Saldías' term, however, was interrupted by the 1973 coup d'état, which put General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte presiding a government junta which, on 29 September 1973, expelled Saldías Fuentealba from the mayoral office and put in his place Christian Democrat "regidor" Carlos Echazarreta Iñiguez, who held office until November of that year.