Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, born in Valparaíso in 1915 and died at Santiago, Chile in 2006was a Chilean soldier and dictator. Appointed head of the army by the socialist president Salvador Allendeon 11 September 1973 he was among the promoters of coup d’état against the president. Having come to power, he governed Chile as head of a military junta until 1990. His regime was characterized by harsh repression of opponentsmany of whom were subjected to torture and killed by the political police, and for the liberal economic reforms. After the end of the dictatorship, Pinochet’s crimes were subjected to judicial investigations in Chile and other countries, but the former dictator was never put on trial.
Youth and military career
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte was born in Valparaíso, Chile, on November 25, 1915. As a teenager he enrolled in the Bernardo O’Higgins Military Schoolembarking on a career in the armed forces, and in 1945 he joined the War Academy. In 1951 he returned to the Military School as a teacher and later also became a professor at the Academy. From 1956 to 1959 he lived in Quito, Ecuadoras a member of a Chilean military mission. Upon returning home, he continued his military career. In 1968 he obtained the appointment as brigadier general and in 1971 he became division general.
His career took a turning point in June 1973, when he earned the respect of the president, Salvador Allende: a coup attempt against the government took place in Chile and Pinochet helped with his soldiers to repress it. Allende, certain of the general’s loyalty, appointed him commander in chief of the Chilean Army on 23 August 1973. The choice would soon prove to be a fatal mistake.
The coup d’état: Pinochet and the military against Salvador Allende
Chile was traditionally one of the most democratic countries of Latin America. Allende, who came to power in 1970 following regular elections, had introduced economic measures to support the poorest sections of the population, nationalizing the copper minesone of the country’s main economic resources (he thus completed the policy started by his predecessor, the Christian Democrat Frei). He also supported the secular state and civil rights; in foreign policy he had shown himself to be do not accept US hegemonyre-establishing, among other things, relations with Cuba (in which the socialist government of Fidel Castro was in power).
For these reasons, Allende earned the enmity of the United States, which introduced economic measures against Chile and financially supported his opponents. The conditions in the country worsened and discontent spread among a part of the population.
In 1973 the military, led by Pinochet, organized a coup against Allende. On September 11th military planes bombed the Monedathe presidential palace and the soldiers stormed the palace. The president was killed (perhaps committed suicide) during the assault. Power was assumed by one military junta composed of representatives of the various armed forces. Pinochet was appointed head (in 1974 he would be named supreme leader of the nation).
The coup was certainly supported by the United Statesbut their role has never been fully clarified. Also lined up in support of the coup were the landownersdamaged by Allende’s policies, e numerous former Nazis who had sought refuge in Chile after the Second World War.
The presidency, repression, crimes and reforms
As soon as it came to power, the military junta embarked on a policy of harsh suppression of its opponents. The political police, the DINA (Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional), regularly used the torture to interrogate prisoners, using particularly brutal techniques. Thousands of opponents they were murdered and, in some cases, their bodies were made to disappear. In the days following the coup, I National Stadium of Santiago it became a concentration camp, in which opponents suffered the most atrocious brutality. Among the victims locked up in the stadium there were also famous people, such as the poet Victor Jaraand citizens of other countries.
The exact number of victims of the dictatorship is not known. A commission established after the return of democracy estimated that the dead, including the disappeared, they had been 2279to which they must be added around 30,000 people victims of torture. These are, however, approximate figures. Furthermore, some Chilean political leaders were assassinated abroad.
Simultaneously with the repression, Pinochet developed a liberal economic policyoverturning Allende’s approach and, thanks also to the support of the United States, managed to obtain good results, to the point that some economists, such as Milton Friedman, spoke of “Miracle of Chile”. Instead, according to other analysts, such as Amartya Sen, Pinochet’s economic results represent the failure of liberalism.
What is certain is that at an international level, the regime received a lot of criticism for his repressive policies, but he enjoyed the support of the United States. Furthermore, in 1987 he received a visit from the Pope, John Paul II. Inside the country, despite the harsh repression of opponents and censorship of the press, the dictatorship some of the Chileans did not like it.
The end of the dictatorship, the legal case and death
In 1988 Pinochet called a referendum to ask to extend his mandate for another 8 years, convinced that he would win easily. Contrary to the dictator’s expectations, the no’s prevailed and two years later Pinochet left the presidency. The change was made possible by the fact that the international geopolitical context was no longer that of the 1970s, thanks to the end of the Cold War, and therefore democracy could be restored in Chile. Pinochet, after leaving the presidency, was appointed senator for life and retained his position as head of the army.
The crimes committed when he was in power, however, were not forgotten. In 1998 the former dictator was arrested in London on the orders of a Spanish judge. After long legal-diplomatic controversies, in 2000 he was able to return to Chile. Even in his country, however, he had to face judicial problems: his parliamentary immunity was revoked and he was placed under house arrest several times, for short periods. However, he was not subjected to a real trial, also because a part of public opinion and the Chilean ruling class continued to be aligned in his favor.
Pinochet died in Santiago il December 10, 2006at the age of 91.
