The 1973 Chilean coup d’état (Spanish: Golpe de Estado en Chile de 1973) was a military overthrow of the democratic socialist president of Chile Salvador Allende and his Popular Unity coalition government.[10][11] Allende, who has been described as the first Marxist to be democratically elected president in a Latin American liberal democracy,[12][13] faced significant social unrest, political tension with the opposition-controlled National Congress of Chile. On 11 September 1973, a group of military officers, led by General Augusto Pinochet, seized power in a coup, ending civilian rule.