Sunday, March 12, 2006

An Outstanding Examination Of The Pinochet Era

Dr. Steven Taylor (Poliblog), an associate professor of political science has outlined some very interesting points concerning former Chilean leader, Augusto Pinochet. And I must say, it is quite informative. Dr. Taylor's area of speciality within the discipline of Poli-Sci, just happens to be Latin America.

The post simply titled, "On Pinochet" is a good solid, fact-based history that features a comparison of Pinochet's regime, with other right-wing governments, in Latin America. However, like many blog posts, there is a fair amount of opinion and conjecture intermingled in (which is okay when it is knowledge-based).

Especially interesting is his take on whether or not, the CIA had an active role in Pinochet's coup. But the main question he tries to answer in all of this is, just why does the left hold this man in such contempt, especially when there have been more brutal dictatorships, throughout the history of this region?

So if Latin American political history interests you, in any measure, I highly recommend reading this piece. Not only is it relevant because of Chile's new president being sworn in, but because the left is now worried that Pinochet will die having never been brought to justice, as in the case of Milosevic.

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