Customer Reviews

Pinochet: The Politics of Torture (Fast Track)

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Through this book, every one with no prior knowledge on the recent political history of Chile, may become informed about what happened in that South American country in the last 30 years. In summarizing the history of Pinochet's raise, O'Shaughnessy masterly informs the reader not just about how a rather mediocre army officer became the icon of the Latin American dictator, but also what the Chilean society itself was before the putsch of 1973, and how it changed through the years by means of terror and torture. The book also throws light about something often silenced, even in today's semidemocratic Chile: the involvement of top rank officers in drug smuggling. In Chile, where historians wait for the time to give the "needed historic perspective" there is not such a book that in just 208 pages summarizes such a big amount of data. I think the chilean young people would be thankfully of the printer that dares to publish the spanish translation of this book, for it will give them an understanding of the divisions that still hurt this country.

this is an excellent book to understand the nature of the act commited in Chile by Augusto Pinochet. Althought today many of his supporters try to deny the horror of Pinochet's regime the truth about the atrocities commited by the so call "chilean Libertator" are evident on this book. Pinochet's crimes include genocide,murder,Terrorism, torture, kidnaping and assasination on chilean territory and abroad.The victims of his crimes were chilean citizens and foreigners (including US citizens). This book gives an account of this dictator life and acts in a very organized way from his childhood to his arrest on London during 1998 (as an international criminal).

'Pinochet: Politics Of Torture' looks at the life and dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet up until his arrest in 1998. It is extremely well written and the style is easy to read, even if some of the subject matter isn't. This book looks at the various professional relationships between Pinochet and other leading figures whilst he was in power and the conflicts he had whilst trying to maintain his grip on Chile. It explores some of the human rights abuses and the parts of this book that explain the various tortures are quite distasteful and hard to read. You can barely believe one man could be so cruel to another. The politics of the era and the support Chile received from The U.S. and shamefully the U.K. make for uncomfortable, but required reading. This book could really do with an updated version so that the reader is left knowing the outcome to various 'storylines' (for want of a better phrase) and of Pinochet. This book has a photo section in the middle to add some imagery to the stories outlined in the text. Overall this is an insightful read, that will keep you engrossed and interested the whole way through. Well worth a read.

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the only problem with this book is that it's not very good. would people stick to reviewing it instead of launching wild political polemics ?

This book begins well enough in the description of Augusto Pinochet. The first two chapters describe his early family life along with his reluctant decision to join the junta plotting the overthrow of the Allende government. The last two chapters then go into unproven killing, torture, and drug and weapons trafficing. The author tries to give us a picture of a dictator that knew everything going on in Chile. I am not sure that is the case. I do know this dictatorship in the process of overthrowing the legal Marxist government killed 3,000-4,000 people. That is a fact. I am sure torture and killings were part of the plan to stay in power. I am unsure whether they were systemic, as they are in Castro's Cuba.
I don't believe this is a balanced view on Pinochet's Chile. I believe there is much truth in this book, but also stories that don't pass the muster of honest reporting.

Gives a very unbiased account of Pinochets life and times. The author talks about the state terrorism of the DNIA(Chilean Intelligence) against foes at home and abroad. Probably the best unbiased literary acccount of Pinochet and his despotic military Junta.

Pinochet saved the country of Chile. More people suffered under the Cuban led Allende. Pinochet is the 20th century George Washington.

Through this book, every one with no prior knowledge on the recent political history of Chile, may become seriously bad informed about what happened in that period of chilean history(1973-1989).This book, as most of international books about that period, tries to give a bad impression of Pinochet's administration. Customers, let me tell you that there is many wrong information in this book. To understand a bit more of this certain issue in chilean history it is proper, first to say the trouth, to tell people-specially foreign people- what was really happenning in that time. 1973, general pinochet saved the nation from president Salvador Allende(marxist). Before of that chilean people was scared because of the action of many terrorist forces-more than 10.000 people in which were cuban and rusian people too-, MIR, MAPU,COMUNISTS YOUTH, etc. The country was a complitly caos( marxists entered by force into houses, lands, enterprises, industries, etc. Indeed every private properties were in danger of being "ocupated" because, as they said,"we work in this industry, in this enterprise, on this land, so we shoud be the owners, and houses must be also property of the community, so let's live inside them too" Chilean people, beside of that, did not have nothing to eat because of Marxist's iresponsable economic administration(The goverment made more and more bills but they did not have enough metal to hold that)During the whole marxist goverment of Salvador Allende people who did not share his thoughts (marxist-leninism) were torturated and many of them killed(But you never mention that part of the story in your book my friend)So, aparently, the concept of HUMAN RIGHTS is omited from 1973 to the past but from Pinochet's goverment to the future HUMAN RIGHT are considered.On the 11 of September of 1973 the military forces(as a petition of chilean people and chilean political parties) took the power of the state(the goverment). Pinochet,from this certain day(11/9/1973)begun to fight against that terrorism that had scared chilean people for many years. During this fight 1500 terrorists were killed and 480 lost(many of them emigrate to other countries).The people who died were terrorists, not normal or inocent people as many authors try to expone to the international opinion(Communist around the world will never forgive pinochet for being the first man in world history who defeated marxisim). In 1980 Pinochet did a Referendum to see wether he must leave the goverment or not and also to write a new Constitution. In 1989 he did another Referendum and people decided to have another president, so one year after-1990- there were democratic elections and the new president was Patricio Aylwin, from the DC party, pinochet`s oposition. Issue that confirm the legaly of the electionary process. Pinochet recieved in 1973 a country whith deep problems, economical,social and political.In 1990 he left the goverment, leaving a State with a neoliberal economy, that has been internationaly admire,with pension and welth reforms,a stable and well guided country. But the most important is that he saved chilean people of being a second CUBA. To resume,I did not like the book because as a chilen citizen I can see, from here that there many things in the book that did not happen.(Pinochet did not commited genocid because of a simply fact: in chile there are not ethnics groups, we all descend from the spanish people who came here. Pinochet was not a terrorist, he fought against it and the only people who were torure were terrorist)