Thousands of people were tortured and killed, others "disappeared" at the hands of the authorities and the secret police, and more were illegally detained.
Men, women and children were rounded up by the military and taken from their homes. Most were never seen alive by their families again. A million people were forced into exile.
In Britain the Morning Star played an outstanding role over many years in helping to mobilise solidarity with the Chilean people.
Many Star readers will be familiar with this and may be interested to note that a new network called Chile 40 Years On is being set up to commemorate this tragic event, as well as to celebrate life and the progress made by Chilean people in their four-decade long quest for democracy and justice.
To find out more about events being organised to mark this 40th anniversary can I recommend that readers monitor the new web site at http://chile40yearson.org.
It will be updated regularly as events are organised over the coming months.
Jamie Lang
Sheffield