Pinochet, bajo arresto domiciliario El Mundo (Spain) 05.01.05. (Pinochet under house arrest.)
I'm sure Augusto Pinochet thought he would go to his grave never being called to account for his crimes against Chilean and international law. Including a notorious torture regime.
He's specifically facing charges for Operation Condor, the military coup that overthrew Chile's left-of-center government in 1973, heavily encouraged by the Nixon administration: ¿Qué ocurrió tras el Golpe? El Mundo 27.08.04.
After murdering the president, Salvador Allende, Pinochet's junta carried on an "internal war" with various people it designated as enemies. With brief exceptions, Pinochet and his clique ruled by emergency decree from 1973-1987. For a long time after the restoration of democracy, Pinochet enjoyed an amnesty by agreement with the government, implicitly backed by the threat of another coup. The democratic government now feels strong enought to go after him.
On Thursday, the hearings start for Alberto "the torture guy" Gonzales to be attorney general of the United States. Those torture memos are certain to haunt him the rest of his life. And not only him.
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