Quoting from the Independent Online:
Augusto Pincohet 1915-2006: He took his crimes to the grave
Augusto Pinochet, the former dictator who ruled Chile with an iron fist from 1973 until 1990, died in a high-security military hospital in the capital, Santiago, yesterday. His death from heart failure leaves a disputed legacy of brutal political repression; salvation from Marxism; and civil turmoil.
Later in the article we find this:
Divisions over the legacy of Pinochet still remain in Chile. “He’s the biggest criminal in the history of our country,” said Sola Sierra of the Association of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared. But a rightist legislator, Iván Moreira called him “a liberator … who brought democracy back to Chile.” He went on: “He saved us from Marxism, from becoming a satellite colony of Soviet-Cuban imperialism.”
Crediting Pinochet with the economic health of Chile today does not come easily as evidence has accumulated over the years of his utter disrespect of human rights. His regime systematically snatched political opponents from the streets and sent assassins around the globe to wipe out critics and resistors.
You might be shocked to find out that Pinochet held power until 1990 as president, and even then he remained in charge of the military until 1998, despite world attention since well before that.
Today’s punchline: “Augusto Pinochet died today in Santiago’s Military Hospital. Doctors described his condition as satisfactory.”
(The image above is a slightly altered version of the one from the Friendly Dictators set.)
