Monday, December 13, 2004
Augusto Pinochet, A Monster for All Seasons
Perhaps partial "closure" at last for families of his victims
To those of us who followed the rise and fall of General Pinochet, it is a good day…sort of. A Chilean judge ordered house arrest of General Pinochet on human rights charges.
The Pinochet regime was accused of torturing some 28,000 people. An official report issued after the restoration of democracy in 1990 in Chile found 3,197 people had died or disappeared during the 17 years beginning in 1973 when General Pinochet assumed power after a bloody coup.
Let us not forget that the United States,under the guidance of Dr. Henry Kissinger, aided and abetted the Chilean armed forces to topple the legitimately elected government of President Salvador Allende. Subsequently,the reign of terror----torture and killing of dissidents and those suspected of being dissidents----continued with full knowledge of our government. A shameful chapter in our history.
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"History is only the register of crimes and misfortunes."
----Voltaire
To those of us who followed the rise and fall of General Pinochet, it is a good day…sort of. A Chilean judge ordered house arrest of General Pinochet on human rights charges.
The Pinochet regime was accused of torturing some 28,000 people. An official report issued after the restoration of democracy in 1990 in Chile found 3,197 people had died or disappeared during the 17 years beginning in 1973 when General Pinochet assumed power after a bloody coup.
Let us not forget that the United States,under the guidance of Dr. Henry Kissinger, aided and abetted the Chilean armed forces to topple the legitimately elected government of President Salvador Allende. Subsequently,the reign of terror----torture and killing of dissidents and those suspected of being dissidents----continued with full knowledge of our government. A shameful chapter in our history.
****************
"History is only the register of crimes and misfortunes."
----Voltaire
