Former President Eduardo Frei Montalva Dies — Family Suspects Regime Involvement

Former Chilean President Eduardo Frei Montalva — who had initially welcomed the 1973 coup but later turned against Pinochet — dies following routine hernia surgery at a Santiago clinic. His family believes he was deliberately infected with a lethal agent by regime agents. A 2009 Chilean court found forensic evidence consistent with a lethal bacterial infection deliberately introduced during his surgery. DINA is suspected; the case remains officially unresolved.