Jeremiah O'Leary in the Washington Star 8th October, wrote: "The right-wing Chilean junta had nothing to gain and everything to lose by the assassination of a peaceful and popular socialist leader.
William F. Buckley also took part in this disinformation campaign and on 25th October wrote: "U. Townley was organized the assassination of Orlando Letelier. In Chile agreed to extradite him to the United States.
Townley confessed he had hired five anti-Castro Cubans exiles to booby-trap Letelier's car. Townley agreed to provide evidence against these men in exchange for a deal that involved him pleading guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to commit murder and being given a ten-year sentence.
His wife, Mariana Callejas also agreed to testify, in exchange for not being prosecuted. All three were found guilty of murder. Guillermo Novo and Alvin Ross were sentenced to life imprisonment. Ignacio Novo received eighty years. Pinochet, with the help of CIA advisers, privatized the social and welfare system and destroyed the Chilean trade union movement.
As Malcolm Coad pointed out: "This was achieved through wholesale privatisation, a complete opening to the international economy, fixing the exchange rate artificially low, and pumping in foreign loans during the petro-dollar glut of the late s. The result was the destruction of national industry and much of agriculture, then near-collapse in the early s amid a frenzy of speculation, consumer imports and debt crisis. The state bailed out most of the country's banking sector and unemployment rose to an official level of over 30 per cent.
Pinochet also received help from Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative government. This included Britain supplying arms to the regime and blocking attempts by the United Nations to investigate human rights abuses in Chile. As a result of Pinochet's policies, the gap between rich and poor widened to give the country the worst income distribution in the region after Brazil.
In mass protests took place in Chile. In October a referendum took place to decide if Pinochet should be the only candidate in the forthcoming presidential election. Much to his surprise and dismay, this proposal was rejected, and he won only 44 per cent of the vote. In Patricio Aylwin , a Christian Democrat, won 55 per cent of the votes to become Chile's new president.
Pinochet did however remain as commander-in-chief of the army, a position he was able to use to make sure there were no prosecutions against any members of the security forces suspected of human rights abuses during his period of power. General Pinochet visited Britain in to inspect a missile project being developed jointly between the Chilean Army and the Royal Ordnance Arms Company.
He was warmly welcomed by members of the John Major government. Norman Lamont , one of Major minister's became one of Pinochet's greatest defenders. In March Pinochet resigned as head of the Chilean army but became a senator, therefore guaranteeing him parliamentary immunity for life. However, later that year, while on a visit to London , Pinochet was arrested by the British police, following a request by judges investigating the torture and disappearance of Spanish citizens during Pinochet's period in power.
Five Law Lords ruled in December that Pinochet was not immune from prosecution. However, the ruling was set aside when it was discovered that one of the judges had links with Amnesty International. In January seven Law Lords voted that Pinochet must face extradition to Spain but that he was also immune from prosecution for crimes committed before In January , the British home secretary, Jack Straw , gave permission for Augusto Pinochet to fly home to Chile on compassionate grounds.
When he arrived home the authorities in Chile stripped him of his parliamentary immunity and proceedings against him began. Eventually, in July the Chilean courts decided to suspend the investigation on grounds of "dementia". In a US Senate investigation of terrorist financing discovered that Pinochet had opened and closed at least bank accounts at Riggs Bank and other US financial institutions in an apparent money-laundering operation. The Chilean government applauded remarks by U.
Secretary of State Colin Powell this week that the United States was "not proud" of its role in the coup that brought dictator Augusto Pinochet to power, Chilean newspapers reported on Saturday. Powell's comments on Thursday on the US Black Entertainment Television network, were seen by Chileans as the first time Washington has acknowledged that it intervened in events related to the bloody putsch and death of socialist President Salvador Allende.
In the interview, Powell was asked why Washington considers itself "the moral superior" in the Iraq conflict. The interviewer cited the Chilean coup as an example of the US government acting against the wishes of a local population. Allende, it is not a part of American history that we're proud of," Powell answered. Publications Pages Publications Pages. Recently viewed 0 Save Search. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. Subscriber sign in You could not be signed in, please check and try again.
Username Please enter your Username. Password Please enter your Password. Forgot password? Don't have an account? Sign in via your Institution. The school has moved to a new, modern building. The old building now stands empty and half abandoned. Some say that Gen Pinochet's ghost still haunts the old corridors where he used to play as a pupil, much in the same way that his memory still haunts so many in Chilean society.
Chile still split over Pinochet legacy. The Chilean muralists who defied Pinochet. How positive thinking toppled Pinochet. Image source, Getty Images. Gen Augusto Pinochet ruled Chile from to Image source, Constanza Hola. Sagrados Corazones is one of the oldest private schools on the continent. Teresa Pinochet says her older brother was very close to their mother.
She said it was a bond which lasted a lifetime. Poor student? At school, Gen Pinochet did not shine. On Sept. Allende died defending the palace, and Pinochet was made part of a four-man ruling junta led by the commanders of the army, air force, police, and navy.
Later, he seized absolute power. Pinochet and Chile were heavily involved in Operation Condor, a collaborative effort among the governments of Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay , and Uruguay to control leftist dissidents such as the MIR, or Movement of the Revolutionary Left, in Bolivia, and the Tupamaros , a band of Marxist revolutionaries that operated in Uruguay.
The effort consisted mainly of a series of kidnappings, "disappearances," and assassinations of prominent opponents of the right-wing regimes in those countries. The Chilean DINA, a feared secret police force, was one of the driving organizations behind the operation.
It is unknown how many people were killed during Operation Condor, but most of the estimates range well into the thousands. However, the reforms also led to a decline in wages and a spike in unemployment, and there was a severe recession from to In , a nationwide referendum on Pinochet resulted in a majority of the people voting to deny him another term as their president.
Elections were held in and the opposition candidate, Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin, was victorious. Pinochet remained in office until Aylwin was installed as president on March 11, , although as an ex-president he remained a senator for life. He also kept his position as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Pinochet might have been out of the limelight, but the victims of Operation Condor did not forget about him. In October , he was in the United Kingdom for medical reasons. Seizing upon his presence in a country with an extradition treaty, his opponents brought charges against him in a Spanish court in connection with the torture of Spanish citizens in Chile during his rule.
He was charged with several counts of murder, torture , and kidnapping. The charges were dismissed in on the grounds that Pinochet, by then in his late 80s, was too unhealthy to stand trial. Further charges were brought against him in , but Pinochet died on December 10 of that year in Santiago before the prosecution could proceed.
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