WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.620 Welcome to the Deep Dive, the place dedicated 00:00:01.620 --> 00:00:04.599 to taking a complex stack of sources and distilling 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:06.759 them into the precise, potent knowledge you need 00:00:06.759 --> 00:00:09.160 to be thoroughly well -informed. Today we're 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:11.660 undertaking one of the most polarizing and, frankly, 00:00:11.740 --> 00:00:14.080 complex figures of the 20th century, General 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:16.899 Augusto Pinochet. Right. His name represents 00:00:16.899 --> 00:00:19.719 such a painful paradox in history. On one hand, 00:00:19.719 --> 00:00:22.059 you have the architect of this brutal, repressive 00:00:22.059 --> 00:00:24.879 state. And on the other... the leader who oversaw 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:27.399 one of the most radical, influential experiments 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:29.980 in free market economics the world has ever seen. 00:00:30.100 --> 00:00:32.920 We have a fascinating and, I have to say, a disturbing 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:35.140 set of sources before us today. We are looking 00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:38.740 at a 17 -year rule in Chile spanning from 1973 00:00:38.740 --> 00:00:42.420 all the way to 1990. And that period is defined 00:00:42.420 --> 00:00:45.960 by, well, a swift and incredibly violent military 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:49.119 coup, this intense shock therapy economic policy. 00:00:49.340 --> 00:00:51.880 Profound human rights abuses. And then later 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:54.619 in his life, this. unbelievable series of international 00:00:54.619 --> 00:00:56.759 legal battles that just kept going. The sheer 00:00:56.759 --> 00:00:59.560 longevity of his dictatorship. I mean, it was 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:02.719 the longest of any Chilean ruler. That alone 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:05.879 guaranteed that he permanently reshaped the nation's 00:01:05.879 --> 00:01:09.480 political, social and economic DNA. He is absolutely 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:12.099 a figure of extremes. And his legacy remains, 00:01:12.340 --> 00:01:14.920 you know, hotly contested to this day. Oh, absolutely. 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:18.400 So our mission in this deep dive is to unpack 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:20.640 these contradictory layers for you. We'll trace 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.319 his unexpected rise from what seemed like a pretty 00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:26.319 opportunistic military officer. to the head of 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:28.739 a totalitarian state. And we'll analyze how state 00:01:28.739 --> 00:01:31.120 terror was used not just for political suppression, 00:01:31.340 --> 00:01:34.599 but as really the necessary foundation for that 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:36.659 radical economic change. You couldn't have one 00:01:36.659 --> 00:01:39.200 without the other. Exactly. And we'll track the 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:41.760 almost cinematic details of his post -dictatorship 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:44.120 legal struggles. This is where you find a man 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:47.079 obsessed with military history, secretly hoarding 00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:50.280 a private library of over 55 ,000 books. Which 00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:53.299 is just incredible. Isn't it? Yet he ends up 00:01:53.299 --> 00:01:55.379 being indicted not for murder, but for tax fraud 00:01:55.379 --> 00:01:58.159 and embezzlement. It's a study in how power, 00:01:58.200 --> 00:02:01.060 ideology, and sheer opportunism can combine to 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:04.120 redefine an entire nation. And I think how accountability, 00:02:04.439 --> 00:02:06.459 when it's finally pursued, can come from the 00:02:06.459 --> 00:02:09.300 most surprising angles. So let's jump into the 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:11.960 material. Okay, let's unpack Pinochet's beginnings. 00:02:12.539 --> 00:02:14.340 Let's try to understand the character of the 00:02:14.340 --> 00:02:17.750 man before he became the dictator. He was born 00:02:17.750 --> 00:02:21.629 Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte in Valparaiso 00:02:21.629 --> 00:02:25.789 in 1915. His heritage was rooted in French, Breton, 00:02:25.789 --> 00:02:28.310 and Basque ancestry. He entered the military 00:02:28.310 --> 00:02:32.270 school in Santiago in 1931 and graduated in 1935 00:02:32.270 --> 00:02:34.610 as a second lieutenant in the infantry. And if 00:02:34.610 --> 00:02:36.229 you look at his early military records there. 00:02:36.669 --> 00:02:38.509 Well, they're frankly underwhelming, aren't they? 00:02:38.569 --> 00:02:41.370 He was consistently noted as an average student. 00:02:41.550 --> 00:02:43.870 Right. He wasn't blazing a trail as some kind 00:02:43.870 --> 00:02:46.330 of military genius or a tactical wunderkind. 00:02:46.349 --> 00:02:49.710 He was competent, you know, but not extraordinary 00:02:49.710 --> 00:02:52.189 by any stretch of the imagination. Yet later 00:02:52.189 --> 00:02:54.270 in his career, he went to these great lengths 00:02:54.270 --> 00:02:56.650 to establish himself as an intellectual authority 00:02:56.650 --> 00:02:59.289 within the armed forces. He focused on military 00:02:59.289 --> 00:03:02.240 geography and geopolitics. Which is a classic 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:04.340 move, really. It's an ambitious officer looking 00:03:04.340 --> 00:03:06.780 for an edge beyond the battlefield, a way to 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:09.020 distinguish himself. And this ambition drove 00:03:09.020 --> 00:03:12.159 him to publish two notable books, Geopolitica 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:15.460 in 1968 and then Campaña de Tarapacá in 1972. 00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:18.139 They certainly cemented his reputation at the 00:03:18.139 --> 00:03:20.860 time. They did. But what's truly revealing about 00:03:20.860 --> 00:03:23.620 his character, even at this early stage, is that 00:03:23.620 --> 00:03:26.960 this academic achievement was fundamentally dishonest. 00:03:27.389 --> 00:03:30.370 I find that specific detail so fascinating because 00:03:30.370 --> 00:03:32.629 it sets an immediate pattern for his behavior. 00:03:33.389 --> 00:03:35.669 Later investigations showed that in his book 00:03:35.669 --> 00:03:38.909 Geopolitica, Pinochet plagiarized. Extensively. 00:03:38.909 --> 00:03:41.710 He lifted paragraphs and ideas wholesale from 00:03:41.710 --> 00:03:45.289 his own mentor, General Gregorio Rodriguez Tascón, 00:03:45.490 --> 00:03:48.250 specifically from a conference presentation Tascón 00:03:48.250 --> 00:03:51.270 had given years before, back in 1949. It just 00:03:51.270 --> 00:03:54.069 reveals this deep -seated tendency toward opportunistic 00:03:54.069 --> 00:03:56.370 deceit, doesn't it? Absolutely. He wasn't relying 00:03:56.370 --> 00:03:59.069 on original scholarship. He was relying on the 00:03:59.069 --> 00:04:01.129 prestige and authority that came with appearing 00:04:01.129 --> 00:04:03.650 to be a military intellectual. This isn't just 00:04:03.650 --> 00:04:05.830 a footnote. It shows a man willing to co -opt 00:04:05.830 --> 00:04:08.050 and manipulate sources of authority for his own 00:04:08.050 --> 00:04:10.930 personal advancement. A trait that will reappear, 00:04:10.969 --> 00:04:13.110 I think it's fair to say, much more violently 00:04:13.110 --> 00:04:15.550 later in his career. Without a doubt. And this 00:04:15.550 --> 00:04:17.730 brings us to that pivotal moment in August of 00:04:17.730 --> 00:04:21.350 1973. The political climate in Chile was just 00:04:21.350 --> 00:04:24.550 in freefall. Total chaos. And just one day after 00:04:24.550 --> 00:04:26.769 the Chamber of Deputies passed a resolution saying 00:04:26.769 --> 00:04:29.209 that President Salvador Allende's democratically 00:04:29.209 --> 00:04:31.649 elected socialist government was acting outside 00:04:31.649 --> 00:04:35.170 the Constitution. What does Allende do? He appoints 00:04:35.170 --> 00:04:37.170 Pinochet as the commander in chief of the army. 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:40.000 That appointment is just extraordinary when you 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:43.060 look back on it. Allende trusted Pinochet. He 00:04:43.060 --> 00:04:45.819 truly believed him to be a loyal institutionalist 00:04:45.819 --> 00:04:48.620 precisely because Pinochet had cultivated this 00:04:48.620 --> 00:04:52.139 image of being a reserved, dedicated, apolitical 00:04:52.139 --> 00:04:54.379 military man. So he seemed different from the 00:04:54.379 --> 00:04:56.399 more politically aggressive generals. Exactly. 00:04:56.560 --> 00:04:59.259 Allende inadvertently placed the very man who 00:04:59.259 --> 00:05:01.839 would overthrow him at the highest military post 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:05.240 just weeks before the coup. A fatal error. And 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:07.100 that coup occurred just a few short weeks later. 00:05:07.420 --> 00:05:11.240 On September 11th, 1973. It was a classic military 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:14.019 coup d 'etat. It was meticulously planned and 00:05:14.019 --> 00:05:17.300 executed by the combined armed forces. The image 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:20.120 of the presidential palace, La Moneda, being 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:22.519 shelled by ground forces and a hawker hunter 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:24.540 jets. I mean, that is one of the most enduring 00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:27.019 and violent images of 20th century Latin American 00:05:27.019 --> 00:05:30.220 history. The takeover was brutal and it was fast. 00:05:30.500 --> 00:05:32.819 And for decades, the controversy surrounding 00:05:32.819 --> 00:05:36.439 Alenda's final moments just persisted. The military 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:39.139 junta immediately claimed he had committed suicide 00:05:39.139 --> 00:05:42.540 inside the shelled palace. A claim that was initially 00:05:42.540 --> 00:05:45.120 dismissed by many of his supporters and critics 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:47.639 of the regime. They insisted he was assassinated. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:51.290 And that debate raged for years. But the Chilean 00:05:51.290 --> 00:05:53.430 Supreme Court ultimately confirmed the suicide 00:05:53.430 --> 00:05:56.689 theory in 2014 based on new forensic evidence 00:05:56.689 --> 00:05:59.629 and testimony. But, you know, regardless of the 00:05:59.629 --> 00:06:01.810 manner of his death, the end result was the same. 00:06:01.829 --> 00:06:04.350 The violent, unconstitutional overthrow of a 00:06:04.350 --> 00:06:06.589 democratic government. Precisely. And even among 00:06:06.589 --> 00:06:09.269 the coup plotters themselves, Pinochet's specific 00:06:09.269 --> 00:06:13.209 role is, it's murky. He later wrote a book, The 00:06:13.209 --> 00:06:15.970 Decisive Day, claiming he was the grand mastermind 00:06:15.970 --> 00:06:19.079 coordinating the entire scheme. Oh, yes. He presented 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:21.560 himself as the essential figure, the linchpin. 00:06:21.720 --> 00:06:24.420 But other key players tell a completely different 00:06:24.420 --> 00:06:26.860 story. Like Air Force Commander Gustavo Lee. 00:06:27.060 --> 00:06:30.720 Exactly. Lee, a key co -conspirator, claimed 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:33.300 that Pinochet was actually reluctant, that he 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:36.040 was wavering, and only joined the plot days before 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:38.899 it was executed. He said Pinochet was primarily 00:06:38.899 --> 00:06:41.300 following the firm lead of the Navy, particularly 00:06:41.300 --> 00:06:44.339 Admiral Marino. So that ambiguity is central 00:06:44.339 --> 00:06:47.540 to understanding him. Was he the brilliant schemer 00:06:47.540 --> 00:06:50.100 he made himself out to be? Or was he the ultimate 00:06:50.100 --> 00:06:52.480 opportunist who just waited until the momentum 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:54.600 was irreversible before claiming leadership? 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:57.220 I think the evidence points much more strongly 00:06:57.220 --> 00:06:59.439 to the latter. He was an opportunist. Because 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:01.860 if he was so reluctant, why did he immediately 00:07:01.860 --> 00:07:04.439 move to seize absolute power after the coup? 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:06.839 That seems to suggest he was just waiting for 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:09.060 the optimal moment, right? Using his position 00:07:09.060 --> 00:07:11.500 of trust rather than actually leading the charge 00:07:11.500 --> 00:07:13.480 from the beginning. That's the analysis that 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:15.980 fits the evidence much, much better. He played 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:18.500 the long game. And in that long game, the support 00:07:18.500 --> 00:07:20.660 of the United States was absolutely indispensable. 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:24.420 Our sources are very clear on this. The US favored 00:07:24.420 --> 00:07:28.180 the coup and provided significant financial and 00:07:28.180 --> 00:07:30.720 intelligence backing to the military leadership. 00:07:30.980 --> 00:07:32.439 And we have to be clear, the US intervention 00:07:32.439 --> 00:07:36.129 wasn't confined to the day of the coup. CIA covert 00:07:36.129 --> 00:07:39.389 actions had been actively working to destabilize 00:07:39.389 --> 00:07:41.930 Allende's government for three years prior. Three 00:07:41.930 --> 00:07:44.589 years. That included imposing what was effectively 00:07:44.589 --> 00:07:47.790 an invisible blockade, right? Yes. Designed to 00:07:47.790 --> 00:07:50.430 starve the Chilean eponymy and create the exact 00:07:50.430 --> 00:07:52.970 conditions of social and economic crisis that 00:07:52.970 --> 00:07:55.269 would be needed to justify a military intervention. 00:07:56.029 --> 00:07:58.689 So after the coup, the junta immediately needs 00:07:58.689 --> 00:08:01.050 a narrative to sanitize their violence. Of course. 00:08:01.350 --> 00:08:04.430 They released a Libro Blanco, the white book, 00:08:04.569 --> 00:08:06.470 which claimed they were acting preemptively. 00:08:06.629 --> 00:08:09.009 They said they were stopping a self -coup, a 00:08:09.009 --> 00:08:11.569 supposed plot by Allende's associates called 00:08:11.569 --> 00:08:13.689 Plan Zeta. And the sources indicate the U .S. 00:08:13.689 --> 00:08:15.670 intelligence agencies pretty quickly concluded 00:08:15.670 --> 00:08:18.379 this Plan Z was fabricated. Right. They saw it 00:08:18.379 --> 00:08:22.480 for what it was. Propaganda created soul of legitimize 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:25.040 the takeover and create this illusion of necessity, 00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:28.139 though to be balanced. Some later insisted that 00:08:28.139 --> 00:08:30.560 elements of Plan Z did bear some similarities 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:33.500 to preexisting, though unexecuted paramilitary 00:08:33.500 --> 00:08:36.600 plans of Alenda's popular unity parties. But 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:39.659 the intent was clear. Sell the narrative that 00:08:39.659 --> 00:08:42.360 the military were saviors, not usurpers. And 00:08:42.360 --> 00:08:44.519 initially, the Junta was a four -member body. 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:47.960 It had the heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force, 00:08:48.019 --> 00:08:50.340 and the Carabineros, the National Police. They 00:08:50.340 --> 00:08:52.620 suspended the Constitution in Congress, banned 00:08:52.620 --> 00:08:55.399 all political parties, and imposed strict censorship 00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:58.039 and a curfew. They were operating as both the 00:08:58.039 --> 00:09:00.379 executive and legislative branches. The initial 00:09:00.379 --> 00:09:02.879 plan, though, was to rotate the presidency annually 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:05.299 among the four commanders. That never materialized, 00:09:05.299 --> 00:09:07.370 did it? Not for a second. Pinochet consolidated 00:09:07.370 --> 00:09:10.789 power with astounding speed. By June of 1974, 00:09:11.169 --> 00:09:13.529 he was proclaimed the supreme chief of the nation 00:09:13.529 --> 00:09:16.549 by decree. Six months later, he was officially 00:09:16.549 --> 00:09:18.750 president of the republic. It just demonstrates 00:09:18.750 --> 00:09:21.509 his cunning. He systematically sidelined anyone 00:09:21.509 --> 00:09:24.169 who might challenge him. Look at General Gustavo 00:09:24.169 --> 00:09:26.450 Ley, the Air Force commander we mentioned earlier. 00:09:26.690 --> 00:09:29.110 He contradicted Pinochet's hardening policies 00:09:29.110 --> 00:09:31.889 and for that he was ultimately forced into retirement 00:09:31.889 --> 00:09:35.870 in 1978. So Pinochet's grip on power became absolute 00:09:35.870 --> 00:09:38.350 and irreversible within the first five years 00:09:38.350 --> 00:09:40.789 of the dictatorship. It did. And once that grip 00:09:40.789 --> 00:09:43.850 was absolute, he directed the military dictatorship 00:09:43.850 --> 00:09:47.110 toward the systematic elimination of all political 00:09:47.110 --> 00:09:50.490 opposition. Okay, so let's turn to the chilling 00:09:50.490 --> 00:09:52.649 operational structure that made this possible. 00:09:52.889 --> 00:09:56.409 The repression was instantaneous and comprehensive. 00:09:56.669 --> 00:09:59.870 It transformed Chile into a deeply repressive 00:09:59.870 --> 00:10:03.009 state almost overnight. The initial targets were 00:10:03.009 --> 00:10:06.100 clear. Communists, socialists, leftists, union 00:10:06.100 --> 00:10:08.500 leaders, academics, really anyone who is deemed 00:10:08.500 --> 00:10:11.539 a political critic. The sheer magnitude of the 00:10:11.539 --> 00:10:13.759 violence is best understood through the government's 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:15.779 own accounting after the democratic transition. 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:18.059 Right. The Redding and Valets reports, they document 00:10:18.059 --> 00:10:21.179 the scope and the numbers are. They're just horrifying. 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:23.120 They're difficult to process. They are. At least 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:26.360 3 ,095 people were killed or forcibly disappeared 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:28.600 during his rule. And the count of torture victims, 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:32.320 initially recorded at over 31 ,000, rose to approximately 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:36.679 40 ,018 by 2011. That's as follow -up commissions 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:39.159 identified more victims who finally felt safe 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:41.309 enough to testify. And we also have to account 00:10:41.309 --> 00:10:43.809 for those who simply fled for their lives. An 00:10:43.809 --> 00:10:46.710 estimated 200 ,000 Chileans, which was roughly 00:10:46.710 --> 00:10:50.570 2 % of the entire 1973 population, were forced 00:10:50.570 --> 00:10:53.049 into political exile immediately following the 00:10:53.049 --> 00:10:55.570 coup and the subsequent purge. 2 % of the whole 00:10:55.570 --> 00:10:57.769 country. And hundreds of thousands more left 00:10:57.769 --> 00:11:00.409 later because of the economic upheaval. This 00:11:00.409 --> 00:11:02.769 was a national trauma that affected every single 00:11:02.769 --> 00:11:05.850 segment of society. This level of systemic violence, 00:11:06.110 --> 00:11:08.919 it required a dedicated organization. And that 00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:11.580 was Pinochet's D -9, the Dirección de Inteligencia 00:11:11.580 --> 00:11:14.220 Nacional. D -9 was the primary engine of state 00:11:14.220 --> 00:11:16.539 terror. But it wasn't just a domestic secret 00:11:16.539 --> 00:11:19.039 police force. It was Pinochet's personal intelligence 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:21.799 service. It was designed to neutralize opposition, 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:24.799 both at home and abroad. And it was under Pinochet's 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:27.000 direct command that Operation Condor was formally 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:30.639 established in late 1975. Operation Condor represents 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.259 a terrifying new level of state collaboration. 00:11:33.740 --> 00:11:37.860 This was a U .S. supported cooperation plan among 00:11:37.860 --> 00:11:40.379 the intelligence agencies of multiple South American 00:11:40.379 --> 00:11:43.000 dictatorships. We're talking Chile, Argentina, 00:11:43.460 --> 00:11:47.519 Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay and Bolivia. And the 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:49.460 goal was to hunt down and eliminate political 00:11:49.460 --> 00:11:52.480 exiles globally. Exactly. The collective toll 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:55.059 of this multinational terror plan is estimated 00:11:55.059 --> 00:11:58.259 at around 60 ,000 deaths across all the participating 00:11:58.259 --> 00:12:00.370 countries. countries. It was primarily executed 00:12:00.370 --> 00:12:02.710 through cross -border kidnappings, assassinations 00:12:02.710 --> 00:12:05.870 and disappearances. The operation was chillingly 00:12:05.870 --> 00:12:08.389 efficient. And this brings us back to the complex 00:12:08.389 --> 00:12:11.509 and deeply problematic role of the U .S. in supporting 00:12:11.509 --> 00:12:13.850 the junta. Declassified documents reveal the 00:12:13.850 --> 00:12:15.570 U .S. provided not just financial assistance. 00:12:15.809 --> 00:12:17.990 But also organizational and technical support 00:12:17.990 --> 00:12:19.850 to the Chilean regime. They maintained active 00:12:19.850 --> 00:12:22.590 paid contacts within DINA. The head of DINA itself, 00:12:22.889 --> 00:12:25.070 Manuel Contreras, the man overseeing the systematic 00:12:25.070 --> 00:12:27.809 torture and murder of thousands, was a longstanding 00:12:27.809 --> 00:12:31.710 paid CIA asset. And that is a crucial, shocking 00:12:31.710 --> 00:12:35.000 detail. The agency responsible for this horrific 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:38.340 repression was directly collaborating with, and 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:41.700 being paid by, U .S. intelligence. And this was 00:12:41.700 --> 00:12:43.840 with the full knowledge that some of their officers 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:46.980 were involved in human rights abuses. Focusing 00:12:46.980 --> 00:12:49.620 specifically on the methods used in Chile, the 00:12:49.620 --> 00:12:51.940 brutality started immediately after the coup. 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:54.940 One of the first most notorious actions was the 00:12:54.940 --> 00:12:58.000 so -called Caravan of Death in October 1973. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:01.039 This was essentially a traveling death squad, 00:13:01.220 --> 00:13:04.100 a group of military personnel moving by Puma 00:13:04.100 --> 00:13:05.960 helicopter, traveled up and down the country, 00:13:06.139 --> 00:13:08.679 stopping at various garrisons to review political 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:10.940 prisoners. And they killed at least 70 people 00:13:10.940 --> 00:13:13.279 during this sweep. often with no semblance of 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:15.620 legal process, sometimes executing prisoners 00:13:15.620 --> 00:13:17.419 right in front of their comrades. It was pure 00:13:17.419 --> 00:13:19.860 terror, designed to send a clear message. The 00:13:19.860 --> 00:13:22.159 regime also went to great lengths to target high 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:24.440 -profile figures who could represent a political 00:13:24.440 --> 00:13:27.539 threat in exile. General Carlos Prats, who was 00:13:27.539 --> 00:13:29.820 Pinochet's predecessor as army commander. He 00:13:29.820 --> 00:13:32.019 was assassinated by a car bomb in Buenos Aires 00:13:32.019 --> 00:13:37.019 in 1974. And then two years later, in 1976, Orlando 00:13:37.019 --> 00:13:40.110 Letelier. who was the former ambassador to the 00:13:40.110 --> 00:13:43.029 U .S. and a former minister in Allende's cabinet. 00:13:43.269 --> 00:13:45.509 He was murdered by a car bomb right in the middle 00:13:45.509 --> 00:13:49.389 of Washington, D .C., a bold, brazen act of international 00:13:49.389 --> 00:13:52.610 state terrorism. Sources later alleged that the 00:13:52.610 --> 00:13:55.210 order for this specific mission, which was codenamed 00:13:55.210 --> 00:13:57.970 Operation Masquerada, came directly from Pinochet 00:13:57.970 --> 00:14:00.429 himself. It just demonstrates a regime that felt 00:14:00.429 --> 00:14:03.129 completely untouchable, operating with total 00:14:03.129 --> 00:14:05.980 impunity even on foreign soil. The methods of 00:14:05.980 --> 00:14:08.240 torture that were used in detention centers like 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:10.960 Villa Grimaldi, they're meticulously documented 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:13.820 in the commission reports. They describe organized, 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:17.360 systematic sadism. It was designed to dehumanize 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:19.399 and destroy the individual. The list of methods 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:22.039 is just. It's sickening. Severe physical beatings 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:24.320 with chains resulting in fatal internal injuries. 00:14:24.500 --> 00:14:26.980 The routine rape and sexual torture of female 00:14:26.980 --> 00:14:29.419 prisoners. And specific psychological and physical 00:14:29.419 --> 00:14:31.950 abuse techniques. One horrifying example. known 00:14:31.950 --> 00:14:34.190 as the telephone, where the torturer would strike 00:14:34.190 --> 00:14:36.470 both ears of the victim simultaneously with open 00:14:36.470 --> 00:14:39.830 hands, often causing permanent deafness. At Villa 00:14:39.830 --> 00:14:42.929 Grimaldi, there are confirmed reports of prisoners 00:14:42.929 --> 00:14:45.269 deliberately being run over with trucks in the 00:14:45.269 --> 00:14:48.129 parking lot just to crush their legs, purely 00:14:48.129 --> 00:14:50.899 as a form of cruelty and disposal. And the ultimate 00:14:50.899 --> 00:14:53.120 disposal of the bodies was equally calculated 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:56.159 to conceal the evidence. Bodies were often interred 00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:59.659 in secret graves or notoriously loaded onto helicopters 00:14:59.659 --> 00:15:02.379 for death flights. Or they were just dumped into 00:15:02.379 --> 00:15:05.740 rivers or out into the ocean. At least 120 bodies 00:15:05.740 --> 00:15:07.940 are confirmed to have been disposed of this way. 00:15:08.330 --> 00:15:10.789 It's chilling when you realize the sheer logistical 00:15:10.789 --> 00:15:13.429 organization required to carry out violence at 00:15:13.429 --> 00:15:15.690 this scale and then to dispose of the evidence 00:15:15.690 --> 00:15:18.629 so systematically. And it gets even darker. The 00:15:18.629 --> 00:15:21.070 state terror even reached into chemical and biological 00:15:21.070 --> 00:15:24.289 warfare. Right. DNA employed a biochemist named 00:15:24.289 --> 00:15:26.629 Eugenio Berrios. He ran a military laboratory. 00:15:26.970 --> 00:15:29.850 And in that lab, Berrios produced highly dangerous 00:15:29.850 --> 00:15:32.789 agents. We're talking sarin gas, anthrax, botulism, 00:15:32.830 --> 00:15:35.129 all intended for use against opponents of the 00:15:35.129 --> 00:15:37.250 regime. It just reflects a regime that was willing 00:15:37.250 --> 00:15:40.669 to use. every available tool from simple execution 00:15:40.669 --> 00:15:43.570 to sophisticated chemical terror to guarantee 00:15:43.570 --> 00:15:46.120 its own survival and eliminate dissent. It's 00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:48.360 a critical foundation to understand because this 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:51.860 state of absolute fear was the necessary precondition 00:15:51.860 --> 00:15:54.960 for the next phase of the regime, the radical 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:57.399 economic overhaul. We've detailed the cost of 00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:00.000 the state terror, but it is so critical now to 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:01.919 understand that this repression was not separate 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:04.539 from the economic project. It was the foundation 00:16:04.539 --> 00:16:07.600 that allowed these radical, deeply unpopular 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:10.919 reforms to be implemented without any democratic 00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:13.679 accountability. That is the essential link. You 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:15.730 cannot separate them. The Pinochet regime did 00:16:15.730 --> 00:16:18.570 not just replace a socialist government. It replaced 00:16:18.570 --> 00:16:20.889 a socialist economic model with a radical free 00:16:20.889 --> 00:16:23.389 market one. But we have to first establish the 00:16:23.389 --> 00:16:26.590 context. The economy under Allende was in severe 00:16:26.590 --> 00:16:29.639 distress. Severe is an understatement. The nationalization 00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:32.220 of industries, coupled with massive price controls 00:16:32.220 --> 00:16:34.539 and that U .S. invisible blockade, had created 00:16:34.539 --> 00:16:37.840 absolute chaos. By 1973, inflation had reached 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:42.100 an astronomical 606 percent. 606 percent. GDP 00:16:42.100 --> 00:16:44.580 had contracted by 5 percent that year, and public 00:16:44.580 --> 00:16:46.840 spending had ballooned to nearly 45 percent of 00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:49.860 GDP. To put that 606 percent inflation figure 00:16:49.860 --> 00:16:53.379 into context for you, imagine trying to buy groceries 00:16:53.379 --> 00:16:55.779 today and knowing that by the time you get to 00:16:55.779 --> 00:16:58.100 the checkout, the prices have already shot up. 00:16:58.509 --> 00:17:01.750 Life for the average Chilean was defined by constant 00:17:01.750 --> 00:17:05.049 shortages, black markets, and the swift evaporation 00:17:05.049 --> 00:17:07.970 of any savings or wages they had. The economy 00:17:07.970 --> 00:17:10.430 was functionally collapsing. It was a disaster. 00:17:11.069 --> 00:17:13.849 Pinochet's regime tried some initial, more traditional 00:17:13.849 --> 00:17:17.349 Keynesian fixes. But by 1975, they decided on 00:17:17.349 --> 00:17:20.009 a radical shift. And this was influenced by a 00:17:20.009 --> 00:17:22.069 group of economists known as the Chicago Boys. 00:17:22.369 --> 00:17:24.769 These were Chilean economists, many of whom had 00:17:24.769 --> 00:17:26.670 been trained at the University of Chicago under 00:17:26.670 --> 00:17:29.170 the influence of Milton Friedman. They strongly 00:17:29.170 --> 00:17:31.730 advocated for laissez -faire capitalism and minimal 00:17:31.730 --> 00:17:34.490 state intervention. And Pinochet, embracing their 00:17:34.490 --> 00:17:36.710 vision, implemented what became known as shock 00:17:36.710 --> 00:17:39.789 therapy reforms. These were deeply unpopular, 00:17:39.849 --> 00:17:42.509 but politically feasible, thanks to the complete 00:17:42.509 --> 00:17:45.250 and total suppression of any opposition. Pinochet's 00:17:45.250 --> 00:17:47.569 ambitious goal was very clear. He said he wanted 00:17:47.569 --> 00:17:50.130 to make Chile not a nation of proletarians, but 00:17:50.130 --> 00:17:52.250 a nation of proprietors. And the reforms were 00:17:52.250 --> 00:17:54.509 rapid and sweeping. The key policies included, 00:17:54.769 --> 00:17:57.930 first, stringent currency stabilization measures, 00:17:58.210 --> 00:18:01.430 then the dramatic reduction or elimination of 00:18:01.430 --> 00:18:03.710 tariff protections, which basically threw the 00:18:03.710 --> 00:18:07.269 country open to global competition, and critically, 00:18:08.119 --> 00:18:12.079 a total outright ban on trade unions. Which dismantled 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:14.160 the primary source of organized worker resistance 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:17.259 to the reforms. Exactly. And on top of that, 00:18:17.339 --> 00:18:20.099 they embarked on this extensive program of prividation, 00:18:20.380 --> 00:18:22.599 selling off hundreds of state -owned enterprises 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:25.200 that had been nationalized under Alain. Yet there 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:27.900 was one major exception that reveals the continued 00:18:27.900 --> 00:18:31.579 pragmatism and maybe nationalism within the regime. 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:34.359 Copper. That's right. The nationalized copper 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:36.500 mines were kept in government hands under the 00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:38.799 state -owned company Codelco, which was established 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:42.420 in 1976. The 1980 constitution even declared 00:18:42.420 --> 00:18:44.920 the copper reserves inalienable, ensuring that 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:46.720 the government retained control over Chile's 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:48.980 primary source of foreign revenue. So beyond 00:18:48.980 --> 00:18:51.500 industry, the regime fundamentally restructured 00:18:51.500 --> 00:18:53.900 the social safety net, establishing this dual 00:18:53.900 --> 00:18:57.059 system across essential services. Yes. The pension 00:18:57.059 --> 00:18:59.079 system, which had been a traditional pay -as 00:18:59.079 --> 00:19:01.339 -you -go public system, was completely overhauled. 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:04.559 It was replaced with a fully funded private capitalization 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:07.960 system managed by private pension funds known 00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:10.839 as AFPs. So practically, this meant that the 00:19:10.839 --> 00:19:13.279 state was no longer responsible for funding future 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:16.119 pensions. Workers had mandatory deposits into 00:19:16.119 --> 00:19:18.319 their own private investment accounts. Correct. 00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:20.720 And a similar model was applied to health care 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:22.839 with the private ISA praise alongside the state 00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:25.509 -run FINASA. And education was also partially 00:19:25.509 --> 00:19:27.829 privatized. This is where the intense debate 00:19:27.829 --> 00:19:30.809 over Pinochet's economic legacy really begins. 00:19:31.470 --> 00:19:34.670 Proponents point to immediate, and I think you 00:19:34.670 --> 00:19:37.230 have to say undeniable, successes. The economy 00:19:37.230 --> 00:19:39.609 recovered quickly, growing at an average of 7 00:19:39.609 --> 00:19:43.369 .2 % annually between 1976 and 1981. And furthermore, 00:19:43.390 --> 00:19:45.569 those proponents cite massive long -term reducts 00:19:45.569 --> 00:19:48.349 from poverty. It dropped from roughly 50 % down 00:19:48.349 --> 00:19:51.950 to 7 .8 % by 2013, and a substantial rise in 00:19:51.950 --> 00:19:53.670 income per capita in the decades that followed. 00:19:54.569 --> 00:19:56.789 For those who prioritize growth and market liberalization 00:19:56.789 --> 00:19:59.349 above all else, the reforms were viewed as necessary 00:19:59.349 --> 00:20:02.509 and ultimately successful. However, critics highlight 00:20:02.509 --> 00:20:05.950 the devastating immediate failures and the structural 00:20:05.950 --> 00:20:08.509 inequality that these policies cemented into 00:20:08.509 --> 00:20:11.809 place. The liberalization led directly to the 00:20:11.809 --> 00:20:15.029 severe monetary crisis of 1982, when the whole 00:20:15.029 --> 00:20:17.569 bubble just burst. And that crisis was so profound 00:20:17.569 --> 00:20:20.349 that Pinochet's regime was forced to renationalize 00:20:20.349 --> 00:20:22.470 much of the private debt and intervene heavily 00:20:22.470 --> 00:20:25.390 to save the banking sector. They had to temporarily 00:20:25.390 --> 00:20:28.349 contradict their own free market ideology just 00:20:28.349 --> 00:20:30.829 to keep the country afloat. Beyond the crisis. 00:20:31.390 --> 00:20:33.490 The policies came at a tremendous human cost. 00:20:33.869 --> 00:20:36.130 Critics emphasized that the working class bore 00:20:36.130 --> 00:20:38.730 the entire brunt of the shock therapy. Wages 00:20:38.730 --> 00:20:41.130 decreased by an average of 8 percent. And budgets 00:20:41.130 --> 00:20:43.450 for essential public services, education, health, 00:20:43.589 --> 00:20:45.910 housing, they were slashed by over 20 percent. 00:20:46.029 --> 00:20:47.930 The core issue, though, wasn't just poverty. 00:20:48.049 --> 00:20:50.789 It was the concentration of wealth. A 2020 study 00:20:50.789 --> 00:20:53.170 detailed how during that privatization spree, 00:20:53.269 --> 00:20:56.109 many state firms were sold at below market prices 00:20:56.109 --> 00:20:58.789 to politically connected individuals. Pinochet's 00:20:58.789 --> 00:21:01.400 own son -in -law, Julio Ponce LaRue, benefited 00:21:01.400 --> 00:21:04.500 significantly from these sales, it really suggests 00:21:04.500 --> 00:21:06.940 the so -called free market experiment was riddled 00:21:06.940 --> 00:21:09.160 with cronyism and personal enrichment right from 00:21:09.160 --> 00:21:11.460 the outset. The most damning statistic regarding 00:21:11.460 --> 00:21:14.960 the resultant structural inequality is just stark. 00:21:15.390 --> 00:21:18.609 By the late 1980s, the wealthiest 10 % of the 00:21:18.609 --> 00:21:21.890 population saw their incomes rise by a staggering 00:21:21.890 --> 00:21:25.450 83%. While at the same time, approximately 45 00:21:25.450 --> 00:21:28.150 % of the general population had fallen into poverty. 00:21:28.630 --> 00:21:31.390 This extreme wealth imbalance, baked into the 00:21:31.390 --> 00:21:33.930 system by the dictatorship's policies, is the 00:21:33.930 --> 00:21:36.289 enduring legacy that continues to fuel social 00:21:36.289 --> 00:21:39.190 and political protests in Chile even today. The 00:21:39.190 --> 00:21:41.809 economic model was now firmly established. But 00:21:41.809 --> 00:21:43.890 the political model had an expiration date, and 00:21:43.890 --> 00:21:46.269 it was one determined by Pinochet's own 1980 00:21:46.269 --> 00:21:49.069 constitution. That document prescribed a single 00:21:49.069 --> 00:21:51.170 -candidate presidential referendum for 1988. 00:21:51.549 --> 00:21:53.630 Yes, it was a plebiscite, a simple question for 00:21:53.630 --> 00:21:55.930 the country. Should Pinochet stay in power for 00:21:55.930 --> 00:21:58.630 another eight years, yes or no? By the mid -1980s, 00:21:58.630 --> 00:22:00.569 domestic opposition was mounting and international 00:22:00.569 --> 00:22:03.509 pressure was building. And a key external factor 00:22:03.509 --> 00:22:06.569 was the April 1987 visit of Pope John Paul II. 00:22:06.849 --> 00:22:09.930 That visit was huge. The pope, seeing the mounting 00:22:09.930 --> 00:22:12.789 violence and the lack of political freedom, allegedly 00:22:12.789 --> 00:22:15.190 pressured Pinochet directly for a democratic 00:22:15.190 --> 00:22:18.130 opening. Some reports say he even called for 00:22:18.130 --> 00:22:20.990 his resignation, effectively urging him to accept 00:22:20.990 --> 00:22:23.470 the plebiscite as a legitimate path to a transition 00:22:23.470 --> 00:22:26.170 of power. So when the campaign finally began... 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:28.859 The opposition coalesced under the banner of 00:22:28.859 --> 00:22:32.259 the No Coalition. And they ran this clever, very 00:22:32.259 --> 00:22:35.279 media savvy campaign. They used a cheerful, optimistic 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:38.420 slogan that has become legendary. La alegría 00:22:38.420 --> 00:22:41.380 ya viene. Joy is coming. It was brilliant. They 00:22:41.380 --> 00:22:44.339 contrasted their message of hope with the regime's 00:22:44.339 --> 00:22:47.420 grim, gray authoritarianism. And the result was 00:22:47.420 --> 00:22:49.559 definitive. A clear rejection of the dictator. 00:22:49.799 --> 00:22:53.759 The no option won with 55 .99 % of the votes. 00:22:53.940 --> 00:22:56.079 But this democratic process nearly failed at 00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:57.920 the very last moment. That's right. Pinochet 00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:00.099 was completely unwilling to accept defeat. He 00:23:00.099 --> 00:23:02.400 attempted to implement an auto coup, a self -coup, 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:04.720 demanding extraordinary powers from the ruling 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:07.460 junta to seize the capital and annul the vote. 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:10.339 But he was stopped by his own inner circle. Air 00:23:10.339 --> 00:23:12.759 Force General Fernando Macei famously refused. 00:23:13.180 --> 00:23:15.819 He stated firmly that he would not support the 00:23:15.819 --> 00:23:18.220 move under any circumstances and that forced 00:23:18.220 --> 00:23:20.880 Pinochet to accept the referendum result. Macei 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:24.019 was the first member to publicly concede Pinochet 00:23:24.019 --> 00:23:27.039 had lost. It was a pivotal moment that secured 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:29.799 the transition. So Pinochet stepped down as president 00:23:29.799 --> 00:23:33.079 in March 1990, transferring power to the democratically 00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:36.119 elected Patricio Elwin. But this was not retirement. 00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:39.519 Not by a long shot. Not at all. He maintained 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:41.960 immense power. He kept his role as commander 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:44.519 -in -chief of the army until March of 1998. And 00:23:44.519 --> 00:23:47.259 the very day he retired from that post, he automatically 00:23:47.259 --> 00:23:50.000 assumed the role of senator for life. This was 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:52.960 a privilege granted to him by his own 1980 constitution, 00:23:53.480 --> 00:23:56.440 which crucially afforded him immunity from prosecution. 00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:59.440 And that constitutional shield held fast until 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:01.539 he left Chile and ended up in London for medical 00:24:01.539 --> 00:24:03.700 treatment later that same year. What happened 00:24:03.700 --> 00:24:06.099 next is a landmark moment in international law. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:09.359 In October 1998, Pinochet was arrested in London 00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:11.440 under an international arrest warrant issued 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:14.440 by a Spanish judge, Balthazar Garzon. The charges 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:17.799 were severe, genocide and terrorism that include 00:24:17.799 --> 00:24:20.299 murder. And we'd really have to pause to consider 00:24:20.299 --> 00:24:23.059 why this was so revolutionary. It was the first 00:24:23.059 --> 00:24:25.279 time in history that a former head of government 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:27.740 was arrested based on the principle of universal 00:24:27.740 --> 00:24:30.500 jurisdiction. And that's the doctrine that certain 00:24:30.500 --> 00:24:34.019 crimes like genocide... torture, crimes against 00:24:34.019 --> 00:24:37.079 humanity are so egregious that they can be prosecuted 00:24:37.079 --> 00:24:39.700 anywhere in the world. Exactly. Regardless of 00:24:39.700 --> 00:24:41.619 where they were committed or the nationality 00:24:41.619 --> 00:24:44.299 of the perpetrator or the victim. Judge Garzon 00:24:44.299 --> 00:24:46.859 utilized this principle to argue that the crimes 00:24:46.859 --> 00:24:49.759 committed under Pinochet's regime warranted global 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:52.779 judicial intervention. The ensuing legal battle 00:24:52.779 --> 00:24:55.420 spanned two years and it just captured global 00:24:55.420 --> 00:24:58.180 attention. It featured intervention from major 00:24:58.180 --> 00:25:00.579 political figures like Margaret Thatcher, who 00:25:00.579 --> 00:25:03.420 lobbied for his release. Ultimately, the U .K. 00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:06.460 Home Secretary Jack Straw released Pinochet in 00:25:06.460 --> 00:25:10.000 March of 2000, overruling a House of Lords decision 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:12.579 to extradite him to Spain. The official reason 00:25:12.579 --> 00:25:15.059 was medical grounds. The claim that Pinochet 00:25:15.059 --> 00:25:17.900 was too ill, supposedly suffering from vascular 00:25:17.900 --> 00:25:20.440 dementia, to be able to stand trial. The cynicism 00:25:20.440 --> 00:25:22.900 of this ruling was just laid bare upon his return 00:25:22.900 --> 00:25:25.720 to Santiago. In this highly televised moment 00:25:25.720 --> 00:25:28.700 after being wheeled off the plane, Pinochet dramatically 00:25:28.700 --> 00:25:31.220 rose from his wheelchair to greet his supporters. 00:25:31.539 --> 00:25:33.799 And that gesture, which was intended to rally 00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:37.259 his base, it enraged human rights advocates and 00:25:37.259 --> 00:25:39.720 immediately cast doubt on the medical diagnosis 00:25:39.720 --> 00:25:42.039 that had just saved him from extradition. And 00:25:42.039 --> 00:25:44.859 that visual provided a new legal opening. While 00:25:44.859 --> 00:25:46.599 the human rights cases had struggled to move 00:25:46.599 --> 00:25:48.680 forward because of his immunity and his claimed 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:51.240 medical state, accountability eventually came 00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:53.720 from a completely different direction. the world 00:25:53.720 --> 00:25:56.359 of global finance. This is where the narrative 00:25:56.359 --> 00:26:00.079 pivots so dramatically. In 2004, a U .S. Senate 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:03.059 money laundering investigation, initially spurred 00:26:03.059 --> 00:26:05.740 by post -9 -11 scrutiny of international financial 00:26:05.740 --> 00:26:09.279 flows, uncovered the sheer scale of Pinochet's 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:11.640 secret wealth. The investigation, spearheaded 00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:14.019 by Senators Levin and Coleman, revealed a really 00:26:14.019 --> 00:26:16.579 sophisticated network. They found that Pinochet 00:26:16.579 --> 00:26:19.180 and his associates used this complex web of over 00:26:19.180 --> 00:26:21.799 125 secret accounts at Riggs Bank and other U 00:26:21.799 --> 00:26:24.660 .S. financial institutions. They moved millions 00:26:24.660 --> 00:26:27.500 and millions of dollars over 25 years using alias 00:26:27.500 --> 00:26:30.960 names. Most famously, Daniel Lopez. And that 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:33.579 alias immediately became a sarcastic nickname 00:26:33.579 --> 00:26:36.680 among his opponents, Daniel Lopez. The investigation 00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:39.019 determined that Pinochet had corruptly amassed 00:26:39.019 --> 00:26:42.589 at least $28 million. And the sources trace the 00:26:42.589 --> 00:26:44.829 origins of this money primarily to kickbacks 00:26:44.829 --> 00:26:47.549 on arms deals that were negotiated while he was 00:26:47.549 --> 00:26:50.930 still army chief between 1990 and 1998. So we're 00:26:50.930 --> 00:26:53.490 talking about illegal, massive corruption involving 00:26:53.490 --> 00:26:56.750 state resources. The kickbacks included sales 00:26:56.750 --> 00:26:59.450 of French fighter jets, Dutch tanks, and the 00:26:59.450 --> 00:27:01.630 scandalous sale of illegal weapons to Croatia 00:27:01.630 --> 00:27:03.930 during the Balkans War, which was under a strict 00:27:03.930 --> 00:27:06.359 UN embargo at the time. I mean, the irony is 00:27:06.359 --> 00:27:08.880 just profound. The man who claimed to have saved 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:11.299 Chile from economic disintegration was systematically 00:27:11.299 --> 00:27:13.960 using his political position to enrich himself 00:27:13.960 --> 00:27:16.279 and his family through illegal arms trafficking 00:27:16.279 --> 00:27:18.740 and money laundering. And these corruption charges, 00:27:19.019 --> 00:27:22.180 tax evasion, embezzlement, were eventually leveraged 00:27:22.180 --> 00:27:24.759 to indict him, his wife and his children. His 00:27:24.759 --> 00:27:27.420 daughter, Lucia Pinochet, was even deported from 00:27:27.420 --> 00:27:29.819 the U .S. in 2006 for trying to evade the tax 00:27:29.819 --> 00:27:32.440 charges back in Chile. Meanwhile, the human rights 00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:34.700 trials, which had been stalled for years, they 00:27:34.700 --> 00:27:37.160 finally started to move again. That dramatic 00:27:37.160 --> 00:27:40.079 wheelchair exit and a subsequent television interview 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:43.140 Pinochet gave in 2004, where he appeared fully 00:27:43.140 --> 00:27:46.140 lucid and capable. That led the Chilean Supreme 00:27:46.140 --> 00:27:48.500 Court to overturn the medical dementia ruling. 00:27:48.839 --> 00:27:52.000 He was declared fit to stand trial. And consequently, 00:27:52.200 --> 00:27:53.940 he was charged with involvement in some of the 00:27:53.940 --> 00:27:56.420 regime's worst atrocities. We're talking the 00:27:56.420 --> 00:27:59.579 Caravan of Death, Operation Colombo, the kidnappings 00:27:59.579 --> 00:28:02.539 and tortures at Villa Grimaldi. He was also implicated 00:28:02.539 --> 00:28:04.799 in the murder of that Dina Nabai biochemist, 00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:07.680 Eugenio Berrios, the man who produced chemical 00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:10.319 agents for Dina. And disturbingly, sources suggest 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:12.799 Berrios was murdered partly because he was linked 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:14.880 to the production of something called black cocaine, 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:17.559 which Pinochet allegedly sold in Europe and the 00:28:17.559 --> 00:28:19.660 U .S., depositing the proceeds directly into 00:28:19.660 --> 00:28:22.700 his secret bank account. It just further intertwines 00:28:22.700 --> 00:28:25.339 his state terror with his financial crimes. Binochet's 00:28:25.339 --> 00:28:28.019 story is just full of these deep geopolitical 00:28:28.019 --> 00:28:30.740 and ideological contradictions. Take, for instance, 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:32.599 his relationship with the United Kingdom, the 00:28:32.599 --> 00:28:34.940 very country that eventually arrested him. It's 00:28:34.940 --> 00:28:39.220 an essential, complex link. During the 1982 Falklands 00:28:39.220 --> 00:28:42.180 War between the UK and Argentina, Chile was officially 00:28:42.180 --> 00:28:45.200 neutral. But behind the scenes, the Pinochet 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:47.960 regime secretly provided absolutely critical 00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:50.079 intelligence to the British task force. They 00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:52.900 provided long -range radar surveillance. This 00:28:52.900 --> 00:28:55.299 gave the British early warnings of Argentinian 00:28:55.299 --> 00:28:58.839 air attacks. General Fernando Mathai, the same 00:28:58.839 --> 00:29:01.279 general who stopped the Otto coup, later noted 00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:03.319 this assistance was crucial to the British war 00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:05.759 effort. And this covert assistance established 00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:08.460 a firm bond with the then Prime Minister Margaret 00:29:08.460 --> 00:29:11.339 Thatcher, who always remained sympathetic to 00:29:11.339 --> 00:29:14.059 Pinochet. This relationship is often cited as 00:29:14.059 --> 00:29:16.119 a key reason why Thatcher and other conservative 00:29:16.119 --> 00:29:18.920 figures lobbied so heavily for his release on 00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:21.220 medical grounds decades later when he was arrested 00:29:21.220 --> 00:29:24.119 in London. It became a major point of contention 00:29:24.119 --> 00:29:26.920 in British politics. It led Tony Blair to later 00:29:26.920 --> 00:29:29.599 mock the conservatives as the party of Pinochet. 00:29:29.779 --> 00:29:32.180 And ideologically, he's often lumped into the 00:29:32.180 --> 00:29:34.799 category of fascist, a term used by journalists 00:29:34.799 --> 00:29:38.140 like Samuel Chavkin to describe his brutal authoritarianism. 00:29:38.430 --> 00:29:41.089 Right, but academics who specialize in political 00:29:41.089 --> 00:29:43.630 typologies, they generally exclude him from the 00:29:43.630 --> 00:29:46.230 strict definition of classical fascism. And the 00:29:46.230 --> 00:29:48.549 reason for this exclusion is precisely that radical 00:29:48.549 --> 00:29:50.950 economic transformation we just discussed. Exactly. 00:29:51.369 --> 00:29:53.930 Classical fascist regimes, you think of Mussolini 00:29:53.930 --> 00:29:56.849 or Hitler, they often prioritize a statist economy, 00:29:57.150 --> 00:30:00.210 national businesses, and this ideology of national 00:30:00.210 --> 00:30:03.609 rebirth. Pinochet's enthusiastic embrace of free 00:30:03.609 --> 00:30:06.769 market, neoliberal policies, and aggressive deregulation 00:30:07.720 --> 00:30:10.019 his regime significantly from that typology. 00:30:10.180 --> 00:30:12.400 So he was an authoritarian ultra -nationalist, 00:30:12.420 --> 00:30:15.619 but his ideology prioritized economic liberalization 00:30:15.619 --> 00:30:18.900 over traditional fascist economic control. Then 00:30:18.900 --> 00:30:21.180 there's the profound contradiction of his personal 00:30:21.180 --> 00:30:24.019 image versus his reality. He carefully cultivated 00:30:24.019 --> 00:30:27.160 this image of a reserved, austere, common military 00:30:27.160 --> 00:30:30.539 man with simple ideas and a deep patriotic dedication. 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:32.980 But the reality... uncovered during the corruption 00:30:32.980 --> 00:30:35.859 investigations was wildly different. It was revealed 00:30:35.859 --> 00:30:38.640 that Pinochet, this supposed man of austerity, 00:30:38.839 --> 00:30:41.180 had amassed a private library of more than 55 00:30:41.180 --> 00:30:44.400 ,000 books. Worth an estimated $2 .84 million, 00:30:44.759 --> 00:30:46.940 all purchased using discretionary government 00:30:46.940 --> 00:30:49.960 funds. 55 ,000 books. That is the collection 00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:53.619 of a major university library. Not a common man. 00:30:53.799 --> 00:30:56.059 Not at all. And the contents are so telling. 00:30:56.299 --> 00:30:58.759 The collection was heavily dominated by military 00:30:58.759 --> 00:31:01.710 history and geopolitics, reflecting... his core 00:31:01.710 --> 00:31:04.670 intellectual interests, it contained many rare, 00:31:04.809 --> 00:31:08.329 valuable volumes. And curiously, almost no poetry 00:31:08.329 --> 00:31:11.210 or fiction. Right. It suggests a man obsessed 00:31:11.210 --> 00:31:14.309 with power, strategy, and his own place in history, 00:31:14.549 --> 00:31:17.470 modeling himself after figures he admired, like 00:31:17.470 --> 00:31:20.369 Napoleon and Louis XIV, rather than the simple 00:31:20.369 --> 00:31:22.890 patriot he claimed to be. This internal contradiction 00:31:22.890 --> 00:31:25.109 was not lost on his opponents. They gave him 00:31:25.109 --> 00:31:27.849 several distinct, evocative nicknames. Supporters 00:31:27.849 --> 00:31:30.109 respectfully used the traditional salute, me 00:31:30.109 --> 00:31:32.869 general. Opponents, referencing his denial of 00:31:32.869 --> 00:31:34.910 the coup's brutality and his constantly shifting 00:31:34.910 --> 00:31:37.650 narratives, they called him Pinocho Spanish for 00:31:37.650 --> 00:31:39.549 Pinocchio. And of course, after the financial 00:31:39.549 --> 00:31:42.069 scandals broke, he was permanently sarcastically 00:31:42.069 --> 00:31:45.029 branded with his own alias, Daniel Lopez. The 00:31:45.029 --> 00:31:47.309 long, controversial life of Augusto Pinochet 00:31:47.309 --> 00:31:50.950 finally ended in December of 2006. He died on 00:31:50.950 --> 00:31:54.559 December 10, 2006, from a heart attack. And he 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:56.579 had never been convicted on any of the nearly 00:31:56.579 --> 00:31:58.779 300 criminal charges that were pending against 00:31:58.779 --> 00:32:02.579 him for human rights abuses, tax evasion or embezzlement. 00:32:02.700 --> 00:32:05.039 The legal process simply ran out of time. Just 00:32:05.039 --> 00:32:07.299 two days before his death, in a statement read 00:32:07.299 --> 00:32:10.420 by his wife, he took full political responsibility 00:32:10.420 --> 00:32:13.240 for everything that was done, claiming the goal 00:32:13.240 --> 00:32:16.819 was making Chile greater and avoiding its disintegration. 00:32:17.049 --> 00:32:19.049 The government's reaction to his death was very 00:32:19.049 --> 00:32:21.789 telling. President Michelle Bachelet, whose own 00:32:21.789 --> 00:32:23.869 father was imprisoned and tortured under the 00:32:23.869 --> 00:32:26.430 regime, she refused to grant him a state funeral. 00:32:26.589 --> 00:32:28.710 Right. She only allowed a military funeral for 00:32:28.710 --> 00:32:30.900 a former commander in chief. Bachelet stated 00:32:30.900 --> 00:32:32.920 that attending a state funeral for him would 00:32:32.920 --> 00:32:35.500 be a violation of her conscience. His death, 00:32:35.640 --> 00:32:39.119 predictably, resulted in massive, polarized demonstrations 00:32:39.119 --> 00:32:41.920 in the streets of Santiago. Opponents celebrated 00:32:41.920 --> 00:32:44.200 the end of his life while his supporters grieved 00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:46.099 the loss of the man they credited with saving 00:32:46.099 --> 00:32:48.779 Chile. And his body was immediately cremated, 00:32:48.859 --> 00:32:52.160 reportedly at his own request, to avoid vandalism 00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:54.920 of his tomb. Which says a lot. This deep dive 00:32:54.920 --> 00:32:57.819 has explored the sheer scale of the legacy Pinochet 00:32:57.819 --> 00:33:00.519 left behind. We've seen a ruler who weaponized 00:33:00.519 --> 00:33:03.180 state terror, relying on the DNAs and international 00:33:03.180 --> 00:33:06.319 cooperation via Operation Condor to suppress 00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:09.309 dissent. leading to thousands killed and tortured. 00:33:09.529 --> 00:33:12.049 And at the same time, he used that very repression 00:33:12.049 --> 00:33:15.009 as a platform to execute one of the world's most 00:33:15.009 --> 00:33:17.250 dramatic experiments in market liberalization, 00:33:17.609 --> 00:33:20.230 the shock therapy of the Chicago Boys, which 00:33:20.230 --> 00:33:22.430 spurred initial growth but left Chile grappling 00:33:22.430 --> 00:33:25.410 with profound structural inequality that persists 00:33:25.410 --> 00:33:28.170 to this day. And his post -dictatorship life 00:33:28.170 --> 00:33:30.849 provides such a critical case study in transitional 00:33:30.849 --> 00:33:33.930 justice. He was shielded for years by the constitutional 00:33:33.930 --> 00:33:36.690 privilege of being a senator for life. And he 00:33:36.690 --> 00:33:39.450 dodged extradition and prosecution on human rights 00:33:39.450 --> 00:33:42.650 grounds via claims of medical incapacity, highlighted 00:33:42.650 --> 00:33:44.789 by the cynicism of that whole wheelchair incident. 00:33:45.029 --> 00:33:47.650 Yet the very financial opacity and globalized 00:33:47.650 --> 00:33:49.430 nature of wealth that he embraced ultimately 00:33:49.430 --> 00:33:52.450 led to his downfall. He was exposed and indicted 00:33:52.450 --> 00:33:54.390 not by the pursuit of justice for murder and 00:33:54.390 --> 00:33:56.289 torture, but by international investigations 00:33:56.289 --> 00:33:59.009 into money laundering, kickbacks and tax fraud. 00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:02.240 It's a truly chilling and complex figure to grapple 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:05.059 with, a dictator undone not by the severity of 00:34:05.059 --> 00:34:07.940 his crimes against humanity, but by simple garden 00:34:07.940 --> 00:34:11.300 variety financial corruption. So we leave you 00:34:11.300 --> 00:34:13.480 with this final provocative thought to consider. 00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:16.840 Pinochet died without conviction for the systematic 00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:19.840 murder and torture of his own people. Yet the 00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:22.199 persistent application of the principle of universal 00:34:22.199 --> 00:34:25.679 jurisdiction and, completely unexpectedly, the 00:34:25.679 --> 00:34:28.320 rigorous investigation of global finance proved 00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:30.739 that the consequences of a dictator's actions, 00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:33.980 both humanitarian and financial, can follow them 00:34:33.980 --> 00:34:36.460 to the bitter end of their days. So the question 00:34:36.460 --> 00:34:38.460 is, what happens to the truth and reconciliation 00:34:38.460 --> 00:34:41.440 process when justice for human rights is continually 00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:44.519 halted by technicalities, only for sheer financial 00:34:44.519 --> 00:34:46.840 corruption to finally provide the legal framework 00:34:46.840 --> 00:34:49.320 for an indictment? Does financial justice sometimes 00:34:49.320 --> 00:34:52.119 end up paving the road for historical truth when 00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:54.420 humanitarian justice fails? Food for thought 00:34:54.420 --> 00:34:56.699 indeed. That's been our deep dive into the life 00:34:56.699 --> 00:34:59.219 and legacy of Augusto Pinochet. We hope you feel 00:34:59.219 --> 00:35:01.079 thoroughly well informed. Join us next time.