Chile's 9/11

September 11th! For most in the USA the attacks on the twin towers are remembered.

But September 11th marks another anniversary.

On September 11th 1973 the US backed coup which toppled the popular government of Salvador Allende in Chile took place. It was the day the generals, led by the fascist Augusto Pinochet, began their bloody rule. According to “official” reports more than 3000 were eventually murdered by the Junta which ruled Chile for almost two decades, thousands more just disappeared. The numbers are conservative to say the least.

Across Chile police have increased their presnese in an effort to ward off angry protests that always mark the day.

Protests however have already this week erupted in numerous Chilean cities mark those times. El Panamá América reports that in Valpariaso
http://valparaiso.indymedia.org/news/2005/09/4380.php students threw up barricades and blocked streets around the universities. Police attacks with water cannons and tear gas were met with molotov coctails. In Santiago protests were concentrated in the Nunoa district, a mainly residential part of the city. Many have been arrested across the country and several have been injured.

Since the ouster of Pinochet, hundreds of military officers have been tried for all types of human rights violations. Only a very few have been convicted of anything.

A group of right-wing legislators this week introduced a bill that would pardon any convicted military men completing 10 years in prison. The government suggested it may accept the bill as a step toward “reconciliation.”

Sen. Ricardo Nunez, president of the Socialist Party, told journalist that convicted officers must serve their sentences in full, regardless of their length. "None of the countries that won World War II even suggested that Rudolf Hess should have been released from prison," he said.

Last month ABC News reports, President Lagos, of that same Socialist Party, pardoned retired army Sgt. Manuel Contreras, who was midway through a 10-year prison term for the 1982 killing of a prominent union leader opposed to Pinochet. An uproar resulted. "One works hard to get a human rights violator indicted and then he is pardoned," complained Lorena Pizarro, who heads a group of relatives of dissidents who disappeared at the hands of Pinochet's security force told reporters. "Those who are guilty must be punished. We will continue to fight to gain even more convictions."

Pinochet, himself, has been indicted twice, faces hundreds of lawsuits, but because of “poor health” goes about his business a free man.

Now Prensa Latina reports that much of Pinochet’s wealth, estimated at 27 million dollars, is linked to arms trading. “Deposits were linked with the purchase of Mirage-5 fighter bombers and more than 200 Leopard tanks bought by Chile in the 90´s, when Pinochet was still in full control as the Army's Commander-in-Chief. Pinochet´s accounts include another 17 deposits made by the Army´s Factory and Arsenal (FAMAE) between March, 1996 and December, 1999, as well as payments by the British Aerospace.” The information was sent to judge Sergio Munos by the State Defense Council (CDE), a state-run, independent body acting as plaintiff in one of the law suits against the former fascist dictator.

September 11th is indeed a dark day in the history of Chile. Sources: Prensa Latina, Mainichi Daily, El Panamá América, IMC (Valparaiso), ABC News