Word: heitmann
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...military takeover was the only solution to recover the democratic way for the future," Ambassador Heitmann says. "Close to 90 per cent of the nation supported it." He makes common appeals to democracy and the constitution. "I have many friends who voted for Allende and who agreed with what he promised. But once they found out he was passing laws without going through Congress and was organizing people in the countryside, he lost support. Allende promised a constitutional, pluralistic, democratic society, but he couldn't do it because Congress was against him. He did it through illegalities...
...takeover itself is cast, despite reports of bloody battles in the streets of Santiago, the nation's capital. "The workers didn't fight for Allende. He thought all workers would appear in his support, but they didn't. Only "foreigners" and "extremists who shot against the army" were killed, Heitmann says, in accordance with the state of siege called by the military...
...days of fighting, Heitmann says, "the total figure of those who died--and 370 military men died--was around 800. Many people left the country, or have gone underground." The government executed 80 people, he claims, people who were found on the streets with guns and executed without trial. Then, "after ten days, tranquility came back to the country, and the military set up the government in accordance with the constitution." And at present, he says, "Chile is a constitutional government, with Congress declared in recess, and political parties in recess...
This portrayal of the legal foundations of the military junta becomes the groundwork for Heitmann's defense of his government against charges of widespread political repression and of liberal use of torture at home. "Torture is prohibited under law," the envoy says. "People have been rough with demonstrators, but the military has been punished for it." When confronted with a recent report on an investigation by the Organization of American States charging the Chilean government with "extremely serious violations of human rights," including extensive torture of political prisoners, Heitmann claims that the statements of people interviewed by the team...
Halfway through Heitmann's speech at the Harvard Club, the protesters who had been marching for over half an hour disband, and Heitmann no longer has to compete with their chants. But the ambassador knows that the questions remain: "We expected to get the support of the democratic world. But we have found there's a worldwide effort to create the image of a country where everyone is tortured and put in jail. Chile is an open country--anyone can go there." With the whirlwind of claim and counter-claim, assertion and denial that envelops the military junta ruling Chile...