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11.12.06

Augusto Pinochet, 91, Ex-Dictator of Chile, Dies. Said one gentleman in Norway:"break out the champagne!"

(On Human Rights Day. Just in time. That's just swell.)

10 Comments:

Eirik Løkke said...: Hopefully not! But clearly their are room for improvement! And not to forget the consequences of Pinochets staunch market reforms were utterly positive for the people in terms of poverty reduction and rapid growth, twice the amount of the regional average.

Not that this in any way change the fact that Pinochet was brutal and a murder. But like it or not, he leaves behind the most well-functioning country in all of Latin America.; December 15, 2006 9:30 pm
mrtn said...: Dude, what are you saying? Fascism is okay if the trains run on time? I think not. There are, as you know, quite a few countries in the world that managed to perform economic turnarounds of a similar magnitude without all that pesky boot-heel clicking, electrical shocks, car bombings and raping. Whether or not he left behind a functioning country is completely beside the point. Hence: Veuve Clicquot, 1998. And strawberries. Mmm. Strawberries. If he'd actually gone to trial I'd be popping a whole caseload and passing them out on the street.; December 15, 2006 11:01 pm
Eirik Løkke said...: I am not at all saying that Pinochet was a great man or that his methods were not brutal. On the contrary, he was a brutal dictator and Pinochet perce was not a advantage for Chile.

But no politics is executed in a vacuum, there is always a context. And given the alternative, Allende, one does not have to be a member of the "far rightwing conspiracy" to think that Allende would have been a far worse alternative given all the grusom examples we have witness in relation to marxism (or so called marxism) gone from theory to practice.

But, do not get me wrong. The end does not justify the means. I would have love to see Pinochet been indicted, and accordingly made responsible for his violation of human rights.; December 18, 2006 3:08 pm
Mikkel said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; December 18, 2006 11:41 pm
Mikkel said...: Martin, I have a hard time understanding your censorship policies. Why do you continue to make room for this deeply offensive dribble?; December 19, 2006 5:59 am
Sara said...: Yes, I mean how can the term middle class cunt be more offensive than this reactionary bullshit? I have spoken to several people who got tortured under Pinochet's regime, and you let this guy talk about 'room for improvement' and the infrastructure? That's just lame.; December 21, 2006 4:06 pm
Eirik Løkke said...: Middleclass cunt? Never been called that before, but I guess there`s first for everything...

I do register that my advarseries is not able to put forward arguments, but on the contrary gets into the game of "labeling" and "namedropping".

I am not very interested in joining that game however, there are a couple of thing I want to make clear.

As I mentioned earlier, I do not support, quite the opposite, I strongly oppose Pinochets methods and think it is a tragedy that he will not stand trial and made accountable for his violation of human rights.

Not anything in relation to Chiles economic miracle change the fact that Pinochet was brutal, and my staunch view has always been that the end never justify the means. Nevertheless, it is a fact that Chile has the most well functioning democracy and strongest economy in all of Latin America, due to Pinochets market reforms. Furthermore the alternative being Allendes marxism, would, given all that we know about communism (Cuba anyone) been a much worse consequence for Chile.

Again that is not the same as defending Pinochets methods, or even say that Pinochet, despite his excellent economic record in itself was a advantage for Chile.

In relation to the term "room for improvement", I do actually mean that the CIA could do better on a number of areas, starting with intelligence. The CIAs Iraq effort was nothing else than flawed. So, yes the clearly are room for improvement...; December 22, 2006 5:35 pm
Sara said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; December 23, 2006 9:21 pm
Sara said...: I wasn't talking to you, and I certainly wasn't calling you a middle class cunt - as you would have known if it wasn't for your poor command of the English language. I was critisizing Martin's inconsequential censorship practice. You just happened to be a perfect example of how absurd I find it.; December 23, 2006 9:23 pm
Eirik Løkke said...: I guess I should thank you for directing your labelling towards Martin, and not me. Although, according to you, I am “a perfect example of Martins inconsequent censorship practice”. I do not intend to waste much time on people not interested in debate, but instead focus on various ways of labelling.

That is something I like about Martin, even though we disagree politically, I find great interest in reading his comments. Very often I learn something new – very rarely I change position. However, I always find Martin arguing for his views, as an alternative to labelling. Despite my “poor command of verbal communication”, I advise you to follow his example!

By the way, merry Christmas!; December 25, 2006 2:38 am