Augusto Pinochet dies at 91

SANTIAGO, Chile - Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who terrorized his opponents for 17 years after taking power in a bloody coup, died Sunday, putting an end to a decade of intensifying efforts to bring him to trial for human rights abuses blamed on his regime. He was 91.

Supporters saw Pinochet as a Cold War hero for overthrowing democratically elected President Salvador Allende at a time when the U.S. was working to destabilize his Marxist government and keep Chile from exporting communism in Latin America.

But the world soon reacted in horror as Santiago’s main soccer stadium filled with political prisoners to be tortured, shot, disappeared or forced into exile.

Pinochet’s dictatorship laid the groundwork for South America’s most stable economy, but his crackdown on dissent left a lasting legacy: His name has become a byword for the state terror, in many cases secretly supported by the United States, that retarded democratic change across the hemisphere.

Pinochet died with his family at his side at the Santiago Military Hospital on Sunday, a week after suffering a heart attack.

“This criminal has departed without ever being sentenced for all the acts he was responsible for during his dictatorship,” lamented Hugo Gutierrez, a human rights lawyer involved in several lawsuits against Pinochet.

Hundreds of Pinochet supporters gathered outside the hospital, weeping and trading insults with people in passing cars. Some shouted “Long Live Pinochet!” and sang Chile’s national anthem.

Street clashes in Santiago
Violent clashes broke out between police and Pinochet opponents who threw rocks at cars and set up fire barricades on the city’s main avenue. Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd. Authorities said there were a number of arrests, but no immediate reports of injuries.

Many Chileans saw Pinochet’s death as reason for celebration. Hundreds of cheering, flag-waving people crowded a major plaza in the capital, drinking champagne and tossing confetti.

The White House on Sunday marked Pinochet's death by calling his rule a “difficult period” and commending the country for establishing a free society.

“Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile represented one of the most difficult periods in that nation’s history,” said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. “Our thoughts today are with the victims of his reign and their families. We commend the people of Chile for building a society based on freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights.”

Praised and damned
Pinochet dominated Chile and polarized it until the end of his life — the archetypal dictator reviled by most for his repressive rule but loved by some for his anti-communist crusade.

In his final years, Pinochet was feeble, politically irrelevant and facing charges related to the deaths of thousands of political rivals, but he still aroused strong passions in the country he ruled from 1973 to 1990.

As his lawyers fought off lawsuits filed by relatives of people killed by his secret police in the 1970s, his admirers sang his praises, crediting him for saving the country from Marxism and putting Chile on the road to economic strength.

But even ardent loyalists began to lose faith when it came out in 2004 that Pinochet had stashed millions of dollars in secret bank accounts that he never reported to tax authorities.

Pinochet came to power in a bloody 1973 military coup that ousted elected socialist President Salvador Allende and was encouraged by the United States.

During his regime more than 3,000 people died or disappeared due to political violence in Chile, which had enjoyed a long history of democratic rule.

Ivan Alvarado / Reuters Supporters of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet cry Sunday outside Chile's Military Hospital where Pinochet died in Santiago.

An estimated 200,000 people fled into exile to escape repression, persecution, torture, curfews and censorship, while Pinochet’s secret police spearheaded Operation Condor, a coordinated effort by South America dictators to assassinate dissidents in each another’s countries.

After surrendering the presidency, Pinochet served as head of the military and then a senator for life. But he grew politically irrelevant as right-wing politicians distanced themselves from their former role model in their search for centrist votes, and the military acknowledged human rights abuses even if it did not apologize for them.

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