Quote from AAAintheBeltway:
Pinochet saved his country from communist oppression. He fronted a coup widely thought to be CIA-backed that tossed out Castro stooge Allende. Allende had invited large numbers of Cubans into Chile under the guise of assistance, but they clearly were the vanguard for a communist takeover. Luckily, in those days we had a CIA which was capable and not afraid to take action. Today, Chile would have been sentenced to decades of communist oppression and misery, similar to what Venezuela will experience.
The international left has always despised Pinochet with the special fervor they reserve for those who defeat communism. The great man, who should be ranked among Latin America's heroes, vacated his office and turned the country over to democracy, something his enemy Fidel will never do. In exchange, he was granted lifetime immunity but the craven leftists who run Chile reneged on that promise and tried to prosecute him. He was also subject to a despicable prosecution by an out of control Spanish magistrate, aided and abetted by the British government who held him under house arrest when he traveled there for medical treatment. That episode is testimony to why we should never agree to join the International Criminal Court, unless we want our democratically elected leaders persecuted by leftist kangeroo courts.
No doubt Pinochet's coup was brutal and some innocents were killed. That is unfortunate but pales in comparison to the brutal repression and murders perpetrated by communists, about which the international community is strangely silent. They reserve their hatred for those who support freedom and democracy and who are allies of the US.
