He was still a brigadier in the army when a popular government came to power in his country with a majority of the popular vote. America did not want democracy here. That’s why the CIA started implementing its infamous “Track Two” plan. The purpose of this plan was to overthrow the popular democratic government in his country.
The plan was drawn up under the supervision of the US National Security Advisor of the time, Richard Nixon was the US President and Henry Kissinger was the National Security Advisor, ten million dollars was approved for this purpose. With this huge capital, a few generals, brigadiers and other officers were started to be bought from the army. But this brigadier was the only one in the army to agree with America and fulfill their objectives.
The then Army Chief Schneider was wanted by the United States to buy, but failed and was killed in a suspicious attack. The Americans, under a plan, asked this brigadier to be the apple of the eye of the democratic masters. He went to the President and begged, that if you order, I can do a lot for you. Under the plan, the CIA prepared the entire field for this Brig. Opposition leaders were given seven million dollars to start movements against the government. Just what was it, the iron was hot. This brigadier gained the full confidence of the democratic president by crushing the movement in the capital with military force. As a result, he was made the Army Chief on 23 August 1973.
It was General Binoche of Chile, and the democratically elected President Allende. But exactly 18 days after becoming the army chief i.e. on September 11, he stormed and captured the palace of his benefactor Mohsin Sadar with the army. Allende was killed in the attack and those who were captured were taken to a military camp and shot. When riots started in the country, 250,000 people were arrested in the first month.
As panic spread throughout the country, strict operations were launched in all areas where even the slightest noise was raised. In every province, his soldiers roamed around in the name of national interest and beheaded people. More than 3,500 people were killed and more than 80,000 people were tortured without trial in the city-by-city military operations. He was tortured to such an extent that he was physically and mentally disabled. Countless people were sentenced to prisons for long periods.
While these atrocities were taking place, Pinochet held a fake nationwide referendum to legitimize his rule and gain the power to create a new constitution or make sweeping amendments to the old constitution. He used to say in a tone of arrogance that not even a leaf in this country can move without my order. He created a separate political party with American capital against the most popular democratic leaders. This party had the full support of the CIA and the country’s forces.
The politicians of this party were also strange. They became members of the assembly through a fake election and shamelessly and brazenly called themselves democratic leaders and elected representatives. However, the condition of all of them was that even while talking in front of General Pinochet, they lost their lives and breathed. He sold the country’s most valuable assets to global multinational companies at huge prices. This sale brought sudden wealth and temporary prosperity to the country. But after only a little over a year, poverty in Chile began to reach its peak. A few people became rich by selling the country’s assets, but the rest of the people became in need of two-day bread. But despite these worst conditions, whenever Pinochet spoke, he would brag about his economic progress. He was also obsessed with reducing the size of government. He adopted a policy of downsizing during his tenure, which saw thousands of civil servants fired. He was assassinated several times.
The attack on September 7, 1986 was the biggest in which five of his bodyguards were killed but he escaped.Thousands of people were arrested for sabotage. Pinochet was the ruler under whom the world first saw the concept of disappearing people becoming a reality. People would be picked up in broad daylight and never be traced. The loved ones of these missing persons used to take their pictures and shed tears in the squares, intersections and streets. But times change. He announced the election in a drunken state of power.
In the elections of October 5, 1988, the majority of the people decided against Pinochet. The politicians who came to power as a result of the election were not taking action against Pinochet because they were afraid of the US, the CIA and the army. He first abolished the constitutional amendments made by him, but the fear of America was so deep in their hearts that no one dared to remove him from the post of Army Chief. A Truth Commission was formed in the country. Indigent people from all over the country testified in this commission. He was convicted of the deaths of 2,115 people and the disappearance of 957 people. He said that if even a single army soldier is touched, there will be an apocalypse in the country. But the commission held 600 military officers responsible for the killing of human beings.
The heads of Chile’s intelligence agency, Manuel Conetria, and his deputy were sentenced, but the country remained silent. Pinochet had made the army chief exempt from the law by amending the constitution, so he could not be prosecuted. He was retired and made a senator for life on 10 March 1998, defying an American challenge. But the people whose wounds were still fresh, who had seen their loved ones being oppressed, had picked up their dead bodies, whose names and marks of their loved ones had been erased. Where were those unfortunate people going to be patient?
This is not a story but a living incident of today’s times. He was buried on December 11, 2006 as a lesson. His death is a bright principle in the history of living nations, that the living, zealous and honorable nation of Chile determined that any person who is a criminal of the whole nation, whose cruelty spreads fear in the settlements, whose violence No elected ruler, political leader or military chief has the authority to forgive the crime of a ruined family. Such a person is a criminal of the whole nation, the nation will never forgive him. Because the screams of the dead and the spirits of the missing and the curses of the families left behind do not allow people to do so.
The people started to surround the politicians first, when they could not do anything, then these angry people went to the doors of the courts. Three thousand different cases were registered against Pinochet. People’s pressure forced the politicians and they brought him to court. In such a situation, even the United States did not come to his aid, for whose pleasure he had oppressed the people. When he fled to America, he was denied asylum. Not only that, but he was arrested by the United States on his way to the United Kingdom and handed over to the democratic government of Chile. His case is a long one.
This story is not only limited to his crimes but also the story of the military officers and political leaders who supported him in cruelty, torture and oppression. He died of cardiac arrest during the same trial. People took to the streets in a frenzy over his death. There were shouts of joy. A few of his loyal political orphans carried his funeral out. The grandson of the army general he killed and became the army chief spat on his coffin. The police quickly pulled him back and he was quickly buried. He was not even given any official honor.
This is not a story but a living incident of today’s times. He was buried on December 11, 2006 as a lesson. His death is a bright principle in the history of living nations, that the living, zealous and honorable nation of Chile determined that any person who is a criminal of the whole nation, whose cruelty spreads fear in the settlements, whose violence No elected ruler, political leader or military chief has the authority to forgive the crime of a ruined family. Such a person is a criminal of the whole nation, the nation will never forgive him. Because the screams of the dead and the spirits of the missing and the curses of the families left behind do not allow people to do so.
