Pinochet Has Died

Fox News | 12-10-06

[My Favorite Headache]

Hell has a new employee...Pinochet is dead at 91.

[Diocletian]

God bless his soul.

[Diocletian]

Correct. Pinochet was a hero who saved Chile from a Marxist regime sponsored by the Stasi and KGB.

[cake_crumb]

"Also remember that communism is responsible for close to 100 million deaths throughout the 20th century.

"Fighting communism often requires harsh measures, unfortunately (at least for those communists caught in the crosshairs.) But these harsh measures staved off a totalitarian empire that could have decimated all of western civilization."

Exactly. Also, the same things can be said about terrorism and fighting the WOT.

[Shadow44]

They should sell Pinochet T-shirts now like they do with Che.

[Ptarmigan]

Pinochet is no saint, but he made Chile a better place. It has the lowest unemployment rate in Latin America and a privatized social security system. Argentina on the other hand, has been in a sorry state. Had Pinochet not intervened, than it could of been much worse.

[tarheelswamprat]

And the marxists have vengefully hounded him, even to the grave, for it.

BTW, love your screen name. I wanted to use Sulla, but somebody else claimed it first. /grin

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

General Pinochet is still dead.

[Reaganez]

"I think Hitler was also against the commies"

Hitler,another socialist like Allende, was elected with less than 40% of the vote and proceeded to institute some radicl refoms.

Too bad the German military did not have a Pinochet.

Pinochet is a HERO!

Turned a socialist swamp economy into a free-market powerhouse and resotred democracy. His constituition is the one currently in place, reformed, but the constitution Pinochet established.

Anyone who thinks different is studid,ignorant,or a Commie.

Or possibly a combonation of three.

[Diocletian]

I've been to Diocletian's palace in Split, Croatia. Quite a site.

[Charlespg]

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. Pinochet left behind a series of abandoned concentration camps. Most of them have been either destroyed or dismantled, others remain partially intact or have been turned into museums or sites of remembrance. Some of these include Villa Grimaldi, Chacabuco, National Stadium and Pisagua.

and just how many people did this guy kill ? about 2300? the guy may have been a SOB but he fought the Communists on their terms and won

[Farmer Dean]

Get Jimmy Carter a seat on the bus too.

[Farmer Dean]

Get Jimmy Carter a seat on the bus too.

[Diocletian]

The number attributed to him is usually 3,000. 3,000 over 20 years.....3,000 is a slow week in a Marxist state.

[brothers4thID]

When accusing others of being ignorant or stupid, it is always best to use the spell check function. (Combination not Conbonation, FRiend)

Pinochet may have saved Chile from communism but I can't condone his methods. The rule of law has to mean something or we are no better than the leftist thugs we so hate.

[w1andsodidwe]

Nobody could even dream of nuking GWB's black cat.

Thanks for adding a sense of humor to this thread.

[Lukasz]

Rest in peace Augusto!

[nkycincinnatikid]

Damn anyone to hell that pleases you. But that Chile today is the product of this mans deeds and is far and away the brightest spot in all of latin America, is beyond debate.

[Fiji Hill]

Oh ya, cocaine trafficking, weapons production, he was a great hero...

Where did you get this information? Are you sure your source is reliable?

[indcons]

As somebody pointed out, Hitler was against communists too. Do you support Hitler, Toddsterpatriot? See how ridiculous this gets?

Pinochet destroyed democracy in Chile and leaves behind few supporters. He was a monster who didn't care a fig about his citizens' rights and the record against him is quite damning.

You don't have to be a communist to dislike Pinochet. YOu only need to be human.

[burzum]

It is interesting to compare Chile today compared to the rest of South America. As far as civil liberties and press freedom are concerned, Chile has no peer. And averaging >5% increase in GDP per year, their economy is booming. Even their recently elected socialist had to promise no nationalizations of companies nor anti-free trade policies (actually she has signed several free trade agreements). Some maps.

GDP Per capita (PPP)

Freedom House's political rights survey 2006


Freedom House's civil liberties survey 2006

Reporters without Border's press Freedom

Corruption perception index

Ease of doing business index

Heritage Foundation Distribution of Economic Freedom

Global Competitiveness Index


Etcetera. Chile is the most promising South American country by a very very large margin. I'm sure the stability that Pinochet provided had a lot to do with this.