Profile: Augusto Pinochet

“The Brick,” a 500-page economic blueprint later used by Augusto Pinochet to formulate Chile’s economic policy, is drafted by a ten-man group, eight of whom had previously studied at the University of Chicago (see 1956). The group was put together by Orlando Sáenz, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, to “prepare specific alternative programs to government programs” that the military could use. Saenz took this step following a meeting between the heads of various Chilean businesses to discuss plans for toppling the regime of democratically-elected leader Salvador Allende as well as a suitable replacement. [Klein, 2007, pp. 70-71]

Pinochet leads Chile in a brutal dictatorship, during which over 3,000 political opponents are killed or disappeared. [Reuters, 9/12/2001; Reuters, 12/19/2001; Kornbluh, 2/3/2004]

CIA covert policies (at an expense of $8 million from 1970-73) lead to a coup d’etat in which Allende is killed and Augusto Pinochet brought to power. [Kornbluh, n.d.; Time, 9/24/1973; US Congress, 12/4/1975, pp. 148-160; BBC, 11/14/2000] After Allende’s assassination, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger will explain to Congress, “The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.” [Hunt, 9/1/2009, pp. 8]

Sergio De Castro, leader of the Chicago University movement in Chile and the head author of “The Brick,” is made a chief economic adviser to Augusto Pinochet’s authoritarian regime almost immediately after the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende. During the first one and a half years of Pinochet’s rule, Chile is subject to a large array of neoliberal economic reforms. These include the privatization of state-owned firms, financial deregulation, removal of import tariffs, a ten percent cut in government spending (with the notable exception of military spending), and the termination of price controls. As a result, the cost of basic goods will skyrocket while domestic industries are put out of business by imported goods. Orlando Sáenz, who originally recruited the Chicago School graduates to redesign the Chilean economy (see September 1971-September 11, 1973), will declare the consequences to be “one of the greatest failures of our economic history.” [Klein, 2007, pp. 79-80]

The US ends its 20-year moratorium on sales of advanced military equipment to Latin America (during which time it had remained the largest supplier of military equipment to the region) by offering to sell jet fighters to the Chilean military, which is headed by former dictator Augusto Pinochet. [Foreign Policy in Focus, 12/1997 ]

A CIA report is released admitting that the CIA knowingly supported the Pinochet regime’s brutalities, and revealing that the head of Pinochet’s dreaded secret police (responsible for the assassination of an American in Washington DC) was a paid CIA asset. [Central Intelligence Agency, 9/19/2000; Associated Press, 9/19/2000]

A nonviolent demonstration is held calling on the US Army to close its infamous School of the Americas, located at Fort Benning, Georgia. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/19/2000; School of America's Watch, 7/12/2001] The school trained more than 60,000 Latin American military officers over the past 50 years [CNN, 4/3/2000] , many of whom were since implicated in egregious human rights abuses (see March 15, 1993). [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/19/2000; Associated Press, 11/20/2000; School of America's Watch, 7/12/2001] 1,700 of the protestors are thrown in jail, including an 88-year old nun. [Associated Press, 11/20/2000; New York Times, 6/24/2001]

Guy Philippe tells the Miami Herald during an interview conducted in Cap Haitein, Haiti, that the man he admires most is former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet. “Pinochet made Chile what it is,” the 35-year-old rebel says. Philippe adds that US President Ronald Reagan is his next favorite. [Miami Herald, 2/28/2004; One World, 3/2/2004; Jamaica Observer, 3/7/2004]

Riggs Bank agrees to pay $25 million in civil penalties for failing to report hundreds of millions of dollars in suspicious financial transactions by foreign customers in violation of US anti-money-laundering laws. Most of the transactions concerned the embassies of Saudi Arabia and Equatorial Guinea. [Washington Post, 5/14/2004]

Riggs Bank and two of its executives, Joe L. Allbritton, and his son, Robert, agree to pay a total of $9 million to victims of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet for the bank’s alleged role in laundering $1.6 million from Pinochet’s bank account in London to the Riggs branch in Washington in 1999. Joe and Robert Allbritton will pay $1 million while the bank will pay the remaining $8 million. The suit was brought against the bank in a Spanish court by Madrid prosecutor Baltasar Garzon. In Spain, anyone can be tried for genocide, torture, or other human rights abuses that are committed against Spanish citizens. In exchange for the payment, the Spanish court has agreed to drop criminal charges against current and former directors and officers of Riggs. [Washington Post, 2/26/2005]

US District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina approves a plea agreement requiring Riggs Bank to pay a $16 million criminal fine for its failure to report suspicious transactions by former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and leaders of Equatorial Guinea that occurred between 1994 and 2003. The judge calls the bank “a greedy corporate henchman of dictators and their corrupt regimes.” [Washington Post, 3/30/2005] Jonathan Bush, uncle to President Bush, has been a top executive at Riggs Bank since 2000, running their investment management division. [Washington Post, 5/15/2004] The plea agreement clears the way for Riggs Bank to be bought. It is dissolved into PNC Financial Services Group Inc. in May 2005. [Washington Post, 10/13/2005]