Pinochet is dead

[kerry]

Lots of news articles about the death of the murderous Pinochet. Haven't seen any interviews with Kissinger, asking his opinion.

[Carleton Hughes]

So, the 'ol bastard pulled a KenLay on us to avoid paying the piper,rake them coals,Lucifer.........

I don't know If I would particularly value KissingAss's opinion,the most memorable thing I heard once was a half hour excerpt of Oval Office tapes where he's kissing Nixon's ass silly,brown-nosing him about his "far seeing statesmanship and chess-like grasp of the global realpolitik"spare me the pathos......

[kerry]

i bring up Kissinger because he's accused of war crimes in regard to Pinochet's overthrow of Allende.
Comparing Chile and Iraq might be a useful exercise.

[Carleton Hughes]

Originally Posted by kerry edwards

i bring up Kissinger because he's accused of war crimes in regard to Pinochet's overthrow of Allende.
Comparing Chile and Iraq might be a useful exercise.

Ohhhh,!!!!!there's a can'O worms there allright,some even call KissingAss the world's worst {read smartest}war criminal,where do you wanna start???Bloody regime changes?planned genocides?

[el presidente]

I saw some pictures on CNN last night about the rioting. I'd like to have one of those water canons....

At present, I'm reading about early American history....who is this Pinochet fellow and what does Kissinger have to do with it?

[Carleton Hughes]

Originally Posted by el presidente

I saw some pictures on CNN last night about the rioting. I'd like to have one of those water canons....

At present, I'm reading about early American history....who is this Pinochet fellow and what does Kissinger have to do with it?

Uhhh,South american history,Chile,Salvador Allende?C.I.A?

[el presidente]

Originally Posted by Carleton Hughes

Uhhh,South american history,Chile,Salvador Allende?C.I.A?

70s, 80s?? I was too young to vote then......please bring us 'younglings' up to speed.

[Carleton Hughes]

B,but I vas just following orders!

[John Doe]

I have a Chilean friend for whom I have organized several businesses. She is a national and has lived here since about 1986 (I think). Her family is a fishing family and she primarily imports large seas scallops. They were big Pinochet fans. Just an observation.

[Kuan]

Well I'll thank the man for the wine.

[Cap'n Carageous]

Another take;

Pinochet Dies As Age of Tyrant-Tolerance Dawns
from United Nations Information Press


(2006-12-11) — Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, 91, died this weekend, and therefore will “miss out on the golden age of tolerance that is dawning worldwide for men like him” according to a United Nations source.

“Pinochet was a man ahead of his time,” said an unnamed U.N. official. “For the past 30 years, the world has largely scorned power-hungry tyrants who subjugate and slaughter others to achieve their egocentric ambitions under the guise of love of country or of God.”

But today, the source noted, men like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad receive the honor of speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and Moktada al-Sadr are worshiped and allowed to control the governments of Lebanon and Iraq by proxy, and the world’s superpowers convene diplomatic conferences at the pleasure of North Korean President Kim Jong-Il.

“Pinochet died just as the rest of the world was catching up to his progressive thinking,” the source added. “Today, he would win a Nobel Peace Prize.”

[kerry]

Originally Posted by el presidente

70s, 80s?? I was too young to vote then......please bring us 'younglings' up to speed.

Salvador Allende, democratically elected Socialist president was overthrown in a military coup by Pinochet with the cooperation of Nixon, Kissinger and the CIA. Thousands of political opponents were arrested, tortured and murdered by Pinochet. Kissinger is accused of war crimes for being involved in the kidnapping of a general who was likely to side with Allende against Pinochet.

I've known people who were big Hitler fans and also fans of just about any South American right wing dictator.

[Botnst]

Originally Posted by kerry edwards

Salvador Allende, democratically elected Socialist president was overthrown in a military coup by Pinochet with the cooperation of Nixon, Kissinger and the CIA. Thousands of political opponents were arrested, tortured and murdered by Pinochet. Kissinger is accused of war crimes for being involved in the kidnapping of a general who was likely to side with Allende against Pinochet.

I've known people who were big Hitler fans and also fans of just about any South American right wing dictator.

On a point of clarification, I read in two separate biographical articles in which Allende is described as a "Marxist."

The rest of your description squares with what i know. As far as readable indictments, Christopher Hitchens has done the best job of hoisting all those bastards. He's still stalking Kissenger, now that Mother Teresa is dead. Yep, Hitchens was after Mother Teresa, too.

B

[Botnst]

Pinochet legacy still in dispute
By Nick Caistor
Regional analyst


Gen Pinochet will not receive a state burial

The clashes on the streets in the Chilean capital, Santiago, between supporters and opponents of the late General Pinochet show how the figure of the former military dictator continues to divide Chile more than 30 years after he seized power.

His supporters argue, as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, that Pinochet "saved Chile for democracy".

They contend that he stepped in when the country was on the verge of chaos that could have led to a Communist take-over and alignment with the Soviet Union.

His 17 years in power, they say, allowed political passions to cool and for the Chilean economy to be put on the right track based on free market principles instead of the social experiment led by President Salvador Allende's Popular Unity government.

His opponents say that he used brutal force to impose order on the country, in a reign of terror that saw more than 3,000 Chileans killed and many thousands tortured or forced to live in exile abroad.

Worse still, say his opponents, he broke Chile's long democratic tradition by leading a military coup and then having himself installed as president.

His claims to represent the wishes of a majority of Chileans were shown to be false when his candidacy to stand in elections for eight more years in office was rejected decisively in 1988.

Exorcising Pinochet era

Since 1990, Chile has been governed by the "Concertacion", a broad alliance of centre and left-wing parties.

The three Concertacion presidents have avoided extreme political or economic measures, preferring to steer a middle course and take the majority of Chileans with them.


Pinochet's legacy will be long debated by Chileans
In September 1973, General Pinochet overthrew President Salvador Allende from the Socialist Party.

When Ricardo Lagos, also of the Socialist Party, stood as candidate in the 1999-2000 presidential elections, there was no sense of fear or shock, and he won by a comfortable margin.

President Lagos continued the same gradual progressive policies of his predecessors, but also began moves to put figures from the Pinochet era on trial for human rights abuses, and gave official compensation to victims of state repression.

By the time he handed over power to Chile's first woman president Michelle Bachelet at the start of 2006, President Lagos had removed most of the remaining traces of General Pinochet's regime in Chile's institutions, and he enjoyed a 70% approval rating.

Row over economy

In recent years, the right-wing in Chile also distanced itself from the general, especially after accusations of financial mis-dealings began to emerge.

Political leaders such as Joaquin Lavin and Sebastian Pinera stressed they believed in parliamentary democracy as the way forward for their country, and were careful not to hark back to the Pinochet era.

The healing of the wounds of the past has been helped by the continued dynamic growth of the Chilean economy, which has allowed levels of poverty to be substantially decreased in the past 15 years.

Although General Pinochet's supporters claim this success is based on the efforts he made while president, members of the Concertacion and other analysts put it down to continued good management throughout the 1990s.

The healthy economic situation has often depended on the export of copper and the revenues this produces - and as President Bachelet recently pointed out, this is due to the fact that President Allende nationalised the industry early in the 1970s, before he was overthrown by Pinochet.

So confident is the president that a vast majority of Chileans back the current system, that she has even denied the general (whose forces detained and tortured her father, an air-force brigadier, and was herself tortured) a state funeral.

Instead, he is to be buried with full military honours as a former head of the army. His remains will be taken to a family property south of the capital.

"We're among so many people who have no love for us, we don't expect anything. We never expected a thing from this government," was his son Augusto Pinochet Hiriarte's bitter final comment.

[Carleton Hughes]

Originally Posted by Botnst

On a point of clarification, I read in two separate biographical articles in which Allende is described as a "Marxist."

The rest of your description squares with what i know. As far as readable indictments, Christopher Hitchens has done the best job of hoisting all those bastards. He's still stalking Kissenger, now that Mother Teresa is dead. Yep, Hitchens was after Mother Teresa, too.

B

Why not?Mother Theresa was locked in the fiendish coils of superstition,Popish flummery.

Did she do good?nobody denies it but espousing these Romish beliefs she was rigidly against sterilisation or birth control thereby assuring herself and her followers an unending supply of poor to take care of,catch 22,Untouchable style.......