The General’s Slow Retreat: Chile after Pinochet

A Chilean Chronology

263 September 4, 1970 Salvador Allende, a Socialist, wins a plurality of votes in the Chilean presidential election and, after being confirmed by congress, becomes president on November 3, 1970. August 23, 1973 General Augusto Pinochet becomes Chilean army commander , replacing General Carlos Prats, who was forced out of office following protests by military wives backing a coup against the Allende government. September 11, 1973 The Chilean military, led by the navy, seize power from Allende, who commits suicide while air force planes strafe the La Moneda presidential palace. A junta composed of Pinochet, naval commander José Merino, air force commander Gustavo Leigh, and carabinero commander Cesar Mendoza assume control of the government. June 14, 1974 Official creation of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) by junta decree law. The new intelligence service is led by army colonel Manuel Contreras, who reports only to Pinochet. A Chilean Chronology 264 A C h i l e a n C h r o n o l o g y June 27, 1974 Pinochet is declared “supreme leader of the nation,” receiving a presidential sash, in a ceremony prepared without the other junta members ’ knowledge. October 1, 1974 DINA agents kill former Chilean army commander Carlos Prats and his wife, Sofia, in a car bomb explosion in Buenos Aires. October 6, 1975 DINA agents operating in Italy shoot and critically wound Bernardo Leighton (a former cabinet minister under the Christian Democratic government of Eduardo Frei [1964–70]) and his wife, Anita, who had taken political refuge in Rome. June 16, 1976 The U.S. Senate passes a bill banning all arms sales to Chile. July 16, 1976 The body of Spanish diplomat Carmelo Soria, who had helped numerous Chileans and other nationals flee the country in the wake of the coup, is found in Santiago, two days after his kidnapping by DINA agents. September 21, 1976 DINA agents in Washington, D.C., plant a car bomb that kills Chilean exile leader and former Allende cabinet minister Orlando Letelier and his American coworker Ronni Moffitt. August 13, 1977 The Pinochet regime announces the dissolution of DINA, to be replaced by a new security agency, the Central Nacional de Informaciones (CNI). December 16, 1977 The United Nations General Assembly approves a resolution condemning Chile’s military regime for human rights abuses. January 4, 1978 Following a United Nations resolution condemning human rights violations in Chile, a referendum is held by the regime in which Chileans are asked to cast “yes” or “no” votes in support of Pinochet. The official results of the vote, held without an electoral registry, show 75 percent in favor of the resolution. July 24, 1978 Pinochet forces the resignation of junta member and air force commander General Gustavo Leigh, who is replaced by General Fernando Matthei. October 1979 Chile’s Supreme Court rejects a U.S. extradition request for DINA chief Manuel Contreras and two other DINA agents for the 1976 car bomb assassination in Washington, D.C., of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt. September 11, 1980 The regime holds a plebiscite in which Chileans are asked to vote “yes” or “no” on a new constitution and an extension of Pinochet’s rule for eight more years. Official results show the “yes” ballots total 67 percent of the vote. September 12, 1980 Pinochet tells reporters he will not seek reelection in 1988. March 11, 1981 Pinochet leads a ceremony in which the commanders of Chile’s navy, air force, and police force, along with another army general, A C h i l e a n C h r o n o l o g y 265 are sworn in as members of the junta, which will act as a legislative body under Pinochet’s presidency. The regime moves its headquarters into the La Moneda presidential palace, which had been closed since the 1973 coup. January 22, 1982 President Eduardo Frei (1964–70) dies in the hospital following a minor surgery. His family suspects foul play. At Frei’s state funeral, Pinochet is confronted with hundreds of protestors screaming “Murderer!” February 25, 1982 The president of Chile’s public employees union, Tucapel Jimenez, is found murdered in his car on the outskirts of Santiago. The previous week he had called for a coalition against Pinochet’s economic policies. May 11, 1983 The first mass protests against the regime are held, organized by a coalition of labor and political groups...