The Dictator who Was Augusto Pinochet

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Augusto Jose Ramon Pinochet Ugarte also known as Augusto Pinochet was born on November 25, 1915 in Valparaiso, Chile, and died on December 10, 2006 in Santiago, Chile. He was a murderous Dictator who ruled in Chile from 1973 to 1990. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army from 1973 to 1998 and president of the Government Junta of Chile between 1973 and 1981. Pinochet managed to attain full power by overthrowing Salvador Allende, a socialist government, by using military force. His years in power were defined by inflation and poverty leaving behind a legacy of abuse that took successive government years to catalogue. Numerous years after Pinochet stepped down, he was charged with several crimes from the time when he was president, but he died before he could be convicted of anything.
Pinochet family was descendents of French settlers who had come to Chile more than a century ago. He was the eldest of six children and his father was a middle-class government worker. He entered military school when he turned 17 in the midst of being rejected three times. Finally after four years he graduated as a Sub-Lieutenant. One of the reasons why Pinochet rose above so quickly was due to Chile not being at war. In fact, its been said Pinochet has never sought any types of action in combat during his entire military career. According to his biographer, James Whelan, Pinochet lived a quiet childhood, with his mother who played a very important role in the formation of his character. Pinochet worked his way through the office corps and became involved in politics around the 1950s. The difficult thing to understand is that it was his apparent lack of political ambition that advanced him as a commander under chief Allende, who considered P...

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... several counts of murder, torture and unlawful kidnapping”. In fact he was unfit to stand trial, the charges were dismissed in 2002. Further charges were brought up in 2006, but Pinochet died before he could be convicted of anything. Pinochet suffered a heart attack on the morning of December 10, 2006 at the age of 91. He died of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema. Chileans have divided Pinochet’s legacy. Some see him as a brutal dictator who ended Democracy and tortured many innocent people and favored towards the wealthy. While others believe he saved the country from communism and led the transformation of the Chilean economy into Latin America’s most stable economy today.

Works Cited

Minster, Christopher. "Biography of Augusto Pinochet." . About.com, n.d. Web. . .

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