U.S. government response

The White House had only a brief statement about Pinochet's death:

"Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile represented one of most difficult periods in that nation's history," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said after the death of the Chilean dictator at 91.

"Our thoughts today are with the victims of his reign and their families. We commend the people of Chile for building a society based on freedom, the rule of law, and respect for human rights," he said.

It isn't surprising, of course, that there is no mention of how the U.S. actively encouraged repression. Indeed, the architect of U.S. policy toward Chile and other dictatorships, Henry Kissinger, has been an advisor to President Bush on Iraq. Depressing.