Editing Augusto Pinochet (section)

==Coup and Dictatorship==
On September 11, 1973, Pinochet led a military coup, backed by the U.S. and CIA, to overthrow Allende’s socialist government. The coup marked the start of his 17-year dictatorship.

	•	The Coup:
	◦	The military, with Pinochet as the de facto leader of a four-man junta (representing the army, navy, air force, and police), bombed the presidential palace, La Moneda, and stormed it. Allende died, officially by suicide, though assassination theories persist.
	◦	The CIA’s role was significant, having spent $8 million on propaganda, opposition funding, and economic sabotage under Track I and Track II operations, as documented in declassified U.S. records. [[Thomas G. Clines]], deputy chief of the CIA’s Western Hemisphere Division, and [[Theodore Shackley]], its chief, oversaw these efforts, with [[Edwin P. Wilson]]’s front companies potentially supplying arms to anti-Allende factions.

	•	Consolidation of Power:
	◦	Pinochet declared himself president of the junta in 1974, sidelining other members like Admiral José Toribio Merino. He ruled by decree, dissolving Congress, banning leftist parties, and censoring the media.
	◦	The regime established the DINA (National Intelligence Directorate), a secret police force led by Manuel Contreras, which orchestrated widespread repression.

	•	Human Rights Abuses:
	◦	Pinochet’s regime was responsible for over 3,200 deaths or disappearances, 38,000 cases of torture, and the exile of 200,000 Chileans, according to the Rettig and Valech Commissions. Political opponents, intellectuals, and activists were targeted, with notorious cases like the Caravan of Death, where military squads executed prisoners.
	◦	[[Operation Condor]], a U.S.-backed regional network, coordinated repression with dictatorships in Argentina, Brazil, and others, sharing intelligence and assassinating exiles. Pinochet’s DINA played a key role, orchestrating the 1976 assassination of [[Orlando Letelier]] in Washington, D.C.

	•	Economic Reforms:
	◦	Pinochet adopted neoliberal policies under the [[Chicago Boys]], economists trained at the University of Chicago under Milton Friedman. They privatized state industries, reduced trade barriers, and cut social spending, leading to initial economic growth but severe inequality and a 1982 recession.
	◦	U.S. support, including loans from the IMF and World Bank, bolstered the regime’s economic agenda, reversing Allende’s nationalizations.