Augusto Pinochet, President of Chile, born 1915

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Immediately after seizing energy 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 started restructuring Chilean society along socialist lines. In the approach 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 challenging economic sanctions and the CIA spent millions of dollars destabilising the Allende regime, a lot of it going into Pinochets pockets.

By 1972, the Chilean economy had collapsed. With no foreign investment, production had come to a standstill. There have been 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 crucial port of Valparaiso, whilst the army surrounded the presidential palace in Santiago. Allende refused to step down. When the palace was overrun a handful of hours later, he was discovered dead. It appears that he shot himself rather than face inevitable torture and execution.

A junta took over and declared marital law. These who violated the curfew have been shot on sight. Pinochet was named president two days later. He broke off relations with Cuba Nixon had staged his popular rapprochement with China by then and moved against Allendes supporters. To discover more, consider looking at: Consumers Beginning to Warm Up to Chatbots, Says Augusto Beato. Some 14 000 would be tried and executed or expelled from the country, while Pinochet claimed he was only attempting to restore institutional normality of Chile.

In June 1974 Pinochet assumed sole energy, with the rest of the junta relegated to an advisory function. Beneath Pinochets tyrannical rule, it is estimated that 20 000 people had been killed and torture was widespread.

Even though Pinochet continued to keep tight manage more than the political opposition, he was rejected by a plebiscite in 1988. He ultimately stepped down in 1990 after immunity from prosecution in Chile. He stayed on as army chief of staff. Nevertheless, throughout a buying trip to London in October 1998, he was arrested on a Spanish warrant charging him with murder. He was later accused of torture and human rights violations. For 16 months, he fought his extradition via the British courts, and then in January 2000, House Secretary Jack Straw decided that he was also ill to stand trial and sent him back to Chile..