Augusto Pinochet - President of Chile, born 1915
After seizing power in a bloody CIA-backed coup, General Augusto
Pinochet ruled Chile with a rod of iron for two decades, during
which human rights violations became the norm of Chilean life.
Hailing from an upper-middle class background, Pinochet entered
the military academy in Santiago at the age of 18, graduating
three years later as a second lieutenant. By 1968 he had risen
to the rank of brigadier general.
In 1970, Salvador Allende, a Marxist, became president of Chile
with the backing of the Christian Democrats, and began
restructuring Chilean society along socialist lines. In the
process he expropriated the US-owned copper-mining companies,
alienating the US government and foreign investors. He further
annoyed Washington by establishing relations with Cuba and
Communist China, which the United States did not recognise at
that time. As a result, America imposed tough economic sanctions
and the CIA spent millions of dollars destabilising the Allende
regime, much of it going into Pinochet's pockets.
By 1972, the Chilean economy had collapsed. With no foreign
investment, production had come to a standstill. There were
widespread strikes, inflation, food shortages and civil unrest.
With the backing of armed forces, Pinochet staged a military
coup on 11 September 1973. It was bloody even by Latin American
standards. The navy seized the key port of Valparaiso, while the
army surrounded the presidential palace in Santiago. Allende
refused to step down. When the palace was overrun a few hours
later, he was found dead. It appears that he shot himself rather
than face inevitable torture and execution.
Source and more info: Augus
to Pinochet.