Captain General 'Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte,
[1]
(
November 25,
1915 –
December 10,
2006) was
President of Chile from 1974 to 1990. His rule instituted broad economic reforms and a severe and highly controversial campaign against the leftist political parties.
In 1973, at the behest of the legislative and judicial branches of government, a
coup d'état deposed
Socialist President
Salvador Allende and established a
military government. Pinochet implemented a series of military operations in which (according to the
Rettig Report) approximately 3,000 people are known to have been executed, 27,000
[ without trials and subjected to torture. The Valech Report (published in November 2004) tells of some 28,000 arrests in which the majority of those detained were tortured.] were
incarcerated and in a great many cases
tortured. Many were
exiled and received abroad, 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. A later report by the
Valech Report, a multipartisan effort from the democratic governments to discover the truth about the allegations, confirmed the figure of 3,000 deaths but dramatically reduced the alleged cases of disappearances.
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 Chilean law.
At the time of his death in 2006,
around 300 criminal charges in Chile were still pending against him for
human rights abuses and
embezzlement under his rule.
[2] 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.
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
Rafael Ariztía Institute (
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 asserting that Chilean democracy had broken down and calling for Allende's removal, by military force if necessary, to restore constitutional rule. Less than a month later, the Chilean military deposed Allende.
Military coup of 1973
Main articles: Chilean coup of 1973
La Moneda Presidential Palace being bombed during the
coup (1973)
On
September 11 1973; the Armed Forces overthrew Allende's government in a coup.
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. 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. There is some doubt as to whether these 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 government itself published a book titled El Libro Blanco del cambio de gobierno en Chile (commonly known as "El Libro Blanco"), in which their actions appeared to be just anticipating some kind of self-coup that Allende's government and/or its associates were preparing to aim. The plans for this self-coup were known as the "Plan Zeta" (or "Plan Z"). They included the violent dis-stabilization of the government of Salvador Allende, via the killing of the head of all the military corps and some important politicians in the celebrations that would happen in the anniversary of Chilean national independence, in mid-september of that 1973 year. Until today, "Plan Zeta" hasn't been proven to be true, and the publishing of the "Libro Blanco" seems more than a product of seeking legitimacy than anything else.
Military junta
Main articles: Government Junta of Chile (1973)
A
military junta was established immediately following he 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.
Regime
'
Main articles: Chile under Pinochet
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. In 1980, by the way of another national referendum, Chile got a new Constitution, replacing the old document from 1925, and granted Pinochet 10 more years in power as President of Chile. The option "yes" won with 67.04% against 30.19% for the option "no".
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.
In 1981, 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 are (or will be), at the same time, heads of Government and of the Army.
Economic policy
By mid 1975, Pinochet set forth an economic policy of free-market reform. He declared that he wanted "to make Chile not a nation of
proletarians, but a nation of
proprietors." 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 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 remained under control of the government owned
Codelco. Supporters of these policies (most notably
Milton Friedman himself) have dubbed them "
The Miracle of Chile," due to the country's sustained economic growth since the late 1980s.
Suppression of opposition
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 regime's violence was directed against dissidents. Pinochet destroyed the insurgency linked to the defeated
Popular Unity (UP) government. 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"
[3].
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; General
Carlos Prats, Pinochet's predecessor and army commander under Allende, who had resigned rather than support the moves against Allende's marxist government, was assassinated in
Buenos Aires,
Argentina, in 1974.
Orlando Letelier, a former Chilean
ambassador to the United States and minister in Allende's cabinet, was assassinated after his release from internment and exile in
Washington, D.C. by a car bomb in 1976.'
End of the Pinochet regime
In 1980, a new constitution was approved, which prescribed a single-candidate presidential
referendum in 1988, and a return to civilian rule in 1990. In May 1983, the opposition and labor movements began to organize demonstrations and strikes against the regime, provoking violent responses from government officials. 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. The shipment of
Carrizal Bajo 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. Pinochet suffered only minor injuries, but five of his military bodyguards were killed. The beheading of leftist professor
José Manuel Parada, and journalist Manuel Guerrero, and
Santiago Nattino by the uniformed police ''(carabineros)'' led to the resignation of junta member General
César Mendoza in 1985.
Lost referendum and return to civilian rule
Pinochet, 1995
According to the transitional provisions of the
1980 Constitution, approved by 67% of voters in
referendum,
[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] a referendum was scheduled for
October 5 1988, to vote on a new eight-year presidential term for Pinochet.
Pinochet lost the 1988 referendum, where 57% of the votes rejected the extension of the presidential term, against 43% for "''Sí''", this triggered multi-candidate presidential elections in 1989 to choose his replacement.
Open presidential elections were held the next year, at the same time as congressional elections that would have taken place in either case. Pinochet left the presidency on
March 11,
1990 and transferred power to
Patricio Aylwin, the new democratically elected president.
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, and legal challenges began only after Pinochet had been arrested in the
United Kingdom.
Arrest and trial
Main articles: Augusto Pinochet's 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. He also was criticized for using his position to enrich himself and his family. 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.
[4] Five days later, Pinochet was served with a second provisional arrest warrant from judge
Baltasar Garzón of
Spain charging him with systematic torture, murder, illegal detention, and "disappearances".
Pinochet was placed under
house arrest in Britain while appealing the legal authority of the Spanish and British courts to try him,
[5] but eventually released on medical grounds by the then Home Secretary
Jack Straw without facing trial. He returned to Chile, where judge
Juan Guzmán 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'').
Pinochet resigned his senatorial seat in 2002, after a Supreme Court ruling that he suffered from "vascular dementia" and therefore could not stand trial for human rights abuses—allegations of abuses had been made numerous times before his arrest, but never acted upon. In May 2004, Chile's supreme court ruled that he was capable of standing trial, and he was charged with several crimes in December of that year.
In 2004, a
United States Senate money laundering investigation led by Sen.
Carl Levin (D-MI) and
Norm Coleman (R-MN) 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.
[6]
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.”''
[6]
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.
[8] In January 2007, the Santiago Court of Appeals revoked most of the indictement from Judge Carlos Cerda against the Pinochet family.
[1]
Final days
Pinochet inside his coffin at the time of the funeral.
On
November 22 2005, Augusto Pinochet himself was indicted on tax evasion charges and placed under house arrest for an alleged $27 million hidden in secret accounts under false names. That figure was later reduced to $11 million.
On
November 25 2006, Pinochet marked his 91st birthday by issuing a statement for the first time taking full political responsibility for atrocities and abuses committed by his regime. Two days later, he was indicted and ordered to remain under house arrest for the kidnapping and murder of two bodyguards of former President Salvador Allende --Wagner Salinas and Francisco Lara-— who were arrested the day of the 1973 coup and executed by firing squad four weeks later.
[9]
Death
Pinochet suffered a
heart attack on the morning of
December 3 2006, and subsequently the same day he was given the
last rites. This occurred days after he was put under house arrest. On
December 4 2006, the Chilean Court of Appeals ordered the release of this house arrest. On
December 10 2006 at 13:30 local time (16:30 UTC) he was taken to the ICU.
[10] He died of
congestive heart failure and
pulmonary edema,
[11] surrounded by family members, at the Military Hospital at 14:15 local time (17:15 UTC).
[12] His last word was ''Lucy'', the name of his wife (Lucia Hiriart).
Massive spontaneous street demonstrations 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.
[13] 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. 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
[14]. The only government authority present at the funeral was the Defense Minister,
Vivianne Blanlot.
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.
[15]
His remains were delivered to his family later that day.
Legacy
Pinochet's legacy has been debated continuously. Some view him as a brutal dictator while others credit him for stopping Chile sliding towards instability and implementing economic reforms.
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".
[16] Historian James Whelan, writing in the May 2007 edition of the
American Spectator also praised Pinochet for bringing economic progress to Chile.
[17]
There have been several detailed reports which describe the human rights abuses carried out by the Pinochet regime. In January 2005, the Chilean Army accepted institutional responsibility for past 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. Much of the torture was carried out at secret prison facilities like
Villa Grimaldi,
Chacabuco, and
Pisagua.
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
1. 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
2. Vocal minority praises Pinochet at his funeral Jack Chang
3. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2714962
4. Amnesty International: "Universal Jurisdiction and Absence of Immunity for Crimes Against Humanity," Report, 1 January 1999
5. The judgements of the British Courts are available at the British and Irish Legal Information Institute website
6. 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
7. 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
8. "U.S. Sends Back Pinochet Daughter," CNN, 28 January 2006
9. Eduardo Gallardo: "Pinochet indicted for 1973 executions," Associated Press, 27 November 2006.
10. Muere el ex dictador Chileno Augusto Pinochet ''EFE''
11. Augusto Pinochet falleció en el Hospital Militar tras sufrir recaída ";El Mercurio"
12. Chile's General Pinochet 'dead' ''BBC News''
13. . 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.Con alusiones al golpe de Estado, despiden a Pinochet con honores ''La Nación''
14. Clashes Break out after Pinochet's death
15. Family Wants Pinochet Cremation
16. Thatcher stands by Pinochet ''BBC''
17. American Spectator, May 2007, pp. 24-27
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.”[Pinochet, “Patria y Democracia”, 1983, Santiago, Andres Bello]
External links
★
Partido Nacional-Pinochetista de Chile
★
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
★
Chile: The Price of Democracy
★
Spanish-language Flash presentation depicting the September 1986 assassination attempt.
★
Biography resources dedicated to Augusto Pinochet
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