Former dictator Pinochet dies, aged 91

Former dictator Augusto Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973-1990 and spent his old age fighting human rights, fraud and corruption charges, died yesterday. He was 91.

Mr Pinochet, who was diabetic and had been in frail health for years, suffered a heart attack last week and underwent an angioplasty. His son then said the surgery had brought him back from the brink of death. "He died surrounded by his family," Juan Ignacio Vergara, a military doctor, told reporters outside the hospital.

Dr Vergara said Mr Pinochet's health had suddenly deteriorated yesterday.

Mr Pinochet grabbed power in a 1973 coup and went on to become the best known of South American dictators from the 1970s and 1980s. More than 3,000 people died in political violence under his rule, many at the hands of repressive secret police.

Despite Mr Pinochet's human rights record, many Chileans loved him and said he saved Chile from Marxism. Throngs of weeping supporters gathered outside the military hospital yesterday, singing in broken voices the national anthem and praises to their deceased general.

"He broke the chains of communism for us... we didn't become a second Cuba, and that's thanks to him," one woman told local television.

Mr Pinochet was accused of dozens of human rights violations but a lengthy effort to bring him to trial in Chile failed as his defence lawyers successfully argued that he was too ill to face charges. He was under house arrest at the time of the heart attack last week, accused in the deaths of two bodyguards of former Chilean President Salvador Allende, who was overthrown in the 1973 coup.

The charges were the latest in a series against Mr Pinochet, who issued a statement last month on his 91st birthday suggesting he realized his death could be near.

"Today, close to the end of my days, I want to make clear that I hold no rancour towards anybody, that I love my country above all else," he said in a statement read by his wife.

In the statement, he accepted "political responsibility" for acts committed during his rule.

Factbox

November 25, 1915 - Born in Valparaiso, Chile.

January 30, 1943 - Marries Lucia Hiriart, with whom he will have five children.

September 11, 1973 - As commander in chief of the armed forces, leads military coup against Socialist President Salvador Allende, who kills himself after bombing of the national palace. Pinochet takes power as leader of military junta.

September 30, 1973 - Chilean secret agents assassinate Chile's former commander in chief of the army Carlos Prats and his wife with a car bomb in Buenos Aires.

1976 - Pinochet's secret police chief Manuel Contreras enters Operation Condor pact with other South American military regimes to help each other find and execute dissidents.

September 21, 1976 - Chilean agents sent by secret police assassinate exiled Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier in Washington DC.

May 11, 1983 - First street protest against Pinochet.

September 7, 1986 - Pinochet survives assassination attempt.

October 5, 1988 - Pinochet voted out in a national plebiscite held under national and international pressure.

1990 - Elected president Patricio Aylwin takes office and Pinochet stays on as Commander in Chief of the armed forces.

1990 - The National Truth and Reconciliation Commission releases report with details on the deaths of more than 2,200 people under the military regime.

October 16, 1998 - British police arrest Pinochet in London hospital where he is recovering from back surgery, on extradition warrant from Spain for alleged torture and murder.

March 3, 2000 - Pinochet returns to Chile after Britain decides not to extradite him to Spain, on health grounds.

August 2000 - Chile Supreme Court strips Pinochet of his political immunity so he can face trial but the same court 10 months later throws out the case, saying Pinochet is mentally unfit to be prosecuted.

July 2004 - Chilean courts launch investigation of millions of dollars in Pinochet secret bank accounts. A year later the investigation results in charges of tax evasion. Investigations on embezzlement accusations continue.

August 2004 - Chile Supreme Court strips Pinochet of immunity from prosecution in case of 19 people killed under Operation Condor. The charges are later thrown out on health grounds.