In 2004, a United States Senate money laundering investigation led by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Norm Coleman (R-MN) — ordered in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks — uncovered a network of over 125 securities and bank accounts at Riggs Bank and other U.S. financial institutions used by Pinochet and his associates for twenty-five years to secretly move millions of dollars.^[39] Though the subcommittee was charged only with investigating compliance of financial institutions under the USA PATRIOT Act, and not the Pinochet regime, Sen. Coleman noted:

“

This is a sad, sordid tale of money laundering involving Pinochet accounts at multiple financial institutions using alias names, offshore accounts, and close associates. As a former General and President of Chile, Pinochet was a well-known human rights violator and violent dictator.[40]

”

Over several months in 2005, Chilean judge Sergio Muñoz indicted Augusto Pinochet's wife, Lucia Hiriart; four of his children --Marco Antonio, Jacqueline, Veronica and Lucia Pinochet; as well as his personal secretary, Monica Ananias, and former aide Oscar Aitken on tax evasion and falsification charges stemming from the Riggs Bank investigation. In January 2006, daughter Lucia Pinochet was detained at Washington DC-Dulles airport and subsequently deported while attempting to evade the tax charges in Chile.^[41] In January 2007, the Santiago Court of Appeals revoked most of the indictment from Judge Carlos Cerda against the Pinochet family ^[42]. But Pinochet's five children, his wife Lucia Hiriart, and 17 other persons (including two generals, one of his ex-lawyer and his ex-secretary) were arrested in October 2007 on charges of embezzlement and use of false passports. They are accused of having illegally transferred $27m (£13.2m) to foreign bank accounts during Pinochet's rule ^[43][44].

In September 2005, a joint-investigation by The Guardian and La Tercera revealed that the British arms firms BAE Systems had been identified as paying more than £1m to Pinochet, through a front company in the British Virgin Islands, which BAE has used to channel commission on arms deals ^[45]. The payments began in 1997 and lasted until 2004 ^[45][46].

Furthermore, in 2007, fifteen years of investigation led to the conclusion that the 1992 assassination of DINA Colonel Gerardo Huber was most probably related to various illegal arms traffic carried out, after Pinochet's resignation from power, by military circles very close to himself. ^[6]. Huber had been assassinated a short time before he was due to testify in the case concerning the 1991 illegal export of weapons to Croatian paramilitaries. The deal involved 370 tons of weapons, sold to Croatia by Chile on 7 December 1991, when the former country was under a United Nations' embargo because of the war against Serbia.^[47]. In January 1992, the judge Hernán Correa de la Cerda wanted to hear Gerardo Huber in this case, but the latter may have been silenced to avoid implicating Pinochet in this new case ^[48][49][6] — although the latter was not anymore President, he remained at the time Commander-in-Chief of the Army. Pinochet was at the center of this illegal arms trade, receiving money through various offshores and front companies, including the Banco Coutts International in Miami ^[50].

[

Death and funeral

Pinochet suffered a heart attack on the morning of December 3, 2006, and subsequently the same day he was given the last rites. On December 4, 2006, the Chilean Court of Appeals ordered the release of his house arrest. On December 10, 2006 at 13:30 local time (16:30 UTC) he was taken to the internsive care unit.^[51] He died of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema,^[52] surrounded by family members, at the Military Hospital at 14:15 local time (17:15 UTC).^[53] His last word was Lucy, the name of his wife (Lucia Hiriart).

Massive spontaneous street demonstrations^{[citation needed]} broke out throughout the country upon the learning of his death. In Santiago, opponents celebrated at the Alameda avenue, while supporters grieved outside the Military Hospital. Pinochet's remains were publicly exhibited on December 11, 2006 at the Military Academy in Las Condes, and attended by thousands of people. During this ceremony, the grandson of Carlos Prats, a former Commander in Chief of the Army in Allende's Government, murdered by Pinochet's secret police, spat on the coffin, and was quickly surrounded by followers of the dead dictator, who kicked and insulted him. Pinochet's funeral took place the following day at the same venue.

In a government decision, he was not granted a state funeral, as is normally given to former presidents, but a military funeral, as former commander-in-chief of the Army. The government also refused to declare an official national day of mourning, but it did authorize flags at military barracks to fly at half staff. Socialist President Michelle Bachelet, whose father Alberto Bachelet was temporarily imprisoned and tortured after the 1973 coup, dying shortly after from heart complications, said it would be "a violation of [her] conscience" to attend a state funeral for Pinochet.^[54] The only government authority present at the funeral was the Defense Minister, Vivianne Blanlot.

Pinochet's body was cremated in "Parque del Mar" cemetery, Concón on December 12, 2006, on his request to "avoid vandalism of his tomb," according to his son Marco Antonio.^[55] His remains were delivered to his family later that day.

[

See also

• History of Chile
• 1970 Chilean presidential election
• CIA backing of Pinochet
• CIA Involvement, CNN
• Government Junta of Chile (1973)
• Chile under Pinochet
• Operation Condor
• Augusto Pinochet's arrest and trial
• U.S. intervention in Chile
• Missing, film based on the life of U.S. journalist Charles Horman, who disappeared in the aftermath of the Pinochet coup

[

Footnotes and references

[

External links

The external links in this article may not follow Wikipedia's content policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links.

• France 24 coverage – Augusto Pinochet's Necrology on France 24
• BBC coverage (special report)
• Documentary Film on Chilean Concentration Camp from Pinochet's Regime: Chacabuco
• Chile under Allende and Pinochet
• Human rights violation under Pinochet
• The Times obituary
• Analysis of economic policy under Pinochet by economist Jim Cypher in Dollars & Sense magazine
• Policzer, Pablo (January 2007). Chile: The Price of Democracy. New English Review. Retrieved on 2007-01-09. “... if Pinochet had had his way in the mid-1970s, his dictatorship would have ended only on December 10, when he died.”

Political offices
Preceded by None	President of Government Junta 1973 - 1981	Succeeded by José Toribio Merino
Preceded by None	Member of Government Junta 1973 - 1981	Succeeded by César Benavides
Preceded by Salvador Allende	President of Chile 1974 - 1990	Succeeded by Patricio Aylwin
Military offices
Preceded by Carlos Prats	Army Commander-in-chief 1973 - 1998	Succeeded by Ricardo Izurieta

History of Chile
v • d • e Augusto Pinochet Life and politics Biography · 1973 Chilean coup d'état · Government Junta of Chile (1973) · Chile under Pinochet · Arrest and trial Policies Miracle of Chile · Economic policy · DINA · Operation Condor · Operation Colombo Perceptions Chicago Boys · Rettig Report · Valech Report · Caravan of Death Family Lucía Hiriart · Lucía Pinochet v • d • e 1973 Chilean coup d'état Background United States intervention in Chile · Schneider Doctrine · 1970 election · Project FUBELT · Chile under Allende · Cuban packages Events Tanquetazo · Declaration of the Breakdown of Chile’s Democracy · 1973 Chilean coup d'état Participants Salvador Allende · Carlos Prats · Augusto Pinochet · Jose Toribio Merino · Gustavo Leigh · Miguel Enriquez · Carlos Altamirano Post-Events Government Junta of Chile (1973) · Letelier case · Operation Condor · Chile under Pinochet Controversies Death of Salvador Allende · Criticisms of Salvador Allende v • d • e Presidents of Chile Blanco Encalada • Eyzaguirre • Freire • Pinto Díaz • Vicuña • Ovalle • Ruiz-Tagle • Ovalle • Prieto • Bulnes • Montt Torres • Pérez • Errázuriz Zañartu • Pinto Garmendia • Santa María • Balmaceda • Montt Álvarez • Errázuriz Echaurren • Riesco • Montt Montt • Figueroa • Barros Luco • Sanfuentes • Alessandri Palma • Figueroa • Ibáñez del Campo • Montero • Dávila • Alessandri Palma • Aguirre Cerda • Ríos • González Videla • Ibáñez del Campo • Alessandri Rodríguez • Frei Montalva • Allende • Pinochet • Aylwin • Frei Ruiz-Tagle • Lagos • Bachelet

Persondata
NAME	Pinochet, Augusto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Pinochet Ugarte, Augusto José Ramón (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Chilean General and Politician
DATE OF BIRTH	25 November 1915 (1915-11-25)
PLACE OF BIRTH	Valparaíso, Chile
DATE OF DEATH	10 December 2006
PLACE OF DEATH	Santiago de Chile

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