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Military Career
In January 1971, Pinochet was promoted to division general and was named General Commander of the Santiago Army Garrison. At the beginning of 1972 he was appointed General Chief of Staff of the Army. With rising domestic strife in Chile, Pinochet was appointed commander-in-chief of the Army on 23 August 1973 by President Salvador Allende just the day after the Chamber of Deputies of Chile approved a resolution asserting that the government was not respecting the Constitution. -
Military coup of 1973
On 11 September 1973, the combined Chilean Armed Forces overthrew Allende's government in a coup, during which the presidential palace, La Moneda, was shelled and Allende committed suicide. In his memoirs Pinochet said that he was the leading plotter of the coup and had used his position as commander-in-chief of the Army to coordinate a far-reaching scheme with the other two branches of the military and the national police. -
Presidency
The junta members originally planned that the presidency would be held for a year by the commanders-in-chief of each of the four military branches in turn. However, Pinochet soon consolidated his control, first retaining sole chairmanship of the military junta, and then proclaiming himself "Supreme Chief of the Nation" (de facto provisional president) on 27 June 1974. He officially changed his title to "President" on 17 December 1974. -
Arrest and court cases in Britain
The case was a watershed event in judicial history, as it was the first time that a former government head was arrested on the principle of universal jurisdiction. After having been placed under house arrest in Britain in October 1998 and initiating a judicial and public relations battle, the latter run by Thatcherite political operative Patrick Robertson, he was eventually released in March 2000 on medical grounds by the Home Secretary Jack Straw without facing trial.
