CHILE: The Dictator's New Clothes

Pinochet's constitution wins big, but starts small

"Vota si!" The exhortation seemed to come from every billboard, radio and TV set in the country, and despite a muted chorus of dissent, the issue was never really in doubt. Last week, in a national plebiscite held seven years to the day after the violent overthrow of their last freely elected government, Chile's voters roundly endorsed the military regime of General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte. The vote ratified a new constitution that gives Pinochet, 64, at least eight more years as "transitional" President—and suggests the full rebirth of...

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