Augusto Pinochet left behind a legacy of political murders and torture when he died, over the weekend, at the age of 91. He was never tried for his crimes due to his declining health. But he will be remembered as being among the most repressive rulers in Latin America.
Pinochet took power in 1973, toppling democratic socialist President Salvador Allende. He ruled with an iron fist for 17 years. One vivid memory is that of Santiago’s soccer stadium filled with political prisoners to be killed, tortured or forced into exile after Pinochet took power. The scene triggered horror around the world.
More than 3,000 people disappeared or were executed during his rule. Some 28,000 were tortured in secret detention centers. Scores of others were sent into exile.
Still, Pinochet’s free-market policies and periods of robust economic health in Chile won him plenty of supporters. But in the end, even admirers soured on him when they learned he had squirrelled away $27 million for himself in foreign banks.
Though he didn’t stand trial for his crimes, he suffered in the court of public opinion, fighting charges of corruption and human rights abuses and scorned by the masses. Today’s Chilean government denied Pinochet a state funeral normally granted former presidents. That was a just reward.
