History and History Textbooks

     Carlos López disputes the statement by Raúl Estrada-Oyuela that Pinochet had a political motive in moving the congress to Valparaíso: "I totally disagree. The only reason why congress was moved to Valparaiso was to revitalize the town, which is dying. People are moving to Viña del Mar." It seems to me that both explanations may be correct. The normal way to revitalize a town is by some public works project, not by moving congress, with the dichotomy that creates in the government. Pinochet must have realized the political implications. Motives are always very difficult to fathom.
     Chilean TV continues to show daily news clips of roundups of Pinochet's victims, but not of the crisis which the Army thought justified its intervention. There is no mention of Fidel Castro's visit to Santiago. Pinochet defenders say that Castro was planning to send Cubans to Chile to support Allende. I have no information supporting this.
     In any case, the TV programs leave the impression that Pinochet was simply a ruthless murderer. This does not help his case: the court has just removed his parliamentary immunity. Chilean TV has its priorities backwards. The news always opens with an absurdly long section on soccer games, before the serious news on the political situation. Presumably TV is just giving the public what it wants; probably the masses want Pinochet brought to trial. Perhaps the Socialist Party machinery of President Ricardo Lagos is involved in this, but he would never admit it publicly.

Ronald Hilton - 5/24/00