Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Pinochet testament opened in Chile, no clues on the General’s fortune

The last will of Chile’s former dictator general Augusto Pinochet was opened in a Chilean court today despite of the family’s protest today. According to judicial sources, the testament had no information on the whereabouts of the late dictator’s fortune.

The half page document only expresses Pinochet’s desire to change the administration of his assets from Oscar Aitken to the hands of his lawyer Julia Hormazábal.

The general’s testament was being held in a legal probe into the origins of a fortune estimated at some US$26 million.

Prepared shortly before his death aged 91 in 2006, the will has remained under seal since then flowing family wishes. In an interview to the newspaper “La Segunda” Lucía Pinochet, his oldest daughter, said the order to open the document was part of a "political persecution."

Pinochet ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990 and spent subsequent years under the title of "senator for life". When he died he was under house arrest, but never faced trial on charges of human rights violations and illegal enrichment.