Unraveling the General: A Chilean Perspective of Pinochet’s Downfall

Abstract

Issues 81 ISSUES UNRAVELING THE GENERAL: A CHILEAN PERSPECTIVEOF PINOCHET’SDOWNFALL JavierA. Couso UniversidadDiego Portales, Chile Just one year ago, former Chilean dictator General August0 Pinochet was enjoying a period of relative calm and tranquility, safe from prosecution due to his senile dementia, which was diagnosed after his return from “house arrest” in the United Kingdom in 2000.This highly disputed diagnosis allowed Pinochet to avoid prosecution in over a hundred criminal lawsuits for human rights violations perpetrated during the military regime he led between 1973 and 1990. With a few exceptional incidents, such as the occasional demonstration by opponents who recognized him when he shopped for books or took a walk in his favorite beach town, Iquique, Pinochet managed to stay out of the public eye, leading a peaceful life, similar to that of millions of anonymous pensioners. Thanks to this low profile, for the first time in thirty years the Chilean media confined the old general to the kind of obscurity that fugitives find rewarding. Although this scenario was not the one he had planned for his final years-he had hoped to enjoy the honor and recognition of being a Senator for life, but he was forced to relinquish the seat as part of his lawyers’ strategy of claiming he was mentally unfit to stand a criminal trial. This outcome , however, did not seem altogether bad, given how close he came to a life sentence in jail in 1998. In an ironic twist of fate, as a consequence of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the US Senate began an investigation into the sources of Islamic terrorist organizations’ funds, which led to the disclosure of the Chilean dictator’s secrets accounts at Riggs Bank of Washington, D.C. This revelation had far reaching implications. The initial revelation caused a scandal, which was heightened by the sum of money involved, almost 15 million dollars, which 82 The Latin Ainericanist 9 Spring 2005 far exceeded what Pinochet could have saved from his relatively modest salary as career military officer or as President of Chile. The most damning element that emerged from the investigation of the secret bank accounts was the disclosure that Pinochet had personally performed sophisticated banking operations even after having been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial. Indeed, according to the U.S. Senate investigation, as late as 2002-two years after the medical diagnosis of senile dementia-Pinochet personally transferred money from his Riggs Bank’s account to other banks in the Caribbean and Chile. The revelation that the General was a completely ableperson, except when it came to face justice, outraged many Chileans. In response to this disclosure, some Chilean lawyers involved in the scores of criminal lawsuits filed against Pinochet made a formal request to the courts to strip the general of his senatorial immunity in order to re-open criminal procedures against him. In the first case heard by the courts after the Riggs Bank secret accounts scandal, the Santiago Court of Appeals agreed to deprive Pinochet of his immunity, thus forcing him to face criminal charges relating to ‘Operation Condor’ case.’ However, the Court of Appeals simultaneously instructed the judge in charge of the case, Juan Guzmin to order a new neurological examination of the 88 year-old general, and only then assess his ability to defend himself in a criminal trial. Judge Guzmh asked three different neurologists to examine Augusto Pinochet, but they were unable to agree on his mental fitness to stand trial. Guzmin, then interviewed the General, reviewed his medical reports, and ruled Pinochet mentally fit to stand trial. Pinochet was then indicted. At the time of writing, Pinochet’s trial in the ‘Condor Case’ was still on course, but a final sentence is not expected for years, given the slow pace of Chile’s criminal procedure, particularly in such high profile cases tried under the old criminal procedure.’ In the meantime, the General remains under house arrest. What is the Likely Impact of Bringingthe Former Dictator to Justice on Chile? The events of the last decade concerning Pinochet have taught us to be very cautious when it comes to forecasting outcomes. Indeed, nobody ever expected...