MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Pyotr Romanov) - As far as I know, there is not a single country in the world where anyone would say in public that he or she likes Augusto Pinochet.
Even Franco's Spain denied him a visa for fear of becoming entangled with such a notorious politician. However, jumping to conclusions on Pinochet would not be wise.
Pinochet is too controversial for black-or-white assumptions; furthermore, assessments of his role have too often been presented without the proper historical context. Describing him as a great criminal or great statesman is more a matter of taste than of truth: in fact, both are true. This explains why the entire country has been crying since his death: while many resent the idea that the criminal has escaped conviction in a court of law, others lament the death of a man whose coup back in 1973 rescued the country from a crisis.
Pinochet's military putsch spilled rivers of blood; thousands were killed and tens of thousands tortured and humiliated. Pinochet's "death squads" put half-dead political opponents into helicopters, hovered over the ocean and threw them out. Like a thousand others, the great Chilean guitarist, singer and poetic genius Victor Jara was tortured in public at a stadium that now bears his name. Pinochet's men routinely humiliated women in political prisons. There were many other horrors which can be neither forgotten nor forgiven, and for which Pinochet would have been sentenced to the gallows in court, had he ever faced any.
However, Chilean history dates back well before 1973 - and Pinochet's death is certainly not the end of it. For a thoughtful researcher, the much-lionized memory of Socialist President Salvador Allende, who died with a rifle in his hands as La Moneda Palace was being stormed, should not veil the chaos into which he had plunged the country. Critics will point out the U.S.'s role in destabilizing the country, and again they will be right. The Americans, however, only aggravated a crisis that was already there, caused by leftist mismanagement of the economy. Yes, the Marxist government guaranteed a cup of milk a day for every child. No, they did not create a viable economy in which parents would have the means to feed their children themselves.
If Allende was aware of that - and I am sure he was - he must have been very keenly interested in dying a heroic death, arguably much more than General Pinochet was interested in inflicting it. Pinochet was a criminal but he was not a fool, and Allende himself launching anti-Pinochet tirades from exile was clearly less threatening to him than an Allende image looking reproachfully from above.
Clearly, Pinochet was not an economic genius. However, he turned out to be clever enough to hire an ambitious Friedmanite liberal economic team, which turned Chile into an "economic miracle" that, like it or not, is envied across Latin America. It came at a bloody price, but it came nonetheless - contrary to many previous examples in which a similar price was paid but there were no results. And it was, ultimately, Pinochet who presided over that miracle.
He has said many times - though no one believed him - that everything that was done under his rule was done for the sake of the Chilean people. Having traveled all over Latin America many times, I must admit that every time I arrive in Chile I tell myself - very reluctantly - that one should take off their hat to the job done by the Chilean dictatorship. They kept their word. Their pension fund has evolved into a reliable source of support for the country's elderly; their effort to wipe out illiteracy was much more successful than Allende's.
Last but not least, Pinochet's power was undisputed, and he could have held onto it for the rest of his life if he had wanted - but he stepped down as soon as the country became stable and prosperous, handing control over to a democratically elected government. Suspecting that democracy would have him tarred and feathered, he took one step at a time. First, he retreated to the position of commander-in-chief, then to senator, and only then began proclaiming his innocence in democratic courts. In the end he seems to have won the battle by escaping it.
He will not escape Judgment Day, but few would suggest he is scared of having his good and evil deeds weighed on God's scales. He has taken all political responsibility for the coup and for its consequences before men, but he has not repented for anything before God. He died unforgiven, and he hardly cared.
Chile has what is has today thanks to Pinochet as well as to Allende. The latter gave his country its democratic principles and demonstrated his willingness to pay the ultimate sacrifice for them. The former provided a stable economy and a prosperous society - something which you need if your democracy is to be more than just empty rhetoric.
It's no surprise that champagne was mixed with tears at Pinochet's funeral.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
