No justice, no peace!

Riot police used tear gas & water cannons to break up a protest yesterday against the screening of right-wing propaganda billed as a documentary honoring the Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet violently took power in a US-backed 1973 coup that overthrew the democratically elected socialist president, Salvador Allende. The total number of people murdered, tortured, &  imprisoned for political reasons during Pinochet’s regime is estimated at over 40,000 including 3,100 executed & 1,200 disappeared. The film portrays Pinochet as a national hero who saved Chile from communism & who died hounded by radicals accusing him of human rights crimes. Members of the current government, along with many other public officials supported Pinochet’s dictatorship & of course, the military is still intact. About 700 military officials are accused of the disappearances of dissidents but nearly 40 years after the crimes, they are unlikely to face justice. Pinochet’s corpse has been rotting since 2006. He was never tried for his crimes. May his supporters never rest in peace until justice is addressed. (Reuters photo)