Former Chilean Dictator Pinochet Dies at 91
General Augusto Pinochet died at the age of 91 over the week-end. The man was dictator of Chile for 17 years. In that time, he murdered thousands of his countrymen while claiming he was just saving it from communism. For those who still think the old man did the right thing, one doesn’t save a country from communism by imposing fascism. The only regret here is that the general lived as long as he did.
Salvador Allende was a Marxist who had been president of Chile for 3 years when he appointed General Pinochet to be commander-in-chief of Chile’s armed forces. He had been a deputy, senator, cabinet minister and then he was elected president. He was not some fatigue wearing, cigar chomping jumped up bandito. He was a politician who was elected president on a plurality of votes (rather like Mrs. Thatcher and Mr. Clinton).
In 1973, Chile suffered from general economic chaos, which led to political troubles. In June, the military failed in a coup against Mr. Allende. Then, he appointed General Pinochet because he thought the army could be reined in that way. In September, General Pinochet told the elected leader of the Chilean nation to resign or face military action. A couple of days after he refused, President Allende’s body was found; he had been murdered by an army so cowardly that it ducked responsibility claiming it was a suicide.
The Santiago stadium was filled with “subversives,” including poet, director and folk singer Victor Jara. Many failed to come out alive. As part of Operation Condor, Chile and five other South American military dictatorships hunted down members of the opposition and “disappeared” many of them. As part of this, former Chilean Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier was assassinated by car bomb in Washington in September 1976. General Pinochet’s government had committed an act of terror in the American capital, and the US government did nothing. Indeed, Chile was hailed as an ally.
Eventually, General Pinochet’s government couldn’t handle the economy – military men make lousy economists as a general rule. In 1988, in a fit of hubris, he insisted on a referendum to continue in office, and he lost 54.7% to 43%. He accepted the result, but recrafted the constitution to prevent any prosecution. Eventually, the Chilean government stripped that from him, the Spanish government brought charges, and he spent some time under house arrest.
He died over the week-end an old and frail man. He had killed many of his countrymen, and he had embezzled several million dollars, which he stashed abroad. He was a tin-pot dictator and a serial murderer. Celebrations are in order.
© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.
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