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Evidence of executions
Bishop points a finger at Pinochet
The retired Bishop of Talca, Carlos Gonzalez, has provided what he calls demonstrable proof of 20 unlawful executions of dissidents who were arrested at the government palace of La Moneda on the very day in which General Augusto Pinochet ousted Chile’s previous leader, the leftist President Salvador Allende.
Bishop Gonzalez said he received “consistent information” explaining that on September 11, 1973, when Pinochet ousted the government of Allende, 35 people were arrested at the La Moneda Palace. He said that 20 of these prisoners were murdered two days after the arrests, and their corpses were eventually thrown into the ocean two decades later.
In an eight-point document, expanded with information provided by a former military officer who remained anonymous, Bishop Gonzalez explained that Allende’s 35 collaborators were arrested and sent to an army headquarters station. After two days, 20 of them—having been identified (rightly or wrongly) as “Communists”—were sent to another military camp on the outskirts of Santiago, and killed there September 13. “In December 1996, for a reason still unknown, the corpses were unburied, placed in a military airplane, and thrown into the ocean,” the bishop’s report said.
The report was given to the Minister of the Interior, Jose Miguel Insulza, as part of the process of justice and reconciliation in which the Catholic Church is playing a key role in gathering information. Bishop Gonzalez said that the Church has made a commitment “to protect the identity of the informers.” He added: “The Chilean Army is at present being extremely cooperative in the effort to provide information, so as to create the climate of justice, peace, and reconciliation that Chile so urgently needs.”
Copper for restorations
Gift is response to Vatican aid
The Chilean government has indicated that it will donate an unlimited amount of copper for the restoration of buildings at the Vatican, in a gesture of gratitude for the Church’s role during “difficult” times for the South American country.
Pope John Paul II and other Catholic bishops are widely credited with brokering a deal that resulted in the call by former dictator Augusto Pinochet for free elections that ended his turbulent 1973-1990 rule.
A Chilean government spokesman said the Pope had accepted the offer from state-owned copper miner Codelco and six other private companies from Chile, the world’s largest copper producer. “The government and local producers decided to donate as much copper as is necessary for the remodeling of the Vatican,” said Claudio Huepe; “and there has been a very positive response.” In a letter to the Chilean government, Pope John Paul II offered his thanks “for this eloquent gesture and for the noble feelings it reflects.