Pinochet - another dictator escapes justice

With the exception of his dedicated hardline supporters and Margaret Thatcher, the world will shed no tears at the death of General Augusto Pinochet today, aged 91. His death could be the second of three this year for notorious dictators: Milosevic died in March; Saddam is due to be executed before the year is out. But none of them are perceived to have received the justice they deserved or has at the least received a reciprocal of the injustice they gave out. Sadly all three had the foresight to cover their murderous tracks and make future criminal proceedings difficult and controversial. Secondly the international justice system has not developed sufficiently to prosecute dictators and war criminals with efficiency. The protracted Milosevic war crimes indictment and deeply flawed Saddam trial showed the difficulties in either form of justice.

Pinochet is the last client state leader of the Cold war to pass, on the US side at least. Castro and Kim Jong-il remain for the Soviets. The General who came to power on the other September 11th, in 1973, represented all that was bad under Nixon-Kissinger foreign policy. Project FUBELT, the codename for the CIA operations, against Allende's democratically elected government, created an environment for him to seize power and torture at will. Kissinger's motivation for sanctioning this action is beyond patronizing: "I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves."

What lessons can be drawn? Well, it was the same policy in 1973, that extended to Iran and the Shah, was also seen elsewhere in Latin America and also Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. That is, support for geo-politically strategic allies over human rights considerations. Despite the positive influence of the United States in ending the cold war, the side effect can be seen in anti-Americanism that developed after. Latin America has rejected American values in recent times, but on a political-economic level. However support for dubious leaderships in the Middle East during the Cold war has led to the current well of antipathy seen there today.