Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet | |
|
|
---|---|
In office September 11, 1973 – March 11, 1981 |
|
Succeeded by | José Toribio Merino |
|
|
In office June 27, 1974 – March 11, 1990 |
|
Preceded by | Salvador Allende |
Succeeded by | Patricio Aylwin |
|
|
Born | November 25, 1915 Valparaíso |
Died | December 10, 2006 (aged 91) Santiago, Chile in the Military Hospital |
Nationality | Chilean |
Political party | None, military |
Spouse | Lucía Hiriart |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte[1] (November 25, 1915 – December 10, 2006) was President of Chile from 1974 to 1990, as well as head of the government junta from 1973 to 1974. His dictatorship [2], which put an end to the Presidential Republic Era of Chilean history, instituted broad economic reforms and a severe and highly controversial campaign against the leftist political parties, including repression of civilian population.
On September 11, 1973, Pinochet, recently appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army, headed a coup d'état against Socialist President Salvador Allende and established a military government. Pinochet implemented a series of military operations in which (according to the 1993 Rettig Report) approximately 3,000 people are known to have been executed [3], while (according to the 2004 Valech Report) 27,000 were incarcerated without trials and subjected to torture [4]. Thousands more fled in exile, in particular in Argentina, as political refugees; however, they were followed in their exile by the DINA secret police, in the frame of Operation Condor which linked South American dictatorships together against political opponents. He was famous for saying "Not a single leaf moves in this country if I'm not the one moving it.[5]"
In 1974, the junta appointed Pinochet president by a joint decree, later confirmed by a plebiscite in 1980. He remained in power until 1990, after his attempt to continue to rule was defeated in the 1988 plebiscite. After stepping down, he remained a life-senator, in accord with the 1980 Constitution. He was also Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army until March 10, 1998.
At the time of his death in December 2006, around 300 criminal charges in Chile were still pending against him for human rights abuses (torture, forced disappearance, assassination, etc.), tax evasion and embezzlement under his rule and afterwards [6] — in 2006, Pinochet's total wealth was estimated at $28 million or more [7]. Pinochet remains a controversial figure in many parts of the world, dividing people who condemn him for his human rights abuses from those who credit him with bringing order and economic stability to Chile.
Pinochet is a "Famous Rotarian" Honorary Member of the Rotary International.
Contents |
Early career
Pinochet was born in Valparaíso on November 25, 1915, the son of Augusto Pinochet Vera (descendant of Breton immigrants who arrived in Chile during the 18th century) and Avelina Ugarte Martínez. He went to primary and secondary school at the San Rafael Seminary of Valparaíso, the (Marist Brothers) in Quillota, the French Fathers' School of Valparaíso, and to the Military School, which he entered in 1933. After four years of study, in 1937 he graduated with the rank of alférez (Second Lieutenant) in the infantry.
In September 1937, he was assigned to the "Chacabuco" Regiment, in Concepción. Two years later, in 1939, then with the rank of sub-lieutenant, he moved to the "Maipo" Regiment, garrisoned in Valparaíso. He returned to Infantry School in 1940. On January 30, 1943, he married Lucía Hiriart Rodríguez, with whom he had five children: three daughters (Inés Lucía, María Verónica, Jacqueline Marie) and two sons (Augusto Osvaldo and Marco Antonio).
At the end of 1945, he was assigned to the "Carampangue" Regiment in the northern city of Iquique. In 1948, he entered the War Academy, but he had to postpone his studies, because, being the youngest officer, he had to carry out a service mission in the coal zone of Lota. The following year, he returned to his studies in the Academy. After obtaining the title of Officer Chief of Staff, in 1951, he returned to teach at the Military School. At the same time, he worked as a teachers' aide at the War Academy, giving military geography and geopolitics classes. In addition to this, he was active as editor of the institutional magazine Cien Águilas ("One Hundred Eagles"). At the beginning of 1953, with the rank of major, he was sent for two years to the "Rancagua" Regiment in Arica. While there, he was appointed professor of the War Academy, and he returned to Santiago to take up his new position.
In 1956, Pinochet was chosen, together with a group of other young officers, to form a military mission that would collaborate in the organization of the War Academy of Ecuador in Quito, which forced him to suspend his law studies. He remained with the Quito mission for three-and-a-half years, during which time he dedicated himself to the study of geopolitics, military geography and intelligence. During his time there, he was known in diplomatic circles as an exceptional poker player.
At the end of 1959, he returned to Chile and was sent to General Headquarters of the I Army Division, based in Antofagasta. The following year, he was appointed Commander of the "Esmeralda" Regiment. Due to his success in this position, he was appointed Sub-director of the War Academy in 1963. In 1968, he was named Chief of Staff of the II Army Division, based in Santiago, and at the end of that year, he was promoted to Brigadier General and Commander in Chief of the VI Division, garrisoned in Iquique. In his new function, he was also appointed Intendant of the Tarapacá Province.
In January 1971, Pinochet rose to Division General, and was named General Commander of the Santiago Army Garrison. At the beginning of 1972, he was appointed General Chief of Staff of the Army. With rising domestic strife in Chile, Pinochet was appointed Army Commander in Chief on August 23, 1973 by President Salvador Allende just the day after the Chamber of Deputies of Chile approved the August 22, 1973 Resolution asserting that Allende was not respecting the Constitution. Less than a month later, the Chilean military deposed Allende.
Military coup of 1973
On September 11, 1973; the Armed Forces overthrew Allende's government in a coup, during which the presidential palace, La Moneda, was shelled, while Allende committed suicide. The coup put an end to the Presidential Republic period of Chile (1924-1973).
In his memoirs, Pinochet affirmed that he was the leader of the coup, and used his position as Commander-in-chief of the Army to coordinate a far-reaching scheme with the other two branches of the military and the national police [citation needed]. In recent years, however, high military officials from the time have said that Pinochet reluctantly got involved only a few days before it was scheduled to occur and followed the lead of other branches (especially the Navy) as they triggered the coup.[citation needed] There is some doubt as to whether Pinochet's declarations are true, because they give rise to the question as to why Pinochet was at first reluctant to become supreme head of the junta if, as he claimed, he was one of the main characters who planned it.
In the months that followed the coup, the junta published a book titled El Libro Blanco del cambio de gobierno en Chile (commonly known as El Libro Blanco", The White Book of Change of Government in Chile), where they attempted to justify the coup by claiming that they were in fact anticipating some kind of self-coup (the alleged Plan Zeta, or Plan Z) that Allende's government and/or its associates were purportedly preparing. Plan Zeta has been proven, by US declassified documents, to be simple propaganda [8]. This had already been admitted by General Gustavo Leigh in 1984 [8].
Military junta
A military junta was established immediately following the coup, made up of General Pinochet representing the Army, Admiral José Toribio Merino representing the Navy, General Gustavo Leigh representing the Air Force, and General César Mendoza representing the Carabineros (national police). As Commander-in-chief of the army (the oldest branch of the military), Pinochet became president of the junta.
On the day following the coup, the junta issued an Act of Constitution, which officially established the junta as executive and legislative branch of the government, suspended the Constitution and the Congress, imposed strict and curfew, proscribed the left-wing parties and halted all political activities. This military junta governed until December 17, 1974, after which it functioned strictly as a legislative body.
Regime
The junta members originally planned for the presidency to rotate among the commanders-in-chief of the four military branches. However, Pinochet soon consolidated his control, first retaining sole chairmanship of the military junta, and then proclaiming himself "Supreme Chief of the Nation" (de facto provisional president) on June 27, 1974. He officially changed his title to "President" on December 17, 1974. General Leigh, head of the Air Force, became increasingly opposed to Pinochet's policies and was forced into retirement on July 24, 1978. He was replaced by General Fernando Matthei.
Pinochet organized a plebiscite on September 11, 1980. The Chilean people was asked to ratify a new Constitution, replacing the 1925 Constitution drafted by President Arturo Alessandri. The new Constitution, partly drafted by Jaime Guzmán, a close adviser to Pinochet and future founder of the right-wing Independent Democrat Union (UDI), gave the position of President of the Republic, held by Pinochet, a large amount of power. It created some new institutions, such as the Constitutional Tribunal and the controversial National Security Council (COSENA). It also prescribed a single-candidate presidential referendum in 1988, and a return to civilian rule in 1990. The referendum was approved by 67.04% against 30.19% [9], although the Opposition denounced various irregularities. Headed by the ex-senator Patricio Aylwin and more than 46 others, they argued that this result did not tally with electoral records. One objection was that voters were only marked by ink on the thumb, which came off rapidly, making electoral fraud easy. These criticisms were rejected by the Scrutiny Association, and the Constitution was promulgated on October 21, 1980, taking effect on March 11, 1981.
This same year, Pinochet was promoted to the rank of Captain General previously borne by colonial governors and by Bernardo O'Higgins, a hero of Chile's war of independence. The rank has been subsequently reserved only for those who were simultaneously heads of Government and of the Army.
In May 1983, the opposition and labor movements began to organize demonstrations and strikes against the regime, provoking violent responses from government officials. The beheading of professor , journalist Manuel Guerrero, and by the uniformed police (carabineros) led to the resignation of junta member General César Mendoza in 1985 (Caso Degollados, or Slit Throat Case). In a 1985 report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights stated that it hoped that “the case now under way will lead to the identification and punishment of the persons responsible for the execution of so culpable an act.”[10] Eventually six members of the police secret service were given life sentence.
In 1986, security forces discovered 80 tons of weapons smuggled into the country by the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front (FPMR), the armed branch of the outlawed Communist Party, created in 1983. The shipment of included C-4 plastic explosives, RPG-7 and M72 LAW rocket launchers as well as more than three thousand M-16 rifles. The operation was overseen by Cuban intelligence, and also involved East Germany and the Soviet Union.
In September, weapons from the same source were used in an unsuccessful assassination attempt against Pinochet by the FPMR. Taken by surprise, five of his military bodyguards were killed. Although Pinochet's armored car was struck by a rocket, it did not explode, and Pinochet suffered only minor injuries, managing to escape [11]
Suppression of opposition
- Further information: Operation Condor and Augusto Pinochet's arrest and trial
Almost immediately after the military's seizure of power, the junta banned all the leftist parties that had constituted Allende's UP coalition. All other parties were placed in "indefinite recess," and were later banned outright. The dictatorship's violence was directed not only against dissidents, but also against their families and other civilians.
The Rettig Report concluded that 2,279 persons who disappeared during the military government were killed for political reasons, and approximately 30,000 tortured according to the later Valech Report, while several thousand were exiled. The latter were chased all over the world in the frame of Operation Condor, a cooperation plan between the various intelligence agencies of South American countries, assisted by a US communication base in Panama. Pinochet believed these operations were necessary in order to "save the country from communism"[12].
Some political scientists have ascribed the relative bloodiness of the coup to the stability of the existing democratic system, which required extreme action to overturn. Some of the most famous cases of human rights violation occurred during the early period: in October 1973, at least 70 people were killed by the Caravan of Death, to which Manuel Contreras, later head of the DINA intelligence service, participated. Charles Horman, a US journalist, "disappeared", as Víctor Olea Alegría, a member of the Socialist Party, and many others, in 1973.
Furthermore, important officials of Allende's government were tracked down by the DINA in the frame of Operation Condor. Thus, General Carlos Prats, Pinochet's predecessor and army commander under Allende, who had resigned rather than support the moves against Allende's government, was assassinated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1974. A year later, the murder of 119 opponents abroad was disguised as an internal conflict, the DINA setting up a propaganda campaign to accredit this thesis (Operation Colombo).
Other victims of Condor included, among hundreds of less famous persons, Juan José Torres, the former President of Bolivia, assassinated in Buenos Aires on 2 June, 1976; Carmelo Soria, a UN diplomat working for the CEPAL, assassinated in July 1976; Orlando Letelier, a former Chilean ambassador to the United States and minister in Allende's cabinet, assassinated after his release from internment and exile in Washington, D.C. by a car bomb on September 21, 1976. This led to strained relations with the US and to the extradition of Michael Townley, a US citizen who worked for the DINA and had organized Letelier's assassination. Other targeted victims, who escaped assassination, included Christian-Democrat Bernardo Leighton, who escaped an assassination attempt in Rome in 1975 by the Italian terrorist Stefano delle Chiaie; Carlos Altamirano, the leader of the Chilean Socialist Party, targeted for murder in 1975 by Pinochet, along with Volodia Teitelboim, member of the Communist Party; Pascal Allende, the nephew of Salvador Allende and president of the MIR, who escaped an assassination attempt in Costa Rica in March 1976; US Congressman Edward Koch, who became aware in 2001 of relations between death threats and his denounciation of Operation Condor, etc. Furthermore, according to current investigations, Eduardo Frei Montalva, the Christian Democrat President of Chile from 1964 to 1970, may have been poisoned in 1982 by toxin produced by DINA biochemist Eugenio Berrios [13].
Protests continued, however, during the 1980s, leading to several scandals. In March 1985, the savage murder of three Communist Party members led to the resignation of César Mendoza, head of the Carabineros and member of the junta since its formation. During a 1986 protest against Pinochet, 18 years-old student Carmen Gloria Quintana was burnt alive.
In August 1989, Marcelo Barrios Andres, a 21 years-old member of the FPMR (the armed wing of the PCC, created in 1983, which had attempted to assassinate Pinochet on September 7, 1986), was assassinated by a group of militaries, supposed to arrest him on orders of Valparaíso's public prosecutor. However, they simply executed him — this case was included in the Rettig Report [14].
Further scandals emerged after the return to democracy, such as the allegations that an ex-Nazi, Paul Schäfer, who had set up in Pinochet's Chile an enclave, Colonia Dignidad, had worked with the DINA.
Economic policy
By mid 1975, Pinochet set forth an economic policy of neo-liberal, free-market reform. He declared that he wanted "to make Chile not a nation of proletarians, but a nation of proprietors."[citation needed] To formulate his economic policy, Pinochet relied on the so-called Chicago Boys, who were economists trained at the University of Chicago and heavily influenced by the monetarist ideas of Milton Friedman and Arnold Harberger.
The government launched an era of deregulation of business and privatization. To accomplish these objectives, the government privatized the pension system, and reprivatized state-owned industries, and banks, and lowered taxes on income. However, the large copper industry, nationalized by Allende, remained under control of the government owned Codelco. Parts of its benefits were attributed to the Chilean Armed Forces' budget.
Supporters of these policies (most notably the late nobel laureate from the University of Chicago School of Economics, Milton Friedman himself), have dubbed them "The Miracle of Chile," due to the country's sustained economic growth since the late 1980s.
1988 referendum and transition to democracy
- Further information: Chilean transition to democracy
According to the transitional provisions of the 1980 Constitution, a referendum was scheduled for October 5, 1988, to vote on a new eight-year presidential term for Pinochet. Confronted to increasing opposition, notably at the international level, Pinochet legalized political parties in 1987 and called for a plebiscite to determine whether or not he would remain in power until 1997. If the "YES" won, Pinochet would have to implement the dispositions of the 1980 Constitution, mainly the call for general elections, while he would himself remain in power as President. If the "NO" won, Pinochet would remain another year President, and a joint Presidential and Parliamentary election then be scheduled.
Beside the softening of the Cold War and the initiating of reforms by Gorbachev, which tended to make Pinochet's anti-Communism discourse less audible among the international community, Pinochet appeared at the time as one of the last dictators of South America. Successively, Latin American dictatorships were toppled, opening the way for long period of uneven democratic transitions. Thus, Argentina had returned to civilian rule in 1983 as well as Bolivia, Uruguay in 1984, Brazil in 1985, etc.
Another alleged reason of Pinochet's decision to call for elections was the April 1987 visit of Pope John Paul II to Chile. According to the US Catholic author George Weigel, he held a meeting with Pinochet during which they treated of the theme of the return to democracy. John Paul II would have allegedly pushed Pinochet to accept a democratic opening of the regime, and would even have called for his resignation.[15] This has been contested however by critics, who claimed John Paul II never said a word concerning human right violations in Chile during his visit. The Polish Pope was known as a supporter of anti-Communists, and during his reign the Vatican had harshly condemned the Liberation theology, by the voice of Cardinal Ratzinger (current Pope Benedict XVI), then head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Whatever the case, political advertisement was legalized on September 5, 1987, and became a key element of the campaign for the "NO" to the referendum, which countered the official campaign which presaged a return to a Popular Unity government in case of a defeat of Pinochet. The Opposition, gathered into the Concertación de Partidos por el NO ("Coalition of Parties for NO") organized a colorful and cheerful campaign under the slogan La alegría ya viene ("Joy is coming"). On October 5, 1988, the "NO" vote won with a 55.00% majority [16]. It was formed by the Christian Democracy, the Socialist Party and the Radical Party, gathered in the Alianza Democrática (Democratic Alliance). In 1988, several more parties, including the Humanist Party, the Ecologist Party, the Social Democrats, and several Socialist Party splinter groups added their support, despite fears of election fraud by Pinochet.
Finally, the "NO" to Pinochet won with 55,99% of the votes, against 44,1% of the votes. Pinochet, who, according to several informations, would have thought in not recognizing the results, finally decided to admit them and to continue with the Constitutional process. Thus presidential and legislative elections were called for the next year.
The Coalition changed their name to Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (Coalition of Parties for Democracy) and put forward Patricio Aylwin, the Christian Democrat leader, as a presidential candidate, as well as launching a common list for the parliamentary elections. Furthermore, in July 1989, a constitutional referendum took place. If approved, 54 constitutional reforms were to be implemented, among which the reform of the way that the Constitution itself could be reformed, the restriction of state of emergency dispositions, the affirmation of political pluralism, the strengthening of constitutional rights as well as of the democratic principle and participation to the political life. This second referendum was again won by the Opposition, 91,25% of the Chilean people approving it.
Thereafter, Aylwin won the December 1989 presidential election with 55,17% of the votes [16], against less than 30% for the right-wing candidate, , who had been Pinochet's since 1985 [16]. Pinochet thus left the presidency on March 11, 1990 and transferred power to the new democratically elected president.
The Concertación also gained the majority of votes for the Parliament. However, due to the , they had no majority in Parliament, a situation they found themselves in constantly for over 15 years. This forced them to negotiate all law projects with the Alliance for Chile, a right-wing coalition involving the Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI) and Renovación Nacional (RN), parties composed of many of Pinochet's supporters.
Due to the transitional provisions of the constitution, Pinochet remained as Commander-in-Chief of the Army, until March 1998. He was then sworn in as a senator-for-life, a privilege first granted to former presidents with at least six years in office by the 1980 Constitution. His senatorship and consequent immunity from prosecution protected him from deposed complaints against him, and legal challenges began only after Pinochet had been arrested in 1998 in the United Kingdom, on order of an arrest warrant issued by the Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón —allegations of abuses had been made numerous times before his arrest, but never acted upon [17].
Arrest and trial
Pinochet's regime has been accused of systematic and widespread human rights violations both in Chile and abroad, including mass-murder, torture, kidnapping, illegal detention, and press censorship. At the end of his life, he was also criticized for using his position to enrich himself and his family — a fact which wasn't known of the general public, as he had always tried to present a rather modest style of life.
On October 17, 1998, while visiting the United Kingdom for medical treatment, Pinochet was arrested on a Spanish provisional warrant for the murder in Chile of Spanish citizens while he was president.[18] Five days later, Pinochet was served with a second provisional arrest warrant from the Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, charging him with systematic torture, murder, illegal detention, and forced disappearances. The case was a watershed event in judicial history, as it was the first time that a dictator was arrested on the principle of universal jurisdiction (See Augusto Pinochet's arrest and trial:The principle of universal jurisdiction for further details.)
After having been placed under house arrest in Britain and initiating a judicial battle, he was eventually released in March 2000 on medical grounds by the then Home Secretary Jack Straw without facing trial [19].
Henceforth, on 3 March 2000, Pinochet returned to Chile. His first act when landing in Santiago de Chile's airport was to triumphally sit up from his chair to acclaim his supporters [20][21]. He was first greeted by his successor as head of the Chilean armed forces, General [21]. President Ricardo Lagos, who had just sworn in on March 11, said the retired general's televised arrival had damaged the image of Chile, while thousands demonstrated against him.[22]
In March 2000, the Congress approved a constitutional amendment creating the status of "ex-president," which granted its owner immunity from prosecution and guaranteed him a financial allowance. In exchange, it required him to resign hi seat of senator-for-life. 111 legislators voted for, and 29 (mostly, if not all, from the Left) against [23].
In Chile, judge Juan Guzmán Tapia (who had been during the dictatorship a supporter of Pinochet) initiated a procedure against him, requesting three days after his return to Chile the suspension of his parliamentary immunity. Pinochet's legal team was headed by Pablo Rodríguez, the former leader of the far-right paramilitary group Fatherland and Liberty (Patria y Libertad).
The Supreme Court acceeded to Juan Guzmán's request in August 2000, and Pinochet was indicted on December 1, 2000 for the "kidnapping" of 75 opponents in the Caravan of Death case — Guzmán advanced the charge of "kidnapping" as they were officially "disappeared:" even though they were all most likely dead, the absence of their corpses made any charge of "homicide" difficult [24].
However, in July 2002, the Supreme Court dismissed Pinochet's indictment in the various human rights abuse cases, for medical reasons (an alleged "vascular dementia"). The debate concerned Pinochet's mental faculties, his legal team claiming that he was senile and could not remember, while others (including several physicians) claimed that he was only physically affected but retained all control of his faculties. The same year, the prosecuting attorney Hugo Guttierez, in charge of the Caravan of Death case, declared that "Our country has the degree of justice that the political transition permits us to have.[25]"
Pinochet resigned his senatorial seat shortly after the Supreme Court's July 2002 ruling. In May 2004, the Supreme Court overturned its precedent decision, and ruled that he was capable of standing trial. In arguing their case, the prosecution presented a recent television interview Pinochet had given for a Miami-based television network, which raised doubts about the mental incapacity of Pinochet. He was charged with several crimes in December of that year (including the 1974 assassination of General Prats, the Operation Colombo case (119 dead), etc., and again placed under house arrest, on the eve of his 90th birthday. Questioned by his judges in order to know if, as President, he was the direct head of DINA, he answered: "I don't remember, but it's not true. And if it were true, I don't remember." [26]
In January 2005, the Chilean Army accepted institutional responsibility for past human rights abuses. Other institutions also accept that abuses took place, but blame them on individuals, rather than official policy. Lucía Pinochet Hiriart, Augusto Pinochet's eldest daughter, said the use of torture during his 1973–90 regime was "barbaric and without justification", after seeing the Valech Report [citation needed]. Much of the torture was carried out at secret prison facilities like Villa Grimaldi, Chacabuco, and Pisagua.
The same year, the US revealed that Pinochet had a large network of secret bank accounts abroad (See below). On November 22, 2005, he was indicted on tax evasion charges and placed again under house arrest for an alleged $27 million hidden in secret accounts under false names. That figure was later reduced to $11 million.
Furthermore, Pinochet was indicted in 2006 for kidnappings and tortures at Villa Grimaldi detention center by the judge Alejandro Madrid (Guzmán's successor) [27], as well as for the 1995 assassination of the DINA biochemist Eugenio Berrios (himself involved in the Letelier case) [28]. Berrios, who had worked with Michael Townley, had produced sarin gas, anthrax and botulism in the Bacteriological War Army Laboratory for Pinochet (used against political opponents). The DINA biochemist was also alleged of having created black cocaine, which Pinochet then sold in Europe and the United States [29]. The money for the drug trade was allegedly put directly into Pinochet's bank accounts [30].
On October 30, 2006, Pinochet was charged with 36 counts of kidnapping, 23 counts of torture, and one of murder for the torture and disappearance of opponents of his regime at Villa Grimaldi.
On November 25, 2006, Pinochet marked his 91st birthday by having his wife pronounced a statement written by him, and read to his admirers present for his birthday: "I assume the political responsibility of all what has been done." [5]" Two days later, he was again ordered to house arrest for the kidnapping and murder of two bodyguards of Salvador Allende who were arrested the day of the 1973 coup and executed by a firing squad during the Caravan of Death episode.[31][32]
However, Pinochet died a few days later, on 10 December, 2006, without having been convicted of any crimes committed during his dictatorship.
Secret bank accounts, tax evasion and arms deal
In 2004, a United States Senate money laundering investigation led by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Norm Coleman (R-MN) — ordered in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks — uncovered a network of over 125 securities and bank accounts at Riggs Bank and other U.S. financial institutions used by Pinochet and his associates for twenty-five years to secretly move millions of dollars.[33] Though the subcommittee was charged only with investigating compliance of financial institutions under the USA PATRIOT Act, and not the Pinochet regime, Sen. Coleman noted:
“ | This is a sad, sordid tale of money laundering involving Pinochet accounts at multiple financial institutions using alias names, offshore accounts, and close associates. As a former General and President of Chile, Pinochet was a well-known human rights violator and violent dictator.[34] | ” |
Over several months in 2005, Chilean judge Sergio Munoz indicted Augusto Pinochet's wife, Lucia Hiriart; four of his children --Marco Antonio, Jacqueline, Veronica and Lucia Pinochet; secretary Monica Ananias; and former aide Oscar Aitken on tax evasion and falsification charges stemming from the Riggs Bank investigation. In January 2006, daughter Lucia Pinochet was detained at Washington DC-Dulles airport and subsequently deported while attempting to evade the tax charges in Chile.[35] In January 2007, the Santiago Court of Appeals revoked most of the indictement from Judge Carlos Cerda against the Pinochet family. [1]
In September 2005, a joint-investigation by The Guardian and La Tercera revealed that the British arms firms BAE Systems had been identified as paying more than £1m to Pinochet, through a front company in the British Virgin Islands, which BAE has used to channel commission on arms deals [36]. The payments began in 1997 and lasted until 2004 [36][37].
Furthermore, in 2007, fifteen years of investigation led to the conclusion that the 1992 assassination of DINA Colonel Gerardo Huber was most probably related to various illegal arms traffic carried out, after Pinochet's resignation from power, by military circles very close to himself. [7]. Huber had been assassinated a short time before he was due to testify in the case concerning the 1991 illegal export of weapons to Croatian paramilitaries. The deal involved 370 tons of weapons, sold to Croatia by Chile on 7 December 1991, when the former country was under a United Nations' embargo because of the war against Serbia.[38]. In January 1992, the judge Hernán Correa de la Cerda wanted to hear Gerardo Huber in this case, but the latter may have been silenced to avoid implicating Pinochet in this new case [39][40][7] — although the latter was not anymore President, he remained at the time Commander-in-Chief of the Army. Pinochet was at the center of this illegal arms trade, receiving money through various offshores and front companies, including the in Miami [41].
Death and funeral
Pinochet suffered a heart attack on the morning of December 3, 2006, and subsequently the same day he was given the last rites. On December 4, 2006, the Chilean Court of Appeals ordered the release of his house arrest. On December 10, 2006 at 13:30 local time (16:30 UTC) he was taken to the ICU .[42] He died of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema,[43] surrounded by family members, at the Military Hospital at 14:15 local time (17:15 UTC).[44] His last word was Lucy, the name of his wife (Lucia Hiriart).
Massive spontaneous street demonstrations[citation needed] broke out throughout the country upon the learning of his death. In Santiago, opponents celebrated at the Alameda avenue, while supporters grieved outside the Military Hospital. Pinochet's corpse was publicly exhibited on December 11, 2006 at the Military School in Las Condes, and viewed by hundred of thousands. During this ceremony, the grandson of murdered general Carlos Prats spat on the coffin, in a moment he was surrounded by thousands of followers of the dead dictator.[45] His funeral took place the following day on the same venue.
In a government decision, he was not granted a state funeral, as is normally given to former presidents, but a military funeral, as former commander-in-chief of the Army. The government also refused to declare an official national day of mourning, but it did authorize flags at military barracks to fly at half staff. Socialist President Michelle Bachelet, whose father Alberto Bachelet was temporarily imprisoned and tortured after the 1973 coup, dying shortly after heart complications, said it would be "a violation of [her] conscience" to attend a state funeral for Pinochet[46]. The only government authority present at the funeral was the Defense Minister, .
Pinochet's body was cremated in "Parque del Mar" cemetery, Concón on December 12, 2006, on his request to "avoid vandalism of his tomb", according to his son Marco Antonio.[47] His remains were delivered to his family later that day.
Pinochet was a "Famous Rotarian" Honorary Member of the Rotary International [citation needed].
Legacy
Pinochet's legacy has been debated continuously. Some view him as a brutal dictator while others credit him for saving Chile from Communism, recovering political and economical stability, and implementing bold economic reforms that brought unprecedented prosperity.
After the 1973 coup, Pinochet said, “We only set ourselves the task of transforming Chile into a democratic society of free men and women." His supporters made similar claims. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, for example, thanked the General for "bringing democracy to Chile".[48] Historian James Whelan, writing in the May 2007 edition of the American Spectator also praised Pinochet for bringing economic progress to Chile.[49] When in power, Pinochet gave a series of speeches that indicate that the 1973 coup targeted not only Allende's Popular Unity government, but Chilean democracy itself, which the General saw as hopelessly flawed. In wording that Pinochet repeated several times in various speeches, he claimed that Chile had been “slave and victim of the Congress since 1925, and slave and victim of the political parties.” Arguing for an "organic" type of democracy, Pinochet contended that “Merely formal democracy dissolves itself, victim of a demagogy that substitutes simple, unattainable promises for social justice and economic prosperity.” That form of democracy would inevitably result in a Marxist dictatorship, according to his analysis. Chilean democracy, therefore, was “progressively socializing in its economic experiments.... Those who thought they could detain or control this evolution... were given proof under the Marxist regime of their impotence and incomprehensible lack of vision.”[50]
See also
- History of Chile
- 1970 Chilean presidential election
- Government Junta of Chile (1973)
- Chile under Pinochet
- Operation Condor
- Augusto Pinochet's arrest and trial
- U.S. intervention in Chile
- Missing, film based on the life of U.S. journalist Charles Horman, who disappeared in the aftermath of the Pinochet coup
Footnotes and references
- ^ The name Pinochet is pronounced with a silent t. In this video clip, Pinochet can be heard pronouncing his name: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QksQSKboTL0
- ^ *Ex-Chilean dictator Pinochet arrested on murder charges, CNN, October 17, 1998 (English)
- Former Chilean dictator Pinochet dies aged 91, Associated Press published by The Guardian, December 10, 2006 (English)
- Murió el ex dictador Pinochet, La Nación, December 10, 2006 (Spanish)
- Muere el dictador chileno Augusto Pinochet, El Pais, December 10, 2006 (Spanish)
- El ex dictador Augusto Pinochet, perseguido por la justicia chilena por torturas infligidas durante la dictadura., International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), October 19, 2006 (Spanish)
- ^ English translation of the Rettig Report
- ^ 2004 Commission on Torture (Valech Report) (Spanish)
- ^ a b Las frases para el bronce de Pinochet, La Nacion, 11 December 2006 (Spanish)
- ^ Chang, Jack, Yulkowski, Lisa. "Vocal minority praises Pinochet at his funeral", Bradenton Herald, December 13, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-19.
- ^ a b c Larry Rohter, Colonel's Death Gives Clues to Pinochet Arms Deals, The New York Times, 19 June 2006 (English)
- ^ a b El fin de un mito en Chile: el Plan Zeta, Clarin, 5 July 1999 (Spanish)
- ^ Hudson, Rex A., ed. "Chile: A Country Study". GPO for the Library of Congress. 1995. March 20, 2005 http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cltoc.html
- ^ Inter-American Commission on human rights Report 1986
- ^ Flash presentation depicting the September 1986 assassination attempt (Spanish)
- ^ Eduardo Gallardo, Pinochet Was Unrepentant to the End, ABC News (Associated Press), December 11, 2006 (English)
- ^ Ex-Chilean leader 'was murdered', BBC, 23 January 2007
- ^ Capítulos desconocidos de los mercenarios chilenos en Honduras camino de Iraq, La Nación, September 25, 2005 - URL accessed on February 14, 2007 (Spanish)
- ^ George Weigel, Biografía de Juan Pablo II - Testigo de Esperanza, Editorial Plaza & Janés (2003), ISBN 8401013046
- ^ a b c Tribunal Calificador, Chilean governmental website (Spanish)
- ^ See Juan Guzmán Tapia's autobiography
- ^ Amnesty International: "Universal Jurisdiction and Absence of Immunity for Crimes Against Humanity," Report, 1 January 1999
- ^ Pinochet set free, BBC, 2 March 2000 (English)
- ^ Alex Bellos and Jonathan Franklin, Pinochet receives a hero's welcome on his return, The Guardian, 4 March, 2000 (English)
- ^ a b Pinochet arrives in Chile, BBC, 3 March 2000 (English)
- ^ Thousands march against Pinochet, BBC, March 4, 2000
- ^ Chile offers Pinochet new immunity, BBC, 25 March 2000 (English)
- ^ Pinochet charged with kidnapping, BBC, 1st December 2000 (English)
- ^ "The Appeals Court Ruling Is Negotiated Out for Pinochet", Interview with Attorney Hugo Gutierrez, by Memoria y Justicia, February 21, 2002 (English)
- ^ 16 November 2005. Spanish: “No me acuerdo, pero no es cierto. Y si es cierto, no me acuerdo”. Quoted in Las frases para el bronce de Pinochet, La Nacion, 11 December 2006 (Spanish)
- ^ Court 'lifts Pinochet immunity', BBC, September 8, 2006.
- ^ Levée de l'immunité de Pinochet pour le meurtre d'un chimiste, news agency cable, 12 October 2006 (French)
- ^ Jonathan Franklin, Pinochet 'sold cocaine to Europe and US', The Guardian, July 11, 2006 (English)
- ^ General (r) Manuel Contreras: Eugenio Berríos está vivo, Radio Cooperativa, 10 July 2006 (Spanish)
- ^ Eduardo Gallardo: "Pinochet indicted for 1973 executions," Associated Press, 27 November 2006.
- ^ Procesan a Pinochet y ordenan su arresto por los secuestros y homicidios de la "Caravana de la Muerte", 20minutos, 28 November 2006.
- ^ United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs: "Levin-Coleman Staff Report Discloses Web of Secret Accounts Used by Pinochet", Press Release. US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, http://www.senate.gov/~levin/newsroom/release.cfm?id=233631 March 16, 2005
- ^ United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs: "Levin-Coleman Staff Report Discloses Web of Secret Accounts Used by Pinochet", Press Release. US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, http://www.senate.gov/~levin/newsroom/release.cfm?id=233631 March 16, 2005
- ^ "U.S. Sends Back Pinochet Daughter," CNN, 28 January 2006
- ^ a b David Leigh and Rob Evans, Revealed: BAE's secret £1m to Pinochet, The Guardian, 15 September 2005 (English)
- ^ David Leigh, Jonathan Franklin and Rob Evans, Detective story that linked £1m Pinochet cash to BAE, The Guardian, 15 September 2005 (English)
- ^ Biographical notice on Memoria viva NGO website (Spanish)
- ^ Jorge Molina Sanhueza, Gerardo Huber sabía demasiado, pero no alcanzó a contarlo. El coronel que le pena al ejército, La Nación, 25 September 2005 (Spanish)
- ^ Andrea Chaparro, CDE insiste en unir caso Huber con tráfico de armas a Croacia, La Nación, 15 August 2005 (Spanish)
- ^ Andrea Chaparro Solís, Generales (R) y civiles de Famae procesados en caso armas a Croacia, La Nación, 13 June 2006 (Spanish)
- ^ Muere el ex dictador Chileno Augusto Pinochet EFE
- ^ Augusto Pinochet falleció en el Hospital Militar tras sufrir recaída ";El Mercurio"
- ^ Chile's General Pinochet 'dead' BBC News
- ^ Con alusiones al golpe de Estado, despiden a Pinochet con honores La Nación
- ^ "Clashes Break out after Pinochet's death", , 11 December 2006
- ^ Family Wants Pinochet Cremation
- ^ Thatcher stands by Pinochet BBC
- ^ American Spectator, May 2007, pp. 24-27
- ^ Pinochet, “Patria y Democracia”, 1983, Santiago, Andres Bello
External links
- France 24 coverage – Augusto Pinochet's Necrology on France 24
- BBC coverage (special report)
- Chile before and during Pinochet's presidency
- Pinochet Timeline: Human Rights in Chile The Chile Information Project
- Documentary Film on Chilean Concentration Camp from Pinochet's Regime: Chacabuco
- Chile under Allende and Pinochet
- Human rights violation under Pinochet
- The Times obituary
- Analysis of economic policy under Pinochet by economist Jim Cypher in Dollars & Sense magazine
- Policzer, Pablo (January 2007). Chile: The Price of Democracy. New English Review. Retrieved on 2007-01-09. “... if Pinochet had had his way in the mid-1970s, his dictatorship would have ended only on December 10, when he died.”
Political offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by None |
President of Government Junta 1973 - 1981 |
Succeeded by José Toribio Merino |
Preceded by Salvador Allende |
President of Chile 1974 - 1990 |
Succeeded by Patricio Aylwin |
Military offices | ||
Preceded by Carlos Prats |
Army Commander-in-chief 1973 - 1998 |
Succeeded by |
Persondata | |
---|---|
NAME | Pinochet, Augusto |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Pinochet Ugarte, Augusto José Ramón (full name) |
SHORT DESCRIPTION | Chilenian General and Politician |
DATE OF BIRTH | 25 November 1915 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Valparaíso, Chile |
DATE OF DEATH | 10 December 2006 |
PLACE OF DEATH | Santiago de Chile |