It was a sad day for Pinochet's supporters. Outside the hospital where he died, hundreds of supporters cried, chanted the slogan "Long live Pinochet", sang the national anthem of Chile, and flew flags at half mast to mourn his departure. And abuse each other with passing drivers.
Many Chileans think Pinochet's death is a memorable day. Hundreds of people gathered in a square in San Diego, waving national flags, enjoying champagne and throwing confetti. Opponents threw stones at cars and set up burning roadblocks on the main streets of Santiago, Chile, to block traffic; The police used tear gas and high-pressure taps to disperse the crowd, and violent clashes broke out between the two sides. The Chilean authorities said that some people have been arrested, but so far there have been no reports of casualties.
Pinochet, known as "the strongest man in Chile", was controversial all his life. Opponents claim that thousands of opposition figures were killed or disappeared during his coup and administration, and he ruled Chile 17 years as a "military dictator". After stepping down, he was investigated and prosecuted by international human rights organizations and relatives of victims. Supporters said that he successfully prevented Chile from becoming Cuba, led Chile's economy onto the fast lane of rapid development, and was Chile's "benefactor and savior". As for his merits and demerits, there are different opinions in Chilean political circles.
Achievements: Economic development.
When Pinochet came to power, Chile's economy was on the verge of collapse and the unemployment rate reached an unprecedented high. Although Pinochet was born in martial arts, he was not an expert in economics, but he knew people well and did his duty well. He specially invited 100 economic experts to form an advisory group, accepted the economic theory of Friedman, the founder of monetarism theory, and combined it with Chile's national conditions at that time. It is understood that Chile is a copper mine kingdom. At that time, other state-owned enterprises were basically privatized, while the copper mining industry was still state-owned.
After these young people came to power, they encouraged foreign investment, promoted the privatization process and formulated economic recovery plans. At the same time, Pinochet borrowed a lot of foreign debts and pursued a free economic policy. Although this policy initially triggered a financial crisis and high unemployment rate, Chile's economy achieved rapid growth of 5% to 7% every year from 65438 to 0984, which quickly reversed the difficult situation.
In the past 20 years, Chile's economy has grown at a high speed, outshining others in Latin America and being praised as an economic miracle by international economists. Although Pinochet was a dictator politically, some experts believe that Pinochet's iron fist politics was in line with the political situation at that time. 1989, when Pinochet delivered his State of the Union address on the eve of bidding farewell to politics, he announced to the world with emotion and pride: I took over a devastated country, but I handed over a country with a solid foundation and a prosperous future.
Regarding his economic contribution to Chile, Ginov, chairman of Pinochet Foundation, said: "Pinochet saved this country and made Chile a proud motherland. I firmly believe that after the dust settles, history will recognize his status as the father of the country. "
Bad record: dictatorship, 17 persecuting thousands of opponents; evade taxes
1973, Pinochet, who just served as commander of the armed forces 19 days, staged a military coup and overthrew President Allende. When Pinochet came to power, he said that Chile was heading for self-destruction and something had to be removed. However, what he destroyed first was human rights. During his reign, thousands of people were missing or killed and more than 654.38+10,000 people were forced into exile because of his iron fist rule. According to the data provided by the Chilean government, during Pinochet's administration, 4 1 359 people were arrested, at least 3 1 97 people were killed for political reasons, 1 000 people were missing, and 1 000 people were forced into exile.
Pinochet was accused of long-term tax evasion after he stepped down. After investigation, the court found that Pinochet had tens of millions of dollars in Riggs Bank in new york, and subsequent investigation found that Pinochet had more than 27 million dollars in other overseas banks. In 2005, Pinochet's wife was accused of assisting him in tax fraud. In addition, during Pinochet's reign 17 years, he pocketed his own money and looted furniture, which was outrageous. Earlier this year, the American media also revealed that Pinochet might have several tons of gold in a bank in Hong Kong. Although this news was denied by all parties, the total amount of property seized by Pinochet during his administration should not be small.
Today, Pinochet is gone, but Pinochet's dictatorship still affects Chile's society and economy. When talking about Pinochet, the Chilean ambassador to the United States said that he destroyed the country's democracy and changed the whole social economy. This is his greatest legacy.