Augusto Pinochet (1915 – 2006)
General and de facto head of state of Chile.
Today, near the end of my days, I want to say that I harbor no rancor against anybody, that I love my fatherland above all and that I take political responsibility for everything that was done which had no other goal than making Chile greater and avoiding its disintegration.… I assume full political responsibility for what happened.
Don't forget that in the history of the world, there was a plebiscite, in which Christ and Barabbas were being judged, and the people chose Barabbas.
The freedoms which had been so hard won from colonial domination were being crushed by Soviet-inspired and funded military and political forces. Their clear intention was to deprive the people of their democratic freedoms. As history shows, this is what had happened in the Soviet Union and in Cuba, and continues to be the case in other parts of the world.
I was only an aspiring dictator. I was never a real dictator.
I have lived with my conscience and my own memories for over quarter of a century since the events of 1973.… These are not easy reflections for me. But I am at peace with myself, and with the Chilean people, about what happened. I am clear in my mind that the return to Chile of true democracy, and from that the true freedom to which all individual people are entitled, could not have been achieved without the removal of the Marxist government.
I'm looking at them from above, because God put me there.
This is not a dictadura ("dictatorship") but a dictablanda.
Power must be vested in the armed forces, since only they have the organization and the means to fight Marxism.
Is it true what Contreras testified before the courts, that the president of the junta and later the president of the Republic was the direct head of DINA?
I don't remember, but it is not true. It is not true and if it was, I don't remember. Contreras liked to cajole, wrap around his boss. Contreras gave the orders. It was he who managed the institution.
If Senator Kennedy is elected President of the United States, the government of Chile will take the necessary measures.
I devalued the peso solely looking after the poor.
I have a sour face. Maybe that's why they say I'm a dictator.
The country is safe, because we have a good intelligence service.
Not a single leaf moves in this country if I'm not the one moving it. I want that to be clear!
Had I been a dictator, I would still be governing.
To whom are we going to ask to be forgiven? To the one who tried to kill us? To the one who tried to destroy our country? To whom? They are the ones who must ask to be forgiven for everything they did before September 11.
How very economical! (?Pero que economía más grande!)
We practically wiped this nation clean of Marxists.
My library is filled with UN condemnations.
The rich people are those who create wealth, and you have to treat them well so they continue to give wealth.