MundoAndino Home : Andes Chile Guide at Mundo Andino
Roberto Viaux
Roberto Urbano Viaux Marambio was a Chilean Army General and the primary planner in two failed coup d'etat attempts in Chile in 1969 and 1970. The first was against President Eduardo Frei Montalva and the second aimed to prevent Socialist Salvador Allende's election.
Prior to his involvement in the Rene Schneider case, Viaux was a very well respected and admired military leader. He became famous when he led a small military insurrection (known as Tacnazo) on October 21, 1969. In that occasion he basically shut himself up with the "Tacna" regiment inside its barracks and went on a strike. He demanded a pay-raise for the Army and the resignation of both the Defense Minister and the Army Commander-in-Chief. After tense negotiations with the government, he deposed his strike when the government promised to study his salary demands and the Commander-in-Chief resigned.
On October 22, 1970 coup-plotters loyal to Viaux attempted to kidnap constitutionalist Chilean Army Commander-in-chief General Rene Schneider, who was adamantly opposed to any prospect of a coup. The official car was ambushed at a street intersection in the capital city of Santiago, Chile. When General Schneider drew a gun to defend himself, he was shot point-blank several times. Rushed to a military hospital the wounds proved fatal and he died three days later, on October 25. General Viaux was later convicted of involvement with the plot and imprisoned.
Related websites
www.frontpagemag.com
More information on El Tacnazo
CIA, Cable Transmissions on Coup Plotting, October 18, 1970
information on the plot
Obituary
El Mercurio Obituary
Need more information for your travel research or homework?
Ask your questions at the forum about Chilean Army generals or help others to find answers.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Roberto Viaux
