Augusto Pinochet

Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean army officer and military dictator who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990. He led the Chilean Army in the overthrow of President Salvador Allende in 1973 and established a military junta. He was proclaimed President of Chile by the junta in 1974 and served until 1990, when he stepped down to pave the way for democratic elections. Throughout his presidency, thousands of political opponents were tortured or executed. Pinochet is the longest-serving head of state in the history of Chile.

Born in Valparaíso, Pinochet rose through the ranks of the Chilean Army to become General Chief of Staff in early 1972 before being appointed its commander-in-chief on 23 August 1973 by President Salvador Allende. On 11 September 1973,

Pinochet seized power in Chile in a military coup. The military had previously received financial and intelligence support from the United States, which favoured the military coup that toppled Allende's democratically elected socialist Unidad Popular government and ended civilian rule. In December 1974, the ruling military junta appointed Pinochet Supreme Head of the nation by joint decree, although without the support of one of the coup's instigators, Air Force general Gustavo Leigh.

After his rise to power, Pinochet persecuted leftists, socialists, and political critics, resulting in the executions of 1,200 to 3,200 people, the internment of as many as 80,000 people, and the torture of tens of thousands. According to the Chilean government, the number of executions and forced disappearances was at least 3,095. Operation Condor, a U.S.-supported terror operation focusing on South America, was founded at the behest of the Pinochet regime in late November 1975.