-
The Birth of Augusto Pinochet
Augusto was born November 25, 1915, in Valparaiso Chile. Augustos parents are Avelina Ugarte Martinez, and his father is Augusto Pinochet Vera. Augusto parents had 7 kids including Augusto. -
Graduate
Pinochet, a graduate of the military academy in Santiago ( 1936 ), was a career military officer who was appointed army commander in chief by President Allende 18 days before the coup, which he planned and led. Pinochet was named head of the victorious junta’s governing council, and he moved to crush Chile’s liberal opposition; in its first three years the regime arrested approximately 130,000 people, many of whom were tortured. -
Children
Augusto has 5 children, 3 girl and 2 boys. Their names are, Augusto Osvaldo Pinochet, Marco Antonio Pinochet, Lucia Pinochet, Maria Veronica Pinochet, Jacqueline Marie Pinochet. He had his first kid in 1945. -
New Military Government
Chile’s new military government consisted of the heads of the three armed forces, known as the junta, in 1974. As head of the oldest branch, the Army, Pinochet was appointed the head of this junta. The first actions that the junta took were to ban all left-leaning political parties. Although publicly criticizing it, the United States provided support to the military government after the coup. Many of the regime’s opponents were rounded up and assassinated. -
New Document
Government spending was reduced,state services were privatized, and the restrictions Allende had imposed on foreign investment were removed.In 1980 a referendum was held to decide whether to adopt a new constitution. Among its features were proposals to ban all left-wing parties for good, increase presidential powers, and allow Pinochet an additional eight years in office. The new document was approved by over 67% of the electorate, although the result was widely criticized as having been fixed. -
Economic Growth
A temporary fall in economic growth followed the referendum, prompting strikes and protests throughout the country, all of which were suppressed, and in 1986 Pinochet survived an assassination attempt. Another referendum was held in 1988, which asked the people for another eight years in office. -
Remained Military Commander
Pinochet remained the military’s commander in chief until 1998, allowing him immunity from prosecution. In 1998, when General Pinochet traveled to London for back surgery, he was placed under house arrest by authorities at the request of the Spanish Government, who wished to extradite him to Spain to face charges of torture. -
Former President
Later in 2000 Pinochet was stripped of his immunity from prosecution—which he had enjoyed as a former president—and was ordered to stand trial on charges of human rights abuses (in Chile immunity is lifted on a case-by-case basis). The charges were dropped in 2002, however, after Chile’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling that he was mentally incapable of defending himself in court. Soon afterward, Pinochet resigned his post as a senator for life -
Provoked
The arrest provoked a lengthy legal battle, in which the British House of Lords ruled that he be extradited to Spain. However, in 2000 the British government overturned that ruling, releasing Pinochet on medical grounds, who then returned to Chile. Later that year, the Chile Supreme Court indicted Pinochet on human rights abuses, a ruling which it subsequently overturned in 2002, only to reinstate it again in 2004, ruling that he was, after all, capable of standing trial. -
Death
He died December 10, 2006, in Santiago. Pinochet suffered a heart attack on the morning of 3 December 2006, and unfortunately the same day he was given the last rites. Before he died he was married to Lucia Hilirat. Augusto died when he was 91 years old.
