Carlos Prats

Chile state institutions 1915.2.24.–1974.9.30. ✕ Killed by a car bomb in exile

The Chilean Army's last constitutionalist commander, who crushed the Tanquetazo and was forced out before the coup

On 29 June 1973 he stepped out of his car near La Moneda carrying a Thompson submachine gun and spoke directly to the mutinous soldiers to make them give up.

Born in Talcahuano, Prats joined the army in 1931 and became an artillery officer. When General René Schneider was assassinated in October 1970 he succeeded him as commander-in-chief of the Army and became the leader of the constitutionalists who upheld the Schneider Doctrine of military non-intervention. After the October 1972 strike he joined Allende's cabinet as Interior Minister, and on 29 June 1973 he crushed the tank revolt (Tanquetazo) within hours. In August a protest by generals' wives convinced him he had lost his fellow officers' support, and on 23 August he resigned as Defence Minister and commander-in-chief, recommending Pinochet as his successor. After the coup he went into exile in Argentina, where on 30 September 1974 he and his wife were killed in Buenos Aires by a car bomb planted by the DINA.

Also known as: Carlos Prats González