Chile's 9/11

At this point, I wish to state that my knowledge of Chilean history is very limited, so I'm bound to get a few things wrong. I welcome any and all input, even if it's to tell me to go to Hell.

It was brought to my attention that yesterday - coincidentally enough, it had been International Human Rights Day, according to the United Nations - Augusto Pinochet died at the age of ninety-one. Not too long ago, he had been deemed mentally fit to stand trial for numerous human rights offenses against many of his political opponents during his reign as ruler of Chile from 1973 to 1990.

It was on the eleventh of September 1973 that General Pinochet seized the presidency from socialist Salvador Allende through what I've been told was a rather bloody coup d'état. This was not to be the last of the bloodshed during his seventeen-year reign, as it has been said that over 3,000 political dissidents were executed on the orders of the General.

Of course, the man was not without his supporters. After his liberalization of the economy, exposed to the mercy of the market, many Chileans thrived. I imagine many were thrilled to have their land returned to them. Even the foreign Chilean landowners. Hell, someone has to keep the free world swimming in copper wire.

Washington was losing the firm foothold on Latin American resources it had for decades to the "red" influence, if you will. Salvador Allende, a socialist, was elected President of Chile on 4 September 1970. It seemed it didn't require a Castro to bring socialism by force; it was being elected. It had been elected in Guatemala in 1950 only to be toppled four years hence. If it ain't broke...

A CIA-trained, American-taxpayer-funded militia, led by General Pinochet, seized control over the State and all of its resources, so that it may sell them off to the highest low bidder. With any new government comes a desire to rid itself of the past, including supporters of the previous government, which would lead one to assume that the 3,000 or so known victims seems to me a plausible estimate.

So what about the recently departed?

I'm not surprised the old fucker lived such a lengthy life, for they always seem to do so. For fuck's sake, Ronald Reagan lived to see ninety-three! - although many suspect whether or not he actually "saw" anything after seventy. Nixon, was eighty-two, wasn't he? Ford is ninety-something and still hanging around. I hope there's a valid reason for all of this.

It's a shame that this man lived to see over ninety-one years of life while his political adversaries and their loved ones did not as a result of his orders. It's a shame he will not be alive to see justice brought to him and the families and friends of the people he had murdered. It's a shame that he is being hailed because of his servitude to the free market economy. My hope is that he, as well as the rest of the old vultures, used their extra time to count up the years they took away. I hope they thought long and hard on them.

I am a firm believer of Heaven and Hell within the Self, thus I hope their attonement came from within during their final days. I hope they truly saw the light of God, as it shone on their sins as their brains slowly died. That is what eternity means to me, Mister Pinochet; the last you see on Earth will be yourself.

Happy Human Rights Day.