Chile In Time.

Pablo Zequeira.September 20, 2010

Chilean coat of arms and armed forces.

• The origin of the Chilean Army is found in the first Spanish conquerors that entered the region in 1536.

• the Chilean Army gained experience in the war against the Bolivian – Peru Confederation War, the Araucanía Pacification (1861-1883), the Spanish War (1865-1866) and the Pacific War (1879 – 1886).

• The process continued with the reorganization guided by Prussian officers, who replaced the French doctrine, creating new and improved academic programs.

Early events that shaped the Chilean society.

• 1535 - Indigenous Araucanian people successfully resist first Spanish invasion of Chile.• 1810 - Junta in Santiago proclaims autonomy for Chile following the overthrow of the king

of Spain by Napoleon. • 1814 - Spain regains control of Chile.• 1817 - Spanish defeated by Army of the Andes led by Jose de San Martin and Bernardo

O'Higgins at the battles of Chacabuco and Maipu. • 1818 - Chile becomes independent with O'Higgins as supreme leader. • 1823-30 - O'Higgins forced to resign; civil war between liberal federalists and conservative

centralists ends with conservative victory.• 1851-61 - President Manuel Montt liberalises constitution and reduces privileges of

landowners and church.• 1879-84 - Chile increases its territory by one third after it defeats Peru and Bolivia in War of

the Pacific. • late 19th century - Pacification of Araucanians paves way for European immigration; large-

scale mining of nitrate and copper begins.• 1891 - Civil war over constitutional dispute between president and congress ends in

congressional victory, with president reduced to figurehead.• 1927 - General Carlos Ibanez del Campo seizes power and establishes dictatorship.• 1938-46 - Communists, Socialists and Radicals form Popular Front coalition and introduce

economic policies based on US New Deal.• 1948-58 - Communist Party banned.• 1952 - Gen Carlos Ibanez elected president with promise to strengthen law and order.

Bernardo O’Higgins forced to resign.

Pinochet’s Regime• 1970 - Salvador Allende becomes world's first democratically elected Marxist president and

embarks on an extensive program of nationalization and radical social reform. • 1973 - Gen Augusto Pinochet ousts Allende in CIA-sponsored coup and proceeds to

establish a brutal dictatorship.• 1989-90 - Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin wins presidential election; Gen Pinochet

steps down in 1990 as head of state but remains commander-in-chief of the army. • 1994-95 - Eduardo Frei succeeds Aylwin as president and begins to reduce the military's

influence in government.

Who was Pinochet.• 1933 - He is accepted into the Chilean Escuela Militar (military school) for a four-year

officers training course, graduating with the rank of sub-lieutenant in 1937 and receiving a commission in the infantry. By 1939 he has risen in rank to second lieutenant, becoming a full lieutenant in 1941.

• 1943 - Pinochet marries Lucía Hiriart Rodríguez, the daughter of a former member of Chile's parliament. The couple will have two sons, Augusto and Marco Antonio, and three daughters, Lucía, Verónica and Jacqueline.

• 1948 - While commanding a prison camp for communists Pinochet meets Salvador Allende for the first time when Allende, a doctor and Socialist senator, travels to the camp to visit the prisoners.

• 1949 - Pinochet continues his studies at the Academia de Guerra (War Academy). He is designated a general staff officer in 1951 and transferred to the Escuela Militar in a supervisory role. He also teaches classes at the War Academy. Between 1953 and 1972 he will author five books on geopolitics, geography and military history.

• 1953 - Now a major, Pinochet is transferred for two years field duty with the Rancagua regiment in Arica on the northern coastal border with Peru. Here he is involved in a military clampdown on the Communist Party of Chile, commanding a detention camp and disbanding local communist unions.

• 1959 - Pinochet returns to Chile from Ecuador late in the year and in 1960 is made commander of the Esmeralda regiment. In 1963 he is named as a sub-director of the War Academy. In 1966 he is made a colonel.

The man,The Tyrant and his shades.

CIA involvement in the oust of Allende.

• 1970 - In September, following Salvador Allende's victory in the Chilean presidential vote, United States President Richard M. Nixon orders the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to do all it can to prevent Allende from being inaugurated.

• Under the supervision of national security adviser Henry Kissinger the CIA will develop the so-called 'Track II' plan to oust Allende, allocating US$10 million while formally insulating the US embassy in Chile from any involvement.

• The CIA attempts to bribe key Chilean legislators and funds a group of military officers plotting a coup, providing a further payment of US$35,000 following the assassination on 22 October of General Rene Schneider, the commander-in-chief of the army, who had refused to approve the coup plan.

• One CIA document from October states, "It is firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup. ... It is imperative that these actions be implemented clandestinely and securely so that the USG (US Government) and American hand be well hidden.”

• 1971 -Covertly the CIA continues to work to destabilise the UP government, providing up to US$7 million in funding to opposition groups in order to "create pressures, exploit weaknesses, magnify obstacles" and hasten Allende's downfall.

The enemy in cognate.• .• 1973-In January Pinochet is appointed major-general and given command of the Santiago garrison. The

following year he wins Allende's trust when he is able to bring some order to the capital during a general strike. "I will not tolerate agents of chaos no matter what their political ideology," Pinochet says at the time.

• On 23 August Allende promotes Pinochet to commander-in-chief of the army, mistakenly believing that Pinochet can still be trusted to remain neutral.

• Meanwhile, members of the armed forces are finalizing their plans for a coup. While it now appears that Pinochet was not involved in the planning and was not informed of it until three days before the event, when the coup is launched he is firmly in charge.

• On 11 September the military strike, taking Santiago in a violent offensive that sees Pinochet order air strikes on the presidential palace, and then securing the provinces.

• Allende dies defending the presidential palace, probably by his own hand. Many of his aides are arrested then transported to a military base, where they are executed and buried. In the provinces the notorious 'Caravan of Death' targets political opponents, summarily executing at least 72.

• The military form a four-man junta headed by Pinochet and composed of the commanders-in-chief of the army, navy, air force and police and embark on a campaign to remove the influence of the UP from all social institutions.

• A state of siege is declared, martial law is introduced and parliament is closed. The media is censored, universities are purged, books are burned, Marxist political parties are outlawed and union activities are banned. Thousands are murdered or "disappeared". Thousands more are jailed or forced to leave the country. Torture is commonplace. Up to one million will flee into self-imposed exile.

• It is reported that up to 250,000 people are detained in the first months following the coup. Stadiums, military bases and naval vessels have to be used as short-term prisons. At least five new prison camps are established for political prisoners.

• The newly formed secret police (National Intelligence Directorate - DINA) create a reign of terror at home and organize the assassinations of opponents in exile abroad. Civilian courts are supplanted with military tribunals.

“The closer you are to harm the further you are from danger…”

Eyes and Ears.

• According to General Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, the head of DINA, Pinochet receives daily briefing about the activities of the secret police. The US Defense Intelligence Agency also reports in 1975 that Pinochet "issues instructions on DINA, is aware of its activities and in fact heads it." The US embassy corroborates the report, stating that "DINA reports directly to Pinochet and is ultimately controlled by him alone.”

• Pinochet takes complete control of Chile on 11 December when he is named president. Over the next 15 years he will rule the country as an iron-fisted autocrat in the mode of his admired role-model, the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.

• 1975 - On 25 November the intelligence services of Chile, Argentina, Bolivia,Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay launch 'Operation Condor', an information gathering and sharing alliance designed to eliminate Marxist terrorist activities in South America.

• According to a US Federal Bureau of Investigation officer working in Argentina at the time, "Chile is the centre for 'Operation Condor'." The officer also reports that, "A ... most secret phase of 'Operation Condor' involves the formation of special teams from member countries who are to travel anywhere in the world to non-member countries to carry out sanctions up to assassination against terrorists or supporters of terrorist organizations from 'Operation Condor' member countries.”

• In Washington a US Senate investigation finds that the Nixon administration backed the 1973 coup.

Pinochet firmly in control of the army.

Human Rights nonexistent.

• 1976 - During the year the body of the communist activist Marta Ugarte is found washed up on a beach in Chile. It is later revealed that Ugarte's body, along with those of up to 500 other Chileans executed following the coup, was weighted with a piece of railroad track then dumped from a helicopter into the Pacific Ocean as part of an organized program to hide evidence of human rights violations.

• On 16 September the now Secretary of State Henry Kissinger tells US ambassadors in South America not to follow up on an earlier directive to warn the local governments against "plans for the assassination of subversives, politicians and prominent figures both within the national borders ... and abroad."

• Five days later, on 21 September, Orlando Letelier, a former ambassador to the US and defense minister under Allende, is assassinated in Washington by Cuban exiles operating on the orders of Pinochet's secret police. Letelier has been targeted as part of the Operation Condor alliance.

• 1977 - The inauguration of Jimmy Carter as US president combined with the assassination of Letelier leads to a cooling of relations between Chile and the US. Relations between the two countries will continue to decline through the administrations Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

• Pinochet announces that there will be no early return to democracy. The junta alone will determine when civilian government will be reinstated. As head of state and commander-in-chief of the military he exerts absolute control over the country and ensures that his cronies control all key posts.

• Military officers are appointed as mayors of towns and cities throughout the country. Former military personnel also take control of universities, purging faculties of all suspected of left-wing sympathies.

• The state of siege is lifted and replaced with a state of emergency. The National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) is abolished and replaced by the National Information Centre.

• The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Commission condemns the Pinochet regime for its practice of torturing detainees.

Victor Jara “Cancion Protesta.”

• Was song writer/singer.• (“Las casitas del barrio” alto has

inspired songs even today. Most recently as a theme of the Showtime series Weeds.)

• Participated in socialist demonstrations that later be the cause of his death.

• As an act of defiance to Pinochet he would sing soft melodies with strong political meanings against the aristocracy.

• Was tortured, maimed and eventually killed at the hands of Pinochet.

• It is said that Pinochet asked for him to play his songs with one arm after butchering one off and the man defiant till death continued to play his guitar with one arm and his teeth.

Decrease in civilian rule.

• 1978 - Pinochet allows a referendum on the legitimacy of his regime then claims that more than 75% of the voters have endorsed his rule. When the commander of the Chilean air force, Gustavo Leigh Guzmán, begins to question the legitimacy of the junta and call for an early return to civilian rule Pinochet has him forcibly dismissed. Pinochet's position is now unassailable. An amnesty law is passed to protect military officers accused of human rights abuses committed since the 1973 coup.

• Meanwhile, the military extends its program to hide the evidence of human rights violations committed during the coup, exhuming the remains of the "disappeared" and disposing of them elsewhere. As with the bodies of the executed many of the remains are dumped from helicopters into the Pacific Ocean. Many others are burnt. The order for the clean-up comes directly from Pinochet, who threatens to "retire" any commander if bodies continue to be found in his jurisdiction.

• 1980 - Pinochet introduces a new constitution allowing him to remain as president until 1989. The new constitution also entrenches the military's domination of the government and allows Pinochet to restrict freedom of association and speech and to arrest or exile any citizen, with no rights of appeal except to Pinochet himself.

Two extremes.

“Divide and Conquer.”

• 1985 - Chile's various political parties put aside their differences and unit against Pinochet's regime, signing the 'National Accord for Transition to Full Democracy'. The accord calls for a transition to civilian rule, the legalization of all political activity, an end to restrictions on civil liberties and free, direct presidential elections. Pinochet rejects the document and uses a "divide and rule" strategy to undermine the accord.

• 1986 - On 7 September an armed wing of the Communist Party stages an unsuccessful attempt on Pinochet's life. Five bodyguards are killed but Pinochet is unharmed. The assassination attempt is the final nail in the coffin of the accord and unleashes a new round of military terror against the left.

• 1987 - With the plebiscite to determine if Pinochet will remain in office looming, opposition leaders form a loose coalition to support and promote a "no" vote. As the date approaches cooperation between the opposition parties increases to the point where they are viewed as a credible alternative to continued military rule.

Pinochet’s defeat.• 1988 - The plebiscite is held on 5 October. The next day Pinochet announces his defeat.

Nearly 55% of the electorate have voted to end his regime. Pinochet's dictatorship has effectively come to an end. Democracy has been restored democratically, although the political climate remains volatile as the opposition and military begin to negotiate the transition process.

• 1989 - Constitutional reforms overwhelming ratified by a plebiscite on 30 July remove some of the more draconian provisions in the 1980 document. Unions and community organizations are freed to actively participate in the political process, exile is prohibited and restrictions on the process for amending the constitution are loosened. The power of the president and the executive is reduced. However, the military retain significant control of the parliament.

• Elections for president and parliament are held on 14 December. They are the first elections in 19 years. Patricio Aylwin, the leader of the Christian Democrats, wins the presidency with 55% of the vote. The Coalition of Parties for Democracy, comprising 14 opposition groups, wins a majority of seats in the parliamentary vote, although not enough to offset designated senators to be appointed by Pinochet, who is to remain as commander-in-chief of the army until 1998.

• The new government establishes the National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation to inquire into human rights abuses committed during Pinochet's rule. Its report finds the security forces were responsible for 2,115 deaths, including those of 957 detainees who disappeared. The secret police, accused of responsibility for 392 of the disappearances, is disbanded.

• Pinochet dismisses the report's findings, saying that those who disappeared "were nothing but bandits."

Spiral into the heart of the Inferno.

• 1992 - The National Corporation for Reconciliation and Reparation is formed to continue the work of the National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation. In 1996 the corporation finds the Pinochet regime responsible for the death or disappearance of 3,197 people between September 1973 and March 1990. Of these 1,102 are classified as "disappearances" and 2,095 as deaths.

• 1993 - About 600 military officers are named as having committed human rights abuses during the Pinochet regime.

• Meanwhile, Pinochet is fitted with a heart pacemaker. Along with an ongoing heart complaint he suffers from diabetes and arthritis.

Beast and the Beauty.

Tyrant in Exile.

• 1998 - Pinochet steps down as commander-in-chief of the army on 10 March but becomes a senator for life. He remains immune from prosecution for his role in the human rights abuses of his regime and is given the honorary title of commander-in-chief emeritus of the Chilean Army.

• In September Pinochet travels to Britain to undergo surgery for a back complaint, believing his immunity from prosecution stretches worldwide. However, on 16 October the British police act on a warrant issued from Spain and arrest him in his hospital bed. The warrant requests Pinochet's extradition to Spain to face charges relating to the abduction of the leader of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left from Argentina in April 1976. The abduction had been coordinated between the military regimes of Argentina and Chile under the Operation Condor alliance.

Justice?• A famous and lengthy court case follows during which Pinochet is held under house arrest at the

Wentworth estate in Surrey. The British High Court initially rules in Pinochet's favor but on 25 November the House of Lords upholds the extradition request, a decision that is ratified the following month by British Home Secretary Jack Straw. Pinochet's legal team appeal.

• 1999 - In March the High Court rejects the appeal. The home secretary again ratifies the extradition request. Pinochet's team launches a further appeal but in October this is also rejected.

• 2000 - On 11 January the home secretary reverses the decision to extradite Pinochet after a panel of doctors finds Pinochet medically unfit to stand trial. Pinochet is released on 2 March and allowed to return to Chile. He has spent 503 days under house arrest. But he is not yet free of the law.

• On 8 August the Chilean Supreme Court rules to lift Pinochet's immunity from prosecution so he can be charged with 18 of the kidnappings and 57 of the executions carried out during the Caravan of Death that followed the 1973 coup. The efforts to prove that he is medically unfit for trial are renewed.

• On 27 November Pinochet is placed under house arrest on charges relating to the killing of two of Salvador Allende's bodyguards.

• Six days later, on 3 December, he suffers an acute heart attack and is admitted to the Santiago Military Hospital. He dies from heart failure at 2:15 p.m. on Sunday, 10 December.

• Pinochet is denied a state funeral. His body lies in state at the Santiago Military Academy before being cremated on 12 December. No heads of state attend the military ceremony to mark his passing.

• The former dictator speaks from the grave on 24 December when a six-page letter he had written in 2004 is released to the public.

Letter from the Grave.

• "How I wish the 11 September, 1973, military action had not been necessary!" the letter says. "How I wish the Marxist-Leninist ideology had not entered our fatherland!""It was necessary to act with maximum rigor to avoid a widening of the conflict...”

• It was necessary to implement certain procedures of military control, such as temporary imprisonment, authorized exile, executions by firing squad after military trials..."Serious conflicts are like that and always will be: They give rise to abuses and exaggerations. ...

• "As long as ideological and armed fanaticism continued to endanger stability, we could not lower our arms...

• "With all sincerity I can say that I am proud of the enormous action which I had to undertake to stop Marxist-Leninism assuming total power. ... Nevertheless, if the experience was to repeat itself, I wish I had a greater wisdom. ..."I have left no room for hatred in my heart."

• "My destiny is a kind of banishment and loneliness that I would have never imagined, much less wanted."

The Chilean army today.

• As part of the society, the Army is working with national development by virtue of its activities related to areas such as technology and industry and through effective and efficient use of their abilities and competencies.

Prussian influence in the Chilean army.

• This new re-organization was consolidated between 1901 and 1913.

• In parallel, the Army international insertion has been incorporated with more and more presence by sending education military missions to Colombia, Ecuador and El Salvador.

Various uniforms of the Chilean

army

Andean CondorChile’s national bird.

Carabineros(Law enforcement) Coat of Arms(Armed forces) and

Air Force.

Esmeralda.

Bibliography…

• "BBC News - Chile timeline." BBC News - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2010. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1222905.stm>.

• "Augusto Pinochet killer file." Moreorless - Heroes and killers of the 20th Century. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2010. <http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/pinochet.html>.