Ariostazo

The Ariostazo (Spanish: El Ariostazo) occurred on August 25, 1939, and was a brief revolt of the Tacna artillery regiment, led by General Ariosto Herrera, in what turned out to be a non-violent attempt against the government of Chilean President Pedro Aguirre Cerda.

Pedro Aguirre Cerda was elected and assumed as president on December 25, 1938, as the candidate of the Popular Front.

General Ariosto Herrera, the commander of the Army Division stationed in Santiago, was a supporter of former president Carlos Ibáñez del Campo and very much influenced by the fascist ideas he had absorbed while a military attaché in Italy during the 1930s.

On May 21, 1939, as General Herrera was arriving to the Presidential Palace for a ceremony, he saw a red flag hanging from one of the balconies and in a sudden impulse grabbed it and tore it down.

[2] The "flag incident" was picked up as an insult to the new government and a formal inquiry was instituted in order to remove him from his command.