The implications of the British establishment’s support for Pinochet warrants sober consideration. It indicates that when the British ruling elite feels threatened to the same degree as their counterparts in Chile, it will act in a similar manner.
The death of the aged former US-backed Chilean dictator Pinochet has provided one more verification of the fact that there exists no genuine commitment to democratic rights in the US ruling class.
Pinochet’s regime was responsible for the murder or disappearance of thousands of left-wing activists, trade unionists, students and others suspected of opposing the interests of the Chilean ruling class and foreign capital.
A series of revelations emerging from US investigations into money-laundering and corruption charges against the Riggs Bank have implicated Chile’s ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet in illicit payoffs totaling in the millions of dollars.
The Chilean Supreme Court excused General Augusto Pinochet from legal proceedings in a decision on July 1, which effectively means that the ageing former dictator will not face trial for any of the crimes carried out during his brutal 17-year rule.
Patricio Guzman’s El Caso Pinochet (The Pinochet Case) is a documentary concerning the events that led to the arrest of Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet in October 1998 in London.
Augusto Pinochet: 503 Days Trapped in London (Augusto Pinochet: 503 Días Atrapado en Londres) documents the behind-the-scenes manoeuvres between the governments of Chile, Spain and Britain to ensure that the former dictator was not extradited to Spain to face trial for crimes against humanity.
According to leaked findings reported in the Chilean media, court-ordered medical tests carried out on former Chilean military dictator General Augusto Pinochet last week found that Pinochet is fit to stand trial on charges of murder and kidnap.
Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet has won a series of legal victories over the past week that may bring an end to the most prominent of the 190 criminal lawsuits filed against him since 1998.
Ten days after a Chilean judge ordered the arrest of Augusto Pinochet in connection with death squad murders carried out in the aftermath of the CIA-backed military coup 27 years ago, an appeals court panel overturned the order. The judicial reverse came under conditions of mounting military pressure to halt the prosecution of the former dictator.
According to leaks from within the court, the Chilean Supreme Court voted narrowly on August 1 to strip former dictator, Augusto Pinochet, of his parliamentary immunity, clearing the way for his prosecution on 154 criminal charges arising from the 1973 military coup.
The rapidity of the indicted torturer's exit stands in marked contrast to the ponderous pace at which the extradition process was conducted since his arrest in October 1998.
Both London and Madrid face major difficulties in trying to extricate themselves from the Pinochet affair and avoid a public trial that might raise uncomfortable questions, while at the same time preserving their claims to uphold human rights.
The High Court in London has rejected a legal challenge to the Home Secretary's intention to halt the extradition proceedings against the former Chilean dictator, General Augusto Pinochet.
According to the Observer newspaper, British Home Secretary Jack Straw may have misled members of Parliament when he told them that doctors had “unanimously and unequivocally” found former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet unfit to stand trial for torture.
Felipe Gonzalez, ex-general secretary of the Socialist Workers Party of Spain (PSOE), has come out officially in support of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Gonzalez held government office for 14 years between 1982 and 1996.