On 25 May 1962, Poland opened a commercial office in Santiago and on 7 January 1965, both nations elevated their diplomatic relations to an embassy. On 10 October 1973, soon after the Chilean coup d'état, diplomatic relations between Chile and Poland were severed by Chilean General Augusto Pinochet who was a staunch anti-communist. After democracy was restored to Chile in 1989, both nations re-established diplomatic relations on 11 March 1990. In 1995, former Polish President Lech Wałęsa paid a visit to Chile to partake on a conference titled "Solidarity and Peace in the New Millennium".