire. The last hours at La Moneda”; or in Spanish: “Más fuerte que el fuego. Las últimas horas en La Moneda”), produced by Walter Heynowski & Gerhard Scheumann, 1978, Studio H & S Berlin, Democratic Republic of Germany, filmed by Peter Hellmich and Manfred Berger.

[29] Ibid.

[30] See the book “El Último Día de Salvador Allende”, Óscar Soto (Madrid, España: El País, Grupo Santillana de Ediciones, 1998), page 62.

[31] See “Allende: death of a Marxist dream” James Whelan (Westport, Connecticut: Arlington House Publishers, 1981), page 87.

[32] See Reference Note #12.

[33] For instance, as it can be clearly seen in the available forensic pictures, marked as 1416/73-A and 1416/73-W, of Salvador Allende’s lifeless body, as he was found at Salón Independencia of the Palacio de La Moneda, by Policía de Investigaciones de Chile (PDI). See the book “La Conjura”, Mónica González, (Santiago de Chile: Ediciones B Chile S.A., 2000), page 15.

[34]The Homicide Brigade’s Fourth Precinct report states: “En la Cuarta Subcomisaria, dependiente de la Brigada de Homicidios de la Policía de Investigaciones de Chile, en su servicio de guardia del día 11 al 12 de septiembre de 1973, folio N°31, párrafo N°1 se puede leer la siguiente constancia: “16,20 horas…….. Suicidio del Presidente de la República Dr. Salvador Allende Gossens…“Ropas en orden cuyas características son las siguientes: “Chaqueta de tweed color gris, abotonada en el botón inferior de dos que tiene la prenda; pulóver de cuello subido gris con figuras geométricas parduscas; camiseta sport blanca; pantalones color marengo (color gris muy oscuro, cercano al negro); Al registro de sus vestimentas, en el bolsillo superior izquierdo de la chaqueta se encontró un pañuelo de seda de lunares rojos con fondo azul.”

[35] See the documentary “Im Feuer bestanden. Die letzten Stunden in der Moneda”, Ob. Cit.

[36] See “Story of a Death Foretold. The Coup against Salvador Allende, September 11, 1973”, Oscar Guardiola-Rivera (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2013), pictures in the added center pages, between pages 222 y 223.