Augusto Pinochet Quotes

Power must be vested in the armed forces, since only they have the organization and the means to fight Marxism.

To whom are we going to ask to be forgiven? To the one who tried to kill us? To the one who tried to destroy our country? To whom? They are the ones who must ask to be forgiven for everything they did before September 11.

I have lived with my conscience and my own memories for over quarter of a century since the events of 1973.… These are not easy reflections for me. But I am at peace with myself, and with the Chilean people, about what happened. I am clear in my mind that the return to Chile of true democracy, and from that the true freedom to which all individual people are entitled, could not have been achieved without the removal of the Marxist government.

I'm not someone who usually sends out threats. I warn only once. The day they touch one of my men, the rule of law is over.

My library is filled with UN condemnations.

Remark to reporters (September 1991) when asked about the burial of 125 political opponents in 108 graves. Quoted in Chile Under Pinochet (2000) by Mark Ensalaco

We practically wiped this nation clean of Marxists.

I have a sour face. Maybe that's why they say I'm a dictator.

If Senator Kennedy is elected President of the United States, the government of Chile will take the necessary measures.

The nation is trying to make Chile a country of proprietors, not of proletarians.

How very economical! (¡Pero que economía más grande!)

Had I been a dictator, I would still be governing.

The armed forces have acted today solely from the patriotic inspiration of saving the country from the tremendous chaos into which it was being plunged by the Marxist government of Salvador Allende.… The Junta will maintain judicial power and consultantship of the Comptroller. The Chambers will remain in recess until further orders. That is all.

This is not a dictadura [dictatorship/hard rule] but a dictablanda [soft rule].