On September 11 of 1973 the honorable Military Junta took the duty of morally and economically rebuilding the country from the excesses of Communism. The Military Junta, specially for the first month, had to fight terrorists like MIR and MAPU who kept a fight against the forces of law and order. General Agusto Pinochet (Commander of the Armed Forces) and the members of the Junta had been planning to overthrow the Marxist regime of Salvador Allende since late 1972, when Allende made it easier by appointing General Prats to a Cabinet post and by appointing General Agusto Pinochet to Commander of the Armed Forces.

Agusto Pinochet and Salvador Allende; When Gen.Agusto Pinochet had to bend protocol so as not to give honours to Fidel Castro

It is important to mention, that when he took over, he was very popular, and received wide backing not only from non-communist politicians, but from large sectors of the population (from all classes). General Agusto Pinochet, became President of the republic, with title of Captain General (Capitan-general)soon after. The Junta, being harassed constantly by Marxist terrorists (local and from other countries) formed the DINA, or secret police to defend the fatherland from local and international enemies. Once Pinochet heard that Brigadier Contreras (in charge of DINA) was killing and kidnapping people at a time when it was no longer necessary, Pinochet dissolved the whole DINA (a Military court punished Brigadier Contreras and later, under the democratic government, he was put in jail) and later for the sake of national defence, the CNI (Centro Nacional de Intelligencia) was created.

Other members of the Military Junta: General Director of the Police Corps, Cesar Mendoza; Commander in Chief of the Navy, Admiral J.T Merino; Commander in Chief of the Air Force, General Gustavo Leigh.

His government was responsible for one of the fastest growing economies of South America, an average of 8% every year, for nearly 15 years. During his government, Chile grew faster economically than it had for the past 30 years. He gave back land and property (including shops, stores, industry, banks, etc.) to the legal owners which the Allende regime had stolen from them. He brought the famous "Chicago Boys" (Chilean economists who had studied in the University of Chicago) as they became known, and Pinochet is generally responsible for instituting deep economic reforms, favoring free-market enterprise, and opening in a low scale the country's economy, for free competition. He also privatised state owned enterprises, like telecomunications and the State Pension funds, which have led to more efficiency, and better service. Pinochet was a pioneer in free-market reforms, applying these measures, at a time when populist and leftist economic policies were widespread. Chileans for the first time could indulge in a normal lifestyle, and concentrate on building their country rather than concentrating on political bickering. By the late 70's, when Chilean companies were already strong, and Chile economically healthy, the Pinochet government opened up the economy even more, so as to let the national companies compete among themselves and with international ones as well. The result was not what some people (for example the exiled Chilean Communists and Socialists) expected, like bankruptcy of the national industry, but rather, the chilean industry excelled; in fact the companies and industry had to improve their standards (and services offered)in order to compete with international companies. This raised Chilean company's standards to international levels. Since Chile was boicoted in arms sales internationally by Marxist propaganda, Chile developed its own military armament industry. For the first time, it wasn't just the state sector who fomented this belic development, but also the private sector, which until today, continues to export to other nations. Because of this profound economical and social changes, Chile never returned to the high-inflation, high-unemployment, former slow growth, and mixed economic model of the 1960's. In other words, economically and socially Chile came out after Pinochet as a modern export led free-market nation. It also never went back to the disastrous marxist economic model of 1970-1973.

Pinochet had to stay in power for a period longer than 5 years, because he wanted this succes to grow and develop. He also stayed those 15 years in power to make deep social changes, particularly to stop the destructive forces of political squabbling, which is why he outlawed ALL political parties and closed down congress. People in Europe and the U.S don't understand this move, because at least in those countries, parliaments and congresses did some good, like enacting laws, rather than engage in constant political struggles. These reforms, allowed for people to lead normal lives, centering on bussines, not lives lead by political life, which only polarize people. He stayed those 15 years in power, to oversee these changes for the benefit of the fatherland. The Junta members didn't rotate the presidency, like the military in power in Brazil, because the Junta wanted to maintain stability, and it followed the strict Prussian tradition of the Armed Forces. It is regretable that in the 1980's, communist, or leftist-controlled groups like Human Rights, and Amnesty International started a vendetta against Chile; after they had been let into the country, they said marvelous things about Chile, and later when they went back to report what they had seen, they reported nothing but slandering lies of the Pinochet government and lied about the truth of Chile. The U.N, where leftists are listened to and believed, led by the Soviet Union and Cuba, started lobbying against Chile because they claimed, Chile did not respect human rights. Cuba and the U.S.S.R teaching us Chileans about human rights!!! What a joke!(it seems these countries had forgotten about their own problems). Pinochet, out of all the "dictators" that there have been in history, he was the most democratic. Pinochet, in 1980, made a referendum if the Chilean people wanted a new constitution; it was done in such a fair and clean way that even the Communist observers could not object (the 1980 constitution was voted with a big majority). He also made a referendum in 1981 if he should continue as President, and he was backed widely by the population. He was an honest man; when he lost the second referendum in 1988, wether he could continue being president for another 8 year term, he lost, and as he promised, he stepped down. And even later, in 1998, as said in the constitution of 1980, he stepped down as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces after a brilliant 65 year military career. he was a fair and honest man; he never stole a cent from the Chilean people, his government was known for non-corruption. Unlike other dictators, he never built statues of himself, or named cities or avenues after his name (not even on coins and banknotes is he shown). He lead Chile to a smooth transition to Democracy.

Commander in Chief of the Navy, Admiral Jose Toribio Merino; Gen. Agusto Pinochet as Captain General and President of the Republic.

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