Augusto Jose Ramon Pinochet Ugarte born on November 25, 1915 in Valpariso, Chile to Augusto Pinochet Vera and Avelina Ugarte Martinez to a family of seven children. He went to military academy and graduated as a military officer. Pinochet marries Lucia Hiriart Rodriguez in 1943 and has five children.
Salvador Allende was elected by a pluarlity in 1970. He was a well to do doctor who an avowed Communist/Marxist. Everything in Chile went downhill from there. Unemployment was rampant, famine was a problem, people were waiting in line, and crime and terrorism abounded. Terrorists groups both domestic and international from Cuba and Soviet Union were involved, like MIR. Then all of these brought about a coup on September 11, 1973. The military starts to attack in Santiago. Tanks start rolling in and fighter jets start attacking. Soldiers are mobilized and women throw objects at them for not acting quickly to stopping the chaos. Despite all the claims that the CIA helped overtrhew Allende in Chile, it is false. The CIA was caught off guard and did not expect the coup happen. Salvador Allende in the presidential palace committed suicide with an AK-47 rifle, a present from Fidel Castro.
Once Allende was gone. Pinochet takes power and becomes head of th military junta. Eventually, he becomes an iron fisted ruler. Pinochet has the military and police round up all leftists and communists in prison camps and tortures and executes them. Pinochet formed DINA, a secret police force to go after leftists and communists. At the same time, Pinochet brings on economic changes. He liberalizes the economy and institutes the free market. This is with the help of the "Chicago Boys", who were economists educated at the University of Chicago by economics professor Milton Friedman. Pinochet also institutes a private social security plan, which is hailed as a success today. Chile becomes a model of economic success for Latin America and the world. Pinochet is elected out of office in 1990 in a Plebescite election. Patricio Aylwyn is elected as the new president of Chile.
Peace, security, stability, and prosperity reigns in Chile. Dictatorship peacefull transists into democracy. Chile is one of the freest nations in Latin America and the world. They have single digit unemployment rate, lower than most of Latin America and Europe. Pinochet is a controversial figure, some say a murderer and others say a hero. Whatever it is, he made Chile a better place, despite his brutality. In October of 1998, Pinochet was arrested in England for human rights abuse. However, he was let go in 2000 after he was ruled his health was poor from a stroke and went back to Chile. There are talks in Chile to prosecute Pinochet and military officers involved in the dictatorship from 1973 to 1990.
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