Former Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet is Dead

[Regit]

How many here remember this guy? Interesting story because he was in the process of being brought to justice for a plethora of human rights violations.

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General Augusto Pinochet, the anti-communist dictator who ruled Chile with an iron fist from 1973 to 1990, has died today from heart complications, the Santiago Military hospital has reported. He was 91.
The brief announcement by the hospital said Pinochet died after his condition worsened suddenly following a heart attack he suffered on December 3.

Relatives and friends of Pinochet were arriving at the hospital. Most relatives had gathered during the morning in a Catholic Mass for the former leader and in a celebration of his wife's 84th birthday.

Pinochet had undergone an angioplasty to enlarge a clogged artery to restore blood flow to his heart. Doctors said he had been recovering well and he had been removed on Thursday from the intensive care unit.
Pinochet died at 2.15pm (1715 GMT), the hospital said. Several family members were with him, according to Dr Juan Ignacio Vergara, spokesman for the medical team that had been treating him.

At the time of his death, Pinochet was under indictment in three cases stemming from the massive human rights abuses during his long reign, and for tax evasion.

Although his final years where a constant battle in court, he was never sentenced.

Police deployed a security ring around the hospital. A small group of supporters of Pinochet remained at the entrance. and reacted angrily at people who passed in vehicles and shouted insults at them.

The supporters repeatedly chanted "Pinochet! Pinochet! Long Live Pinochet!" and then chanted Chile's national anthem, and several women cried openly.

The British government has said that it "noted" the death of General Pinochet, who spent more than a year under arrest in the UK fighting extradition for alleged human rights abuses.

"We note the passing of General Pinochet and want to pay tribute to the remarkable progress that Chile has made over the last 15 years as an open, stable and prosperous democracy," said foreign secretary Margaret Beckett, referring to the time since Pinochet left office in 1990. Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, Pinochet's staunchest ally in Britain, was "greatly saddened" by his death, her office said.

Pinochet was arrested in London in 1998 and held for 16 months while courts decided whether he could be extradited to Spain to face rights charges there for alleged crimes during his 17-year rule. In March 2000, Britain allowed him to return to Chile for health reasons, where prosecutors sought unsuccessfully to bring him to trial.

Thatcher, who valued Pinochet's support during Britain's 1982 Falklands War against Argentina, called repeatedly for his release during his detention in Britain.

Human rights activists shed few tears for the former military leader, who seized power from President Salvador Allende in a bloody 1973 coup. Chile's government says at least 3,197 people were killed for political reasons during his rule.

"Pinochet has died, and I don't think he's going to heaven," human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson told the BBC. "His death does rob us of a proper trial and retribution for his victims."

The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture said it was "regrettable" Pinochet would never face trial for his actions.

"The men and women still suffering both physically and psychologically from the torture they were forced to endure, and relatives of the many hundreds who were disappeared by his security forces, deserved to see him finally brought to justice," said the group's director of policy and external affairs, Leanne MacMillan.

Amnesty International said Pinochet's death "should be a wake-up call for the authorities in Chile and governments everywhere, reminding them of the importance of speedy justice for human rights crimes, something Pinochet himself has now escaped."




Guardian Unlimited

[azsnowman]

I remember him VERY well....I wrote a paper on him my last semester in school (4 months ago), what a piece of work HE was

[gtalum]

He's a good example of why it doesn't pay to meddle in other nations' political affairs.

[Yarrah]

He's a good example of why it doesn't pay to meddle in other nations' political affairs.

Ah, someone who still remembers who helped him back in 1973.

Just as Milosovic, he's another dictator who died before he was punished for what he did. Let's hope he's the last one.

[HurricaneBill]

Just as Milosovic, he's another dictator who died before he was punished for what he did. Let's hope he's the last one.

Same with Pol Pot.