General and Chilean statesman (Valparaíso, 1915). Commander-in-chief of the armed forces since 1969, it was with the head of the junta which reversed S. Allende in September 1973 and chaired the Council of State of 1973 to 1974. Become president of the Republic in 1974, it founded a military dictatorship and an economic mode of austerity. In March 1990, at the end of free elections, it was replaced with the presidency of the Republic by Patricio Aylwin, but nevertheless preserved the command of the Army until March 1998. It then entered to the Senate to occupy a seat with life there.

On October 16, 1998, it is stopped in London, within the framework of a procedure of extradition initiated by the Spanish justice, which puts it in charge for crimes committed against of the Chilean opponents between 1973 and 1989. British justice authorizes its return to Chile and allows him to be judged by its fellow-citizens. After many legal bounces during which are tackled the question of the immunity of which he enjoys as old chief-in State, the delicate diplomatic context and the complaints of the families of the victims tortured or “disappeared” during the period from exercise from the dictator and defense associations from the human rights, the Court of Appeal of Santiago decides finally, in July 2001, to suspend the continuations against Pinochet. This decision was justified by the mental degradation of the health condition of the former dictator, who would not allow him to ensure his defense normally.