Augusto Pinochet

Augusto Pinochet was a Chilean military who had a successful career in his country's Army. Close to President Salvador Allende, Pinochet joined the military coup two days before it took place. He soon took over Chile's power and was the dictator of that country from 1973, the year of the coup, until 1990, when his dictatorship came to an end.

The dictatorship led by Pinochet was marked by violently persecuting all opponents — about 3,000 people were killed by the government and about 40,000 were tortured. He was arrested in 1998, and investigations later proved that Pinochet embezzled money from Chile and even got involved with cocaine trafficking .

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Birth and military career

Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte was born in Valparaíso, Chile, on November 25, 1915. He was the first child of Augusto Pinochet and Avelina Ugarte , an upper-middle class couple. The family's good financial condition allowed Pinochet to spend his entire childhood studying in good schools in his hometown. At age 17, he moved to Santiago, the Chilean capital, where he joined the Escuela Militar del Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins.

Entering this school dictated the career of Pinochet's life :the military. Throughout his years in the military, he was stationed in places like Concepción, San Bernardo, Iquique and Pisagua. He also served a mission in Ecuador and then held the position of professor of Geopolitics at the War Academy located in the capital.

Pinochet's military career was successful. In 1969, he was promoted to brigadier general; in 1971 he became a major general; in 1973 he attained the rank of commander in chief , the highest rank in the Chilean Army.

Despite his success, he avoided attracting attention, and his military career, until Allende's government, is considered by many as "uninteresting", since he avoided positions of too much importance. prominently and blindly followed orders from superiors, even though he disagreed with them.

During this period, Pinochet met María Lucía Hiriart Rodríguez, married with her in January 1943 and they had five children :Inés Lucía, Augusto, María Verónica, Marco Antonio and Jacqueline.

Participation in the military coup

An important turning point in the life of Augusto Pinochet was his involvement in the military coup of September 11, 1973 . This coup took place through an attack on La Moneda Palace, in Santiago, with the aim of deposing President Salvador Allende. The president ended up committing suicide in the course of the coup, and Pinochet became ruler of Chile.

Despite having coordinated actions on September 11th, Pinochet wasn't one of the creators from the blow and had only joined the conspiracy against Allende a few days before. He feared that the coup would fail and that it would cost him his life (and his family's) or his career. Despite the oath of loyalty he had with the incumbent president, Pinochet was part of the coup plot on September 9, 1973.

Chile was a polarized country for the election of Salvador Allende, in 1970. The Chilean president was a socialist and governed the country with a coalition that had socialists and communists. Allende's presidency was troubled due to the political crisis caused by the right and extreme right, supported by the United States.

During Salvador Allende's government, Commander Pinochet took command of the army garrison in Santiago and was also named Chief of Staff, two indications that Pinochet had the president's confidence. Finally, Pinochet assumed the highest rank in the Chilean Army in 1973, and the government's hope was that he would bring the military under control.

However, as we have seen, Pinochet joined the coup on the eve of the action against Allende. On September 11, 1973, military actions took place early and, at 7:30 am, military movements were already reported:the Navy had rebelled in the coastal city of Valparaíso and, in Santiago, troops took to the streets.

The coup resulted in suicide of Salvador Allende , who refused to surrender alive against the coup plotters, still in La Moneda Palace. After the coup, a military junta was formed that contained Pinochet, Admiral Merino, César Mendoza and General Gustavo Leigh. This junta would govern Chile with power rotating among the four, but soon Pinochet took control of the country.

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Chilean dictatorship

Augusto Pinochet remained dictator of Chile for almost 17 years and, from 1973 to 1990, ruled the country with a lot of authoritarianism. A d itatura c hylena was one of the most violent in America from the south, and Pinochet violently persecuted enemies within the government and any opposition in civil society. A real purge was carried out in Chilean society. Socialists, communists and anyone who defended democratic principles suffered from government violence.

Throughout almost two decades of dictatorship, there is talk of more than three thousand deaths and 40 thousand people who suffered some kind of torture of government agents. Cases of people being kidnapped, tortured and disappearing were frequent throughout the years of the Pinochet dictatorship.

The Chilean dictator exported elements of the National Security Doctrine and he defended the idea that there were internal enemies in Chile that should be fought. To that end, Pinochet created a secret policy known as the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional , to Dina. Diplomat Heraldo Muñoz claims that Pinochet's stance was a war stance against anyone who refused to obey him|1| .

During his dictatorship, Pinochet carried out profound economic reforms in Chile, allowing the country to undergo a opening liberal , conducted by Chilean economists who had studied in Chicago, in the United States. The reforms carried out by the “Chicago Boys ” were responsible for widening social inequality in Chile, making services such as social security precarious.

End of Dictatorship

From the 1980s onwards, theChile economy declined , and this gave space for protests against Pinochet to gain strength. In addition, Chile began to be pressured by the United States for a democratic opening to take place in the country. The 1980 Constitution, approved by Pinochet himself, even said that in 1989 a new ruler should be elected for the country.

Democratic forces rallied around this to demand an end to the Chilean Dictatorship . Pinochet then decided to hold a plebiscite in 1988 for the population to decide whether he would continue in the presidency of the country or not. The opposition campaign gained strength throughout 1988 and, at the end of that year, the result of the plebiscite was as follows:

56% of the valid votes were for the non-continuity of the Pinochet government;
44% of valid votes went to continuity of the Pinochet government.

The following year, presidential elections decided that the new Chilean president would be Patricio Aylwin . Patricio took office in 1990 and ended the Pinochet dictatorship.

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Last years

The departure from the presidency did not mean the end of Pinochet's influence in Chile. He remained an influential figure in the highest echelons of power in the country, since he was commander-in-chief of the Chilean army and a senator for life. The first post was handed over by Pinochet in 1998 due to his deteriorating health condition.

That same year, Pinochet was arrested in London , on October 16, while recovering from surgery. His arrest was in response to an international arrest warrant issued by a Spanish judge for human rights violations. He was placed under house arrest in London and was extradited to Chile on the grounds that he was mentally unfit to stand trial in Spain.

Investigations into Pinochet found evidence of corruption , since he embezzled money from the Chilean government and sent it to secret bank accounts in the United States. In all, Pinochet kept $27 million in these secret accounts. Further investigations also showed that he enriched from sale of cocaine , produced by agents of the Chilean Army. Cocaine sold by Pinochet was shipped to markets in Europe and the US.

Augusto Pinochet died the day December 10, 2006 , at 91 years of age. The cause of death was a heart attack.

Notes

|1| MUÑOZ, Heraldo. The dictator's shadow:political memories of Chile under Pinochet. Rio de Janeiro:Zahar, 2010, p. 64.

Image credits

[1] FGV/CPDOC

[2] byvalet and Shutterstock