Gen. Pinochet, 91, fighting for life (suffered heart attack, last rites given)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 12/3/06 | Eduardo Gallardo - ap

[NormsRevenge]

SANTIAGO, Chile - Gen. Augusto Pinochet, whose 17-year dictatorship carried out thousands of political killings, widespread torture and illegal jailings, clung to life in a Chilean hospital Sunday after suffering a heart attack and being administered last rites.

Just eight days earlier, the 91-year-old former strongman took full responsibility for the actions of his 1973-90 regime after long insisting any abuses were the fault of subordinates.

Pinochet underwent an emergency angioplasty to restore the flow of blood to his heart, and doctors described his condition as "serious but stable." They planned to perform bypass surgery later in the day, state television reported.

"We are now in the hands of God and of the doctors. My father is in very bad condition," Pinochet's younger son, Marco Antonio Pinochet, said at Gen. Luis Felipe Brieba Military Hospital.

Dr. Juan Ignacio Vergara, a member of the team attending the former leader, said the heart attack was "indeed life threatening," especially because of Pinochet's age.

Pinochet's health had been deteriorating for years. Doctors implanted a heart pacemaker in 1993 and he suffered from diabetes and arthritis. He also was diagnosed with mild dementia caused by several strokes.

The health problems helped Pinochet escape trial for the human rights abuses committed during his regime, with courts ruling out proceedings at least twice in recent years as victims of his rule pressed efforts to bring him to justice.

Last week, Pinochet was put under house arrest after being indicted in the executions of two bodyguards of Salvador Allende, the freely elected Marxist president who was toppled in a bloody 1973 coup led by Pinochet as commander of the Chilean military.

The heart attack came barely a week after Pinochet's 91st birthday on Nov. 25, an occasion he marked by issuing a statement for the first time taking full political — though not explicitly legal — responsibility for abuses committed by his regime.

"Today, near the end of my days, I want to say that I harbor no rancor against anybody, that I love my fatherland above all and that I take political responsibility for everything that was done which had no other goal than making Chile greater and avoiding its disintegration," the statement said.

Pinochet fell ill around 2 a.m. and was rushed to the military hospital accompanied by his wife, Lucia Hiriart.

He underwent an angioplasty, in which doctors introduce a catheter to a patient's blocked artery and inflate a small balloon to enlarge it, restoring blood flow to the heart. Doctors said the procedure was successful and Pinochet remained conscious in the intensive care unit.

Pinochet's younger son said his father had been "virtually rescued from death" with the angioplasty. But the former leader's spokesman, retired Gen. Guillermo Garin, also said last rites had been administered.

Pinochet's grown children and other relatives, former aides and retired military officers went to the hospital, as did Chile's army chief, Gen. Oscar Izurieta.

As news of the heart attack spread, some 50 Pinochet supporters, most of them women, gathered in front of the hospital, some holding his portrait.

"How could I not be desperate? He's like a father to me, and we all owe him so much," said Julieta Aguilar, standing outside holding a small bronze bust of Pinochet.

Ricardo Lagos Weber, spokesman for President Michelle Bachelet, said the government was closely following the situation.

Critics of Pinochet have often argued that his health problems were being exaggerated to help him avoid trial.

"Pinochet is used to becoming ill every time a court ruling is near," human rights lawyer Hiram Villagra told Radio Bio Bio after the heart attack was reported. "He is hospitalized every time he faces an indictment, that is why we have doubts this time, too."

The Santiago Court of appeals was scheduled to rule Monday on Pinochet's appeal of last week's indictment and the house arrest order.

The house arrest was the fifth such action taken against Pinochet on charges stemming from human rights violations during his dictatorship.

The indictment alleges kidnapping and homicide in connection with the deaths of two Allende bodyguards who were arrested the day of the coup, Sept. 11, 1973. Both were executed by firing squad four weeks later, the military regime announced at the time.

According to an independent commission appointed by the first civilian government after Pinochet's rule, 3,197 people were killed for political reasons during his regime and more than 1,000 of them were "disappeared" by burying them in secret graves or tossing them in the sea.

Pinochet faces two other indictments, one tied to allegations of rights abuses and one involving tax avoidance charges.

[Wormwood]

Good. Die already.

[kenavi]

They read him his "rights"?

[NormsRevenge]

Former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet waves to supporters at his home in the La Dehesa neighborhood in Santiago, Chile in this Nov. 25, 2006 file photo. On Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006, Pinochet clings to life in a Chilean hospital after suffering an acute heart attack and being read his last rites. Just days ago, the 91-year-old former strongman took full responsibility for the actions of his dictatorship, which carried out thousands of political killings, widespread torture and illegal imprisonments. (AP Photo/La Tercera)

[OldFriend]

Pinochet and Castro having a meet and greet in hell.

[NormsRevenge]

Former Chilean leader General Augusto Pinochet receives a wooden crucifix in this August 15, 1999 file photo. Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet suffered a heart attack on December 3, 2006 and was given a bypass operation which his son said brought him back from the brink of death. NO SALES NO ARCHIVES FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/Courtesy Public Relations Department of the Chilean Navy/Handout/Files (CHILE)

[Past Your Eyes]

ROFLMAO!! You beat me to it.

[Wormwood]

Pinochet and Castro having a meet and greet in hell.

Here's hoping you're right.

Two men who bookended the political spectrum---yet both became monsters.

[Izzy Dunne]

You got that rite.

[blitzgig]

No tears for this scumbag. Chile would probably still be a hellish wasteland if Milton Friedman hadn't introduced ideas of freedom and capitalism to the country.

[whitedog57]

Uhm ... he was OUR Ally. Remember, the CIA was accused in the assassination of his Communist predecessor (Salvatore Allende)?

[NormsRevenge]

They read him his "rights"?


--

I will ask the mod to edit that one .. Thanks!

[timsbella]

Both devils. Enjoy da BBQ.

[Wormwood]

Uhm ... he was OUR Ally.

To OUR eternal shame.

[TimSkalaBim]

Not in the same league.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

I'm ashamed we supported this thug. Good riddance.

[ikka]

Last week, Pinochet was put under house arrest after being indicted in the executions of two bodyguards of Salvador Allende, the freely elected Marxist president who was toppled in a bloody 1973 coup led by Pinochet as commander of the Chilean military.

Put under house arrest despite repeated promises by the newly elected Socialist, Michelle Bachelet that she would do nothing about Pinochet.

Allende deserved to die, and because of Pinochet, some 16 million Chileans now live in freedom instead of yet another Marxist hell on earth.

[rellimpank]

(Q) --how many treasonous Castroites were executed during the reign of Gen. Pinochet?

(A) --not nearly enough----

--And I might add, in the plebiscite that he lost, after which he left government, General Pinochet recived a greater percentage of the vote than Allende did when he took power--

[PhillyRepublican]

Pinochet should rot in hell. However, I've always been amazed how the MSM has pilloried Pinochet on one hand and praised Castro up & down on the other. Castro, who has murdered something like THIRTY TIMES as many people as Pinochet.Of course Castro hates the US so I suppose that fact gives bloody Fidel a pass from the press.

[rellimpank]

--yep--and the Venezuelans will be wishing for their version of Pinochet soon enough---