Iron-fisted autocrat remorseless to the end

The former Chilean dictator remained stubbornly opposed to any efforts to bring him to trial, writes Chris Moncrieff.

THE ruthless Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet, under whose rule thousands of dissidents disappeared, became a hate figure for left-wingers worldwide from the moment he seized power in his country in 1973.

It was a hatred which was to dog him right up to his death, more than 15 years after his downfall in 1990. Even as he died, he was facing multiple charges of kidnapping, torture and murder and accusations of fraud, tax-evasion and drug-trafficking.