General and President Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (b. Valparaíso, on November 25, 1915–d. Santiago, on December 10, 2006) was a Chilean general who became Chile's head of state (or leader) from September 11, 1973 to March 11, 1990 (President from 1974 to 1990). He came to power as a member of a council of military leaders after the overthrow of the communist government of President Salvador Allende. Pinochet restored the free market, traditional Western values, and prosperity to Chile after tyranny under communism. Leftists hated Pinochet for his conservative policies, to the point of wrongly imprisoning him in England on political charges long after Pinochet had relinquished power. He was ultimately released.[1]

A polling expert, Marta Lagos, observed in 2023 while thousands of migrants seek prosperity and freedom in Chile rather than its Marxist South American neighbors:

“Pinochet, I believe, is the only dictator in Western contemporary history, during this century and the last century, who, 50 years after his coup, is still appreciated by 30 or 40% of a country’s population.[2]

The Military Government managed to break the communists, who were heavily armed and trying to start a civil war; rebuilt an economy destroyed by the previous regime; Pinochet's administration grew the middle class until it became the majority of the country, and eradicated extreme poverty; built a health care system that was affordable, efficient, and available to all; created a private retirement pension account system that gave people free choice while at the same time amassing a huge pool of capital that could be invested in the growth of the country; expunged corruption at all levels, most especially among the oligarchs, whom the government broke on in 1980–82; and created a legal and constitutional framework that has given Chile peace, order and prosperity since.[3][4][5]

As the historian Sebastián Hurtado summarizes it "The United States (CIA) had no direct participation in the coup (itself), neither in its planning nor in its coordination, and I would dare to say that not even in its incitement [...] but it did want Allende to fall (and did actions to promote that with no relation with the successful coup itself)."[6]