The death of Augusto Pinochet announced yesterday in Santiago,Chile, will re-ignite many arguments and controversies.Since the coup that brought him to power in 1973,and allegedly masterminded by the American government,his rule has courted controversy both home and abroad.
His support of Britain during the Falklands crisis and the subsequent backing of Mrs Thatcher in his fight against extradition on human rights charges sits heavily on this country.
His death and the celebrations and demonstrationsthat have followed it, is given a lot of coverage in the media today.
General Pinochet, 91, dies awaiting trial for murder-Times
He took his crimes to the grave -Independent
Violence flares after Pinochet's death-Telegraph
Glee and grief as man who 'brought Spanish inquisition to Chile' dies at 91-Guardian
If there is one thing that all the outlets focus on it is that some 16 years after stepping down he frankly got away with it.Even as he lay dying,the Chilean authorities were attempting to bring him once again to justice.
The most famous attempt happened eight years ago when he was placedon house arrest during a visit to England.The Tekegraph recalls the incident
"In September 1998 he arrived in London for an informal visit, taking in the gentlemen's clubs and shops of the West End. The stay should have lasted a week or two, but it would be March 2000 before the former Chilean dictator was able to flee the land he so admired, stealing back to Santiago from a RAF base in Lincolnshire.
The intervening 16 months provided one of the strangest episodes in recent British diplomatic and legal history as Pinochet and his supporters fought a high-profile campaign to prevent his extradition to Spain. He had been accused of presiding over a regime of murder and torture following the CIA-backed military coup in 1973 that he led against the Marxist-leaning elected government of Salvador Allende.
The Independent quotes human rights lawyers
"His death does rob us of a proper trial and retribution for his victims." Years of illness allowed the General's lawyers to fend off court proceedings in his native Chile. For nearly two decades as Latin America's most infamous dictator, he was accused of ordering the deaths and disappearances of at least 3,000 Chileans, many killed at the hands of his secret police.
He came to power following a coup in 1973 which toppled the government of Allende,according to the Guardian
"When Gen Pinochet seized power in 1973, he knew he would be enjoying the strong support of the US. The secretary of state and national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, was an admirer and anxious that no bridgehead for the left should be established in Latin America by President Allende.
"The prevailing mood among the Chilean military is to use the current opportunity to stamp out all vestiges of communism in Chile," said a CIA memo immediately after the coup. "Severe repression is planned." Another CIA document noted that the methods used by the junta's secret police were "out of the Spanish inquisition".
When Dr Kissinger and Gen Pinochet met in 1976, according to documents released in 1999, Dr Kissinger told him to ignore criticisms from within the US about his methods, assuring him that they were part of a communist propaganda exercise. He told him: "We wish your government well."
His rule over the next two decades was charactorised by repression of any opposition but a growth of the Chilean economy.Accordinng to the Independent
"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.
The Telegraph in their obituary say
"The only real argument — not justification — for Pinochet is that he presided over an economic miracle in Chile. He inherited triple-digit inflation, and left an economy which served as a model to enthusiasts of the free market."
His fall from power was followed by many attempts to bring him to justice,The Telegraph reports that
"Pinochet was accused of dozens of human rights violations but a lengthy effort to bring him to trial in Chile failed as his defence lawyers successfully argued that he was too ill to face charges. In 2000, he managed to escape being sent from London to Spain, where he faced charges of human rights abuses, after British medical experts ruled he was suffering from "mild dementia" and therefore unfit to stand trial. The same happened when he returned to Chile in 2000. "
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