Augusto Pinochet

On the 30th of January, 1943, he married Lucía Hiriart Rodríguez, to whom he would stay married throughout his life. They had five children: Ines Lucía, María Verónica, Jacqueline Marie, Augusto Osvaldo, and Marco Antonio.

He allegedly had an affair in the late 1950s while stationed in Quito, Ecuador, with a woman named Piedad Noe, with whom he fathered a son named Juan.

The arrest of Pinochet was hailed as a landmark in human rights cases, showing that even elite members of society were not above the law. Since that time human rights organizations have become more aggressive, and more successful, in prosecuting world leaders for human rights violations.

Augusto Pinochet was born on November 25, 1915, the son of Augusto Pinochet Vera and Avelina Ugarte Martínez. He was of French Breton and Basque descent, and was raised a Roman Catholic.

He attended military school and graduated with the rank of second lieutenant. He subsequently rose swiftly through the infantry, and with periodic returns to the ‘Infantry School’ and the ‘War Academy’ he made the rank of major by 1953.

Pinochet rose through Chile’s military ranks, becoming a regiment commander, a Chief of Staff, brigadier general, and Commander in Chief for the 6th Division. In 1971 he became a division general and was named General Commander.

In the period 1972–1973, he was named General Chief of Staff of the Army, but after General Prats resigned he was quickly promoted by President Salvador Allende to Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army. A month later he participated in the military coup that overthrew President Allende.

As a result of the military coup against President Allende’s government, a junta was immediately established which included Pinochet. He was subsequently named President in 1974.

As President, he sought to exterminate leftism in Chile and to introduce a free market economy. He did so through harsh policies suppressing dissent, while dismantling government control of industry.

During the Pinochet government, at least 3,197 people were murdered, 29,000 tortured, and over 200,000 forced to go into exile.

While his actual role in planning the coup has never been fully clarified, Augusto Pinochet was one of the leading strategists involved in the coup that deposed President Salvador Allende and ultimately led to Allende’s death. He subsequently became the de facto leader of the military junta and then President of Chile, radically altering the course of the nation.