Brazil's Bolsonaro praises 1973 military coup in Chile

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

By DIANE JEANTET, ASSOCIATED PRESS
RIO DE JANEIRO — Sep 4, 2019, 4:05 PM ET

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro criticized on Wednesday U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, who is from Chile, by praising that country's 1973 military coup.

Bachelet "forgets that her country is not Cuba only thanks to the courage of those who stopped the left in 1973," Bolsonaro wrote on his Facebook page, adding that among the communists that were defeated then was her father.

Bachelet's father Alberto, an air force officer who opposed Gen. Augusto Pinochet during the coup, was imprisoned and tortured. He died in captivity in 1974.

The president's comments came as the U.N. official and former Chilean president raised concerns about an increasing rate of killings by police in Brazil as well as alleged restrictions on civil liberties.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/brazils-bolsonaro-praises-1973-military-coup-chile-65387605

[riversedge]

1. whow whow. And next Trump will praise him. yes. he. will.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Google translated from Spain's El Pais on torturers of Gen. Bachelet:

Chile condemns two ex-military for the death of Bachelet's father
General Alberto Bachelet died in 1974 after being tortured by his own arms mates

ROCÍO MONTES
Santiago of Chile 21 NOV 2014 - 20:19 EST




After three years of investigation, Judge Mario Carroza has condemned two Chilean ex-military officers for torturing and causing death in March 1974 to General Alberto Bachelet Martínez, father of the socialist president Michelle Bachelet . "Finally justice was done, this is not a revenge," the governor's mother, Angela Jeria, 88, told CNN Chile , who since the beginning of the dictatorship in 1973 assumed an active role in the fight for Human rights and the restoration of democracy. "The important thing is that the truth be known and that means that the culprits have to assume."

Justice has determined that Edgar Cevallos Jones (82) and Ramón Cáceres Jorquera (80), both retired colonels of the Chilean Air Force (FACh), must serve an effective jail sentence. According to the ruling, “it was determined that General Bachelet, the day before his death - on March 12, 1974, six months after the Pinochet coup d'etat- He said he had been subjected to an intense and acute interrogation session, with psychological constraints and physical demands ”. The general was 50 years old and some health problems linked to cardiorespiratory deficiencies. Judge Carroza's investigation indicates that “there was a direct and evident relationship between the death of the victim and his last interrogation, since this is what triggers the decompensation of his cardiac pathology, secondary to a state of previous physical and mental stress "

General Bachelet had a high rank in the FACh, had been in the institution for 40 years and in January 1973 he was appointed by President Salvador Allende as head of the National Directorate of Supply and Marketing (DINAC), a political position of the Government of the Popular Unity whose function was to fight against the black market and the hoarding of products. He was a leftist man, but above all Republican. It was the reason why in the following months his companions who conspired against Allende kept him out of the conversations where the plot was planned.

On September 11, 1973, Bachelet was arrested and mistreated by his subordinates, although he was released at night. Three days later, however, he was arrested again at his home, where he lived with his wife and the second of his two children, Michelle, who at that time was studying Medicine at the University of Chile and was a member of the Socialist Youth. From that moment, he began a prison stage that kept General Bachelet between the Public Jail, his house and the AGA detention center, where he was subjected to "illegitimate constraints."

According to different investigations, including the book Daughters of General , by Nancy Castillo and this journalist, Bachelet until the last moment hoped that his companions of the institution had some gesture with him and restored his honor as a military man, but nobody did anything. The commander in chief of the Air Force and member of the Pinochet Military Board, Gustavo Leight, had been one of his best friends since adolescence, but he remained relentless with respect to the general allendist and promoted the War Councils for the officers of his ranks, including Bachelet. In an interview with the magazine Analysis in February 1988, Leigh said: “I couldn't do anything. I was worried about a thousand things that completely abstracted me. ”

In the framework of Judge Carroza's investigation, both Bachelet and his mother gave numerous records of the general's torture that caused him a cardiorespiratory arrest at the Public Jail on March 12, 1974, 40 years ago. The governor said in 2011 that “the physical constraints consisted of standing for many hours, holding hands on his back, not receiving water or food, or allowing him to go to the bathroom, despite running a water faucet, in addition to putting it a hood on his head. " The widow added to the Chilean Justice that “one of the things that most distressed him was when they had him in the War Academy for many hours standing and hooded and with his hands tied behind his back. And, since he couldn't breathe normally, because the hood was between his mouth and nose,

https://elpais.com/internacional/2014/11/22/actualidad/1416616102_593376.html



Pinochet, facing camera, and Kissinger, left, schmoozing after Pinochet was installed.





General Alberto Bachelet, his wife, Jeri, his son, and his daughter,
Michelle, future President of Chile.



Future President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, and her father, General Alberto Bachelet.

[Hulk]

3. The more I hear about this turd, the more convinced I am the world leaders are mixed with idiots...

A shame. Maybe we never had nations led by actual intelligent and rational leaders. I know we've dealt with Hitlers, and Stalins, and W's, and this golden piece of rotten flesh we are stuck with now, but SO MANY seem to have idiots in charge....Poland, England, Brazil, NK (always), Israel. wtf is going on? The world is going to hell in a hand basket I'm afraid...at least at the moment.

[Matilda]

10. You can add Australia

to the list of idiot leaders. ScoMo, as we call him, is a clown. A rat-cunning schemer, but essentially untrustworthy, lacking a spine, and not very bright.

[Judi Lynn]

11. The world doesn't need even one of these guys. Didn't know one has infested Australia, too.

They can't disappear nearly soon enough. Good luck.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

4. Fuck him

He likes Fascism?

[rockfordfile]

17. He's a fascist.

[sandensea]

5. Sure. The 1973 Coup is considered a 'glorious day' by right-wingers up and down Latin America.

So it would stand to reason Cheeto thought highly of it too (I'm surprised he hasn't yet tweeted or retweeted some fawning words on the coup).

Latin right-wingers also fond of it because the Chilean coup is one of the very few that did not result in abject failure (usually economic failure).

They certainly never mention the 1975 coup in Peru, the 1976 coups in Argentina and Uruguay, El Salvador (1979), Bolivia (1980), among others.

All those led to unmitigated disasters as far as the economy and institutions.

Mention those, and they either look down in shame, or start muttering and sputtering something about "damn communists."

[Judi Lynn]

8. So little has been acknowledged about that coup by people in government, which was Nixon-engineered.

Nixon, (with the help of Henry Kissinger, and the CIA) as related by the CIA director, Richard Helms. assigned the CIA to:

“Make the Economy Scream”: Secret Documents Show Nixon, Kissinger Role Backing 1973 Chile Coup
SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

https://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/10/40_years_after_chiles_9_11

Older DU thread with links:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/110817411

I'll bet at some point, if he's still in office, the Orange Nightmare will also praise Pinochet, now Bolsonaro has tested the waters for him.

Like Bolsonaro, Pinochet's notorious head torturer, Osvaldo Romo, believed they should have murdered far more of the protesters than they did, as well.



Osvaldo Romo





Former prisoner and President Michelle Bachelet and her mother holding
pictures of victims murdered by Pinochet.

[sandensea]

9. Indeed one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. foreign policy

And a very stupid one at that, since Allende was about to resign anyway (he had called for a popular referendum on his continuity in office, scheduled for later that week).

It was stupid also in that the U.S. government ended up having to spend billions to bail Pinochet out in the 1980s, by way of debt writedowns basically.

Pinochet, Videla, and the Brazilian dictatorship almost bankrupted Bank of America (which Reagan and the Japanese bailed out).

Plus, of course, the colossal harm Pinochet did to U.S. standing abroad itself.

But they felt they had to take over in a coup, rather than let Allende resign, in order to impose Friedmanomics - which Patricio Aylwin (the man who would've probably become president had Allende resigned) would have never agreed to.

Aylwin, as it turned out, would later succeed Pinochet in 1990 - and not only restored democratic institutions; but oversaw a dramatic recovery in the early 1900s. Huge reduction in poverty (it was at 47% when Pinochet left).

Thanks as always for helping us all stay informed on right-wing antics south of the border, Judi. Saludos!

[Judi Lynn]

12. You have deftly added a ton of insights and depth with the information in your post.

Had never heard the things you've mentioned, in the gibbering put in play by the US right-wing, which has always claimed Pinochet's Reign of Terror was actually a great golden era.

Had to go get a photo of one of the Pinochet fans who attended his funeral, taken from a thread started by a tremendous DU follower of Latin American politics:



SayWhat's thread (she is truly missed):
https://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2651944

(She added information regarding Pinochet's funeral which shows some very strange activities occurred that day surrounding the funeral (and celebration).

Thank you for your post which also added information we can use.

[lonely bird]

13. Geez.

Romo looks like a sadist. He looks like he enjoyed torturing people.

[Judi Lynn]

14. You are exactly right. From Reuters after Romo died: Infamous Pinochet-era torturer dies in Chile

JULY 4, 2007 / 2:44 PM / 12 YEARS AGO

SANTIAGO, July 4 (Reuters) - A notorious Chilean agent who confessed to torturing political opponents during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet died on Wednesday having served five years in prison for human rights abuses.

Osvaldo Romo, known as "El Guaton" (The fat one), died of heart failure in a prison hospital in the Chilean capital Santiago at 4:45 a.m. (0845 GMT), the hospital said in a statement. He was 69.

Romo was an officer in the DINA, the intelligence service set up by Pinochet after he seized power in a military coup in 1973.

The coup ushered in 17 years of dictatorship in Chile during which nearly 3,200 died in political violence, the vast majority killed by Pinochet’s men. A further 28,000 were tortured and thousands fled into exile.

More:
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN04371134

Here's a much more illuminated account of how this man spent his life:

Confessing Evil:
A Performative Approach to Perpetrators= Confessions and Chilean Memory Politics

http://lasa.international.pitt.edu/lasa2003/payneleigh.pdf

[turbinetree]

6. People keep forgetting that people associated with one James M. Buchanan from

University of Virginia and then James Madison had his fingers along with the Koch's and other firms in the crap that was going on in Chile in the ................even Nixon..........

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/19/despot-disguise-democracy-james-mcgill-buchanan-totalitarian-capitalism

‘Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America by Nancy MacLean

https://www.realchangenews.org/2018/05/30/book-review-democracy-chains-deep-history-radical-right-s-stealth-plan-america

[Judi Lynn]

7. You've provided so much important information with these two links.

Had never heard of James McGill Buchanan and had no idea who fashioned the belief structure followed religiously by the Koch Brothers. Had no idea he was part of rewriting Chile's horrific, treacherous constitution during US Republican supported Pinochet's brutal regime, who was actually more powerful in Chile's ideology than Milton Friedman.

I hope a multitude will have read the Guardian article, as it is completely necessary to know everything it discusses.

Thank you, so much.

[turbinetree]

15. Your most certainly and very much welcome........................

I can still remember Nixon had his hand down there in Chile and having his hand in a lot things illegally, and since I love history and saw the piece about Nancy MacLean and her book off of Maddow show, I said I was going to get the book and read it and finally the connections make sense, public schools in Virginia, (my home state, being attacked by the man, and to top it all off he gets a Nobel Prize.........why......... ) ...........................and has for the Koch's, they are "one" of many that are absolutely the most dangerous people on the planet in my opinion, every where they have their unscrupulous tentacles in everything, and people have had to pay literally in blood for the right wing libertarian agenda that the Buchanan's and the Koch's of the world are doing on this planet......... .......where else are we going to go..........................

Again thank you for the kind words............................

[Kid Berwyn]

16. CIA: "Pinochet personally ordered" Letelier bombing

U.S. gives documents to Chilean President Bachelet on 40th anniversary

National Security Archive Applauds Declassification of CIA Intelligence Assessment and Other Records on the Letelier-Moffitt Assassinations

National Security Archive, George Washington University

Washington D.C., September 23, 2016 – A CIA special intelligence assessment in 1987 concluded that Chilean General Augusto Pinochet ordered an “act of state terrorism” on the streets of Washington, D.C., that took the lives of former Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier, and his 25-year-old colleague, Ronni Moffitt, forty years ago this week. “A review of our files on the Letelier assassination,” the CIA reported, “has provided what we regard as convincing evidence that President Pinochet personally ordered his intelligence chief to carry out the murder.” The assessment added that Pinochet later “decided to stonewall on the case to hide his involvement and, ultimately, to protect his hold on the presidency.”

The CIA report, along with other documents, were handed over to Chilean President Michelle Bachelet by Deputy Secretary of State Heather Higginbottom during a somber 40th anniversary commemoration today at Sheridan Circle – site of the car bomb assassinations in 1976 – and are being posted here by the National Security Archive.

Two top U.S officials shared the CIA’s assessment with President Ronald Reagan as part of an effort to lobby him to terminate support for the Pinochet regime. Among the formerly secret records revealed today was a previously unknown October 1987 White House briefing paper for Reagan prepared by his NSC adviser, Frank Carlucci, in which Carlucci advises the president: “The situation in regard to Chile is as complicated as we face anywhere.”

“This CIA evaluation has come to be considered the Holy Grail of the Letelier-Moffitt case,” according to Peter Kornbluh who directs the Archive’s Chile Documentation Project. “Since direct evidence from Pinochet’s secret police files disappeared long ago, like so many of his victims, the CIA’s detailed assessment is the most compelling evidence we are ever likely to have.” Kornbluh added, “With this gesture of declassification diplomacy, the Obama administration has finally provided the missing link in the paper trail of evidence that leads to Pinochet’ s doorstep.”

Continues...

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/chile/2016-09-23/cia-pinochet-personally-ordered-letelier-bombing