White House commends Chile for surviving 'difficult period' of Pinochet reign

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/10/america/NA_GEN_US_Chile.php

WASHINGTON: The White House on Sunday marked the death of former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet by calling his rule a "difficult period" and commending the country for establishing a free society.

"Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile represented one of the most difficult periods in that nation's history," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. "Our thoughts today are with the victims of his reign and their families. We commend the people of Chile for building a society based on freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights."

Pinochet terrorized his opponents for 17 years after taking power in a bloody coup.

[Ignacio Upton]

1. "Difficult" doesn't go far enough in describing it

If Pinochet wasn't politically toxic, you would see Bush defending him.

[angry_chuck]

2. Pinobushet

"Georgio Pinobushet's dictatorship in America represented one of the most difficult periods in that nation's history," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. "Our thoughts today are with the victims of his reign and their families. We commend the people of America for building a society based on freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights."

Pinobushet terrorized his opponents for 8 years after taking power in a calculated election fraud.

[Mz Pip]

3. The WH's

observation of the obvious is truly astounding. "Difficult period", indeed.

Who would they possibly be offending by calling it like it is?

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Say_What]

9. Particularly when they engineered the coup... n/t

[Supersedeas]

18. Tony Fratto's 30 sec of fame into the annuls of Bush lore

[Say_What]

20. The Santiago Times made note of the hypocrisy...

<clips>

...President Michelle Bachelet has remained silent on the issue, although she was informed of Pinochet’s death by her advisers early in the day. Government spokesperson Ricardo Lagos Webber said that Pinochet would not be given a state funeral, but that he would receive honors from the Chilean Armed Forces as a former military leader, a decision that has riled many conservative Chilean politicians.

President Bachelet will not attend the Tuesday funeral and will send Defense Minister Vivanne Blanlot as a representative of her government. Bachelet, who some say was tortured by the Pinochet regime before going into exile in Australia, had previously stated that honoring Pinochet with a state funeral would “violate her.”

Military complexes around the country were authorized to lower their flags half-mast, but other Chilean governmental branches would not follow suit despite the protests of pro-Pinochet supporters.

Pinochet’s death made front page news around the world. The U.S. government issued a statement saying that their thoughts were with the victims of the former dictator, despite having helped him come to power in the 1973 military coup.

http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story&story_id=12453&topic_id=1

[heliarc]

37. "Some say" she was tortured???... Please. nt

[skipos]

32. Who would they offend? Have you seen freerepublic? They LOVE Pino. nt

[IndianaGreen]

4. I guess we could refer to the Holocaust as a "difficult period"

America's complicity in the Pinochet horrors can only be redeemed by extraditing to Spain all those responsible for the Pinochet coup, there they will be prosecuted by Judge Baltazar Garzon.

[Solly Mack]

5. That's rich

and foreshadowing things to come - when others will remark on the 'difficult period' under George Walker Bush.

[maddezmom]

15. AFP headline: US tied to Pinochet, from ascent to demise

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061210/pl_afp/uschilepinochet_061210194602

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Arrogant fucking bastards.

We put the turd into power.

[John Q. Citizen]

7. The US Engineered Coup that led to Pinochet was difficult too!

[Say_What]

8. Can you spell HYPOCRISY???

<clips>

...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."

Dr Kissinger remained loyal to Gen Pinochet. When the retired dictator was arrested in London in 1998 and was facing extradition to Spain, he backed the campaign for him to be allowed to return home.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1969313,00.html

[bobthedrummer]

31. Kissinger, his "associates" , Nixon and globalist/fascist corporate

types like PepsiCo's Donald Kendall to copper interests helped to take out Chile's popularly elected Allende and installed another murdering RW criminal-and these perception managers expect people to believe them...

And now Kissinger, his "associates", the Iran/Contra crew and many others that aided and abetted the Pinochet regime are back in vogue here in the BFEE HOMELAND (TM) as long as our own war criminals continue to hold office.

The HYPOCRITES are those that know and haven't done a damn thing since these criminals were installed by the RW dominated SCOTUS.

But even the HYPOCRITES are nothing compared to the corruption at every level of "government" today.

All power to the people, like it states in the Constitution.

[krispos42]

10. One day, 30 years from now...

The Chinese Premier will say about the passing of Shrubby "I commend the the American people for living through such a difficult time..."

[Say_What]

11. Water Cannon Trucks out in Santiago

Using a water cannon, Chilean police sprays over opponents of former Gen. Augusto Pinochet during clashes in downtown Santiago, Chile Sunday Dec. 10, 2006. Thousands of opponents rushed to the streets, some clashing with police, to celebrate the death of Pinochet, who ruled Chile after a military coup from 1973 to 1990, and died Sunday from heart complications. He was 91.(AP Photo/Jorge Sanchez)


An anti riot water canon vehicle disperses anti-Pinochet Chileans celebrating after having the confirmation of Augusto Pinochet's death, behind La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago. Pinochet, whose 17-year rule, marked by the torture and deaths of thousands, became a symbol of Latin American military repression, died at 91, his doctor said.(AFP/Vincent Almavy)


Opponents of former Gen. Augusto Pinochet stand at a barricade in downtown Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006. Pinochet, who ruled Chile after a military coup from 1973 to 1990, died Sunday from heart complications. He was 91. (AP Photo/Santiago Llanquin)


Opponents of former Gen. Augusto Pinochet celebrate his death drinking champagne under a memorial to former President Salvador Allende in downtown Santiago, Chile, Dec. 10, 2006. Pinochet, who ruled Chile, from 1973 to 1990, lead a military coup that ousted Allende from power, died Sunday from heart complications. He was 91. (AP Photo/Claudio Santana)


An armored police vehicle rushes past opponents of former Gen. Augusto Pinochet during clashes after his death in front of La Moneda Government Palace in Santiago de Chile Sunday Dec. 10, 2006. Pinochet, who ruled Chile after a military coup from 1973 to 1990, died Sunday from heart complications. He was 91.(AP Photo/ Jorge Sanchez)


Opponents of former Gen. Augusto Pinochet, one toasting with a glass of wine another one holding a portrait of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, celebrate after hearing the news of Pinochet's death in Santiago, Chile Sunday Dec. 10, 2006. Pinochet, who ruled Chile after a military coup from 1973 to 1990, died Sunday from heart complications. He was 91. (AP Photo/ Gonzalo Salinas)


An old photo of former Gen. Augusto Pinochet is seen on a sign as opponents to Pinochet celebrate his death in Santiago de Chile, Sunday Dec. 10, 2006. Pinochet, who ruled Chile after a military coup from 1973 to 1990, died Sunday from heart complications. He was 91.(AP Photo/Jorge Sanchez)


Smoke pours from the Chilean presidential palace La Moneda Sep. 11, 1973 after being hit by rockets fired by the air force during the military coup led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet in which Marxist President Salvador Allende was overthrown. Pinochet, the fierce anti-communist dictator who ruled Chile with an iron fist from 1973 to 1990, died Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006 from heart complications, the Santiago Military hospital reported. He was 91. (AP Photo/Alberto Bravo)

[Blue_Tires]

35. thanks for the links

[Atman]

12. After taking power in a bloody coup???????

WE backed the coup! We were part of the whole fucking mess! Just like Saddam, we installed a ruthless dictator. But did we invade Chile and take him out? This is just fucking insane.

.

[daleo]

13. Pinochet=torture, Bush=torture. n/t

[Vidar]

14. I anxiously await Isabel Allende's response.

[Say_What]

17. Isabel Allende says "no reconciliation while Pinochet legal process still open"

The daughter of Chile's late president Salvador Allende says her thoughts are with those who disappeared, were tortured or were murdered after Pinochet's 1973 coup. Isabel Allende's father is said to have shot himself during the coup; there are some who are convinced he was murdered, however. Isabel Allende says she is comforted by the fact that Pinochet died being pursued by the courts, but she wishes he had been convicted.

A cousin of the well-known novelist of the same name, Isabel Allende went into exile in Mexico after the coup, but is now a Socialist MP in Chile's parliament. "There cannot be any reconciliation while the legal process is still open," she said. "We have to keep in mind that people have still not been found, and that families are still looking for their loved ones. Therefore it is unthinkable to call for reconciliation. I don't understand why we have asked for that." Isabel Allende is calling for investigations into charges of torture and human rights abuses to continue. She also says Pinochet does not deserve any kind of official funeral.

http://euronews.net/create_html.php?page=detail_info&article=395428&lng=1



Allende's Daughter Says History Will Condemn Pinochet

The daughter of late leftist Chilean president Salvador Allende said history will confirm the "disrepute" of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, who died Sunday under a cloud of unresolved cases of human rights abuses and corruption.

"In many parts of the world, the figure of Pinochet is in total disrepute and condemned. History will take care of confirming that," Isabel Allende said in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in Madrid.

Allende, whose democratically elected father was overthrown by the military strongman with the backing of the US government in 1973, also pointed out the increasing isolation Pinochet suffered from the Chilean political right in his last years.

"Some time ago, his own political allies had backed away from him. The political right wing that accompanied him and were his advisers, had shunned him," said Allende, who is currently a Chilean Socialist congresswoman.

Pinochet "could never bring himself to face justice nor to genuinely ask for forgiveness, not even in his last moments," she said, characterising as "not credible" a letter Pinochet wrote in November on the occasion of his 91st birthday, in which he assumed "political responsibility" for the coup d'etat and ensuing 17 years of military rule.

http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_5030-Allendes-Daughter-Says-History-Will-Condemn-Pinochet.html

[Vidar]

27. Thanks for the update.

[David__77]

16. Rich indeed...

This is hilarious for its dishonesty. There could be no Pinochet were it not for the forebears of the neocons.

[Say_What]

19. Many photos at Chile's La Nacion

http://www.periodicos.com.ar/CHILE/REGIONMETROPOLITANA.SANTIAGODELANACION.php

[Say_What]

28. At La Moneda in front of Allende's statue

[Judi Lynn]

29. Omigosh. I've heard people who were there talking about seeing victims going by in the rivers

but I've never seen a photo personally until now.

From what I've heard, this was a fact of everyday life for a while. So damned sad. Another reason to be glad he's gone. Too bad it didn't happen BEFORE he killed so many others.

On edit, adding photo:

[Say_What]

36. Chileans throw Pinochet's burning coffin effigy into the Mapocho River in Santiago

Opponents of former Dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet throw a burning coffin effigy into the Mapocho River during celebrations in downtown Santiago, Chile after Pinochet's death, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2006. Thousands of opponents rushed to the streets to celebrate the death of Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990 after a military coup, and died Sunday from heart complications at the age of 91. (AP Photo/Marcelo Hernandez)


Chileans opposed to former dictator Augusto Pinochet throw a mock coffin that they set had fire to into the Mapocho River, as several thousand protesters gathered to celebrate his death, in downtown Santiago, December 12, 2006. REUTERS/Patricio Valenzuela (CHILE)


Opponents of former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet carry a coffin during celebrations in downtown Santiago, Chile after Pinochet's death, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2006. Thousands of opponents rushed to the streets to celebrate the death of Pinochet, who ruled Chile after a military coup from 1973 to 1990, and died Sunday from heart complications at 91. (AP Photo/Marcelo Hernandez)

[heliarc]

38. You heard correctly,

When my parents left Chile the danger of ending up floating by in the river was palpable and real. There was also the danger of being thrown out of a helicopter after being drugged, or hauled off to the National Stadium to have your hands broken if you were a guitar player, and shot 40 times like Victor Jara. There was also the danger of being buried in a mass grave in the desert, or shot in the streets if you had to go to the hospital passed curfew. There was the danger of being tortured at Villa Grimaldi like Bachelet was. Many women there were raped and forced to endure electrical torture to their genitalia.

Make no mistake that this was all real. The mass media will make it all seem like some sort of dream, but it was real, and it is real.

The state of denial that Pinochet's mourners demonstrate is also quite real and just as disturbing as the mass media that placates them. Fight it.

[Say_What]

21. Democracy Now! --Death of a Dictator Victims of Augusto Pinochet's Reign Remember

<clips>

Death of a Dictator: Victims of Augusto Pinochet's Reign Remember Brutal Regime From the Caravan of Death to Operation Condor

Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet died on Sunday at the age of 91. Pinochet came to power in a bloody CIA-backed military coup on September 11th, 1973 that overthrew the democratically-elected president Salvador Allende. He ruled Chile for 17 years marking one of South America's longest- lasting and most repressive regimes. Pinochet oversaw the killing of over 3,000 Chileans during his brutal military reign. More than 30,000 Chileans have testified that they were tortured or detained by the military government.

Salvador Allende's daughter, Isabel Allende, spoke after hearing the news of Pinochet's death.

* Isabel Allende, daughter of former Chilean President Salvador Allende: "I demand justice and I am willing to re-encounter myself with the country and its memory under these values. Never again a coup, never again more violations of Human Rights, never again more assassinations."

...Last month, we interviewed Chilean novelist Isabel Allende here on Democracy Now! She is the niece of Chile's former president, Salvador Allende. Juan Gonzalez asked Isabel her reaction to a statement Pinochet issued on his 91st birthday saying he will not apologize to the Chilean people for what happened under his rule.

* Isabel Allende, author and niece of former Chilean President Salvador Allende: "There has not been justice in Chile. Justice is very slow and not fair, blind, deaf. And the people who suffered during that time suffered in silence. Their suffering was never acknowledged. It was denied. Then we had democracy for many years, and the idea was that in order to protect this fragile condition, democracy, that suffering had to be put aside. Those people had to sacrifice their truth and their past and their losses. And so, now it's too late, and Pinochet will never be arrested. He lives in perfect comfort and wealth. And I don't think that by apologizing to the people that he so awfully tortured and whose lives he destroyed, he will do any good."

Today we host a roundtable discussion on the death and legacy of Augusto Pinochet:

* Emilio Banda, a student union leader in Chile. In 1987, he was arrested by Pinochet forces and imprisoned for six months where he was tortured. He left Chile in 1993.
* Francisco Letelier, his father, Orlando was a high-ranking government official in Chile under President Allende. Following the coup, Letelier was imprisoned and tortured. He moved to the United States after his release. In September of 1976, Orlando was killed, along with his American colleague Ronni Moffitt, when a bomb planted under his car exploded as they rode to work. The assassination was eventually traced back to Pinochet's regime.
* Peter Kornbluh, author of "The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability." He is a senior analyst at the National Security Archive, a public-interest documentation center in Washington.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/155229

[Say_What]

34. Transcript...

with plenty of information:

...AMY GOODMAN: Peter Kornbluh, could Pinochet have risen to power without the support of the United States? And can you talk about the latest documents out that talk about the culpability of US leaders at that time?

PETER KORNBLUH: Well, we’re never going to know what would have happened in Chile without the US involvement, because the US was involved. And the declassified documents, including memos from Kissinger to Nixon in 1970, make it very specific, very specifically clear that the intent was to undermine Allende’s ability to govern to the point where a coup might be possible. The CIA's own declassified documents say that their propaganda effort, their funneling of more than $2 million into the newspaper, El Mercurio, money that was personally approved by President Nixon, by the way, that those funds, quote, “set the stage” for the coup of September 11, 1973.

And, of course, even more importantly, but largely forgotten, is the support that the United States gave to Pinochet immediately following the coup. There's an extraordinary set of declassified transcripts of Kissinger’s first staff meeting as Secretary of State, where his aide comes in and says, you know, “Congress is asking me about all the murders of the Pinochet regime in the days following the coup. What should I tell them?” And Kissinger is very specific: “I want you to understand our policy. No matter how badly this government, the Pinochet government, behaves, it is better for us than the last one, than Allende’s government.” And that was the operative policy from 1973, September 11, 1973, all the way ’til January of 1977, when the Ford administration and Henry Kissinger left office.

AMY GOODMAN: And the most incriminating document when it comes to Henry Kissinger and his involvement, that shows what exactly he did, what it means to, quote, “support” Pinochet?

PETER KORNBLUH: Well, there are many documents, and I would urge people to read them. Kissinger was not only the chief policymaker overseeing the effort to undermine democracy in Chile between 1970-1973, but he was also the chief policymaker pushing a policy of supporting Augusto Pinochet, despite the torture, despite the disappearances, despite the murders, the international assassinations.

And we know that from the transcripts. His aides come to him and say, “You know, Congress is going to cut off our ability to support Pinochet.” And Kissinger is railing about how bad this is for his executive privilege, how this is going to undermine and lead to the overthrow of Pinochet. And, according to Kissinger, how is it that Pinochet is any worse than any other government? And his aides are forced to say to him, “Well, it is.”

And it was. Pinochet is a name that became synonymous with human rights violations. He was not the dictator that murdered the most people in Latin America, but he was the dictator that received the most attention, that made the issue of disappearances the horror that it is today. He left 1,100 victims, who are still unaccounted for, whose bodies have never been found, whose loved ones have never been able to bury them. So his is a legacy of terror and a reminder of the worst of US policy in Latin America.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/155229

[jamesinca]

22. Hussein was overthrown, why not Pinochet?

WH does not care!!

[Amonester]

33. Is there any OIL in Chile?

If there is not very much oil, there lies the answer to the question.

[heliarc]

39. Excuse me???

This classifies as one of the weirdest threads I've read on DU for quite a while.

Chile doesn't have oil, but it has some of the largest Copper and Nitrate mines/reserves on the planet. Last I checked, Copper, and Nitrates are critical for the development of complex communications networks, as well as explosives. This is one of the reasons that ITT pressured the US government into supporting Augusto Pinochet's attack on the democracy in Chile in 1973. Augusto Pinochet protected the easy flow of these critical resources to capitalist interests which would support the US. Just because Chile doesn't have any oil doesn't mean it wasn't a strategic interest for the US. And the reason they didn't overthrow Pinochet is because he was one of our closest allies. The Nixon government was in complete collusion with the Pinochet Regime's torturous motives and US complicity continued through the First Bush Administration. After that Clinton made an effort to declassify documents showing the US's support for the dictatorship.

Please tell me both of you were being sarcastic. If not, than brush up on your Latin American History and Political Science.

[sutz12]

23. Why do all of these evil bastards get to die peacefully in their beds?

And people try to tell me that there is justice in the world? I don't buy it.

[Say_What]

25. Payback comes in different forms...

Pinochet's wife and four of his five kids are charged with tax evasion, embezzlement, fraud, and assorted other charges. The old POS might not have had a conscience re the thousands he killed, tortured, disappeared, etc., but when it comes to one's family I think it has to be a different deal. When he croaked he left his family holding the bag. One daughter was refused asylum in the US last year trying to say she was persecuted after fleeing tax evasion charges (see article in link below) to the tune of nearly $900,000 (US). About the same day her mother was released on bail. Couldn't have been much fun for the old torturer.



The US authorities denied Ms Pinochet's request for asylum


Gen Pinochet's wife was granted bail on Tuesday

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4663534.stm

[Judi Lynn]

Sorry, double post. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

30. Photos of his lovely children.....

Jacqueline Pinochet, Verónica Pinochet,Lucía Pinochet, Augusto Pinochet Hiriart, Marco Antonio Pinochet

and

Their lovely Mama

[yellowcanine]

24. Kind of like Stalin congratulating the Poles for surviving Hitler.

[Vinca]

26. Ain't it the truth. nt