Guided by God my foot

December 16, 2006

Guest Post by Morbo

In a previous post, I mentioned hearing Chilean exile Ariel Dorfman speak in 1985. During those remarks, which I still recall more than 20 years later, Dorfman pulled no punches as he excoriated Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and explained how a U.S.-backed coup brought this cruel dictator to power.

Why did we do it? Because the people of Chile had had the temerity to democratically elect Salvador Allende, a man who pledged to bring “democratic Socialism” to Chile. Allende either committed suicide or was killed during the coup.

Pinochet decided to use his power to institute free-market reforms. He actually lured economists affiliated with the late Milton Friedman down to Chile and had them spearhead a wave privatization. Pinochet did that — and of course killed and tortured a bunch of people. As The Washington Post reported this week:

First as head of a four-man military junta and then as president, Pinochet served until 1990, leaving a legacy of abuse that took successive governments years to catalogue. According to a government report that included testimony from more than 30,000 people, his government killed at least 3,197 people and tortured about 29,000. Two-thirds of the cases listed in the report happened in 1973.

An austere figure who claimed to be guided by “the spiritual force of God as a believer,” Pinochet regarded himself as a soldier rather than a politician. With his stern visage and fondness for military uniforms and dark glasses, he seemed to personify implacable authority. He was both an opponent of communism and a critic of “orthodox democracy,” which he said was “too easy to infiltrate and destroy.”

Here is what life was like under Pinochet: Political parties were banned, and labor unions were shut down. Free press became a memory. Pinochet scrapped the Chilean constitution and once stated that Chile needed “an authoritarian government that has the capacity to act decisively.”

Backed by his secret police, the National Intelligence Directorate, Pinochet ruled through terror. And by the way, Pinochet claimed to be paying himself a modest civil servant’s salary — but somehow managed to sock away $27 million in an overseas bank account.

I will spare you the details of the methods of torture used in Pinochet’s Chile. They are stomach-turning. Suffice to say, there was often a sexual component — the better to debase and humiliate the victims.

On Dec. 10, Pinochet died, having never been brought to justice for his crimes. When I read about his death in The Post, I could only think of that odd claim: He said he was guided by “the spiritual force of God as a believer.”

I don’t know if there is a god, but if there is, I believe he is still guiding Pinochet — straight into the bowels of Hell.

Michael Sticklings also has a good post on “Excusing Pinochet” over at The Reaction. Seems that for some self-proclaimed proponents of god and democracy, capitalism trumps both.

  • Pinochet was haridan Jeanne Kirkpatrick’s favorite dictator. They used to drink tea together. I wonder if Agusto ever bent the bitch over a chair and “hit her in the shitter”.

  • [Pinochet] said he was guided by “the spiritual force of God as a believer.”

    He probably was. It is documented in His own books that God is a well-known mass murderer, torturer and religious dictator. Pinochet didn’t nothing that God hadn’t already done many times before.

  • If there is more justice in the after life than in this life, Pinochet, Freidman and Kirkpatrick are all rotting together in hell right now. I’d love to see a large-scale, well-written and well-made film of how their lives and “accomplishments” complemented one another. Are you interested Spielberg?

  • I recently wrote this to some friends who were discussing Pinochet.

    Way back in my San Francisco State days, when it began to look as though I might, at long last, graduate (I hadn’t yet explored grad school because I was sure I couldn’t make it in, or afford it for that matter) I dropped by the Chilean consul’s office downtown and found out they’d have been very happy to take me on as an asst. prof. at the University of Santiago, with no more than my B.A. degree. The leftist Allende regime was at that time making a big push in the social sciences, demography in particular. As it turned out I did (1970) get into a doctoral program at Oregon, with funding, so I never pursued the Chilean option.

    Had I gone to Chile I would’ve been at the heart of their left-leaning university at precisely the time (9/11/1973) when Pinochet became dictator and began his string of murders and tortures, beginning with Allende and many of the faculty at U of Santiago. Most of the “disappeared” were never heard from again; many of their bodies were simply dumped in the streets (much as in modern Baghdad). Much later I learned that our dear friend, Henry Kissinger (national security adviser and U.S. secretary of state, winner of the Nobel peace prize) was a major player in that coup. Here’s a quote from Henry: “I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.” What an anti-democratic monster. Death’s too good for him, but I’m glad to see him die anyway. I wish I believed in Hell.

  • The joys of Pinochet’s regime can be seen in the number of Chileans who fled Chilie and ended up in Canada.

    Funny enough, according to Greg Palast, the Uncle Mity Friedman torture and tax cuts plan didn’t really work for the Chilean economy which did not turn around until Pinochet adopted some of the socialist measures that Allende pushed.

    Torture and Tax Cuts, sounds familiar…

  • Torture and Tax Cuts, sounds familiar… — Former Dan, @8

    And don’t forget the guiding hand of God; it’s a 3 for 3 match

  • I was a Spanish major in college. I can remember how eye-opening it was to read the history of that entire region and to read the works of major authors who subtly and sometimes overtly attacked the politics of the time. America’s handprints are all over Central and South America, but much of it seemed to fly under the American people’s radar who appeared more concerned about the Cold War threat of the Soviet Union and Eastern block. Unfortunately, the hypocrisy of our policies never seemed to come out until well after events had occurred or until they blew up in our face. The worst is that there are many American leaders who haven’t learned a thing from the experience.

  • What an anti-democratic monster. Death’s too good for him…

    You have to be a bit less ambiguous, Ed. Are you talking about Pinochet here or Kissinger?

    Ed Stephan, master of the double entendre!

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