Assassination Attempt
Among the dead at the Santa María massacre was Manuel Vaca, a Spanish immigrant worker. His half-brother, Antonio Ramón arrived in Chile from Argentina decided to revenge himself. Ramón finally took action seven years later and bought a dagger and some strychnine.
He found General Silva Renard walking alone to his office, on December 14, 1914, and stabbed him seven times on his back and head. The General started shouting “Murderer! Murderer!” and several passersby came to his help. Ramón, in turn, stopped the attack and tried to run away, only to be captured by an off-duty prison guard. When Ramón saw himself surrounded and all escapes blocked, he drank the bottle of strychnine he was carrying, but vomited most of it and was unharmed. Once in custody, Ramón vehemently denied other parties' involvement in the assassination, while the worker's organizations held public campaigns to raise money for his defense. He was eventually sentenced to five years in prison.
Read more about this topic: Roberto Silva Renard
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