Santiago In The News

Chilean General and former President Augusto Pinochet, remembered by some to be a savior and by many to be a horrendous ruler, died recently at the age of 91. Although he is credited with laying the foundations of Chile’s modern market economy which has helped Santiago, the country’s capital, become one of the most important financial centers in Latin America, the former president’s legacy is wrought with controversy.

Pinochet first rose to power in 1973 after he led a U.S.-backed coup d’etat deposing the democratically-selected Socialist President Salvador Allende and established a military government. Stating that Chile was under siege by communist subversives, Pinochet started a series of security operations with support of the United States in which 3000 leftists were killed and some 30,000 were tortured, according to the Rettig Report. He later implemented economic reforms which his supporters credit with the development of the robust modern Chilean economy and his opponents identify with large increases in unemployment, poverty and decline in real wages.

Even though Pinochet’s regime ended in 1990, some 300 criminal charges in Chile were still pending against him for human rights abuses and embezzlement during his rule at the time of his death in late December of 2006. He still remains a polarizing figure in many parts of the world today, dividing people who condemn him for human rights abuses and for taking power from a democratically elected government, from those who credit him with stabilizing Chile and preventing a Communist takeover. The controversial dictator's death saw thousands of pro-Pinochet demonstrators gathering to mourn his death in Santiago on Sunday, as well as a reported 6,000 anti-Pinochet demonstrators celebrating his death in the city's Plaza Italia, showing how his legacy as a president and leader is still, and will continue to be, debated.