Chile: Old soldiers ready to tell secrets of coup

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Nov 1, 8:41 AM EST
Chile: Old soldiers ready to tell secrets of coup
By EVA VERGARA and MICHAEL WARREN
Associated Press Writers

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) -- Hundreds of former military draftees are making a provocative offer to Chile's government: They will reveal details of crimes committed by Gen. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship - but only if their safety is guaranteed.

The draftees fear that if they reveal where the bodies are buried, they will face prosecution by the courts or retaliation by the superiors who ordered them decades ago to torture and kill political prisoners.

The information they once promised to carry to their graves has become both a heavy psychological burden and a bargaining chip. By offering confessions, the former draftees hope to improve their chances of securing benefits from pensions to psychological treatment.

"We were executors and witnesses of many brutalities and now we're willing to talk about them for our own personal redemption," said former soldier Fernando Mellado, who is organizing a Sunday gathering of draftees outside Chile's presidential palace.



Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_CHILE_DIRTY_WAR_DRAFTEES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-11-01-08-41-07

[mattvermont]

1. I bet GHWB might be a little afraid

of this development.

[UpInArms]

3. he's way to evil to have fear

that would require a conscience.

[bertman]

2. Give them their "guarantee of safety" so they'll spill the putrid beans. Then let the Chileans

decide if they want to hold them to accounts. These are the bastards who were kidnapping innocent people and murdering them with impunity. Now they're worried about being protected. I wonder how their victims would feel about that?

Rec.

[rampart]

6. they were teenagers

draftees in a bloody civil war that they could not understand. give them immunity and let them testify. the american corporate/government operators should be tried and punished, but that will never happen.

[dipsydoodle]

4. K & R

.

[Demeter]

5. Kissinger Beware!

The truth WILL out. Better hope for Death's pardon, first.

[a la izquierda]

7. Have fun in hell...

a-holes.
You tortured and murdered your own people, for nothing. In Guatemala, during the beginning decade of the civil war, military leaders defected en masse and formed guerrilla organizations. You had alternatives.
You should have a safety guarantee until your testimony...then, you can be tossed to the wolves for all the sympathy you showed others.

[winyanstaz]

8. K & R.......hmmmmm perhaps Obama should offer a deal...

to those that know about 9-11 and have been afraid to come forth.
To those that know about Kennedy and have been afraid to come forth.
To those that know about corruption in the Military but have been afraid to come forth.
To those that were ordered to cover up murders and corruption at any level of the government to come forth.
etc..
Just a thought.....

[w4rma]

9. Very good. (nt)

[cap]

10. I wonder how many Blackwater employees will get implicated

Blackwater's Chilean arm, "Grupo Tactico" is under investigation for hiring some of the worst of the worst of the secret police.

[Judi Lynn]

11. Did not know this, but it really figures, doesn't it?

Glad you added some information we REALLY should know. This will definitely stick with us for future reference.

I hope to find out more about it when I get some time to research it. Sounds very much like Blackwater hooked into the old Operation Condor organization, with its ties to the C.I.A. Good grief!

Thank you.

[jasi2006]

12. Judy, thanks for your honest and consistent reporting on south and central

American events. i believe you are one DU's most trusted and honest members.

[WhiteTara]

13. there is no redemption without justice

there needs to be a truth and reconciliation commission at the very least or the trial of the new millennium.

[gratuitous]

16. A six month window

And those who come forward have to answer every question put them, without evasion or equivocation. Anyone who doesn't put his name in during those six months is forever barred from the offer, and is liable to prosecution based on the testimony given by the others.

I wonder if Kissinger would hightail his waddling fanny down to Santiago to take advantage of such an offer?

[troubledamerican]

14. The Neocon blueprint will be 9/11/73

[Vidar]

15. Justice is coming in Latin America. Maybe we'll catch up in a century or two.