Chile: Pinochet arrested for mass murder
General Pinochet has been charged in Chile with involvement in over 70 abductions and murders carried out by a military squad known as the "Caravan of Death", after he came to power in a 1973 coup
He returned to Chile from Britain in March this year after 503 days under house arrest. He was finally released from the UK on the grounds that he was not fit enough to stand. Now his lawyers are using the same excuses again.
Let us be clear. As long as the man can breathe and sit up in a dock he is fit to be tried for his crimes against the Chilean workers' movement. At a conservative estimate his regime was responsible for the death of 4000 oppositionists and the torture of tens of thousands of workers and youth.
Millions leapt for joy in October 1998 when it was learned that he was detained by British police on the request of the Spanish chief prosecutor.
It would be far better if he were to face a jury of Chilean workers; we should have no illusions in the ability of courts to bring torturers to justice.
But he should now stand trial and during this process the workers' movement can learn of the collusion between European governments and Pinochet over many years in arms deals and crimes against the people. They can learn too about the great traditions of struggle of the Chilean workers.
The Lessons of the Chile coup in 1973