Yearbook 1999
Chile. The fate of former dictator Augusto Pinochet was not settled during the year. Pinochet was arrested in October 1998 in London. The statement from the British House of Lords on November 25, 1998, which opened for the extradition of Pinochet to Spain, was annulled on January 15 for damnation (one of the lords had links with Amnesty International). On March 24, however, it was again allowed the process to continue, but only for crimes committed after December 8, 1988, when the United Kingdom, by ratifying the International Torture Convention “nationalized” crimes under universal jurisdiction. On the other hand, murder and the incitement to murder are not covered, but on October 8, a London court tried to argue that the trauma that the murders committed before 1988 created in the survivors can be equated with torture. The claims of immunity for the former the Head of State Pinochet has so far been rejected on the grounds that systematic killing and torture of his own citizens cannot be considered compatible with the duties of a Head of State. The release of 82-year-old Pinochet on humanitarian grounds or for age reasons has not been taken into account so far either. The final decision in this regard has the British Minister of the Interior Jack Straw.
In the shadow of the Pinochet case, legal processes were also underway in Chile. Visit Countryaah official website to get information about the capital city of Chile. The Supreme Court had granted a charge of disappearance from the time before the amnesty law in 1978, since disappearances are considered to be the equivalent of kidnapping, a crime that is ongoing as long as the hostages are not freed or their bodies recovered. Representatives of the military and the relatives of the disappeared have also initiated talks on reconciliation (mesa humanitária), which has, however, been met with skepticism. As a direct result of the Pinochet business, the United States also published thousands of documents, including President Clinton’s order. from the CIA, on human rights violations in Chile during the period 1973–78.
- Also see Abbreviationfinder.org to see the acronym of CHL which stands for Chile and other definitions of this 3-letter abbreviation.
In the first round of the December 12 presidential election, Socialist candidate Ricardo Lagos (former legal adviser to Salvador Allende, who died during the 1973 coup) won 48% against conservative candidate Joaquín Lavín’s 47.5%. On January 16, 2000, the crucial round of elections will be held.
2006 Michelle Bachelet President
In January 2005, Pinochet was placed under house arrest after the court issued a ruling that his health was good enough to be charged with murder and abduction.
At the December 2005 presidential election, no candidate got more than 50% of the vote. The right wing candidate, Sebastián Piñera and Concertación candidate Michelle Bachelet therefore went on to the second round, which in January 2006 was won by Bachelet with 53.5% of the vote. She was deployed on March 11 as the country’s first female head of state.
Bachel’s father, General Bachelet was arrested, tortured and killed during the Pinochet dictatorship. Together with her mother, she herself was arrested and tortured during the dictatorship before going into exile. There was the final tension about the outcome of the presidential election, because even though the Concertación is now stronger than the right wing, Bachelet is a woman, divorced mother of three and agnostic – and this in a strong Catholic, conservative and traditionalist country. But the politician won over traditions and prejudices.
Bachelet is a moderate socialist, educated physician and former Minister of Defense under the Lagos government. She was chosen on a platform of continued market economy development, but at the same time a desire to reduce the huge abyss between rich and poor in the country.
In December, 91-year-old ex-dictator Pinochet died. The government refused to grant him a state funeral, as a former head of state, but he was honored as former commander-in-chief of the armed forces. A post he was appointed by Salvador Allende. At his death, several lawsuits were underway or underway against him.
In March 2007, a demonstration ended with the arrest of over 500 protesters. The demonstration marked the anniversary of the killing of 2 young protesters demonstrating against the 1985 dictatorship.
In October, the government granted amnesty to illegal emigrants in the country. In particular, 15,000 illegal Peruvians and 2,000 illegal Bolivians benefited. In December, a 3-party agreement was signed with Bolivia and Brazil on the construction of a 4,700 km long road connecting Santos in Brazil with Arica and Iquique in Chile. The Atlantic and Pacific are thus connected by a main road.
The Bachelet government secured both economic progress in the country and a redistribution of the country’s resources for the benefit of the poorest. The proportion of Chileans below the absolute poverty line decreased from 13.7% in November 2006 to 11.5% in November 2009.
