Havana, September 11 (RHC) -- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Monday attended a concert held at the Basilica of the San Francisco de Asis Convent on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the military coup in Chile, which took the life of Salvador Allende and thousands of other Chileans. 

The program included the participation of troubadour Silvio Rodriguez, the National Choir of the Caribbean nation, directed by maestro Digna Guerra; flutist Niurka Gonzalez with pianist Malva Rodriguez and the Chamber Orchestra of Havana, according to the Presidency of the Republic on the social network X, formerly Twitter.

Chile's ambassador to Cuba, Patricia Esquenazi, thanked the Caribbean nation, its people, the historic leader, Fidel Castro, and President Miguel Díaz-Canel, for being Cuba "the country that opened its arms to those who arrived sad when the coup took place, thank you for accompanying us".

The concert was also attended by the Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, the Minister of Culture, Alpidio Alonso, part of the Chilean community living in Cuba, representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Cuba and notable Cuban intellectuals.

Fifty years ago, one of the darkest and bloodiest pages in the history of democracy and the workers' movement in Latin America took place on the morning of September 11, 1973, when the Moneda building (the seat of the Executive) was bombed and assaulted.

President Allende, faced with the demand to surrender, responded through Radio Magallanes with words that placed him forever among the greats of the region: "... I will not resign... I will pay with my life .... I am sure that the seed that we have given to the worthy conscience of thousands of Chileans cannot be destroyed".

Around one o'clock in the afternoon of that day and once all possibilities of resistance had been exhausted, Allende died after most of his escort and other combatants had fallen in the struggle or were captured after running out of ammunition.

The post-coup military repression was terrible: tens of thousands of people were segregated in prisons or in soccer stadiums turned into concentration camps, thousands were tortured and killed, and many others, adherents to left-wing parties or unions, had to flee, choosing the path of exile.