Carlos Prats
Encyclopedia
General Carlos Prats González (February 24, 1915 - September 30, 1974) was a Chilean Army
officer, a political figure, minister and Vice President of Chile during President Salvador Allende
's government, and General Augusto Pinochet
's predecessor as commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army. In voluntary Argentinian exile immediately after Pinochet's September 11, 1973 coup, he was killed with a car bomb
in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1974, by the DINA.
In 1954, he was promoted to Major, and sent to military mission in the US, as adjunt military attaché, until 1958. That year he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and returned as teacher to the War Academy. In 1961, he became commander of the Artillery Regiment Nº3 “Chorrillos”, and in 1963, became commander of the Regiment Nº1 “Tacna”.
In 1964 he was promoted to Colonel and sent as military attaché to Argentina
. He returned to Chile in 1967 as commander of the III Army Division. In 1968 is promoted to Brigade General and Chief of the General Staff. The following year is promoted to Division General, and after a brilliant career, was named Commander-in-chief on October 26, 1970, by President Eduardo Frei Montalva
, following the assassination of his predecessor, General René Schneider
a few days earlier, on October 22. His nomination allayed all fears of a possible military intervention because of the election of Salvador Allende
to the presidency.
. With time, he became the strongest supporter of President Allende, and was a member of his cabinet several times, even becoming his vice-President in 1972 (Chilean Constitutional custom does not have a standing vice-presidential office; rather, the sitting Minister of the Interior, as the senior cabinet minister, is temporarily designated "vice president" only during the President's absence during formal State visits abroad).
Carlos Prats' supposed allegiance to the Schneider Doctrine was seriously undermined when he agreed to participate as a cabinet member in the Allende government. Many moderate, apolitical Army officers who supported Prats and believed in the Schneider Doctrine interpreted his joining the Allende government as a tacit endorsement of it, and thus a betrayal of General Schneider's staunch non-intereference position. At the same time, among anti-Allende Army cadres, Prats allowed fellow officers to infer that, if the Allende government allowed the economic and political situation to become too chaotic, Prats might be convinced of the need for a coup d'état.
This strategy of trying to please both sides resulted in Prats losing the trust of all sides. Non-interventionist, apolitical officers believed Prats had become a willing tool of Allende. Anti-Allende officers believed Prats would not stand in the way of Allende using the Army to carry out his socialist policies of forced nationalization
and economic redistribution. The sole quality of Prats keeping him in good standing both within the Army and among the people was the sense that he was a measured, sober career officer who would not be pressured by the mob, nor forced into doing anything unconstitutional or rash.
seriously damaged General Prats' public reputation. Prats lost the respect of the Army officer corps, who regardless of their political beliefs, considered such a serious, potentially fatal loss of control as unprofessional and dangerous.
.
General Pinochet took over the position on August 23, 1973. General Prats' retirement removed the last real obstacle for a military coup, which in fact took place only three weeks later, on September 11, 1973. Immediately after the coup, on September 15, 1973, General Prats voluntarily exiled himself and his wife to Argentina
.
On September 30, 1974, in Buenos Aires
, Prats and his wife Sofia were killed, outside of their own apartment, by a radio-controlled car bomb
, throwing debris up to the ninth story balcony of the building across the street. Later, it was found out that the assassination was planned by members of the Chilean secret police DINA, and carried out by the American expatriate and Chilean citizen Michael Townley
, who would also carry out the Orlando Letelier
assassination in 1976.
The actual motivation for these assassinations may never be known. However, following the September 11th coup of the year before, Carlos Prats had not only exiled himself, he had also made statements both public and private against the Junta and Pinochet. He had also signaled his willingness to assume the role of Commander in Chief of the Armed forces in exile, or even the role of President for a shadow government
or government-in-exile.
Viewed in this context, the assassination of both Prats and later Letelier makes a great deal of sense, as both men deliberately set themselves up as potential presidents-in-waiting, and thus potential challenges to the legitimacy of the ruling Junta, and later of Pinochet himself.
, the judge investigating this case, Alejandro Solis, definitively relaxed Pinochet
on this particular case, after the Chilean Supreme court rejected in January 2005 a demand to lift the ex-dictator's immunity. The direction of DINA, including chief Manuel Contreras
, ex-chief of operation and retired general Raúl Iturriaga
, his brother Roger Iturriaga, and ex-brigadiers Pedro Espinoza and Jose Zara, are accused in Chile of this assassination.
In Argentina, DINA's civil agent Enrique Arancibia was sentenced to life imprisonment in General Prat's case. SIDE
agent Juan Martín Siga Correa has been detained by Argentine justice in 2000 on the orders of federal judge María Servini de Cubria. Martín Siga Correa was DINA's main connection with the SIDE and with Intelligence Battalion 601, and was also a member of the Tacuara Nationalist Movement.
In 2003, federal judge María Servini de Cubria asked Chile for the extradition of Mariana Callejas, who was Michael Townley
's wife, and Cristoph Willikie Fleent, a retired colonel from the Chilean army - all three of them are accused of this crime. But Chilean judge Nibaldo Segura from the Appeals court, refused in July 2005, arguing that they had already been prosecuted in Chile.
It has been claimed that Italian terrorist Stefano Delle Chiaie
was involved in the murder of General Carlos Prats. Along with fellow extremist Vincenzo Vinciguerra
, Delle Chiaie testified in Rome
in December 1995 before judge Servini that Enrique Arancibia Clavel (a former Chilean secret police agent prosecuted for crimes against humanity in 2004 and Michael Townley
were directly involved in this assassination.)
Chilean Army
The Chilean Army is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 45,000-person army is organized into seven divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade....
officer, a political figure, minister and Vice President of Chile during President Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
's government, and General Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
's predecessor as commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army. In voluntary Argentinian exile immediately after Pinochet's September 11, 1973 coup, he was killed with a car bomb
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1974, by the DINA.
Background
He was born in Talcahuano in 1915, the oldest son of Carlos Prats Risopatrón and Hilda González Suárez. He joined the Army in 1931, and graduated top of his class. In 1935, he was commissioned as an artillery officer. Three years later he became a Sub Lieutenant. Soon he returned to the Military Academy, this time as a teacher. He taught there and at the War Academy until 1954. In 1944, he married Sofia Cuthbert Chiarleoni, with whom he had three daughters.In 1954, he was promoted to Major, and sent to military mission in the US, as adjunt military attaché, until 1958. That year he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and returned as teacher to the War Academy. In 1961, he became commander of the Artillery Regiment Nº3 “Chorrillos”, and in 1963, became commander of the Regiment Nº1 “Tacna”.
In 1964 he was promoted to Colonel and sent as military attaché to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. He returned to Chile in 1967 as commander of the III Army Division. In 1968 is promoted to Brigade General and Chief of the General Staff. The following year is promoted to Division General, and after a brilliant career, was named Commander-in-chief on October 26, 1970, by President Eduardo Frei Montalva
Eduardo Frei Montalva
Eduardo Frei Montalva was a Chilean political leader of world stature. In his long political career, he was Minister of Public Works, president of his Christian Democratic Party, senator, President of the Senate, and president of Chile from 1964 to 1970...
, following the assassination of his predecessor, General René Schneider
René Schneider
General René Schneider Chereau was the commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army at the time of the 1970 Chilean presidential election, when he was assassinated during a botched kidnapping attempt. His murder virtually assured Salvador Allende's eventual overthrow and death in a coup three years later...
a few days earlier, on October 22. His nomination allayed all fears of a possible military intervention because of the election of Salvador Allende
Chilean presidential election, 1970
A presidential election was held in Chile on 4 September 1970. A narrow plurality was secured by Salvador Allende, the candidate of the Popular Unity coalition of leftist parties...
to the presidency.
Public role during the Allende years
General Prats became the head of the "constitutionalists", all members of the armed forces who lined themselves behind the Schneider DoctrineSchneider Doctrine
Schneider Doctrine was a political doctrine originally espoused by Chilean General René Schneider, which allowed the election of Salvador Allende as President of Chile, and was the main ideological obstacle to a military coup d'état against him.-Background:...
. With time, he became the strongest supporter of President Allende, and was a member of his cabinet several times, even becoming his vice-President in 1972 (Chilean Constitutional custom does not have a standing vice-presidential office; rather, the sitting Minister of the Interior, as the senior cabinet minister, is temporarily designated "vice president" only during the President's absence during formal State visits abroad).
Carlos Prats' supposed allegiance to the Schneider Doctrine was seriously undermined when he agreed to participate as a cabinet member in the Allende government. Many moderate, apolitical Army officers who supported Prats and believed in the Schneider Doctrine interpreted his joining the Allende government as a tacit endorsement of it, and thus a betrayal of General Schneider's staunch non-intereference position. At the same time, among anti-Allende Army cadres, Prats allowed fellow officers to infer that, if the Allende government allowed the economic and political situation to become too chaotic, Prats might be convinced of the need for a coup d'état.
This strategy of trying to please both sides resulted in Prats losing the trust of all sides. Non-interventionist, apolitical officers believed Prats had become a willing tool of Allende. Anti-Allende officers believed Prats would not stand in the way of Allende using the Army to carry out his socialist policies of forced nationalization
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
and economic redistribution. The sole quality of Prats keeping him in good standing both within the Army and among the people was the sense that he was a measured, sober career officer who would not be pressured by the mob, nor forced into doing anything unconstitutional or rash.
Alejandrina Cox incident
The Alejandrina Cox incidentAlejandrina Cox incident
The Alejandrina Cox incident was a traffic incident involving General Carlos Prats, then Minister of the Interior for President Salvador Allende, that altered the course of Chilean history by helping launch to the Chilean coup of 1973.-Incident:...
seriously damaged General Prats' public reputation. Prats lost the respect of the Army officer corps, who regardless of their political beliefs, considered such a serious, potentially fatal loss of control as unprofessional and dangerous.
Tanquetazo
On June 29, 1973, he was the key player in putting down a minor coup attempt known as the Tanquetazo. However, many observers at the time and subsequently believed that this poorly organized and ultimately failed putsch would not have happened had Carlos Prats not lost his self-control in the Alejandrina Cox incident. The fact that this putsch was so poorly organized only highlighted the fact of how easily a column of Army tanks had rolled up to the very gates of the presidential palace. Though the Tanquetazo was an abject failure, it showed that tactically, it would be a relatively simple thing to stage a full-blown coup.Resignation
Shortly afterwards another very public incident occurred. This one involved the wives of his Generals and officers who, on August 22, 1973, staged a rally in front of his home and called him a coward for not restoring civil order in Chile. That event made clear to him that his wavring policies had no support among his fellow officers. This time General Prats resigned his position both as Interior minister and as Commander in Chief of the Army the very next day. With only two other generals in favor of a constitutional solution to the political crisis, Generals Mario Sepúlveda Squella and Guillermo Pickering (both in key troop command positions), also presented their resignations in a show of support. His replacement as Commander in Chief of the Army was his second in command and an officer thought to be loyal to Allende, General Augusto PinochetAugusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
.
General Pinochet took over the position on August 23, 1973. General Prats' retirement removed the last real obstacle for a military coup, which in fact took place only three weeks later, on September 11, 1973. Immediately after the coup, on September 15, 1973, General Prats voluntarily exiled himself and his wife to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
Death
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Prats and his wife Sofia were killed, outside of their own apartment, by a radio-controlled car bomb
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
, throwing debris up to the ninth story balcony of the building across the street. Later, it was found out that the assassination was planned by members of the Chilean secret police DINA, and carried out by the American expatriate and Chilean citizen Michael Townley
Michael Townley
Michael Vernon Townley is a US citizen currently living in the United States under terms of the federal witness protection program. A Central Intelligence Agency agent and operative of the Chilean secret police, DINA, Townley confessed, was convicted, and served 62 months in prison in the United...
, who would also carry out the Orlando Letelier
Orlando Letelier
Marcos Orlando Letelier del Solar was a Chilean economist, Socialist politician and diplomat during the presidency of Socialist President Salvador Allende...
assassination in 1976.
The actual motivation for these assassinations may never be known. However, following the September 11th coup of the year before, Carlos Prats had not only exiled himself, he had also made statements both public and private against the Junta and Pinochet. He had also signaled his willingness to assume the role of Commander in Chief of the Armed forces in exile, or even the role of President for a shadow government
Government in exile
A government in exile is a political group that claims to be a country's legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usually operate under the assumption that they will one day return to their...
or government-in-exile.
Viewed in this context, the assassination of both Prats and later Letelier makes a great deal of sense, as both men deliberately set themselves up as potential presidents-in-waiting, and thus potential challenges to the legitimacy of the ruling Junta, and later of Pinochet himself.
Legal aftermath and investigations
In ChileChile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, the judge investigating this case, Alejandro Solis, definitively relaxed Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
on this particular case, after the Chilean Supreme court rejected in January 2005 a demand to lift the ex-dictator's immunity. The direction of DINA, including chief Manuel Contreras
Manuel Contreras
Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda is a Chilean military officer and the former head of DINA, Chile's secret police during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. As head of DINA he was the most powerful and feared man in the country, after Pinochet...
, ex-chief of operation and retired general Raúl Iturriaga
Raúl Iturriaga
Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann is a Chilean Army general and a former deputy director of the DINA, the Chilean secret police under the Augusto Pinochet military dictatorship...
, his brother Roger Iturriaga, and ex-brigadiers Pedro Espinoza and Jose Zara, are accused in Chile of this assassination.
In Argentina, DINA's civil agent Enrique Arancibia was sentenced to life imprisonment in General Prat's case. SIDE
Side
Side was an ancient Greek city in Anatolia, in the region of Pamphylia, in what is now Antalya province, on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey...
agent Juan Martín Siga Correa has been detained by Argentine justice in 2000 on the orders of federal judge María Servini de Cubria. Martín Siga Correa was DINA's main connection with the SIDE and with Intelligence Battalion 601, and was also a member of the Tacuara Nationalist Movement.
In 2003, federal judge María Servini de Cubria asked Chile for the extradition of Mariana Callejas, who was Michael Townley
Michael Townley
Michael Vernon Townley is a US citizen currently living in the United States under terms of the federal witness protection program. A Central Intelligence Agency agent and operative of the Chilean secret police, DINA, Townley confessed, was convicted, and served 62 months in prison in the United...
's wife, and Cristoph Willikie Fleent, a retired colonel from the Chilean army - all three of them are accused of this crime. But Chilean judge Nibaldo Segura from the Appeals court, refused in July 2005, arguing that they had already been prosecuted in Chile.
It has been claimed that Italian terrorist Stefano Delle Chiaie
Stefano Delle Chiaie
Stefano Delle Chiaie is a neofascist Italian activist . He went on to become a wanted man worldwide, suspect to be involved in Italy's strategy of tension, but was acquitted. He was a friend of Licio Gelli, grandmaster of P2 masonic lodge...
was involved in the murder of General Carlos Prats. Along with fellow extremist Vincenzo Vinciguerra
Vincenzo Vinciguerra
Vincenzo Vinciguerra is an Italian neo-fascist activist, a former member of the Avanguardia Nazionale and Ordine Nuovo . He is currently serving a life-sentence for the murder of three policemen by a car bomb in Peteano in 1972...
, Delle Chiaie testified in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in December 1995 before judge Servini that Enrique Arancibia Clavel (a former Chilean secret police agent prosecuted for crimes against humanity in 2004 and Michael Townley
Michael Townley
Michael Vernon Townley is a US citizen currently living in the United States under terms of the federal witness protection program. A Central Intelligence Agency agent and operative of the Chilean secret police, DINA, Townley confessed, was convicted, and served 62 months in prison in the United...
were directly involved in this assassination.)
See also
- 1970 Chilean presidential election
- Schneider DoctrineSchneider DoctrineSchneider Doctrine was a political doctrine originally espoused by Chilean General René Schneider, which allowed the election of Salvador Allende as President of Chile, and was the main ideological obstacle to a military coup d'état against him.-Background:...
- Salvador AllendeSalvador AllendeSalvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
- Chile under AllendeChile under AllendeSalvador Allende was the president of Chile from 1970 until 1973, and head of the Popular Unity government; he was the first Marxist ever to be elected to the national presidency of a democracy...
- TanquetazoTanquetazoEl Tanquetazo or El Tancazo of 29 June 1973 are the names used to refer to the failed coup attempt in Chile led by Army Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Souper against the government of Socialist president Salvador Allende. It is called such because the rebelling officers primarily used tanks...
- Alejandrina Cox incidentAlejandrina Cox incidentThe Alejandrina Cox incident was a traffic incident involving General Carlos Prats, then Minister of the Interior for President Salvador Allende, that altered the course of Chilean history by helping launch to the Chilean coup of 1973.-Incident:...
- Chilean coup of 1973Chilean coup of 1973The 1973 Chilean coup d'état was a watershed event of the Cold War and the history of Chile. Following an extended period of political unrest between the conservative-dominated Congress of Chile and the socialist-leaning President Salvador Allende, discontent culminated in the latter's downfall in...
- Operation CondorOperation CondorOperation Condor , was a campaign of political repression involving assassination and intelligence operations officially implemented in 1975 by the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America...