Chile is again on the front pages of the world, this time for the death of Lucía Hiriart, “the controversial widow of the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet”, as described by international agencies such as Reuters.
This agency puts the focus on the fact that Hiriart died “three days before a polarized presidential election in which one of the candidates defends the legacy of the military regime,” alluding to the standard-bearer of the Christian Social Front, José Antonio Kast.
El País de España also mentions that “the death of Pinochet’s widow could impact la Moneda in these last days of the race.”
“At this time, relatives and close friends of Pinochet’s widow arrive at her home in the Lo Curro area, while in Plaza Italia, the epicenter of the city, protesters opposed to the Pinochet regime begin to approach. Meanwhile, Kast and Boric begin their official campaign closures with two events in Santiago, in which there will probably be references to the news, “says the Spanish media.
El País highlights that she is a “woman who played an important role in the coup d’état” and recalls that “Pinochet himself wrote in his memoirs that it was his wife who pushed him to participate in the democratic breakdown of 1973, against Salvador Allende.”
“Hiriart aroused strong reactions for the influence he had on Pinochet’s decisions and for the fortune accumulated by his family and whose assets managed a controversial foundation, which was subjected to several judicial investigations,” Reuters adds.
BBC Mundo also echoed the news, stressing that “the death of the former Chilean first lady comes almost 15 years after the death of Augusto Pinochet on December 10, 2006.” In addition, he quotes the message of his granddaughter Karina Pinochet on social networks: “At the age of 99 and surrounded by family and loved ones, my beloved grandmother dies. It leaves an immense mark on our hearts.”
The German public media Deutsche Welle recalled that during this year Hiriart had been admitted several times to the Military Hospital, for various health complications, while in Reuters they mention that “her figure was also used by detractors for constant mockery about her longevity and during several relapses in her health in recent years the rumors about her death were reactivated.”
