In the late 1960s I met a family from Argentina. He was visiting a friend who lived in the apartment downstairs. The father was a Colonel in the Argentine Army. His wife was a beauty. They had a really cute little boy named Pepe. The Colonel definitely did not want to go back to Argentina.
***
As part of his endless stream of replies to fans on his social media platform that go late into the night, Mr. Musk replied to a pseudonymous account early on Tuesday morning that posited that there would be an “initial severe overreaction in the economy” and that the “market will tumble” if Mr. Trump is elected and follows through on his plan. Afterward, the account said, “There will be a rapid recovery to a healthier, sustainable economy.”
Mr. Musk replied at 1:46 a.m. with three words: “Sounds about right.”
Mr. Musk’s words on the economy matter given that Mr. Trump has said he would appoint the billionaire to oversee a new “government efficiency commission” focused on cutting spending if the former president wins on Nov. 5.
Mr. Musk has acknowledged that cutting government spending could be painful. At a telephone town hall last Friday evening, Mr. Musk proactively brought up the consequences of this austerity when a voter asked him for his first steps to cut the nation’s debt should he be appointed to Mr. Trump’s promised government-efficiency commission.
MORE AT:
The New York Times
Elon Musk Sees Trump’s Economic Plans Causing ‘Temporary Hardship’
By Alan Rappeport and Theodore Schleifer
Oct. 29, 2024
Summarize
Mr. Musk agreed with an X post saying there would be an “initial severe overreaction in the economy” before returning to sustainable growth if Mr. Trump is elected and follows through on his plans.
As the key economic advisors of the Pinochet dictatorship, the Chicago Boys were the forerunners of the economic policies of that government. They sponsored state run policies to decrease national spending, end inflation and promote economic growth. They promoted a policy of strict austerity and cut government expenditures substantially. Free trade agreements and the breakdown of barriers to trade were also promoted to help Chile compete in the world market. They also privatized public companies and used the free market rather than government rule to promote their economic policies.[10] This was part of the neoliberal economic views espoused by Milton Friedman, the ideological backer for their views. Friedman and his connections to the Chicago Boys was highly politicized especially after he received the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1976. The policies are also sometimes referred to as shock therapy based on the fact that they were projected to hurt the economy but overall be beneficial in the long run.[14] These policies influenced future governments and organizations tied to the neoliberal economic viewpoint such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other International Organizations and governments. However, the relations between these organizations were not always close, and rivalry between neoliberal organizations still existed.[15] The ideology of free market capitalism and laissez faire economics in conjunction with a strong military rule and total political control is the cornerstone of Pinochetism, in conjunction with a strong anti-communist political platform. These policies and their effects are both highly controversial in Chile and around the World and represent a major divide in Chilean politics to this day.[16]
For the films, see Caravan of Death (1920 film) and Caravan of Death (1991 film).
The Caravan of Death (Spanish: Caravana de la Muerte) was a Chilean Army death squad that, following the Chilean coup of 1973, flew by helicopters from south to north of Chile between September 30 and October 22, 1973. During this foray, members of the squad ordered or personally carried out the execution of at least 75 individuals held in Army custody in certain garrisons.[1] According to the NGO Memoria y Justicia, the squad killed 97 people: 26 in the South and 71 in the North.[2]
Augusto Pinochet was indicted in December 2002 in this case, but he died four years later before a verdict could be rendered. Trials of others accused of involvement continued after his death.
Augusto Pinochet
Post-dictatorship life
Arrest and court cases in the United Kingdom
Pinochet was arrested in London on "charges of genocide and terrorism that include murder" in October 1998.[165] The indictment and arrest of Pinochet was the first time that a former government head was arrested on the principle of universal jurisdiction.[166]
After being placed under house arrest on the grounds of the Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, in Britain, in October 1998 and initiating a judicial and public relations battle, the latter run by Thatcherite political operative Patrick Robertson,[167][168] he was released in March 2000 on medical grounds by the Home Secretary Jack Straw without facing trial. Straw had overruled a House of Lords decision to extradite Pinochet to face trial in Spain.[169]
Return to Chile
Pinochet returned to Chile on 3 March 2000. So as to avoid any potential disruption his flight back to Chile from the UK departed from RAF Waddington, evading those protesting against his release. His first act when landing in Santiago's airport was to triumphantly get up from his wheelchair to the acclaim of his supporters.[170][171][172] He was greeted by his successor as head of the Chilean armed forces, General Ricardo Izurieta.[170] President-electRicardo Lagos said the retired general's televised arrival had damaged the image of Chile, while thousands demonstrated against him.[173]
In March 2000, Congress approved a constitutional amendment creating the status of "ex-president", which granted its holder immunity from prosecution and a financial allowance; this replaced Pinochet's senatorship-for-life. 111 legislators voted for, and 29 against.[174]
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of judge Juan Guzmán's request in August 2000, and Pinochet was indicted on 1 December 2000 for the kidnapping of 75 opponents in the Caravan of Death case.[175] Guzmán advanced the charge of kidnapping as the 75 were officially "disappeared": even though they were all most likely dead, the absence of their corpses made any charge of "homicide" difficult.
In July 2002, the Supreme Court dismissed Pinochet's indictment in the various human rights abuse cases, for medical reasons (vascular dementia). The debate concerned Pinochet's mental faculties, his legal team claiming that he was senile and could not remember, while others (including several physicians) claimed that he was affected only physically but retained all control of his faculties. The same year, the prosecuting attorneyHugo Guttierez, in charge of the Caravan of Death case, declared, "Our country has the degree of justice that the political transition permits us to have."[176]
Pinochet resigned from his senatorial seat shortly after the Supreme Court's July 2002 ruling. In May 2004, the Supreme Court overturned its precedent decision, and ruled that he was capable of standing trial. In arguing their case, the prosecution presented a recent TV interview Pinochet had given to journalist Maria Elvira Salazar[177] for a Miami-based television network, which raised doubts about his alleged mental incapacity.[178][179] In December 2004, he was charged with several crimes, including the 1974 assassination of General Prats and the Operation Colombo case in which 119 died, and was again placed under house arrest. He suffered a stroke on 18 December 2004.[180] Questioned by his judges in order to know if, as president, he was the direct head of DINA, he answered: "I don't remember, but it's not true. And if it were true, I don't remember."[181]
In January 2005, the Chilean Army accepted institutional responsibility for past human rights abuses.[182] In 2006, Pinochet was indicted for kidnappings and torture at the Villa Grimaldi detention center by judge Alejandro Madrid (Guzmán's successor),[183] as well as for the 1995 assassination of the DINA biochemist Eugenio Berrios, himself involved in the Letelier case.[184] Berrios, who had worked with Michael Townley, had produced sarin, anthrax and botulism in the Bacteriological War Army Laboratory for Pinochet; these materials were used against political opponents. The DINA biochemist was also alleged to have created black cocaine, which Pinochet then sold in Europe and the United States.[185]The money for the drug trade was allegedly deposited into Pinochet's bank accounts.[186]Pinochet's son Marco Antonio, who had been accused of participating in the drug trade, in 2006 denied claims of drug trafficking in his father's administration and said that he would sue Manuel Contreras, who had said that Pinochet sold cocaine.[187][188]
On 25 November 2006, Pinochet marked his 91st birthday by having his wife read a statement he had written to admirers present for his birthday:
Today, near the end of my days, I want to say that I harbour no rancour 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.[189][190][191]
Two days later, he was again indicted and ordered preliminary house arrest on charges of kidnapping and murder of two bodyguards of Salvador Allende who were arrested the day of the 1973 coup and executed by firing squad during the Caravan of Death.[192][193]
Pinochet died a few days later, on 10 December 2006, without having been convicted of any of the crimes of which he was accused.
