"How long are we going to carry on accepting that the history of Chile is written by the pen of the left?" Contrary to popular belief, the dictator did Today's Chilean society remains sharply divided towards Pinochet. "As early as December 1971, women took to the streets in what became known as 'the march of the empty saucepans' because of the problems they had getting hold of basic goods," says Adolfo Ibanez, a historian and columnist for El Mercurio.Evelyn Matthei, a right-wing candidate in forthcoming presidential elections, said this month that by September 1973, "the immense majority" of Chileans wanted to see the back of the Allende administration.The reasons for this animosity and for the economic turmoil of the time are still hotly debated. It contains his military uniforms, his desk, his medals and his extensive collection of toy soldiers from the different regiments of the Chilean army.Mr Moreira says the Pinochet regime has had a bad press. Some Chileans say Gen Pinochet was behind the country's economic success After assuming power, the military government opened up the economy to the free market.Foreign mining companies, the assets of which had been expropriated under Mr Allende, were invited back into the country. Right-wing paramilitary groups were sabotaging power lines and transport routes.
"I grew up with both sides of the story.
Mr Allende had been in power for three years and the country was increasingly split along ideological lines. Communism is a plague upon mankind, worse than Nazism. At the beginning of his tenure, Pinochet gave free rein to a group of By offering generous incentives to foreign investors and In September 1976, a car bomb in Washington, D.C. killed exiled Chilean Pinochet critic, Orlando Letelier, and his American assistant. This week, Pinochet, now a Chilean senator, was arrested in London, where he had gone for back surgery. In order to suppress the voices of suffering inmates, Pinochet's goons would blast loud music in the secret torture facility which would give its informal name ""Free Helicopter Rides", Rape dog and other torture methodshis son was placed under investigation for corruption"Free Helicopter Rides", Rape dog and other torture methodsThe pronunciation of "pee-no-shit" is /pi'noˈʃɪt/ in IPA. The left says Chile's powerful and conservative business lobby, backed by covert funding from the United States, undermined the government.It was against this backdrop that the coup took place. Pinochet saved the lives of an entire generation. On October 16, while recovering from back surgery in In 2001, Chilean Judge Juan Guzmán Tapia issued a first indictment of Pinochet on human rights charges. Allende refused, and Pinochet was not the leader of the coup. People of my age, who experienced it, can remember the good and the bad. "Some young people who didn't live through the dictatorship think that everything about it was bad. While 30% said yes, 36% said no. Gen. Augusto Pinochet -- hero of the Chilean people . "They saved me from living under a regime, a Marxist dictatorship.