Chilean dictator Pinochet’s British accomplices

This 29 June 2016 video from the USA is called Former Chilean Army Officer Found Liable for 1973 Murder of Víctor Jara After U.S.-Backed Coup.

Another video which used to be on YouTube used to say about itself:

Justice for Jara seen after Chile 73 coup

This is Victor Jara – the Chilean singer and political activist who was murdered in 1973, shortly after a bloody military coup led by Augusto Pinochet. Jara’s body was discovered in the street with more than 40 bullet wounds and signs of torture. Now, almost 40 years after his death, a Chilean judge has issued an international arrest warrant for eight ex-army officers implicated in the killing. A former lieutenant and a retired colonel are among those accused of leading the death squad which murdered Jara. Speaking in Santiago after the ruling, human rights lawyer Nelson Caucoto said the decision was historic. He said all victims of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet now have the possibility of reaching army officials responsible for crimes. In 2009 Jara’s body was exhumed to confirm the cause of death and to help prosecute those responsible. He was later reburied with thousands turning out to pay their respects.

By Rory MacKinnon in Britain:

WikiLeaks dishes Pinochet dirt

Monday 08 April 2013

by Rory MacKinnon

Mass-murdering tyrant Augusto Pinochet was an “affable” ally for Britain even after his “caravan of death,” declassified cables have revealed.

The Chilean dictator’s links with Britain received a fresh airing today following the death of Margaret Thatcher, a personal friend of the general.

New evidence of Britain’s complicity came to light today after WikiLeaks unveiled its new Public Library of US Diplomacy, a user-friendly database of nearly two million US diplomatic and intelligence records – including from its London embassy.

One such cable from January 1976 recounts a conversation with Britain’s ambassador to Chile Reginald Seconde.

Mr Seconde described the regime as “well-intentioned army men, politically naive, with an incredible knack for doing things wrong.”

Mr Seconde reportedly “deplored Chile’s security apparatus,” which had “managed to alienate just about everybody.”

Yet he said that some officials were “more sensitive to Chile’s poor image than their affable if somewhat obtuse leader.”

The conversation took place less than a year after the end of Operation Colombo, in which Pinochet’s secret police murdered more than 100 political dissidents while framing the deaths as sectarian infighting.

Mr Seconde had begun his posting at the same time of Pinochet’s infamous “caravan of death,” which travelled the country by helicopter, executing at least 75 political prisoners.

At least 3,000 people were executed under the Pinochet regime and at least 40,000 others tortured and abducted.

Related articles

• Chilean poet Pablo Neruda’s remains to be exhumed – Times of India (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
• Pablo Neruda’s body to be exhumed over Pinochet regime murder claims (oddonion.com)
• Chile to Exhume Poet Pablo Neruda’s Body to Prove Poisoning Plot (medicaldaily.com)
• Was Chilean poet Pablo Neruda poisoned? (thestar.com)
• Thatcher and Pinochet enjoyed ‘close relationship’ (itv.com)
• Vatican said Pinochet killings were ‘propaganda’ (gulfnews.com)
• Chile exhumes Pablo Neruda’s remains (edition.cnn.com)
• Chile successfully exhumes body of poet Neruda (kfwbam.com)