Chile Ex-Dictator Pinochet Stripped of Immunity by Chile Court

[Say_What]

Will Kissenger be next? Check out the Bush connection to the Riggs bank where Pinochet laundered his blood money.

<clips>

Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, was stripped of presidential immunity by Chile's highest court in a ruling that may lead to charges that he took part in killings during his regime.

Chile's Supreme Court found grounds to suspect the former general's involvement in the plan known as ``Operation Condor,'' in which the region's military regimes coordinated efforts to kill opponents, Alejandro Espinoza, a court spokesman, said by telephone.

The ruling is the second time that the court has stripped Pinochet, 88, of immunity since 2001. That decision led to charges that he covered up murders by a military squad known as the ``Caravan of Death.'' Pinochet avoided trial because the Supreme Court ruled him mentally unfit to face prosecution.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=a8QbgsNckeOM&refer=latin_america

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Bank with close ties to Bush administration engulfed in scandal
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...Riggs, which touts itself as “the most important bank in the most important city in the world,” has been known for decades as the bank of the Washington elite, including politicians, foreign ambassadors and the wealthy. It has held presidential accounts stretching back to the time of the Civil War, and is a prominent fixture in the political and social establishment of the nation’s capital.

...The bank’s prominent embassy and international operations will be shut down in an attempt to bury a scandal that has the potential of becoming much larger. That an institution like Riggs could so quickly disintegrate is an indication of the extent of the corruption that has overtaken American finance and government.

There are three separate activities for which Riggs has come under investigation: (1) its relationship with the Saudi royal family and the potential financing of two of the September 11 hijackers through an account owned by the wife of the Saudi ambassador; (2) its relationship with the corrupt and dictatorial regime of the oil-rich West African country of Equatorial Guinea; and (3) its banking business with the former military dictator of Chile, Augusto Pinochet.

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=2974

[Dover]

1. Looks like this sting is in full swing on all fronts, now.

Waiting....waiting....for them to sweep down on Bushco. Someone will surely talk.

[AP]

3. Mark Thatcher. Pinochet. In 1999 and 2000 I had this feeling that lots

of good shit was going on around the world -- that the evil people were paying the piper. Those feelings ened in December 2000.

Hopefully, we're getting back on track.

[AP]

2. This makes me feel a tiny bit better about Jack Straw.

I was so proud of Straw when he oppened the door for extradition to Spain.

I was so pissed when they let Pinochet go.

I vaguely remember Straw saying at the time that Chile would still be able to open proceedings against him, and that might be the best route to take.

If there was some back-room diplmocy that led to this, then I'd feel a little better.

[Octafish]

4. Operation CONDOR could net Poppy Bush

CONDOR was the name of the continent-wide death squads run by someone high up in the USA. The project employed right wing nutjobs in the various governments to do the dirty work. Then-DCI Bush even helped cover up two murders by TERRORISTS in Washington DC. Some fellah, that Poppy.

Clouds Over George Bush

by Robert Parry
iF magazine, January / February 1999


EXCERPT...

That evening at a dinner at the Jordanian Embassy, Rep. James Abourezk was distraught. Letelier had been a personal friend, and his violent death in the heart of Washington was weighing heavily on Abourezk's mind

In the room, the congressman spotted the gangly, preppy figure of George Bush, director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Abourezk thought he might enlist Bush's help in solving the murder.
Given Letelier's status as an ascerbic critic of Chile's military dictatorship, there already were suspicions that agents of Gen. Augusto Pinochet had planted the bomb.

Abourezk button-holed the CIA director and asked Bush to commit the CIA to the search "to find the bastards who killed" Letelier. Abourezk recalled that Bush looked concerned and responded, "I'll see what I can do. We are not without assets in Chile."

The problem with Bush's promise, however, was that some of the ClA's top "assets" in Chile were implicated in the murder.

CONTINUED...

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/History/CloudsOverGeorgeBush.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. dupe

of http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x778383

[Moderator]

6. Duplicate topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=778383