Chile’s second attempt to replace the constitution imposed in 1980 by Augusto Pinochet reveals how the ghost of the dictator continues to haunt this country.
“Pinochet is not dead: he is a 250-year-old vampire that feeds on the blood of young hearts and flies over Santiago de Chile to hunt them down.” Thus begins “The Count”, Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín’s satire that ridicules Pinochet and his family, with the stellar appearance of Margaret Thatcher as off-screen narrator and character. The parody, which is the talk of Chile, focuses on impunity and the ubiquitous presence of the dictator in the popular consciousness.
The image of Pinochet as a vampire or spectre is not rare in Chile. In May, a CERC-MORI poll revealed that 36% of respondents believed the 1973 coup that put him in power was justified – the highest percentage since records have been kept. The myth of the Pinochet miracle has been reinvigorated in the midst of current public security problems and an economy that is not taking off, according to the researchers. “Pinochet's shadow 50 years after the coup rises like a spectre that can’t rest in peace,” the report says.
