No Right Turn: Justice for the Caravana de la Muerte

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Justice for the Caravana de la Muerte

In the aftermath of the Chilean coup of 1973, a death squad known as the "caravan of death" roamed the country, murdering socialists, communists, and other opposition figures, and burying the bodies in unmarked graves. It was a small but notorious part of Pinochet's oppression - and now it looks like there will finally be some justice for it. A Chilean judge has ordered the arrest of thirteen former army officers who participated in the killings; they will join about a dozen other officers on trial for murder. The message to former servants of members of the Chilean junta couldn't be clearer: one by one, they are going to pay for what they did.

1 comments:

Yes, the Chilean papers are making a big deal of the possible amnesty too. Still, even if this turns into a glorified "name and shame" I suppost its progress.

I did my "OE" in Chile and I was there for the "plebicito" in '88, which Pinochet alone thought he'd win, and which was the beginning of the end for dictatorship. Back then, despite the growing optimism, nobody really expected the perpetrators of atrocities to ever be punished.

Now, on top of the Pinochet family being hounded continuously, we have this. Progress of sorts.

Posted by Jarvis Pink : 3/22/2006 06:45:00 PM