Posted on 12/11/2006 12:42:02 AM PST by bruinbirdman
To some he was a tyrant, to others a hero. In life and in death, Chileans remain divided over the former dictator
As news of the death of Augusto Pinochet spread through Chile last night, scores of jubilant people blasted car horns and danced in the streets of the capital Santiago with relief at what they called the country's "liberation" from the last vestiges of the former dictator's control.
But others wept outside the military hospital where he died aged 91, a week after a heart attack, singing in broken voices the national anthem and praises to their deceased general.
Although he left power 16 years ago, Pinochet remained a senator for life. He continued to influence Chilean politics, dividing this traumatised and conservative society between those outraged at the human rights abuses he presided over and those convinced that the military ruler saved the country from a Marxist disaster and set it on a path to becoming the economic success story it is today.
"He broke the chains of communism for us... we didn't become a second Cuba, and that's thanks to him," one woman told local television.
Pinochet was accused of dozens of human rights violations but a lengthy effort to bring him to trial in Chile failed as his defence lawyers successfully argued that he was too ill to face charges. In 2000, he managed to escape being sent from London to Spain, where he faced charges of human rights abuses, after British medical experts ruled he was suffering from "mild dementia" and therefore unfit to stand trial. The same happened when he returned to Chile in 2000.
However Chilean prosecutors gradually dismantled all the constitutional and medical objections and he was due to appear in court to answer charges of tax evasion and human rights abuses.
Among several cases against him, Pinochet was facing charges over the 1973 "Caravan of Death", where it is alleged a military death squad rounded up suspected Leftists from prisons around the country and murdered them. Witnesses said that many of the bodies were thrown from helicopters into the sea, with the corpses opened up and filled with stones.
However it was recent allegations that he had lined his own pockets with state funds during the 17 years he was in power that threw many of his staunch supporters into doubt. "I was a believer in Pinochet," said Jaime Ceballos, 57, a former army officer. "I thought that he did some unpleasant things but because he was a patriot and saw no other way. It turns out he was just a thief."
A spokesman for Spain's ruling Socialist party, Diego Lopez Garrido, called Pinochet a "detestable character of history". Amnesty International, human rights group, said: "General Pinochet's death should be a wake-up call for the authorities in Chile and governments everywhere, reminding them of the importance of speedy justice for human rights crimes, something Pinochet himself has now escaped."
Sheila Cassidy, a British doctor who was tortured for helping a Left-wing dissident, said: "I don't think that he ever thought that he'd done wrong. I think that he continued to think that the people that he tortured were dirt really, and got what was coming to them."
The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture said it was "regrettable" Pinochet would never face trial for his actions. Even as Pinochet lay on his death bed, debate was raging in Chile as to whether he should receive the state funeral normally the privilege of former presidents. A poll conducted yesterday by the leading daily newspaper La Tercera showed that 55 per cent of Chileans were against so honouring Pinochet.
The current president, Michelle Bachelet, herself a victim of the military regime, had already said that she was against a state funeral since Pinochet has been indicted on very serious charges. "The conscience of Chileans would feel violated," she said.
Last month, during celebrations for his 91st birthday, Pinochet took responsibility for all the actions carried out during his regime, but expressed no remorse, insisting everything was done to save the country.
"Today, close to the end of my days, I want to make clear that I hold no rancour toward anybody, that I love my country above all else."
He was asked in 1989 before he gave up power how he would fare under divine judgment.
"I'll go to heaven. Where would I have gone, do you think? To hell? No, don't worry, I'll go to heaven."
Dear Sheila,
He was right. You were dirt and you did get what was coming to you.
The moral of your story Sheila is don't go to South American countries and meddle in their politics.
Love,
L
If you use that argument, then you could justify the barbaric killings of our soldiers and civilian contractors in Iraq at the hands of the insurgents. Your comment is as misplaced as Markos Moulitsas' "screw them" comment from 2004 regarding contractors.
yitbos
Wrong.
Those civilian contractors were there at the invitation of the elected Iraqi government.
This Sheila person was an uninvited busybody poking her nose into a South American political upheaval.
That's not a recommended strategy for long term survival or general good health.
L
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Ditto. As the commies are not humans, but beasts in human shape, they do not, and cannot, have human rights. Thus these rights, not being applicable, could not have been abused. The most one could have speak of, would be cruelty to animals.
Let me ask you something? If a Democrat gets elected President in 2008, and implements several radical liberal policies such as universal healthcare and more confiscatory taxes for those who earned and inherited their money rightfully, would you support a military coup and suspension of the Consitution for a few years? That also includes killing thousands of people who ever voted democrat. Or what if the military overthrew a Republican President and Congress who overturned the New Deal and ended "progressive" era policies that have been parasitic for economic growth?
Allende was a POS for being a communist, but he was still democratically elected, and he would have had no chance of staying in power after his socialistic policies.
If the military in this country ever tried to overthrow our government and suspend the constitution, even if I disliked the administration, I would do what the Founding Fathers did and take up arms to defend my rights.
L
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
The poster said that the doctor was meddling in another country's politics. Now while our intentions are noble and morally just in spread democracy to Iraq, we are still meddling in that country's politics. The British doctor may have just gone to Chile for a humanitarian mission, just as the contractors just wanted to help rebuild an impoverished nation with no infrastructure.
An Islamist takeover is not as plausible. While the Democrat Party coddles Islamists, their hedonistic ways correlate better with secularists and socialists. Ergo, the Democrats taking over an implementing policies on the scale of the New Deal or Great Society is a better comparison.
one could have speak of = one could speak of. Caffeine is needed.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
General Pinochet is dead =
A Chilean's ego-trip ended.
-- posted by db at Anagrammy.com
My dog resents that comparison. He's growling at the monitor.
"Although he left power 16 years ago, Pinochet remained a senator for life."
Isn't that because he overthrew the democratically elected government to install himself as a dictator, then rewrote the constitution to make himself a senator for life before handing power back over to civilians years later?
Please do correct me if I'm wrong. I'd hate to undermine the achievement if there was more to it than that.
"As the commies are not humans, but beasts in human shape, they do not, and cannot, have human rights. Thus these rights, not being applicable, could not have been abused. The most one could have speak of, would be cruelty to animals."
Thus spoke the Lord.
Allende was a drunkard. He was already killing himself with alcohol when he blew his brains out. Castro's people were already taking over and Allende would have soon been replaced with a Castro puppet. You have no idea how chaotic that country was when General Pinochet stepped in -- at the request of the Chilean Supreme Court which had determined that Allende's administration was outlaw.
There probably would not have been another election, but if there had been it would have been rigged by Castro -- and later "legitimized" by Carter.
That British woman was giving aid and comfort to the communist enemy in the midst of a life-and-death brawl in Chile. She's lucky she got out with her life.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.