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going after augusto pinochet with a gusto by Preston Peet (ptpeet@cs.com) - December 08, 2000 |
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| Whoever can forget the pictures of "I'm-too-sick-to-stand-trial" General Augusto Pinochet as he was wheeled out of his plane onto the tarmac in Chile? Pinochet miraculously rose from his wheelchair and strode forward to meet his cheering supporters, who had waited for the bloody ex-dictator's return. Pinochet had been held for 503 days under house arrest, at Spain's request, when England's Home Secretary Jack Straw ruled that Pinochet was too mentally and physically ill to stand trial for the mass tortures and killings conducted under his regime. Arrested on October 16th, 1998, whilst in London for medical treatment, Pinochet faced extradition to Spain, France, Belgium, and Switzerland. After Straw's ruling, Pinochet was released, and he flew home to Chile on March 2nd, 2000. But his troubles are far from over. Pinochet was indicted by Chilean Judge Juan Guzman on Friday, December 1st, 2000, for the kidnapping and disappearances of 73 people, and ordered held under house arrest. These notorious kidnappings and murders were committed during a 10-day period in 1973, and became known as the "Caravan of Death." Military death squads patrolled Chile in helicopters, and according to a FoxNews report (December 1st, 2000), executed leftist-leaning prisoners and dissidents, and those who were merely suspected by the junta of having such ideological leanings. Although Pinochet's regime ended in 1990, he still faces charges stemming "from 187 criminal complaints" of human rights abuse, filed against him by victims. Judge Guzman has also ordered a battery of medical and psychological tests to ascertain whether General Pinochet is fit to stand trial. Official estimates of politically inspired violence under Pinochet's reign number 3,197 deaths and disappearances. Unofficial estimates claim that tens of thousands were murdered. Thousands more were arrested and tortured, as Pinochet suspended the constitutional rule of law. In a taped message the week before Guzman's arrest order, broadcast to the nation on his 85th birthday (November 24th, 2000), Pinochet said, "As former President of the Republic, I accept what they say the army and armed services did," but stopped short of saying he was responsible for what they "did." Pinochet has been accused for many years of directly ordering these tortures and assassinations, both of Chileans and of expatriates residing in Chile. The US government knew it, and continued to support his government. In fact, the US had a direct hand in Pinochet's reaching his pinnacle of power, the Chilean Presidency, and helped keep him from harm after he left office. They also gave the nod to murder of troublesome U.S. citizens who were living in Chile during Pinochet's overthrow of Salvador Allende, the democratically elected Leftist president. The murdered Americans were vocal about US involvement in the coup d'etat. The U.S. first intervened to keep Allende from the Chilean presidency in 1958, when the "avowed Marxist," as described by William Blum in his scathing expose of American military and intelligence global interventions, Killing Hope (Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press, 1995), came within 3 percentage points of winning the election. America spent millions of dollars to fund propaganda and cause Allende's electoral defeat in the 1964 polls. Blum asserts that when they failed in 1970, the U.S efforts brought the word "destabilization" into the English language. U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger told Newsweek (September 3rd, 1974: 51-52) at the time, "I don't see why we have to stand by and watch a country go communist because of the irresponsibility of its own people." Various U.S. corporations supported the coup plotters, notably ITT, which noted in a 1970 memorandum that a deteriorating economy would "touch off a wave of violence leading to a military coup." So many US corporations stopped doing business with Chile, that the World Bank stopped giving Chile loans. Allende's administration received virtually no U.S. foreign aid assistance, whilst they channelled plenty of funding to his detractors. Allende is said to have shot himself with a rifle on September 11th, 1973, as opposition forces stormed the Presidential Palace during a relatively mild takeover. The real horror show followed the coup. Pinochet's brutal rule has become infamous, but his wrath was not limited by Chile's borders, nor his ability to kill. Ronnie Moffit and Orlando Letelier were both killed by a remote-control bomb on September 21st, 1976,, whilst driving on Massachusetts Avenue, along Embassy Row in Washington D.C. Moffit's husband was wounded in the explosion. The attack was masterminded by paid CIA asset, Manuel Contreras, who was then head of Chile’s secret police, DINA. A CIA Regional and Political Analysis Report (May 1977) described Contreras as a close confidant of Pinochet. The report claimed that Contreras answered directly to Pinochet, and would not undertake this assignment without personal approval or orders. Letelier was a former Chilean diplimat and outspoken opponent of Pinochet's policies. His assassination was linked to Operation Condor, a Chilean-sponsored covert operations/intelligence program (organized by the seven-country Southern Cone dictatorships). Although George Bush's CIA was advised of the assassins' duplicitious attempts to enter America, and knew of the possibility of the plot prior to the hit, the CIA leaked disinformation through Newsweek magazine after the bombing asserting that DINA was not involved, and that the bomb was "too crude to have been the work of experts." Too crude for CIA-trained and/or backed assassins and DINA allies. The subtext pointed toward Allende's allies and friends, who were apparently motivated to gain sympathy for their cause. However, within two years, this cover-story was blown when the FBI arrested Michael Townley, an American and DINA agent, who eventually served a prison sentence for his involvement in the killings of Letelier and Moffit. Former Newsweek journalist Robert Parry quoted prosecutor Eugene Propper as saying, "nothing the agency [CIA] gave us helped us break this case." Pinochet's regime, which held total power, carried out other bombings, kidnapping and assassinations. Pinochet has attempted on several occasions to ensure that he would remain immune from future prosecution. After stepping down from the Chilean presidency in 1990, he remained Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Armed Forces, and awareded himself "Senator for Life" in 1998. However on August 8th, 2000, Chile's Supreme Court stripped him of Senatorial immunity. This action now leaves him open to legal retribution, which he must fight off at the end of his long and influential life. Some say that Pinochet saved his country by stopping the godless Commies, but to achieve this goal, he tried to kill democracy. We now know that Pinochet tried to kill democracy with the leader of the Free World's help. |
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Pinochet's British Legal Troubles Chronology Chilean Judge Indicts Former Dictator Pinochet for Kidnapping Pinochet Trial Latest US Role in Chile Coup Analyzed Chile's President Bows to Military Pressure The Pinochet Principle Meeting of the US State Department Historical Advisory Committee David Atlee Phillips, Clay Shaw, and Freeport Sulpher Pinochet May Have Had Go-Ahead to Kill Two Americans, Documents Show Chile: 16,000 Secret US Documents Declassified Getting Away with Murder Life Term for Chilean General's Killer in Argentina CIA Activities in Chile: The Schneider Assassination CIA Activities in Chile CIA World Fact Book: Chile Suspicions of CIA Involvement in Horman George H.W. Bush and the State of Terrorism Pinochet Supporters Seeks Removal of Judge Who Indicted Him History of Chile Under Salvador Allende and the Popular Unity These Roads Lead to Rome The Latin America Studies Group vs. The United States: The Verdict of History Disinformation Dossier on CIA Hits & Misses Disinformation Dossier on The CIA Fights For The Right To Violate Human Rights Disinformation Dossier on Augusto Pinochet Faces Death |
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