Former Chilean president father alleged torturers formally charged with his death
Chile charged two former officers in Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship with being the “co-authors” of the torture that killed the father of former president Michelle Bachelet.
Alberto Bachelet was arrested in 1973 and faced court-martial for treason for having been a member of Socialist president Salvador Allende's government prior to his overthrow by Pinochet's military junta.
Retired air force colonels Ramon Caceres and Edgar Ceballos were arrested on Tuesday and charged with being the “co-authors of the crime of torture that caused the death” of Bachelet, Judge Mario Carroza said.
Bachelet, an Air Force brigadier general who opposed Pinochet's 1973 coup, was imprisoned until his death on March 12, 1974, when he was said to have died of a heart attack at the age of 51.
A medical report ordered by the courts and released in June concluded that Bachelet died as a direct result of the torture he suffered during his confinement.
Bachelet already had heart problems, and had even taken time off from work before the coup to deal with it, the general's widow Angela Jeria said. “His comrades must have known that,” she said.
“Now, in this country, we can expect the justice system to do its job,” Jeria said in reaction to the arrests. “So many people have lost their lives and the causes were never even investigated.”
Caceres and Ceballos are accused of orchestrating Bachelet's “cruel, inhuman, and humiliating, treatment” at the Air Force War Academy in Santiago, Carroza's statement said. Following their arrest, they were transferred to the El Bosque Air Base in the capital.
“I ran into Air Force comrades that I had known for 20 years, even my own students, who treated me like a criminal or a like a dog,” Bachelet later wrote in a letter to his son.
“He was a beloved and respected officer,” said former Chilean Air Force commander Ernesto Galaz, who shared captivity with Bachelet. “He participated in many sports, cultural and social activities, and had a broad intellect and commitment to service”.
Born in Santiago in 1922, Bachelet was the third of five brothers that came from a family of French descent that arrived in Chile to work in the wine industry.
As part of the trial proceedings, Michelle Bachelet -- president of Chile 2006-2010 and the current head of UN women's agency -- testified alongside her mother about their illegal detention at torture centres in 1975.
After the regime released them, the two women fled the country to exile, Australia and later East Germany. Michelle Bachelet returned in 1979.
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9 comments Feed
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What do you mean by that?
A country, whereas the president aims to eliminate the seperation of powers is doomed and is very likely to convert into an authoritarian/dictatorial regime in a short term. Examples you have plenty... Nevertheless, the military coup did take over this role of the villian for him.
PS: suprisingly to see Michelle Bachelet being such a handsome girl in her youth.
#5 An interesting perspective. While we don't agree on socialism we seem to agree on democracy, and if the people were left genuinely to decide in 1976 then, whatever their decision, that would have been legitimate. Unfortunately the ruling class groups around Pinochet and Nixon's CIA didn't agree
#6 So kill him and torture his associates to death, thats clearly the best way to deal with someone who's “ndermining institutions of democracy”! No hypocrisy there of course! PS why is it surprising that Michelle was pretty??
It must be so easy to preach from where you are sitting. From your comments on ManRod’s post it is clear that you do not understand or choose not to understand that the complexities of the situation.
Manrod is 100% correct. There would not have been free elections under Allende. Under Allende our fate would have been similar to eastern Europe under Soviet rule. I suppose you agree with that kind of democracy, one in which you don’t get a vote? Do you really think that we would have been different? How many people in Cuba get to vote?
If you think about it, it is offensive that you think we should have submitted like sheep and just been marched down the road to Soviet ruin. It might be your nirvana, but it is closer to hell for most of us. Many Chilean were victimized by the PS thugs, property stolen and favours dished out party faithful. It wasn’t about ruling classes. It might be a romantic notion that fits with your view from afar of how thing were. But you are very wrong, many working class Chileans wanted rid of Allende.
Unfortunately when things get to the extreme that your own military is required to remove your own leaders then the perverse logic of war takes over and people get killed. If you try to burn down my house and I respond by burning down your house, you are as responsible as I am for the damage caused.
If you were to ask Chileans if they supported the coup, about 30% would say yes. If you were to ask if it was a necessary evil about 60% would say yes. That 60% is not the ruling class it is everyday Chileans. Confirmation of the rejection of the far left in Chile can be seen at the ballot box.
BK, if you want to live in some centrally planned, corrupt, impoverished, totalitarian state, go live in Cuba or North Korea.
CP
What makes you think that we would have fared any better than Cuba?
Sure Allende would have continued to trash the economy, but as a soviet satellite we would have been propped up until the end of the cold war.
Unlike a lot of other banana republics Chile in early 1973 still had a fully functioning parliament, a very aggressive independent media, an educated population, an independent judiciary and police force. It also had a rock solid military, a constitutionalist force that could easily counter any “soviet” interference. So there was NO WAY it could EVER have become a “Cuba”. Whoever believes this dictatorship propaganda is crazy.
#7
I and most Chileans do not support Communism (last ballot 4.6% support). This failed experiment was doomed and Allende was finished. The military had taken steps to disarm extremist groups long before Allende replaced Gen Prats with Pinochet. The dictatorship apologists always point to the fact that there was a rival army ready to turn Chile into Cuba. This is simply NOT true. What is true is that the sovereign right of my fellow citizens to choose whoever the hell they wanted to choose to run the place was stolen by a foreign power. Sadly many died unnecessarily as the winner of the 1976 election undoubtedly would've been the Christian democrats.
#8
You are completely right in saying that Allende would have continued to ”trash'' the economy right up to the 1976 election. But what is worse, three more years of damage and destruction to the economy and social fabric of the country or the destruction of 3000 lives and countless others irreparably damaged by torture or the murder of their loved ones. Let's get real here buddy real people were killed, Dads, moms, brothers, sisters NOTHING can excuse this, NOTHING! And all because they believed in a different political ideology, it's NUTS!! Look at it today Chilean commies are just as involved in capitalism as the Pinochetistas. It was a tragic loss. And finally there was never any threat of us becoming a soviet satellite, there is ample evidence from the Russians themselves. Had the army stayed true to their constitutionalist roots the '76 election would've solved everything.
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