Augusto Pinochet 2006 Deaths

Augusto Pinochet

dictator who gained control of Chile in a 1973 military coup, overthrowing Salvador Allende's Marxist government with United States support. His rule was marked by repression, torture, murder, and corruption; over 17 years, more than 3,200 people were executed or disappeared, while many thousands more were tortured or exiled. His rule was also marked by the institution of free-market policies that transformed Chile's economy from bankruptcy to the most prosperous in Latin America. In 1988, voters in the first free elections during his regime defeated his bid to stay on as president; he was, however, able to maintain enough power to keep from being brought to trial for his human rights abuses.