Posted on 12/03/2006 1:29:35 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SANTIAGO, Chile - Gen. Augusto Pinochet, whose 17-year dictatorship carried out thousands of political killings, widespread torture and illegal jailings, clung to life in a Chilean hospital Sunday after suffering a heart attack and being administered last rites.
Just eight days earlier, the 91-year-old former strongman took full responsibility for the actions of his 1973-90 regime after long insisting any abuses were the fault of subordinates.
Pinochet underwent an emergency angioplasty to restore the flow of blood to his heart, and doctors described his condition as "serious but stable." They planned to perform bypass surgery later in the day, state television reported.
"We are now in the hands of God and of the doctors. My father is in very bad condition," Pinochet's younger son, Marco Antonio Pinochet, said at Gen. Luis Felipe Brieba Military Hospital.
Dr. Juan Ignacio Vergara, a member of the team attending the former leader, said the heart attack was "indeed life threatening," especially because of Pinochet's age.
Pinochet's health had been deteriorating for years. Doctors implanted a heart pacemaker in 1993 and he suffered from diabetes and arthritis. He also was diagnosed with mild dementia caused by several strokes.
The health problems helped Pinochet escape trial for the human rights abuses committed during his regime, with courts ruling out proceedings at least twice in recent years as victims of his rule pressed efforts to bring him to justice.
Last week, Pinochet was put under house arrest after being indicted in the executions of two bodyguards of Salvador Allende, the freely elected Marxist president who was toppled in a bloody 1973 coup led by Pinochet as commander of the Chilean military.
The heart attack came barely a week after Pinochet's 91st birthday on Nov. 25, an occasion he marked by issuing a statement for the first time taking full political — though not explicitly legal — responsibility for abuses committed by his regime.
"Today, near the end of my days, I want to say that I harbor no rancor against anybody, that I love my fatherland above all and that I take political responsibility for everything that was done which had no other goal than making Chile greater and avoiding its disintegration," the statement said.
Pinochet fell ill around 2 a.m. and was rushed to the military hospital accompanied by his wife, Lucia Hiriart.
He underwent an angioplasty, in which doctors introduce a catheter to a patient's blocked artery and inflate a small balloon to enlarge it, restoring blood flow to the heart. Doctors said the procedure was successful and Pinochet remained conscious in the intensive care unit.
Pinochet's younger son said his father had been "virtually rescued from death" with the angioplasty. But the former leader's spokesman, retired Gen. Guillermo Garin, also said last rites had been administered.
Pinochet's grown children and other relatives, former aides and retired military officers went to the hospital, as did Chile's army chief, Gen. Oscar Izurieta.
As news of the heart attack spread, some 50 Pinochet supporters, most of them women, gathered in front of the hospital, some holding his portrait.
"How could I not be desperate? He's like a father to me, and we all owe him so much," said Julieta Aguilar, standing outside holding a small bronze bust of Pinochet.
Ricardo Lagos Weber, spokesman for President Michelle Bachelet, said the government was closely following the situation.
Critics of Pinochet have often argued that his health problems were being exaggerated to help him avoid trial.
"Pinochet is used to becoming ill every time a court ruling is near," human rights lawyer Hiram Villagra told Radio Bio Bio after the heart attack was reported. "He is hospitalized every time he faces an indictment, that is why we have doubts this time, too."
The Santiago Court of appeals was scheduled to rule Monday on Pinochet's appeal of last week's indictment and the house arrest order.
The house arrest was the fifth such action taken against Pinochet on charges stemming from human rights violations during his dictatorship.
The indictment alleges kidnapping and homicide in connection with the deaths of two Allende bodyguards who were arrested the day of the coup, Sept. 11, 1973. Both were executed by firing squad four weeks later, the military regime announced at the time.
According to an independent commission appointed by the first civilian government after Pinochet's rule, 3,197 people were killed for political reasons during his regime and more than 1,000 of them were "disappeared" by burying them in secret graves or tossing them in the sea.
Pinochet faces two other indictments, one tied to allegations of rights abuses and one involving tax avoidance charges.
I'm disgusted by what I've read in this thread. God bless this man who saved Chile from becoming a satellite of the Soviet Union.
Why are you amazed? Castro is a communist, thus will always be glorified by the MSM. Pinochet was an anti-communist, thus will always be vilified by the MSM. Those are "Da Rules" in the MSM.
You don't actually expect FAIRNESS and CONSISTENCY from the MSM, do you????
> I'm disgusted by what I've read in this thread.
Me too. Vaya con Dios, mi General.
My understanding is that Pinochet was virtually asked by the Chilean parliament to oust Allende because they saw what was coming. Namely, that Allende would follow standard communist operating procedure and start fiddling with the constitution to guarantee permanent rule by his communist party. Once Pinochet was confident that Chile's communism problem had been solved and order had been restored, he voluntarily stepped down and turned power over to an elected civilian government. Such the evil dictator, he.
I don't know all the ins and outs of Pinochet and Allende, but one very salient fact is that the Left hates Pinochet. That alone should tell you something. At the very least, it means you can expect the media to slant its telling of the history against Pinochet whenever possible.
My understanding is that Pinochet was virtually asked by the Chilean parliament to oust Allende because they saw what was coming. Namely, that Allende would follow standard communist operating procedure and start fiddling with the constitution to guarantee permanent rule by his communist party. Once Pinochet was confident that Chile's communism problem had been solved and order had been restored, he voluntarily stepped down and turned power over to an elected civilian government. Such the evil dictator, he.
I don't know all the ins and outs of Pinochet and Allende, but one very salient fact is that the Left hates Pinochet. That alone should tell you something. At the very least, it means you can expect the media to slant its telling of the history against Pinochet whenever possible.
My understanding is that Pinochet was virtually asked by the Chilean parliament to oust Allende because they saw what was coming. Namely, that Allende would follow standard communist operating procedure and start fiddling with the constitution to guarantee permanent rule by his communist party. Once Pinochet was confident that Chile's communism problem had been solved and order had been restored, he voluntarily stepped down and turned power over to an elected civilian government. Such the evil dictator, he.
I don't know all the ins and outs of Pinochet and Allende, but one very salient fact is that the Left hates Pinochet. That alone should tell you something. At the very least, it means you can expect the media to slant its telling of the history against Pinochet whenever possible.
Whoa, hangfire. Sorry about that!
I would use a much stronger word than "disgusted." Those who condemn Pinochet, swallowing every word of marxist MSM propaganda, have no inkling of how and why Pinochet took control of Chile. Once in office, Allende, a marxist puppet of the Russian communists, proceeded to seize private property and grossly violate the Chilean Constitution he was sworn to uphold. The Chilean judiciary legally gave Pinochet the authority to overthrow that abusive regime and restore order and justice in Chile. He did. And when he was satisfied that Chile was back to stability, he voluntarily relinquished control. General Pinochet is a patriot and a hero. God bless him!
And those folks are easy to point out. They're the ones proudly wearing Che Guevera t-shirts. Pinochet knew what trash needed to be taken out, and he had the cajones to do it. We're going to have to do it in this country before it's too late, especially given this most recent election.
*BUMP*
I wonder if Castro's AP obit will read like this.
Regardless of how much the Left hates Pinochet, I have no love for him at all. Obviously, it was good that Chile did not become a Soviet satellite because of his coup, but Pinochet was brutal despot. Allende was also bad, but Pinochet was no improvement from a human rights perspective.
I credit Milton Friedman, not Pinochet, for making Chile free. Pinochet was simply amendable enough to accept ideas for reform.
One more thing: The Left's hatred for Pinochet is purely opportunistic. They hate him because he did not declare himself an enemy of America. The leftists don't treat Castro with the same hatred because he is their kind of dictator.
Thank you!
"Pinochet knew what trash needed to be taken out, and he had the cajones to do it. We're going to have to do it in this country before it's too late, especially given this most recent election."
You mean executing our political adversaries?
I mean doing whatever is necessary to preserve our Constitutional Republic.
No matter what your feelings are about the last election, murdering your political enemies is not the answer.
Yeah, he sure saved them from the horrors of being run by a murderous, totalitarian, autocratic regime. </sarcasm>
If Pinochet's tactics are necessary to preserve your Constitutional Republic then you don't have one to begin with.
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