There is anguish in Chile. A few days before he fell, Allende himself said there was bread for only four days. A once-proud country had become a socialist inferno. Pinochet became, almost by accident, the leader. In the ensuing years, despite boycotts and hostility from both East and West, the Pinochet government moved Chile from its place as the second most statist economy in the western hemisphere to its present place as, arguably, the most free market.
Chile now leads Latin America in virtually every survey of economic performance.
Altogether, it is estimated that 25,000 or more have died to consolidate Castro in power. The always-hypocritical United Nations Commission on Human Rights barely approved a resolution a while back condemning Cuba for human rights violations. Even, then, when forced to take a stand, the one the world takes against Castro is pure mush. Pinochet should be so lucky. He is not.