Mention September 13th to someone (of my generation at least) in Chile and they will remember the overthrow of a democratic régime and the coup d'état led by Augusto Pinochet in 1973.
I would personally place Pinochet as fifth on the list of the worst villains in the world in the 20th century (behind 1. Hitler, 2. Stalin, 3. Mao-Tse-Dung, 4.Pol Pot and possibly level with the leaders of the Argentinian junta of the late 1970s and early 80s).
The democratic régime was led by Salvador Allende, a Marxist, theoretically an economist, and by no stretch of the imagination a commanding personality. And as economists go, he did not prove very competent!
I have spoken to people on both sides of the political divide in Chile about this over the years. On one side the argument was that the country was in disarray and something had to be done to save it. On the other hand the argument was that the riots were staged (paid for by American money and organised by the CIA at Nixon's behest). Who is right? Does anyone even now really know?
What I would say is that in a democracy elections should always hold sway. If Allende was incompetent, he should have been subjected to elections and voted in or out according to the will of the people. If that in the short term proved impossible, the armed forces should have taken control of the country and ensured that stability had returned. Then elections should have followed.
A military dictatorship should not have been an option!
A régime where thousands were arrested, tortured and killed (without due process) should not have been an option!
A régime where young women were taken away two days after giving birth, tortured (apparently by fitting clamps to their breasts and sending electric currents through them) .... and killed????
NO WAY! NOT IN ANY CIVILISED PLACE ON EARTH!
Their babies were given instead to army officers and other supporters of the régime to raise incidentally. Wharrever you think about that is your choice.
And then there were the dozens of people who disappeared never to be heard of again and have never been accounted for. Imagine one of your relatives disappearing like that?
Well they were all dangerous revolutionaries!
A great excuse, but if you examine all the case histories, this is not exactly the case. Among them were Catholic priests. Among them (one of the survivors who lived to tell the tale) was Michelle Bachelet, democratically elected President of Chile between 2006 and 2010. A relatively moderate Social Democrat (think Willi Brandt or Gerhard Schröder) - hardly a revolutionary.
If someone is a dangerous person who has taken actions (or has threatened to take such actions) as a result of which they are consequently potentially culpable, they should face trials in a proper court of law following appropriate internationally accepted interrogation procedures.
Arrest without trial, torture, execution (not following due process), or simply just removing someone from circulation, killing them and dumping their bodies in the Pacific Ocean? Frankly this IMHO makes the régime worse that the people that they refused to prosecute!
Democracies live by and under the law (see the actions of France with Carlos "the Jackal", if you want an example of how this should be done). Dictatorships live according to the words, actions and methods adopted by the dictator, but there is also a standard in international law to which they must also be held. Let us never forget that. Let the dictators never forget that!
To the memory of all who died at the hands of the villain Pinochet and his brutal henchmen - you are not forgotten, and neither will be the crimes of the perpetrators!
Author's note and apology - when I first wrote this article I gave the date of September 11th as that of the Chilean coup. I have since researched this and discovered that the information that I first had was incorrect and the date should have been September 13th. I have consequently revised the opening to this piece. My profound apologies for the mistake. I should have checked my facts in depth first (as should all writers, politicians usw) - I will, unlike many others, openly admit to making a mistake when it obviously is one.
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