FPIF Commentary |
Reflections on Pinochet's Death
Juan Antonio Montecino | December 12, 2006
Editor: Emily Schwartz Greco, IPS
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 | | Cristian Montecino, victim of the Pinochet era. |
By now the world has had enough time to reflect on the irony of Gen. Augusto Pinochet's death Sunday, December 10, International Human Rights Day. Now the dictator responsible for the death, torture and disappearance of thousands will never face justice.
It's been over 33 years since Pinochet rose to power in Chile through what is generally recognized as one of the bloodiest coups of the 20th century. On September 11, 1973, Gen. Pinochet led the bombing of the Chilean presidential palace, La Moneda, overthrowing the democratically elected government of Socialist, Salvador Allende. To those mourning his death, Pinochet was a hero and patriot who saved Chile and its waning economy from the clutches of Marxism and Soviet influence. But to me and countless others he's the reason I grew up with one less family member.
In 1973, in the weeks following Pinochet's coup, my uncle, Cristián Montecino, was abducted from his apartment by the military police and executed in a military barrack for no reason other than taking pictures. Throughout the 17-year dictatorship, Pinochet's secret police, the DINA, murdered and kidnapped approximately 3,000 people, ranging from leftist dissidents to clergymen, university professors and journalists. Even today, many of the victim's family members still deal with the pain and uncertainty of not knowing if their disappeared loved-ones were killed or not.
When I was still a child an Argentine woman came over to my house to ask my father to help her find her long-lost lover, disappeared since 1973. My father wasn't home at the time and so I helped her search through his archive of pictures of political prisoners in Santiago's national stadium. Still clutching a half-faded picture of her lost lover, the woman patiently watched my father's computer screen as I zoomed in and out of the faces of those who most likely never made it out of the stadium alive. But the hundreds of pictures yielded no clues and the woman had no choice but to live on with her solemn conviction that one day, if not reunited with her missing lover, at least she'd know his fate for sure.
When I was teenager growing up in post-Pinochet Chile, I struggled to convey my feelings about the dictatorship to my friends and classmates, many of them who were pro-Pinochet. Some of them, no doubt instructed by their wealthy parents, said things like: “Pinochet is a hero” or “it's too bad so many had to die but it was in our country's best interest.” Now I am continually shocked at how often I hear the same defenses from educated adults, people who cowardly refuse to see the thousands dead as more than mere faceless numbers or collateral damage.
Was my childhood babysitter and close family friend, Rodrigo Rojas, who was burned alive and left to rot in a roadside ditch, merely collateral damage? Can economic growth offset the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of such crimes against humanity or the pain suffered by Rodrigo's family?
The good thing is most people don't think so anymore and the overwhelming public reaction in Chile to Pinochet's death was celebration as news reached the U.S. that Chilean liquor stores have sold out of Champagne. But even though Pinochet's corruption and crimes are now almost universally condemned and Chile has even elected a former torture victim, Michelle Bachelet, as its President, I for one am not celebrating.
His death is far too convenient for him and his supporters because now he will never be convicted for his crimes. Those on the Right callous enough to still stand by their "General" can now forever live in fantasy. Fortunately, Bachelet's government spokesmen have announced that Pinochet will receive no special funeral from the state. Now the cult of Pinochet is finally in decline and this year's International Human Rights Day can go down in history as a truly appropriate one indeed.
Perhaps Pinochet's death marks the true end of the Cold War in Latin America.
Juan Antonio Montecino, a former Institute for Policy Studies intern, is a student at the University of British Columbia and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.
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Published by Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF), a project of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS, online at www.ips-dc.org). Copyright © 2009, Institute for Policy Studies.
Recommended citation:
Juan Antonio Montecino, "Reflections on Pinochet's Death," (Silver City, NM and Washington, DC: Foreign Policy In Focus, December 12, 2006).
Web location:
http://fpif.org/fpiftxt/3783
Production Information:
Author(s): Juan Antonio Montecino
Editor(s): Emily Schwartz Greco, IPS
Production: Saif Rahman, IPS |
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| Name: |
Tony Somera |
Date: Dec 15, 2006 |
| If only it were the end of the Cold War in Latin-America. The U.S. is wedded to Latin-America in this essentially lawless world, and has become addicted to abusing her. Whenever she doesn't follow its wishes, its only thought is to beat her into submission. The neighbors usually do no more than ignore the screams.
I don't see an end to it in the foreseeable future. We have thousands upon thousands of Pinochet-like moral midgets here in the U.S., waiting for their chance, all believing they are superior to their more kindly neighbors to their South. They will continue to demand privileges and advantages regardless of the consequences to their supposed inferiors. Never mind all the contradictory great literature that they avoid like the plague. And when they die they will have had no regrets for a life spent denying others their right of self-determination. It's a communicable disease and it's apparently incurable. |
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| Name: |
Michael |
Date: Jan 10, 2007 |
| Why is there never a mention of the Cuban Russian games during those days. It was because of Pinochet Chile came out ahead in the end and is still an economic firebrand powerhouse. It is because as long as you dwell on the past and this fantasy that Allende was best you will live in the past.
Forgive and forget but never forget Communism killed over 100 million people. These writers and bleeding heart latinos from S. America have been singing these lefty tunes since I can remember as a kid. Give it up, Chile is a role model as a democratic society. It was the Cold War, drink a beer and buy a hippie CD.
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| Name: |
Juan Montecino |
Date: Feb 27, 2007 |
| Michael,
I apopologize if this sounds blunt, but you are either unaware of the facts or are intentionally overlooking them. First of all, Allende was not a communist. He was a socialist. Second, it is absurd to lump all leftists in the same camp as the soviet union (does the Non-Aligned Movement ring any bells?). Third, I find it odd that you praise Pinochet and Chile's democracy in the same context (how can you associate a dictator responsible for overthrowing a democratically elected regime and killing over a 2,000 people with democracy?). Fourth, yes it is true that the economy under Allende was doing poorly and that, factually speaking, Pinochet was largely responsible for its rebound. But you nevertheless seem to subscribe to a skewed account of Chile's economic and political history. It is well known that a tremendous contributing factor to Chile's poor economic performance was Nixon's economic destabilization program. In fact, Nixon is famous for ordering Henry Kissinger to "make the economy scream." In this context, much of the economic turmoil during the Allende years is attributable to political opposition within the business ranks (who created artificial food and capital scarcity by setting up black markets and hording goods) and the international community (which limited Chile's access to foreign aid). Furthermore, when you praise Pinochet's economic track record I assume you are referring to the neo-liberal policies of the IMF and World Bank which are mythologized as saving the Chilean economy from the inefficiency of statism. However, the economy under Pinochet did not fare as well as is most often believed. The Chilean economic miracle is actually the result of a careful balance of statist (read Keynesian welfare capitalism) and market policies. The backbone of the Chilean economy, Copper, was always under state scrutiny because it was simply too important to entrust to the private sector. Also, the Chilean economy actually came quite close to collapsing under Pinochet due to rash capital and financial liberalization. The problem was so bad that Pinochet, a supposed market fundamentalist, was forced to nationalize much of the country's banking (a move much more in line with Allende's brand of economic policy and not the world bank's or the IMF's). So, to conclude, your statement reflects either a lack of honesty and objectivity on your part or simple ignorance. I recommend that in the future you take the time to learn about whatever subject you decide to run your mouth about.
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| Name: |
Tom Routledge - Vancouver, BC |
Date: Apr 01, 2007 |
| Thank you, Juan Antonio, for this accurate and meaningful reminder of the tragedies of the Pinochet years - and the cost, in human terms, of his cruel dictatorship. Your uncle, Christian Montecino, and young people like Rodrigo Rojas, are remembered even these days. I think I will drop you an e-mail, since we are Vancouver 'neighbors'. I am a Gringo who unexpectedly fell in love with Chile in the 1980's - and will shortly return for a reunion with my many friends there. |
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