Court strips Pinochet of immunity

[Judi Lynn]

Last Updated: Wednesday, 14 September 2005, 17:49 GMT 18:49 UK


Court strips Pinochet of immunity


Chile's Supreme Court has ruled former military ruler Augusto Pinochet can face charges related to the killing of 119 dissidents.

Gen Pinochet is accused of direct involvement in the death of at least 15 activists in a 1975 secret police operation known as Operation Colombo.

It is the third human rights case in which the Supreme Court has lifted the former military ruler's immunity. But in the previous two cases, a court ruled he was too ill to stand trial.
(snip)
In 1975, Gen Pinochet's police allegedly abducted and killed 119 political opponents.

Their bodies were later found in neighbouring Argentina.
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4246780.stm

[Judi Lynn]

1. Court paves way for trial of Pinochet in notorious human case

Court paves way for trial of Pinochet in notorious human case
04:59 PM EDT Sep 14
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - The Supreme Court stripped former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution Wednesday, allowing him to stand trial in a human rights case involving the killing of 119 dissidents.

Chief Justice Jose Benquis said the court voted 10-6 to strip the 89-year-old former ruler of the immunity from prosecution he has as former president.

The ruling, which cannot be appealed, relates to a case known as Operation Colombo, and involves the 1975 killing of 119 dissidents, whose bodies were found in neighbouring Argentina.

The Pinochet regime at the time said the victims had died in clashes among rival armed opposition groups. It supported its claim citing reports in two magazines - Lea of Argentina and O Dia of Brazil. But the magazines, which printed the names of the, victims, published only that issue and then disappeared.
(snip/)

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/050914/w091450.html

[newscott]

2. Why doesn't this guy die already?

[damntexdem]

3. Oh no, he needs to be prosecuted first.

Just as Dubya will.

[Say_What]

8. Cuz those thousands he killed won't let him...

and besides, first he has to pay for the misery he brought to so many. Kissinger too...

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. And BAE Systems (biggest UK arms company) paid him $2 million from 97-2004

just reported on BBC TV. Full details in tomorrow's Guardian. BAE are also involved in bribes to Saudi Arabia, and payments to Margaret Thatcher's son Mark (you know, the one involved in the Equatorial Guinea coup).

Perhaps know we know why Thatcher was so keen that Pinochet wasn't prosecuted. Or maybe it was just because she had a soft spot for a fellow fascist.

[Say_What]

9. Allende's daughter, Isabel, who is a politician to Chile's lower house

ripped Magaret Thatcher a new one for saying that Pinochet should be freed.

<clips>

...The daughter of the late Chilean President Salvador Allende has described Baroness Thatcher's call for the release of General Augusto Pinochet as "shameful".

Isabel Allende, whose father died in the 1973 coup in which General Pinochet seized power, said she thought the former prime minister's intervention was "incredible, incredible indeed".

Her sharp response came as lawyers for the general challenged the warrant used to arrest him in London. A High Court hearing has been adjourned until Monday.

In an interview with French radio, the Chilean socialist senator said she believed the general "was not only my father's murderer - in the metaphoric sense of the word, of course - but he was also the murderer of our democracy and of our institutions.

"Unfortunately, because of him, many Chilean families suffered a great deal - this is why I think it is important that justice should be done."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/199225.stm

[0007]

5. And this is one of Henry A. Kissingers' buddies.

Too bad this didn't happen sooner.

[Say_What]

7. KISSINGER TO NIXON: "WE HELPED" COUP FORCES IN CHILE

Note the date. Too bad September 11 was on Sunday. For years September 11 was celebrated as a holiday in Chile. Just desserts for that old POS to lose immunity so close to the day he overthrew Allende and started Chile's nearly two decade reign of terror.


<clips>

KISSINGER TO NIXON: "WE HELPED" COUP FORCES IN CHILE

Washington D.C. May 26, 2004 - In one of his first conversations with President Richard Nixon following the bloody military coup in Chile, Henry Kissinger stated "we helped them," according to declassified transcripts of a telephone conversation obtained today by the National Security Archive. "That is right," Nixon responded.

The transcript records a call made by President Nixon to Kissinger's home on the weekend following General Augusto Pinochet's violent overthrow of the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in Chile. Kissinger reports to the president that the new military regime was "getting consolidated" and complains that the press is "bleeding because a pro-Communist government has been overthrown." When Nixon notes that "our hand doesn't show on this one though," Kissinger responds that "We didn't do it" . I mean we helped them….created the conditions as great as possible."

The September 16, 1973, "telcon" was found by the Archive's Chile analyst, Peter Kornbluh, among thousands of pages of transcriptions of Kissinger's telephone calls dated between 1969 and 1974, declassified today at the initiative of the Archive. Kornbluh, the author of The Pinochet File, called the new document "damning proof, in Kissinger's own words, that the Nixon administration directly contributed to creating a coup climate in Chile which made the September 11, 1973, military takeover possible."

In his confirmation hearings as Secretary of State that very week, Kissinger denied that the U.S. Government played any role whatsoever in Allende's overthrow. A year later, after details of a CIA destabilization program had leaked to the press, he again testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that "the intent of the United States was not to destabilize or to subvert {Allende}.Our concern was with the election of 1976 and not at all with a coup in 1973 about which we knew nothing and which we had nothing to do...."

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB123/chile.htm




Kissinger with pal Pinochet

[0007]

10. This last Sunday, September 11, 2005 was a strange day for me

My father died at 11:00. He was 93 and a strong right wing nut that defended Nixon, Kissinger and all the others. We never were never close.

Today was his funeral.

[Judi Lynn]

16. The timing is eerie, isn't it? Both September 11ths were big days

for American MEpublican Presidents: very big. Nixon was satisfied by the end of the life of Chile's popular leftist President, and _Bush got his dream come true: the chance he needed to consolidate a lot of power rapidly.

Very sorry for your extremely recent loss, 0007. The numbers are a little unusual, to say the least.

[Say_What]

20. My sincere condolences to you about your father, 0007.

Peace and love to you and your family during this difficult time.

[Judi Lynn]

18. It makes your skin crawl to see Nixon's comment on this filthy coup:

"our hand doesn't show on this one though," He must have been so proud of his right-wing, power-mad, bloodlusting lunatic self.

There's a strange phrase which floats up in this timeline of September 11, 1973:

Last updated: February 14, 2005
Chronology
The events on Tuesday September 11, 1973

06:40. Allende, at his residence Tomas Moro, is informed by telephone of a rising of Navy units in Valparaiso.

07:23 With five cars, Allende and his companions, including his personal bodyguard of activists from the MIR and the PS, leave for the presidential palace of La Moneda in Santiago.

07:30 Arrival of Allende in La Moneda. Everywhere around the palace police and carabiñeros in battle dress are present. These units are still loyal.

07:40 The three commanders of the armed forces do not answer the phone.

07:55 First radio speech by Allende. He calls upon the workers to be vigilant. Mentions only the Navy as the rebellious military unit. Colonel Valenzuela arrives and reports that the Ministry of Defence is occupied by the Army.

08:15 Second speech by Allende. At the same time Air Force Commander Sanchez is on the line, offering Allende an airplane to leave the country. Allende refuses. The carabiñeros are loyal. Allende also assumes that Pinochet is loyal. Pinochet is known as a constitutionalist. He is also a freemason, as is Allende.

08:30 Communiqué by the military junta. Pinochet is part of the conspiracy. His Spanish adviser, Joan Garcés, brings this message to Allende. Allende: 'three traitors, three traitors'.

08:45 Third radio speech of Allende. He will not give way to violence.

08:55 Police and carabiñeros around the palace retreat. The military have taken over the carabiñeros.

09:00 Fighter planes fly low over the presidential palace. Two hundred meters from the palace troops of the infantry school start advancing. There are exchanges of fire between supporters of Allende, hidden in the buildings surrounding the palace, and the Army. In the palace there are about 15 men who are armed. Allende's doctors have been summoned.

09:03 Fourth radio speech by Allende. 'The principles so dear to my fatherland I will defend with my life'.

09:10 Among the left-wing radio stations only the communist Radio Magallanes is still on the air. Because it probably is Allende's last chance to speak to the people, he addresses the Chilean workers for the fifth and what would be the last time. 'Workers of my country .... Go forward knowing that sooner rather than later you will open the broad lanes along which free men go to create a better society'.

09:20 A number of ministers, including Almeyda, have reached La Moneda. The tanks have advanced so far that La Moneda is within their range. The army- controlled radio reports that the residence Tomas Moro has been bombed. An ultimatum is issued for 11:00. Till then Allende will be permitted to step down and leave the country. Allende refuses.

09:30 Allende gives five military personnel who are present in La Moneda permission to leave. He also offers the option to other people, but most choose to stay.

09:45 Allende inspects the defences, and someone takes stock of the provisions. People start burning papers, especially addresses.

10:00 Tanks open fire upon the palace. Allende, helmet on, opens a window on the first floor. Lying on his stomach, he fires in the direction of the square. His secretary, Miria Contreras, urges Dr. Jiron to end this. Jiron draws Allende away from the window, holding onto his ankles.

10:30 Communiqué by the Army on all radio stations. 'As Allende refuses to surrender, the Army and Air Force will attack La Moneda'.

10:45 Allende demands that the women be allowed to leave La Moneda. There are about 10 women in La Moneda, including his daughters Beatriz and Isabel.

10:47 Army communiqué: 'The women of La Moneda have three minutes to leave. After that the bombardment will start'.

10:50 Six women leave the building.

10:55 Army communiqué: 'La Moneda must be evacuated by 11:00. If not, bombardments will follow'.

11:05 The palace is now under continual fire from tanks and small firearms.

11:10 One of the military men who left the palace at 09:30, calls from the Ministry of Defence, announcing that the Army has granted a 15-minute delay. In reality there were no planes available at that moment.

11:15 The shelling of the palace stops. The soldiers retreat so they will not be fired upon by their own air force. The people in the palace gather in the winter garden on the ground floor. There are still 50 people. Allende again gives everybody the opportunity to leave. Most stay on. He orders his Spanish advisor Garcés to leave so he can tell the world what happened in La Moneda.

11:58 The bombardment commences. Hawker-Hunter fighters fire rockets into the palace. The Chilean declaration of independence of 1818 is taken down from the wall for safekeeping. Ceilings are crashing down, and fires break out in many places.

12:15 The bombardment ends. The Army immediately opens fire again. Tear gas grenades are also fired into the building.

12:20 Meeting of Allende, Fernando Flores, Daniel Vergara, and Osvaldo Puccio in the dining room on the first floor, underneath a table. Flores urges Allende to negotiate. In the end Allende agrees to step down, allowing formation of a military-civil government while retaining the gains from the UP government. Following telephone conversations with the Ministry of Defence, the three leave the building with a white flag. On arrival at the Ministry of Defence they are arrested immediately. Pinochet demands surrender without any conditions.

12:30 The journalist Augusto Olivares has committed suicide in La Moneda. General Palacios receives orders to occupy the palace and capture the president.

13:00 The fighting between the rebels and defenders of the palace continue.

13:40 Through a direct phone line with the security services a 15 minutes cease fire is offered, during which those present are allowed to leave the building under a white flag. Allende concludes that further resistance is useless. Gathering his people in a gallery for a last meeting, he says a bloodbath is senseless, and thanks everybody for their loyalty and courage. He also asks for one minute of silence for Olivares.

13:50 Allende organizes the surrender. Miria Contreras will lead the exit. A white tablecloth taken by doctor Quiroga from the dining room is used as white flag. Allende will bring up the rear. When the group is lined up on a stairway, Allende walks past everybody, from downstairs to the first floor, shaking hands. It is a moment of great emotion.

13:55 At the moment when the group wants to leave the palace on the Rua Morandé, they again come under fire. When the firing ends, the evacuation starts slowly. Arms in the air they leave the palace. Through the same door and at the same moment, troops of Palacios enter the building.

13:58 Guijon considers taking a souvenir from the palace and leaves the group, walks upstairs past the drawing room 'Independencia'. He sees Allende sitting on a couch, machine gun between his legs, barrel pointed upwards, taking his life with a short salvo.

14:10 Guijon decides to stay with Allende's body. Soldiers force their way into the drawing room. An officer is warned. General Palacios enters and asks Guijon to tell exactly what happened and whether this is Allende, whose face is badly mutilated. Palacios reports to his superiors: 'Mission accomplished, Moneda occupied, president dead'.

http://www.iisg.nl/collections/chile/chronology.html

[Say_What]

21. From the Rojas Robinson Archive --Allende's death (one of many accounts)

Hi Judi... :hi: I found this a few days ago while doing some research on the coup. It's from the "Róbinson Rojas Archive" website and taken from the book The murder of Allende And the end of the Chilean way to socialism", which they have online. After the account of how Allende died there is an article about Allende's widow and the burial--they would not let her see her husbands body. Also, information about Dr. Patricio Guijon Klein starting on page 21. This is from the chapter The Artful Staging of a "Suicide", pages 18-19:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
..."They postponed discussing the suicide details until they actually had
possession of the President's body. But, at the same time, they released an
"unofficial bulletin" for foreign publication claiming that Allende had
committed suicide. To do this, they employed the un- scrambled
radio-telephone system they had been using all day, knowing perfectly well
that Chilean and Argentine ham operators were tuned in, along with all the U
.S. news agencies in Santiago.

Around 2:40 P.M. instructions from Pinochet were transmitted in Morse code
from Peñalolén to Post 5 inside the Defense Ministry ( 150 yards away from
the besieged Palacio de La Moneda), ordering Post 5 to transmit the news, as
if it were secret information, among the various command posts of the
military insurrection. Post 5 carried out the order at 2:45 P.M., using the
unscrambled radio-telephone system. A leftist ham operator monitoring the
military's messages was able to record the transmittal:

..Attention! This is Post Five, Patricio's post (Vice-Admiral Pa- tricio
Carvajal Prado]. This is to inform you that Infantry School personnel are
now inside La Moneda. The following will be transmit- ted in English, in
case we are being monitored: They say President Allende committed suicide.
Do you read me?"

To use English to keep a message secret was ridiculous, because English
is taught from grade school in Chile. However, as Vice- Admiral Carvajal
knew, for the purposes of the North American correspondents listening on
their monitors in Santiago and in Men- doza, Argentina, it wasn't at all
ridiculous. It facilitated what the rebel generals wanted most: to have the
news teletype machines all over the world saturating the foreign public with
"Allende's suicide. "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It goes on in gruesome detail to describe how they staged the suicide and
then what happened to the body. It reads like the JFK autoposy stuff.
Milicos in the room, wouldn't let the autopsy be performed at the city
morgue for fear the body would be stolen by "extremists", etc., etc,. and
they would not let Allende's widow see the body. An account by Hortensia given to a Mexican journalist at the Mexican embassy follows:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

..."The following account (pages 24-25) was given to the Mexican journalist
Manuel Mejido, correspondent of the newspaper Excelsior, by Allende's widow
on September 13 in the Mexican Embassy:

"The next day they told me over the telephone
that Salvador was in the Military Hospital and that he was wounded. I went
there, and although I openly identified myself, the soldiers wouldn't let me
in. Afterward I spoke to a general who greeted me with these words: 'Madam,
I was the friend of Salvador Allende. Let me offer you my deepest condo-
lences.' Only then did I learn that he was dead.

"This general, whose name I don't know, promised me a Jeep and an officer
to escort me to the Group Seven Airfield of the Chilean Air Force, where he
said I had to go. But then another general came out, I didn't know him
either, and told me to go there in my own car, because there weren't any
vehicles or officers available.

"I decided to make the trip in the small car belonging to my nephew,
Eduardo Grove Allende. At the airfield they told me that Salvador's body was
on an Air Force plane. Before boarding it I spoke by telephone with my
daughter Isabel, but she couldn't come with me because she didn't have a
safe-conduct.

"I boarded the plane. Imagine the scene I saw: a coffin in the center,
covered with a military blanket, and on either side my other nephew,
Patricio López, and Salvador's sister, Laura Allende. With me were the
Presidential Army aide Roberto Sanchez and Eduardo Grove. We flew toward
Viña del Mar. The airplane landed at the Quintero Air Base. The flight was
smooth, there were no problems. Then they took Salvador off.

"I asked to see him, to touch him, but they wouldn't let me. ..they said
the box was soldered shut. In two cars following the hearse we went to the
Santa Inés Cemetery. The people watched us curiously. They didn't know what
it was all about, or whose body was in the hearse. There were many soldiers
and military police, as if they expected a crowd. We five who went with
Salvador walked in silence to the family crypt, where a month ago we buried
Inés Allende, Salvador's sister who died of cancer.

"Once again I insisted on seeing my husband. They wouldn't let me, but
they removed the outer lid, and all I saw was a cloth covering the coffin. I
didn't know whether it was the head or feet. I wanted to cry. The officers
kept me from seeing him. They repeated that the coffin was soldered shut.
Then I said in a loud voice to the officer escorting me: 'Salvador Allende
cannot be buried in such an anonymous way. I want you at least to know the
name of the man you are burying. ' I grabbed some flowers from nearby and
threw them into the grave and said: 'Here lies Salvador Allende, who is the
President of the Republic, and whose family they wouldn't even allow to
accompany him to the grave!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.rrojasdatabank.org/murder10.htm

[gratuitous]

6. Bush administration officials take note . . .

Better go for pardons instead of immunity.

[Say_What]

11. Chile Court Strips Pinochet of Immunity

And nearly on September 11--the day democracy died in Chile. Now it's Kissinger's turn...



<clips>

SANTIAGO, Chile - The Supreme Court stripped Gen.
Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution Wednesday, paving the way for a trial of the former dictator for his alleged role in the disappearance and killing of 15 dissidents during his 1973-90 regime.

The court voted 10-6 to strip the 89-year-old of the immunity from prosecution he enjoyed as former president and authorize his trial in the "Operation Colombo" case, Chief Justice Jose Benquis said.

That case involved the slaying of 119 dissidents whose bodies were found in neighboring Argentina in 1975, but Pinochet would face charges for only 15 victims whose relatives filed a criminal suit against him.

At the time the bodies were discovered, Pinochet's regime said they had died in clashes among rival armed opposition groups. It supported its claim by exhibiting reports in two magazines, Lea of Argentina and O Dia of Brazil. But both magazines published only that issue and then disappeared.

Wednesday's ruling, which cannot be appealed, authorized the judge handling the case, Victor Montiglio, to try Pinochet. Montiglio did not immediately announce his plans.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050914/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/chile_pinochet

[rzemanfl]

12. Precedent for BushCo???? n/t

[Say_What]

13. KISSINGER TO NIXON: "WE HELPED" COUP FORCES IN CHILE

<clips>

KISSINGER TO NIXON: "WE HELPED" COUP FORCES IN CHILE

Washington D.C. May 26, 2004 - In one of his first conversations with President Richard Nixon following the bloody military coup in Chile, Henry Kissinger stated "we helped them," according to declassified transcripts of a telephone conversation obtained today by the National Security Archive. "That is right," Nixon responded.

The transcript records a call made by President Nixon to Kissinger's home on the weekend following General Augusto Pinochet's violent overthrow of the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in Chile. Kissinger reports to the president that the new military regime was "getting consolidated" and complains that the press is "bleeding because a pro-Communist government has been overthrown." When Nixon notes that "our hand doesn't show on this one though," Kissinger responds that "We didn't do it" . I mean we helped them….created the conditions as great as possible."

The September 16, 1973, "telcon" was found by the Archive's Chile analyst, Peter Kornbluh, among thousands of pages of transcriptions of Kissinger's telephone calls dated between 1969 and 1974, declassified today at the initiative of the Archive. Kornbluh, the author of The Pinochet File, called the new document "damning proof, in Kissinger's own words, that the Nixon administration directly contributed to creating a coup climate in Chile which made the September 11, 1973, military takeover possible."

In his confirmation hearings as Secretary of State that very week, Kissinger denied that the U.S. Government played any role whatsoever in Allende's overthrow. A year later, after details of a CIA destabilization program had leaked to the press, he again testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that "the intent of the United States was not to destabilize or to subvert ….Our concern was with the election of 1976 and not at all with a coup in 1973 about which we knew nothing and which we had nothing to do…."

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB123/chile.htm



Pinochet and pal Kissinger in 1976

[Say_What]

14. Oops... dupe. Continue at this link..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1780220

[WhiteTara]

15. kicking for freedom

:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:

[ladylibertee]

17. I was too young to know anything about this/ Born in 1974/Enlighten?

[Say_What]

19. Here's a few links. Well researched with references, photos,

and footnotes.

http://www.geocities.com/educhile_1970s/index.html

Also this written by an American who was in Chile during that time and is now a professor at Oberlin. He identified the bodies of Frank Terrugi and Charles Horman, Americans who were executed by the Chilean military while the US tried to cover it up. A movie,"Missing",about this was released in 1980. There are many declassified docs about the Terrugi/Horman case as well as law suits against Pinochet and Kissinger.

http://www.oberlin.edu/news-info/observations/observations_steven_volk1.html

If you are following Venezuela today, you will see many similarities between what Uncle Sam is doing in Venezuela and what he did in Allende's Chile--same government entity at work (USAID), same support of 'opposition', propaganda disseminated to the press, support of anti-Chavez unions, and same 'we think he wants to make Venezuela another Cuba' lie--the same thing was said about Chile.

Peace!!

[Judi Lynn]

22. Great links. Have socked away the Charles Horman's friend's article

to finish reading later. It's very good.

Thanks a lot.

People need to know about this story, about these Americans and what they learned PERSONALLY the hard way about what goes on in countries which American Republican presidents decide to control by overthrowing the elected leaders.

[Say_What]

24. Professor Volk's bio

<clips>

Oberlin College Professor Recognized by Chilean Government

MARCH 12, 2002--For the past 25 years, Professor of History Steven Volk has been part of a worldwide movement that sought to restore democracy to Chile. This past November, Chile's government honored these men and women at a ceremony in New York City, officially recognizing them for their participation in the nation's long struggle toward freedom.

"I first went to Chile in 1972 to work on my dissertation," says Volk. "I became involved with a group of North American students who were publishing a newsletter about Chile's political situation and America's involvement in the growing crisis."

While overseas, Volk observed that students in Chile--unlike Americans--did not have access to information about U.S. or Latin American politics or economics. He began raising money for books for the library at the University of Chile.

On September 11, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte overthrew Chile's president Salvador Allende Gossens and instituted a military dictatorship. Among the casualties were two American students, both of whom were Volk's friends. Volk remained in Chile for six weeks after the coup, helping foreigners escape the new regime and rescuing his library from the hands of the new government.

"For several weeks, I took a briefcase into the University of Chile's library every day and removed books one by one so that the government wouldn't destroy them," Volk says. The books eventually were stored at the University of Lima. "I think most of us were shocked that a once-stable democracy had become so repressive in so short a period of time."

http://www.oberlin.edu/news-info/02mar/steven_volk_profile.html


Volk poses under a sign for a Chilean labor movement

[Judi Lynn]

23. Well, scratch the original article! It's off, again, probably.

Some charges against Pinochet dropped
September 16, 2005 - 5:54AM

One day after stripping General Augusto Pinochet of immunity to allow his trial on human right charges, the Supreme Court in Chile has dropped charges against the former dictator on another case stemming from the abuses of his 1973-90 regime.

A panel of the court rejected an appeal by prosecution lawyers to a ruling by a lower court that had determined that Pinochet's health makes him unfit to stand trial.

It was the third time Pinochet has eluded charges for health reasons.

He had been accused of nine kidnappings and one killing by relatives of the victims in a case known as Operation Condor, a joint scheme to suppress dissent implemented by the dictatorships that ruled several South American countries in the 1970s.
(snip/...)

http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Some-charges-against-Pinochet-dropped/2005/09/16/1126750098910.html?oneclick=true

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Oh, hell. Why don't they just load him into an airplane, or a helicopter, (après torture) and drop him into the ocean, the way he did with "leftists!"

[Say_What]

25. Truth about Pinochet keeps surfacing

No sooner do they beat one case when several more pop up. Couldn't happen to a nicer family. Son Marco is in jail for fraud and the mother is charged with fraud as well. The Pinochet's--the family that preys together.

<clips>

CHILE: Probe of European Defense Firms Linked to Pinochet

SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - European defense companies deposited millions of dollars into bank accounts for front companies of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, a source close to a Chilean court probe into the accounts told Reuters.

The source, who asked not to be identified, confirmed a report in Chile's La Tercera newspaper that said the judge investigating Pinochet has obtained banking records that show defense firms, including Britain's BAE Systems (BA.L: Quote, Profile, Research), deposited almost $8 million into accounts of Pinochet companies or accounts of his former legal executor Oscar Aitken.

Reuters has not seen the banking records in question but Britain's Guardian newspaper published a front page story it said was based on official Chilean documents it had obtained.

The Guardian said the documents recorded large payments by BAE as recently as last year.

Chilean Judge Sergio Munoz is probing Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, for tax evasion and embezzlement related to $27 million he held in offshore accounts.

BAE subsidiaries deposited more than $1.9 million into Pinochet-linked accounts between 1997 and 2004, La Tercera said, citing the banking records in the hands of the judge.

...BACK TAXES

Earlier this year Pinochet paid about $2 million in back taxes on his accounts, which came to light last year in a U.S. Senate investigation into possible money laundering at U.S. banks.

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12633

[RFKHumphreyObama]

26. I don't expect anything to come of this unfortunately

No doubt Pinochet and his branch of devotees will do everything to prevent him from going to trial and getting the justice he deserves. He seems to have a habit of conveniently falling ill whenever he looks like paying for his crimes and subsequently miraculously recovering when he's out of danger :puke:

[Say_What]

27. Maybe... but then there are all those FRAUD, Embezzlement, and Tax Evasion

charges that include him, his wife, and his son, Marco, who reminds me of Bush. Check out this info sent to me by someone who lived in Chile all during Pinochet's reign of terror:

After the coup the Metro was being constructed through the heart of Santiago, and the son Marco drove his car at high speed into the open hole. He survived, but the young lady did not. The story was totally covered up.

Another of the kids, maybe Marco, was also arrested in Miami because he was carrying a loaded firearm. That story was also squelched by someone high up in Washington.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1780220&mesg_id=1785365