Pinochet and the American right.

Pinochet is dead.

Let's remember what Thatcher had to say when this dictator was arrested in Britain for slaughtering thousands of people.

She took part in a meeting held under the banner: "General Pinochet: the only political prisoner in Britain".

In a hall bedecked with Chilean flags, Thatcher was flanked by two Chilean senators, former chancellor Norman Lamont and Pinochet's son, Marco Antonio. Met by rapturous applause, she decried the extradition proceedings against the former dictator as "international lynch law", "judicial kidnap" and the equivalent of a "police state".

The case against Pinochet was a "Marxist" plot, Thatcher claimed. "The left can't forgive" Pinochet for defeating communism and successfully transforming Chile into a model free market economy, she continued, and were taking revenge on one of “Britain's greatest friends”.

Many on the American right, who hailed Thatcher as a great leader, will be surprised at how extreme the old windbag actually was.

Her support for a man who overthrew the democratically elected Allende in the most bloody coup in South America in the 20th Century will surprise no-one in Britain, where people lived under her rule for eleven long years.

This woman referred to coal miners in her own country as "the enemy within" and described the unemployed as "social security scroungers", despite the fact that it was her own policies that contributed to much of the unemployment within the country at the time.

Let's remember a little of what "Britain's greatest friend" did when he seized power:

The military government dissolved Congress, suspended the constitution and opposition parties were outlawed. Shortly after came a night-time curfew and strict limits on the media.

The general's iron rule was underpinned by the tactics of brutal repression that saw thousands die and thousands more flee into exile. Others disappeared or were tortured.

Thatcher is said to be "saddened" by his death. Amnesty International has called it a wake up call to governments that "speedy justice for human rights crimes" was needed.

A spokeswoman said his death must "not be the end of story".

"Amnesty International urges the Chilean authorities to declare the amnesty law void and proceed with investigations and prosecutions of all those others involved in the thousands of cases of `disappearances', torture and execution during Pinochet's period of rule," she said.

"Families and survivors need to know what happened, need justice and need their day in court."

The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture had presented more than 60 cases in support of Gen Pinochet's 1998 extradition case on behalf of victims of the regime who had sought refuge in the UK.

"The fact that Augusto Pinochet will now not face a court of law to answer for the murderous activities of his regime is regrettable," said the charity's Leanne MacMillan.

Where the current right wing and Thatcher differ is only in what is considered palatable to articulate for public consumption. Indeed, much of her support came from the fact that she dared to say the unthinkable. Her support for a figure as controversial as Pinochet would seem impossible for a right winger like Bush to emulate.

Especially as he is currently beating the drum of democracy as the answer to the world's ills.

However, the only difference between Thatcher's extremism and that of the current US neo-cons is that she made no attempt to hide her world view.

It is unthinkable that under someone like Thatcher the war in Iraq would be fought with most people arguing over what was the true reason for the war. Was it a war for oil, a war for Israel, a war to prevent the spread of non existent WMD?

Thatcher had clarity. She wasn't frightened to express her contemptuous views. She would have left us under no doubt as to why she was waging war and would have delighted in enraging those of us who disagreed with her.

Bush and Co. are following a similar extreme right wing agenda, but they lack the courage to argue their case publicly. In my view that actually makes them more despicable than Thatcher.

Related Articles:

Pinochet Is Dead. His Legacy Lingers

But Pinochet's demise doesn't save him from the harsh judgment of history. He dies not only decrepit and politically abandoned in a Santiago hospital but also discredited and reviled. His very name alone has come to rightfully symbolize and encapsulate all of the horrors and fears associated with brutal, dictatorial regimes.

tag: Pinochet, Thatcher, Bush, Republican Party, Iraq war, neo-cons