Death of a Pig: Poetic Justice for Pinochet (Ron Jacobs)

[laststeamtrain]

Death of a Pig
Poetic Justice for Pinochet

By RON JACOBS

Look around--there's only one thing of danger for you here--poetry.

Pablo Neruda, during a search of his home and grounds after the September 11, 1973 fascist coup in Chile

Let's get it straight. Augusto Pinochet ordered the deaths of perhaps 4000 people, if not more. He did this after violently overthrowing a legally elected government in the sovereign nation of Chile. Of course, he had a little help in this endeavor from Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Anaconda Copper, IT&T, and that always friendly-to-dictators bureaucracy -- the Central Intelligence Agency. That's another story, however, and one that would also be dealt with if there were true justice on this planet.

One of the most moving times I ever heard Joan Baez sing was in Washington, D.C. at a funeral procession for Orlando Letelier and Ronnie Moffitt. These two individuals were killed by Pinochet's secret police -- the DINA -- by a car bomb in the middle of the U.S. capital city. As Joan sang "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," fascist demonstrators threw dirt and insults at those of us who had gathered to commemorate these two individuals and condemn the governments responsible for the murder. Business as usual. The men directly responsible for the car bomb were eventually arrested, tried and jailed, (after years of intense pressure from several governments and individuals), but their leaders weren't.

I was living in New York when the coup occurred. There were protests downtown and the Weather Underground bombed IT&T's Latin American Division offices in Manhattan. Pablo Neruda died of prostate cancer a week or two after the coup. Funeral processions were banned but thousands of Chileans defied the fascist government and marched in memory of Neruda and against the fascist coup. Phil Ochs organized a concert for the disappeared the following spring. We were pissed off in the way that seemingly hopeless despair makes one. A genuine hope for a humanistic future had been destroyed by the forces of evil right in front of our eyes and most of our countrymen didn't give a shit. Business as usual, you know. What can you do about it?

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http://www.counterpunch.org/jacobs12112006.html

[MaineYooper]

1. I have to disagree. Poetic justice for Pinochet...

would have involved being "disappeared" into a hidden torture chamber and dying the sort of death that he inflicted on so many others...

At least he's finally gone.

[RethugAssKicker]

2. Along with Kissinger.............n/t

[DinahMoeHum]

3. With any luck, Pinochet's chestnuts are roasting on an open fire

as we speak.

:evilgrin: