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Sting

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Sting, pseudonimo di Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner ( Wallsend, 2 ottobre 1951), è un cantautore, polistrumentista e attore britannico, che ha esordito come membro dei Police per poi intraprendere una carriera solista di successo.

Le sue influenze musicali includono rock, jazz, reggae, musica classica, new-age e worldbeat. Come cantante solista e membro dei Police, nella sua carriera Sting ha ricevuto 16 Grammy Awards, 3 BRIT Awards e un Golden Globe. È stato inoltre candidato 4 volte per l' Oscar alla migliore canzone nel 2001, 2002, 2004 e 2017 per i film Le follie dell'imperatore, Kate & Leopold , Ritorno a Cold Mountain e Jim: The James Foley Story. Sting ha venduto in totale oltre 100 milioni di dischi nel mondo tra Police e carriera solista.

Sting è nato a Wallsend, nella periferia a nord di Newcastle upon Tyne in Inghilterra il 2 ottobre 1951, da Audrey Cowell, una parrucchiera, ed Eric, un lattaio. Fin da bambino aspirava alla carriera di musicista. Frequentò la St. Cuthbert Roman Catholic School a Newcastle (la stessa scuola frequentata da Neil Tennant) e successivamente l' università di Warwick a Coventry, ma non si laureò. Dal 1971 al 1974 frequentò un corso di preparazione per insegnanti.

Prima di suonare musica professionalmente, Sumner lavorò come scavatore e insegnante di inglese e, per un solo anno, anche di disegno. Tenne i suoi primi concerti ovunque potesse ottenere un lavoro. Suonò con gruppi jazz, in vari locali dell'epoca, come i Phoenix Jazzmen e Last Exit. Si pensa che abbia ricevuto il suo soprannome mentre suonava con i Jazzmen, perché portava spesso una maglietta a strisce nere e gialle; uno dei componenti della band, Gordon Solomon, notò che sembrava un'ape, e così divenne Stinger ( colui che punge), abbreviato poi in Sting ( pungiglione). C'è chi dice invece che a chiamarlo Sting fossero stati i suoi alunni durante il suo periodo da severo insegnante. Si fa abitualmente chiamare Sting da tutti, compresi i figli; compare come Gordon Matthew Sumner solo sui documenti ufficiali.

Sting sposò l'attrice irlandese Frances Tomelty nel 1976. La coppia ebbe due figli, Joseph (23 novembre 1976) e Fuschia Katherine (17 aprile 1982), e divorziò nel 1982. Poco dopo, Sting cominciò a vivere con l'attrice (e più tardi produttrice) Trudie Styler ma non si sposò fino al 22 agosto 1992. Sting e Trudie hanno avuto quattro figli. Anche se Sting possiede molti terreni nel Regno Unito e negli Stati Uniti, attualmente si considera a casa a Figline Valdarno, in Toscana, dove ha comprato la villa del "Palagio". Nel 2002 acquistò i beni confinanti dell'ex fattoria Serristori, ovvero 200 ettari tra vigne, uliveti, pascoli e boschi, diventando così proprietario di un'intera collina di oltre 300 ettari tra il Chianti e il Valdarno. L'azienda agricola "Tenuta Il Palagio" dà lavoro a 15 dipendenti fissi più gli stagionali. Prima di trasferirsi nel fiorentino ha anche abitato a Pisa, presso la Tenuta di San Rossore, dove peraltro sono nati gli ultimi due figli avuti da Trudie Styler: Eliot Pauline (30 luglio 1990) e Giacomo Luke (17 dicembre 1995). Joseph, il figlio avuto da Tomelty, ed Eliot Pauline, in arte Coco, avuta invece con Styler, stanno seguendo le orme musicali del padre; Joseph è cantante e bassista dei Fiction Plane, mentre Eliot Pauline è leader degli I Blame Coco.

Nel 1992 ricevette una laurea honoris causa in musica dalla Northumbria University, e nel 1998 comparve al 63º posto tra i 100 più grandi artisti di sempre del Rock'n'Roll (emittente televisiva VH1). Nell'estate del 2003 gli venne conferita l'onorificenza civile di " Comandante dell' Ordine dell'Impero Britannico" (Commander of the order of the British Empire, CBE), e sempre lo stesso anno pubblicò la sua autobiografia, Broken Music (relativa alla sua prima infanzia, fino al momento in cui con i The Police arrivò il successo mondiale grazie alla hit ). Altri posti in classifiche di vario rango, nel corso degli anni, lo hanno visto al 77º posto tra i 100 personaggi più influenti al mondo (2011, rivista statunitense TIME), e al 9º posto tra i 10 personaggi musicali inglesi più ricchi del Regno Unito (2011, Sunday Times).
Curiosamente nel 2003 comparve anche all'81º posto della classifica-farsa "I 100 peggiori inglesi che amiamo odiare", lista semiseria elaborata tramite sondaggio dalla TV inglese Channel Four, parodia della classifica " 100 Greatest Britons". Sting è un appassionato di calcio e tifoso del Newcastle, mentre ha sviluppato negli ultimi tempi una simpatia verso la Fiorentina.

Nel 1976, a Londra, Sting, incontrò il batterista statunitense Stewart Copeland e il chitarrista corso Henry Padovani, con i quali formò il gruppo rock/ pop dei The Police. Erano gli anni forti del punk londinese; il trio iniziò a suonare in piccoli pub ed esordì su 45 giri con l'autoprodotto Fall Out/ Nothing Achieving. Presto Padovani venne rimpiazzato (dopo una brevissima parentesi in cui il gruppo era formato da 4 membri) dal più esperto Andy Summers, veterano della scena musicale inglese le cui sonorità, pulite e curatissime, contribuirono a distaccare definitivamente il gruppo dall'originario intendimento punk. I Police debuttarono ufficialmente negli Stati Uniti nel 1978 con .

Il gruppo ebbe svariati album in testa alle classifiche, europee e d'oltreoceano, tra il 1979 e il 1983, anno della loro separazione; i Police hanno vinto sei Grammy Award nei primi anni ottanta, come nel caso della loro canzone più famosa, Every Breath You Take. Il loro ultimo album, Synchronicity, è stato pubblicato nel 1983. Tra la fine degli anni ottanta e la metà degli anni novanta, si parlò di riunione, forzata prima dalla casa discografica, A&M nel 1986, con la ri-registrazione di Don't Stand So Close to Me e De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da (quest'ultima, non ancora ufficialmente realizzata sul mercato discografico) e un breve tour di sole tre date per Amnesty International negli Stati Uniti, e poi nel 1992 nell'occasione delle nozze tra Sting e la Styler, e una performance dal vivo dei tre. Una loro ultima "reunion" avvenne durante l'assegnazione alla Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nel marzo 2003.

Il 2007 si aprì con una grossa novità per i suoi fan: Sting ricompose i leggendari Police per un tour mondiale di poco più di un anno, in occasione del trentennale del primo singolo del terzetto britannico, Roxanne. Il debutto ufficiale avvenne all'apertura della cerimonia di consegna dei 49º Grammy Awards, a Los Angeles.

Il primo album da solista di Sting è The Dream of the Blue Turtles ( 1985); comprende il singolo If You Love Somebody Set Them Free.

Sting scrive " Money for Nothing" dei Dire Straits insieme a Mark Knopfler . Nella parte iniziale è proprio egli a cantare "I want my MTV.". Sting non richiede il credit della canzone, in quanto è volutamente simile alla canzone dei Police: " Don't Stand So Close To Me". ma curiosamente il grande pubblico non notò tale somiglianza.

In un anno, diventa tre volte disco di platino. ...Nothing Like the Sun viene pubblicato nel 1987 e contiene le canzoni We'll Be Together e The Lazarus Heart, dedicate alla madre morta lo stesso anno. Anche questo viene classificato disco di platino ed è riconosciuto come uno dei più importanti album rock degli anni ottanta.

Alla ricerca continua di sperimentazioni e contaminazioni, l'11 luglio 1987 Sting sale a Perugia sul palco dell' Umbria Jazz Festival insieme al pianista Gil Evans e il sassofonista Branford Marsalis; durante questo live vengono eseguiti i brani Roxanne, Tea in the Sahara, Consider Me Gone e la cover del brano di Hendrix Little Wing che Sting aveva già realizzato in studio per lo stesso album ...Nothing Like the Sun. Alcuni brani di questo live sono stati registrati in un CD bootleg. Nello stesso anno, il 1º maggio era invece salito sul palco di un teatro di Amburgo, per reinterpretare assieme ad un'orchestra, a Jack Bruce e all'italiana Gianna Nannini, canzoni popolari di Kurt Weill e Bertolt Brecht. Nel 1988, le sue collaborazioni e i suoi escursionismi musicali, alla ricerca costante di una maggior conoscenza anche attraverso le musiche e le esperienze dei suoi colleghi, non si fermano, e si registrano così altri lavori assieme a Frank Zappa (febbraio) - la canzone Murder By Numbers, che sarà registrata dal vivo durante un concerto del poliedrico cantante statunitense, e incisa sul suo album "Broadway The Hardway", dello stesso anno - a Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman, Youssou N'Dour e Peter Gabriel in un tour mondiale legato ad Amnesty International e durato 1 mese e mezzo circa, a Ziggy Marley - una canzone, "One World (Not Three)", risalente all'epoca dei The Police, ma per l'occasione arrangiata in chiave reggae.

Nel 1989, comincia un tour non più musicale, ma nuovamente di sensibilizzazione dell'opinione pubblica verso un problema globale, e cioè la deforestazione dell' Amazzonia. Per l'occasione, visita alcuni paesi ed è ospite di numerose trasmissioni televisive, assieme al grande capo brasiliano Raoni, al capo sioux Corvo Rosso, e al cineasta belga Jean-Pierre Dutilleux. In Italia, è ospite a fine aprile della trasmissione di Rai 3 "Alla ricerca dell'arca", in cui canta in diretta un'aria italiana del Settecento, "Se Ben Crudele", del veneziano Antonio Caldara. A settembre dello stesso anno, e fino alla fine di dicembre, inizia per lui un periodo di recite della "Opera da 3 soldi" di Bertolt Brecht, musicata da Kurt Weill, dapprima a Washington e poi a Broadway. Il 1990 è un anno di pausa e di introspezione, preliminare e strumentale alla composizione del nuovo album solista dell'anno successivo. Comunque, appare sporadicamente in occasioni pubbliche, per cantare pochi e inediti pezzi. A Montreux ad esempio, il 21 luglio, sale sul palco del Montreux Jazz Festival per accompagnare un nuovo musicista del quale decide di diventare il produttore ( Vinx), e per unirsi all'ex-compagno Andy Summers in un'esibizione in stile rock del classico dei The Police Message in a Bottle. A ottobre invece partecipa assieme a numerosi altri musicisti a un paio di concerti legati ad Amnesty International, in Uruguay e in Cile; nell'occasione, esordisce sia di nuovo al basso sia con la band che lo accompagnerà quasi sempre senza variazioni, in tutto il decennio che sta iniziando e anche oltre.

The Soul Cages, pubblicato nel 1991 dopo quasi quattro anni di silenzio, è dedicato al padre, deceduto durante l'inizio del tour dell'album precedente, e include le canzoni ...All this Time (che raggiunge i vertici delle classifiche europee) The Soul Cages (che vince un Grammy) e Mad About You. Il tour mondiale conseguente parte il 1º febbraio dal teatro di Berkeley, in California (Stati Uniti), mentre il tour europeo di The Soul Cages si apre a Newcastle, alla City Hall, il 21 aprile 1991. La sera prima Sting tiene un concerto acustico, assieme alla sua band dell'epoca (composta da Dominic Miller, David Sancious e Vinnie Colaiuta), al Buddle Arts Centre del quartiere Wallsend, a Newcastle, di fronte a una platea selezionatissima. Il concerto viene trasmesso in diretta dalle stazioni radio locali. Un estratto verrà poi pubblicato su un CD a edizione limitata chiamato Acoustic Live In Newcastle (pubblicato in edizione occidentale e giapponese).

I suoi 40 anni li festeggia il 2 ottobre sul palco dello Hollywood Rose Bowl di Los Angeles con un concerto che viene sia trasmesso da alcune radio americane, sia filmato e realizzato su formato Laserdisc esclusivamente per il mercato giapponese. La seconda parte del tour europeo legato a questo album si apre il 1º novembre 1991 al Palasport di Reggio Calabria. L'album diventa disco di platino nel 1992. In quell'anno, conosce dapprima e collabora poi con il tenore italiano Luciano Pavarotti: i due registreranno "Panis Angelicus", canzone del compositore ottocentesco César Franck, che poi eseguiranno a San Martino del Mugnano, nei pressi di Modena, Italia, il 27 settembre, in occasione di una serata di raccolta fondi pro-beneficenza, organizzata dallo stesso Pavarotti, e con la presenza anche di tanti altri artisti (l'evento prenderà poi il nome successivamente di Pavarotti International).

Nel 1993 registra Ten Summoner's Tales, che diventa tre volte disco di platino in un anno. In luglio dello stesso anno esce il remix del brano Demolition Man, originariamente registrato dai Police in Ghost in the Machine, ma usato nel film Demolition Man con Sandra Bullock.

Sting raggiunge di nuovo notorietà tra il pubblico, nel 1994, quando con Bryan Adams e Rod Stewart canta la canzone All for Love dal film I tre moschettieri. La canzone rimane in cima alla classifica per cinque settimane e diventa disco di platino. In febbraio, vince altri due Grammy Awards e ottiene altre tre candidature all'Academy Awards. Sempre nel 1994 il Berklee College of Music gli consegna la sua seconda laurea ad honorem in maggio. Infine in novembre registra la compilation di successi Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994 che ottiene due dischi di Platino. Il disco contiene due canzoni inedite: When We Dance e This Cowboy Song. Quest'ultima vede anche la collaborazione, per il video e il remix, del cantante Pato Banton.

Nel 1995 canta Mo Ghile Mear (Our Hero) con gli Anúna contenuta nell'album The Long Black Veil dei The Chieftains. L'album Mercury Falling, del 1996, ha un buon esordio, ma esce presto dalle classifiche, in particolare perché vende poche migliaia di copie negli Stati Uniti e perché Sting ha molti conflitti con la casa discografica A&M. Infatti, alla fine del 1996, la A&M viene acquisita dalla Interscope Records, una branca della Universal. Comunque, Mercury Falling raggiunge la Top 40 con due singoli lo stesso anno: You Still Touch Me (giugno) and I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying (dicembre). Nel 1997 canta Waters Of Tyne con Jimmy Nail nell'album Carnival! per la RCA.

Sting ritorna nel settembre del 1999 con l'album Brand New Day, contenente Brand New Day (Top 40) e Desert Rose (Top 10), e che divenne triplo Platino nel gennaio del 2001, dopo aver vinto un Grammy Award per l'album e la title-track nel 2000. Alla cerimonia di premiazione, Sting cantò Desert Rose con Cheb Mami. Per la sua interpretazione, la Arab-American Institute Foundation gli ha assegnato il premio Khalil Gibran Spirit of Humanity. Sempre nel 1999 Muoio per te, versione italiana di Mad About You registrata a Capri insieme all'amico Zucchero Fornaciari nel 1991, viene inclusa nella raccolta Overdose d'amore/The Ballads e, nel 2004, in Zucchero, con il quale l'amicizia si era consolidata da anni, fece poi da padrino di Battesimo a Coco, la figlia di Sting.

Nel 2000 Sting scrive, compone e canta la canzone My Funny Friend And Me (corrispondente all'italiano Un caro amico come te), usata per il film Disney Le follie dell'imperatore.

Nel 2001 Sting si esibì durante il Super Bowl. Aggiunse un altro Grammy alla sua collezione in febbraio. In aprile, durante un atterraggio in Italia, il suo aereo sbandò sulla pista, ma non rimase ferito. La canzone After the Rain has Fallen entrò nella Top 40. La sera dell'11 settembre tenne un concerto nel suo casale sulle colline toscane accompagnato da numerosi musicisti e di fronte a un pubblico di pochi intimi invitati per l'occasione. Il concerto avrebbe anche dovuto essere trasmesso in diretta via Internet, ma la trasmissione venne cancellata dopo l'attacco alle torri gemelle a New York, avvenuto poche ore prima. Venne trasmessa solo , la prima canzone in scaletta, preceduta da un commosso e sommesso annuncio di Sting in omaggio alle vittime dell'attentato. L'intensità di quella serata sarà poi testimoniata dal disco ...All This Time, ma soprattutto dalla più completa e coinvolgente versione video in DVD. In ...All this Time si possono ascoltare versioni riarrangiate in chiave acustica e jazz delle migliori canzoni di Sting come Roxanne e If You Love Somebody Set Them Free, con l'aiuto di musicisti quali Manu Katché, Dominic Miller e Kipper nonché, tra gli altri, Chris Botti, Christian McBride e Jason Rebello. Successivamente, Sting registrò ancora Fragile per la raccolta di fondi America: A Tribute to Heroes.

Il 2002 fu un anno ricco di premi per Sting. Vinse un Golden Globe Award per la canzone Until... tratta dal film Kate & Leopold e ottenne la candidatura per il suo secondo Oscar. In giugno, entrò nella Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Nel 2003 uscì Sacred Love, un album originale con ritmi vivaci ed esperimenti e collaborazioni con l'artista hip-hop Mary J. Blige e il maestro di sitar Anoushka Shankar, figlia del leggendario Ravi Shankar, artista che partecipò a diverse date dell' Human Rights Now! Tour del 1988, accompagnando Bruce Springsteen, tour che vide coinvolto lo stesso Sting. Alcune canzoni come Inside e Dead Man's Rope furono molto ascoltate, ma complessivamente i suoni soffrono di una ripetitività che porta molti a pensare che Sting abbia perso la sua vena migliore.

Non ci sono notizie certe riguardo ad alcune sue dichiarazioni in cui diceva di attraversare una fase di depressione, tuttavia, ha scritto nel 1996 una canzone intitolata Lithium Sunset, che sembra riferirsi al carbonato di litio, una cura per quel disturbo. Nel 2005 ha collaborato alla scrittura del brano Union con i The Black Eyed Peas, contenuta nell'album Monkey Business nella quale presta anche la sua voce. Un'altra significativa collaborazione è stata con Il Duo Russo delle t.A.T.u. ove Suona il Basso nel brano Friend or Foe, dove collaborano Dave Stewart nella scrittura del Brano e Bryan Adams che ha fotografato la copertina del singolo.

Nel 2006 riscopre il liuto e a ottobre pubblica, insieme al liutista bosniaco Edin Karamazov, il disco per voce e liuto Songs from the Labyrinth, con musiche del famoso liutista John Dowland. Segue la tournée che porterà i due a esibirsi, tra l'ottobre del 2006 e il febbraio del 2009, in alcuni posti suggestivi e unici per un concerto di quel tipo, come ad esempio la chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie di Milano, il 13 dicembre 2006. Nello stesso anno, inoltre, Sting ha partecipato all'album Together as One di Gregg Kofi Brown, con il brano Lullaby to an Anxious Child, scritto dallo stesso Sting e interamente prodotto da Lino e Pino Nicolosi.

Il 17 febbraio 2009 Sting è entrato in studio di registrazione per lavorare sul suo nuovo album solista, a sei anni dall'ultima pubblicazione. L'album, intitolato If on a Winter's Night e dedicato a quella che il musicista definisce la sua stagione preferita, l'inverno, è uscito nel mese di ottobre. La raccolta comprende brani di musica tradizionale inglese e alcune composizioni di Sting. Il 13 luglio 2010 esce Symphonicities, un nuovo album dove Sting collabora con la Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Nell'album sono presenti canzoni come Roxanne, Englishman in New York e Next to You, che Sting ha interpretato con il suo ex gruppo The Police, e che ha ri-arrangiato per questo nuovo album. Dopo il successo dell'ultimo tourSymphonicities dove ha toccato i paesi principali (Europa, America, Giappone) in occasione della sua ultima raccolta di successi, nel 2012 parte per un nuovo tour, "Back to The Bass", nel quale riprende a suonare il basso, in occasione dei suoi 25 anni di carriera solista.

Nell'estate 2013 viene pubblicato il singolo " Practical Arrangement", che appartiene all'album The Last Ship annunciato per il 24 settembre, a dieci anni da Sacred Love. Intanto Sting collabora con il tastierista inglese Steve Nieve prestando la voce al singolo You Lie Sweetly. Il 24 settembre esce l'album The Last Ship in tre formati: standard, deluxe e super deluxe.

Il 23 aprile 2014 è ospite del concerto-evento di Zucchero Fornaciari al Madison Square Garden di New York, facente parte dell'Americana Tour, seguito da 5 000 spettatori e caratterizzato dalla partecipazione di ospiti d'eccezione come Elisa, Jovanotti, Fher dei Maná, Chris Botti, Sam Moore per citarne alcuni. Sting ha duettato sulle note di Mad About You e Every Breath You Take.

Nel 2018 Sting ha partecipato al Festival di Sanremo 2018 eseguendo il brano Muoio per te, rendendo omaggio all'amico Zucchero Fornaciari e a Luciano Pavarotti, e Don't Make Me Wait con Shaggy.

Il 27 maggio 2019 si è esibito come ospite internazionale a RadioItaliaLive - Il concerto, concerto gratuito che dal 2012 viene organizzato da Radio Italia, a Milano in Piazza Duomo.

Altre attività

Sting si è talvolta avventurato nella recitazione. Debutta nel cinema con Quadrophenia ( 1979). Tralasciando la sua apparizione come personaggio diabolico in Le due facce del male (Brimstone and Treacle) ( 1982), e nel ruolo semi-romantico di Mick in (con Meryl Streep), uno dei suoi ruoli più famosi è quello di Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen nell'adattamento cinematografico di ( 1984).

Nel 1985 ricopre il ruolo di protagonista nel film La sposa promessa ( The Bride), di Franc Roddam, in cui interpreta il ruolo del dott. Frankenstein che dopo anni di ricerca, dà vita ad una creatura femminile a cui dà il nome di Eva. Nel 1987 interpreta il ruolo dell'amante di Kathleen Turner nel film Giulia e Giulia ( Julia and Julia), di Peter Del Monte. Nel 1988 recita nel ruolo di Finney in Stormy Monday - Lunedì di tempesta di Mike Figgis accanto a Melanie Griffith e Tommy Lee Jones, un film ambientato nella sua Newcastle. Di lui si ricorda, inoltre, un cameo nel film Le avventure del barone di Münchausen (1988).

È anche apparso in televisione (con delle partecipazioni nei e in Ally McBeal) e in teatro ne L'Opera da tre soldi di Bertold Brecht con le musiche di Kurt Weill. Nel 1998 appare nel ruolo di JD nel film Lock & Stock - Pazzi scatenati (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels). Inoltre appare, seppur per brevissimo tempo, nel film d'animazione nel ruolo di sé stesso. Appare nel film commediaZoolander 2 nel ruolo di sé stesso.

Sting è un appassionato giocatore di scacchi. Per raccogliere fondi per la Rainforest Foundation, in giugno del 2000 ha giocato in una simultanea su cinque scacchiere contro Garri Kasparov negli studi televisivi della ABC di Times Square a New York, assieme agli altri componenti della sua band, Dominic Miller, Jason Rebello, Chris Botti, e Russ Irwin. Kasparov vinse tutte le partite in 50 minuti. Il primo ad arrendersi è stato Miller, che ha abbandonato dopo sole nove mosse, mentre Sting è stato l'ultimo, dopo 45 mosse. Alla domanda di come giocasse Sting, Kasparov rispose diplomaticamente definendolo - " a dedicated player" (un giocatore che si impegna). L'evento è stato l'ultimo dei World School Chess Championships, promosso da Kasparov per diffondere l'insegnamento degli scacchi nelle scuole.

Verso la fine degli anni ottanta, Sting sostenne fortemente i movimenti ambientalisti e umanitari, come Amnesty International; infatti contribuisce sia al Band Aid che, in seguito, al mega concerto Live Aid. Con Trudie Styler e un Kayapó indiano come guida in Brasile, fonda la Rainforest Foundation per contribuire a salvare le foreste pluviali.

Il suo appoggio a queste cause continua anche nel 2004 contribuendo agli aiuti nel Sudest asiatico per lo tsunami. Inoltre ha partecipato al Live 8 nel 2005 per promuovere la causa della cancellazione del debito nei paesi africani da parte degli stati più potenti e nel 2007, con i Police, al Live Earth in favore della salvaguardia del pianeta. Sempre nel 2005 è stato tra i principali promotori del movimento ambientalista Hydrogen (f)or Life, per lo sviluppo delle energie pulite e dell' economia dell'idrogeno. Il 19 agosto 2009 partecipa al Concerto per Viareggio, evento organizzato dall'amico e collega Zucchero Fornaciari.

Convinto oppositore della Brexit, ne sponsorizza l'annullamento in favore della permanenza del Regno Unito nell' Unione Europea.

Nel mese di ottobre 2009 Sting ha tenuto un concerto a Tashkent (capitale dell' Uzbekistan), nell'ambito di un festival culturale che vi si organizza con periodicità annuale, suscitando polemiche per il fatto che il festival è considerato espressione del potere dittatoriale di Islom Karimov, la cui figlia, Gulnara Karimova, è promotrice e organizzatrice dell'evento, fornendo propaganda e consenso a uno dei peggiori regimi del pianeta (considerato, secondo i rapporti americani di Human Rights Watch, tra i più truci e repressivi del mondo, tanto da contendersi il primato negativo con i regimi di Corea del Nord e Birmania).

Sting successivamente affermò che aveva (erroneamente) creduto vi fosse un coinvolgimento dell' UNICEF in tali iniziative, nelle quali erano state assegnate borse di studio, specificando in ogni caso che - ben consapevole della criticità del paese - aveva appositamente deciso di partecipare agli eventi a dispetto di ciò, essendo con il passare del tempo arrivato a ritenere che i boicottaggi culturali (rifiuto di esibirsi in determinati contesti, paesi) possano essere inutili e anzi controproducenti, se portano un paese ad essere ulteriormente emarginato e sotto censura rispetto a idee ed arti che - qualora invece diffuse - potrebbero aiutarlo ad emanciparsi.

Oltre a Sting, negli anni, hanno suonato in tale contesto anche Rod Stewart, Eros Ramazzotti, Julio Iglesias ed Ennio Morricone.

1988 - Sting: The Videos (VHS)

1991 - The Soul Cages Concert (VHS)

1993 - Ten Summoner's Tales (VHS)

1994 - The Best of Sting: Fields of Gold 1984-1994 (Doppio Video CD)

1995 - The Living Sea (IMAX)

1995 - Summoner's Travels (VHS)

1997 - The Very Best of Sting & The Police (VHS)

2000 - The Brand New Day Tour: Live from the Universal Amphitheatre (DVD)

2003 - Inside the Songs of Sacred Love (DVD)

2005 - Bring on the Night (Documentazione e frammenti live nel 1985) (DVD)

2005 - Inside out on the Sacred Love Tour (DVD)

2007 - Sergei Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf - A Prokofiev Fantasy

2009 - Caird: Twin Spirits (Royal Opera House, 2007) - Sting/Trudie Styler/Derek Jacobi/Simon Keenlyside/Rebecca Evans/Sergej Krylov, Opus Arte Sting performs Schumann (DVD)

2009 - A Winter's Night... Live from Durham Cathedral (DVD)

2010 - Sting: Englishman in Japan (DVD)

2014 - The Last Ship: Live at the Public Theater (DVD)

2017 - Live at the Olympia Paris (DVD)

Artemis 81 - film TV, regia di Alastair Reid (1981)

Peter and the Wolf: A Prokofiev Fantasy - film TV, regia di Steve Bendelack, Roger Law e Christopher Swann (1993) voce

The Vicar of Dibley - serie TV, episodio 5x3 (2007)

1. ^ (EN) Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Sting , su AllMusic, All Media Network.

2. ^ (EN) Sting Is Worth $300 Million, But Isn't Leaving It To His Kids , Forbes, 13 luglio 2014. URL consultato il 20 luglio 2014.

3. (^ EN) 100 Worst Britons http://www.fact-index.com/1/10/100_worst_britons.html

4. ^ [1], da Radio Musik

5. Graziano Cozzi, ^ Sting: esce oggi l'album "The Last Ship", la tracklist delle tre versioni disponibili Archiviato il 26 settembre 2013 in Internet Archive., da "webl0g.net"

6. ^ Massimo Gaggi, Esplora il significato del termine: Zucchero festa concerto a New York Con Jovanotti, Elisa e StingZucchero festa concerto a New York Con Jovanotti, Elisa e Sting , in Corriere della Sera, 24 aprile 2014. URL consultato il 2 novembre 2015.

7. ^ Lorenza Cerbini, Riduttivo chiamarlo concerto, Zucchero al Madison Square Garden , in AmericaOggi, 25 aprile 2014. URL consultato il 2 novembre 2015.

8. ^ Zucchero travolge New York con Sting, Fiorella Mannoia, Elisa e Jovanotti Successo per la tappa al Madison Square Garden di "Americana Tour , in TGcom24, 24 aprile 2014. URL consultato il 2 novembre 2015.

9. ^ Tiziana Ferrario, Zucchero, concertone al Madison Square Garden - See more at: http://www.rainews.it/dl/rainews/media/zucchero-un-concertone-al-madison-square-garden-61fb9b1a-e502-43f5-b613-fe4c1c1385ea.html , in Rainews. URL consultato il 2 novembre 2015.

10. ^ (EN) Zucchero With Special Guests In Concert , in gettyimages, 23 aprile 2014. URL consultato il 2 novembre 2015.

11. ^ (EN) Genevieve Rafter Keddy, Photo Coverage: Zucchero and Company Play The Theater at Madison Square Garden , in www.broadwayworld.com, 24 aprile 2014. URL consultato il 2 novembre 2015.

12. ^ Zucchero & Friends al Madison Square Garden di New York: il reportage , su livecitymagazine.wordpress.com. URL consultato il 9 novembre 2015 (archiviato dall'url originale il 3 ottobre 2015).

13. ^ Sanremo 2018, Sting canta Zucchero in italiano: 'Muoio per te' , su repubblica.it. URL consultato l'8 febbraio 2018.

14. ^ Sting Battles Chess King Kasparov In Times Square

15. "È indubbio che servano riforme per questa Unione Europea, ma per realizzarle si deve restare a quel tavolo. E non dimentichiamo che l'Europa ci ha dato settant'anni di pace: io sono il primo maschio in famiglia a non aver dovuto sparare contro un altro europeo" - ^ ilgiornale.it "Altro che lo streaming. Faccio rivivere i classici dei Police" (risposta alla domanda "Questa Europa dunque le piace?") 28 maggio 2019, Ferruccio Gattuso

16. (^ EN) dailymail.co.uk "Sting plays concert for daughter of 'boil your enemies' dictator" 21 febbraio 2010

17. (^ EN) theguardian.com "Sting in the pay of tyrannical Uzbekistan regime" 22 febbraio 2010

18. Marco Fraquelli, ^ Al dittatore piace la musica. Ramazzotti in concerto in Uzbekistan: chi sono i preferiti dei potenti Archiviato il 9 dicembre 2012 in Internet Archive., da "Lettera43" - 6 novembre 2011

2017: Sting - From Northern Skies to Fields of Gold, Paul Carr, Reaktion Books, ISBN 978-1-78023-813-5

2015: Sting And The Police - Walking in their Footsteps, Aaron J. West, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 978-0-8108-8490-8

2010: Walking On The Moon - The Untold Story Of The Police, Chris Campion, Aurum Press, ISBN 978-1-84513-575-1

2009: The Words and Music of Sting, Christopher Gable, Praeger, ISBN 978-0-275-99360-3

2007: Lyrics by - Sting, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-1-84737-167-6

2005: Biography Sting and I, James Berryman, John Blake, ISBN 1-84454-107-X

2003: Autobiography Broken Music, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-7434-5081-7

1998: Biography Sting - Demolition Man, Christopher Sandford, Little, Brown and Company, ISBN 0-316-64372-6

Sito ufficiale , su sting.com.

Canale ufficiale , su YouTube.

Sting , su Last.fm, CBS Interactive.

(EN) Sting , su AllMusic, All Media Network.

(EN) Sting / Sting (altra versione) , su MusicBrainz, MetaBrainz Foundation.

(EN) Sting , su genius.com.

(EN) Sting , su AllMovie, All Media Network.

(EN) Sting / Sting (altra versione) / Sting (altra versione) , su Internet Broadway Database, The Broadway League.

(DE, EN) Sting , su filmportal.de.

Speciale Musicale - PRIMA PARTE , su elleradio.it (archiviato dall'url originale l'8 marzo 2009).

Speciale Musicale - SECONDA PARTE , su elleradio.it (archiviato dall'url originale l'8 marzo 2009).

Sting classic style , su corriere.it.

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Sting, pseudonimo di Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner ( Wallsend, 2 ottobre 1951), è un cantautore, polistrumentista e attore britannico, che ha esordito come membro dei Police per poi intraprendere una carriera solista di successo. Le sue influenze musicali includono rock, jazz, reggae, musica classica, new-age e worldbeat.

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Sting - Ellas Danzan Solas Testo | AzTesti | AzTesti

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Testo di Ellas Danzan Solas Sting. Por qué están aquí, danzando solas? Por qué hay tristeza en sus miradas? Hay soldados también Ignoran

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testi ellas danzan solas (cueca solas) in italiano

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testi sting ellas danzan solas (cueca solas)

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TRADUZIONE STING - ELLAS DANZAN SOLAS (CUECA SOLAS) TESTO TRADOTTO

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Traduzione Ellas Danzan Solas (Cueca Solas) testi tradotto in italiano eseguite da Sting nel album di Other Songs. Trova artisti e canzoni simili

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La canzone è una metafora dedicata alle donne cilene che ballano la CUECA, con in mano una fotofrafia dove sono raffigurati i loro cari

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Pianta Di Rabarbaro Del Cile Fotografie Stock - Immagine ...

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Sono passati 44 anni dal colpo dell'esercito di GUSTAVE PINOCHET.

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Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, also , , Spanish: [awˈɣusto pinoˈ(t)ʃe(t)]; 25 November 1915 - 10 December 2006) was a Chilean Army General who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being self-declared President of the Republic by the junta in 1974 and becoming the dictator of Chile, and from 1981 to 1990 as President after a new Constitution, which confirmed him in the office, was approved by a referendum in 1980.

Augusto Pinochet rose through the ranks of the Chilean Army to become General Chief of Staff in early 1972 before being appointed its Commander-in-Chief on 23 August 1973 by President Salvador Allende. On 11 September 1973, Pinochet seized power in Chile in a coup d'état, with the support of the U.S., that toppled Allende's democratically elected Unidad Popular government and ended civilian rule. In December 1974, the ruling military junta appointed Pinochet Supreme Head of the nation by joint decree, although without the support of one of the coup's instigators, Air Force General Gustavo Leigh. After his rise to power, Pinochet persecuted leftists, socialists, and political critics, resulting in the executions of from 1,200 to 3,200 people, the internment of as many as 80,000 people, and the torture of tens of thousands. According to the Chilean government, the number of executions and forced disappearances was 3,095. Operation Condor was founded at the behest of the Pinochet regime in late November 1975, his 60th birthday.

Under the influence of the free market-oriented " Chicago Boys", Pinochet's military government implemented economic liberalization, including currency stabilization, removed tariff protections for local industry, banned trade unions, and privatized social security and hundreds of state-owned enterprises. Some of the government properties were sold below market price to politically connected buyers, including Pinochet's own son-in-law. The regime used censorship of entertainment as a way to reward supporters of the regime and punish opponents. These policies produced high economic growth, but critics state that economic inequality dramatically increased and attribute the devastating effects of the 1982 monetary crisis on the Chilean economy to these policies. For most of the 1990s, Chile was the best-performing economy in Latin America, though the legacy of Pinochet's reforms continues to be in dispute. His fortune grew considerably during his years in power through dozens of bank accounts secretly held abroad and a fortune in real estate. He was later prosecuted for embezzlement, tax fraud, and for possible commissions levied on arms deals.

Pinochet's 17-year rule was given a legal framework through a controversial 1980 plebiscite, which approved a new constitution drafted by a government-appointed commission. In a 1988 plebiscite, 56% voted against Pinochet's continuing as president, which led to democratic elections for the presidency and Congress. After stepping down in 1990, Pinochet continued to serve as Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army until 10 March 1998, when he retired and became a senator-for-life in accordance with his 1980 Constitution. However, Pinochet was arrested under an international arrest warrant on a visit to London on 10 October 1998 in connection with numerous human rights violations. Following a legal battle, he was released on grounds of ill-health and returned to Chile on 3 March 2000. In 2004, Chilean Judge Juan Guzmán Tapia ruled that Pinochet was medically fit to stand trial and placed him under house arrest. By the time of his death on 10 December 2006, about 300 criminal charges were still pending against him in Chile for numerous human rights violations during his 17-year rule, as well as tax evasion and embezzlement during and after his rule. He was also accused of having corruptly amassed at least US$28 million.

Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte was born in Valparaíso on 25 November 1915. He was the son and namesake of Augusto Pinochet Vera (1891-1944), a descendant of an 18th-century French Breton immigrant from Lamballe, and Avelina Ugarte Martínez (1895-1986), a woman of Basque heritage whose family had been in Chile since the 17th century.

Pinochet went to primary and secondary school at the San Rafael Seminary of Valparaíso, the Rafael Ariztía Institute ( Marist Brothers) in Quillota, the French Fathers' School of Valparaíso, and then to the Military School in Santiago, which he entered in 1931. In 1935, after four years studying military geography, he graduated with the rank of alférez ( Second Lieutenant) in the infantry.

In September 1937, Pinochet was assigned to the "Chacabuco" Regiment, in Concepción. Two years later, in 1939, then with the rank of Sub-lieutenant, he moved to the "Maipo" Regiment, garrisoned in Valparaíso. He returned to Infantry School in 1940. On 30 January 1943, Pinochet married Lucía Hiriart Rodríguez, with whom he had five children: Inés Lucía, María Verónica, Jacqueline Marie, Augusto Osvaldo and Marco Antonio.

By late 1945, Pinochet had been assigned to the "Carampangue" Regiment in the northern city of Iquique. Three years later, he entered the Chilean War Academy but had to postpone his studies because, being the youngest officer, he had to carry out a service mission in the coal zone of Lota. In 1948, Pinochet was initiated in the regular Masonic Lodge Victoria n°15 of the Orient of St. Bernard, affiliated to the Grand Lodge of Chile. He received the Scottish Rite degree of companion, but he is thought not to have ever become a Grand Master.

The following year he returned to his studies in the Academy, and after obtaining the title of Officer Chief of Staff, in 1951, he returned to teach at the Military School. At the same time, he worked as a teachers' aide at the War Academy, giving military geography and geopolitics classes. He was also the editor of the institutional magazine Cien Águilas ('One Hundred Eagles'). At the beginning of 1953, with the rank of major, he was sent for two years to the "Rancagua" Regiment in Arica. While there, he was appointed professor of the Chilean War Academy, and returned to Santiago to take up his new position.

In 1956, Pinochet and a group of young officers were chosen to form a military mission to collaborate in the organization of the War Academy of Ecuador in Quito. He remained with the Quito mission for four-and-a-half years, during which time he studied geopolitics, military geography and military intelligence. At the end of 1959 he returned to Chile and was sent to General Headquarters of the 1st Army Division, based in Antofagasta. The following year, he was appointed commander of the "Esmeralda" Regiment. Due to his success in this position, he was appointed Sub-director of the War Academy in 1963. In 1968, he was named Chief of Staff of the 2nd Army Division, based in Santiago, and at the end of that year, he was promoted to brigadier general and Commander in Chief of the 6th Division, garrisoned in Iquique. In his new function, he was also appointed Intendent of the Tarapacá Province.

In January 1971, Pinochet was promoted to division general and was named General Commander of the Santiago Army Garrison. On 8 June 1971, following the assassination of Edmundo Perez Zujovic by left-wing radicals, Allende appointed Pinochet a supreme authority of Santiago province, imposing a military curfew in the process, which was later lifted. However, on 2 December 1971, following a series of peaceful protests against economic policies of Allende, the curfew was re-installed, all protests prohibited, with Pinochet leading the crackdown on anti-Allende protests. At the beginning of 1972, he was appointed General Chief of Staff of the Army. With rising domestic strife in Chile, after General Prats resigned his position, Pinochet was appointed commander-in-chief of the Army on 23 August 1973 by President Salvador Allende just one day after the Chamber of Deputies of Chile approved a resolution asserting that the government was not respecting the Constitution. Less than a month later, the Chilean military deposed Allende.

On 11 September 1973, the combined Chilean Armed Forces (the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Carabineros) overthrew Allende's government in a coup, during which the presidential palace, La Moneda, was shelled and most likely where Allende was said to have committed suicide. While the military claimed that he had committed suicide, controversy surrounded Allende's death, with many claiming that he had been assassinated (such theory was discarded by the Chilean Supreme Court in 2014).

In his memoirs, Pinochet said that he was the leading plotter of the coup and had used his position as commander-in-chief of the Army to coordinate a far-reaching scheme with the other two branches of the military and the national police.[citation needed ] In later years, however, high military officials from the time have said that Pinochet reluctantly became involved only a few days before the coup was scheduled to occur, and followed the lead of the other branches (especially the Navy, under Merino) as they executed the coup.[citation needed ]

The new government rounded up thousands of people and held them in the national stadium, where many were killed. This was followed by brutal repression during Pinochet's rule, during which approximately 3,000 people were killed, while more than 1,000 are still missing.

In the months that followed the coup, the , with authoring work by historian Gonzalo Vial and admiral Patricio Carvajal, published a book titled El Libro Blanco del cambio de gobierno en Chile (commonly known as El Libro Blanco, ' The White Book on the Change of Government in Chile'), in which they said that they were in fact anticipating a self-coup (the alleged , or Plan Z) that Allende's government or its associates were purportedly preparing. United States intelligence agencies believed the plan to be untrue propaganda. Although later discredited and officially recognized as the product of political propaganda, Gonzalo Vial Correa insists in the similarities between the alleged Plan Z and other existing paramilitary plans of the Popular Unity parties in support of its legitimacy. Pinochet was also trained by the School of the Americas (SOA) where it is likely he first encountered the ideals of the coup.

Canadian reporter Jean Charpentier of Télévision de Radio-Canada was the first foreign journalist to interview General Pinochet following the coup. After Allende's final radio address, he shot himself rather than becoming a prisoner.

The Church Report investigating the fallout of the Watergate scandal stated that while the U.S. tacitly supported the Pinochet government after the 1973 coup, there was "no evidence" that the US was directly involved in it. This view has been contradicted by several academics, such as Peter Winn, who writes that the role of the CIA was crucial to the consolidation of power after the coup; the CIA helped fabricate a conspiracy against the Allende government, which Pinochet was then portrayed as preventing. He stated that the coup itself was possible only through a three-year covert operation mounted by the United States. Winn also points out that the US imposed an "invisible blockade" that was designed to disrupt the economy under Allende, and contributed to the destabilization of the regime. Author Peter Kornbluh argues in The Pinochet File that the US was extensively involved and actively "fomented" the 1973 coup. Authors Tim Weiner (Legacy of Ashes) and Christopher Hitchens (The Trial of Henry Kissinger) similarly argue the case that US covert actions actively destabilized Allende's government and set the stage for the 1973 coup. Despite denial of countless American agencies, current declassified documentation has proven the American involvement. Nixon and Kissinger, along with both private and public intelligence agencies were "apprised of, and even enmeshed in, the planning and executing of the military takeover." Along with this, CIA operatives directly involved, such as Jack Devine, have also come out and declared their involvement in the coup. Devine stating "I sent CIA headquarters a special type of top-secret cable known as a CRITIC, which ... goes directly to the highest levels of government."

The US provided material support to the military government after the coup, although criticizing it in public. A document released by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2000, titled "CIA Activities in Chile", revealed that the CIA actively supported the military junta after the overthrow of Allende, and that it made many of Pinochet's officers into paid contacts of the CIA or U.S. military, even though some were known to be involved in human rights abuses. The CIA also maintained contacts in the Chilean DINA intelligence service. DINA led the multinational campaign known as Operation Condor, which amongst other activities carried out assassinations of prominent politicians in various Latin American countries, in Washington, D.C., and in Europe, and kidnapped, tortured and executed activists holding left-wing views, which culminated in the deaths of roughly 60,000 people. The United States provided key organizational, financial and technical assistance to the operation. CIA contact with DINA head Manuel Contreras was established in 1974 soon after the coup, during the Junta period prior to official transfer of Presidential powers to Pinochet; in 1975, the CIA reviewed a warning that keeping Contreras as an asset might threaten human rights in the region. The CIA chose to keep him as an asset, and at one point even paid him. In addition to the CIA's maintaining of assets in DINA beginning soon after the coup, several CIA assets, such as CORU Cuban exile militants Orlando Bosch and Guillermo Novo, collaborated in DINA operations under the Condor Plan in the early years of Pinochet's presidency.

A military junta was established immediately following the coup, made up of General Pinochet representing the Army, Admiral José Toribio Merino representing the Navy, General Gustavo Leigh representing the Air Force, and General César Mendoza representing the Carabineros (national police). As established, the junta exercised both executive and legislative functions of the government, suspended the Constitution and the Congress, imposed strict censorship and curfew, banned all parties and halted all political and perceived subversive activities. This military junta held the executive role until 17 December 1974, after which it remained strictly as a legislative body, the executive powers being transferred to Pinochet with the title of President.

Military dictatorship (1973-1990)

The junta members originally planned that the presidency would be held for a year by the commanders-in-chief of each of the four military branches in turn. However, Pinochet soon consolidated his control, first retaining sole chairmanship of the military junta, and then proclaiming himself "Supreme Chief of the Nation" ( de facto provisional president) on 27 June 1974. He officially changed his title to "President" on 17 December 1974. General Leigh, head of the Air Force, became increasingly opposed to Pinochet's policies and was forced into retirement on 24 July 1978, after contradicting Pinochet on that year's plebiscite (officially called Consulta Nacional, or National Consultation, in response to a UN resolution condemning Pinochet's government). He was replaced by General Fernando Matthei.

Pinochet organized a plebiscite on 11 September 1980 to ratify a new constitution, replacing the 1925 Constitution drafted during Arturo Alessandri's presidency. The new Constitution, partly drafted by Jaime Guzmán, a close adviser to Pinochet who later founded the right-wing party Independent Democratic Union (UDI), gave a lot of power to the President of the Republic-Pinochet. It created some new institutions, such as the Constitutional Tribunal and the controversial National Security Council (COSENA). It also prescribed an 8-year presidential period, and a single-candidate presidential referendum in 1988, where a candidate nominated by the Junta would be approved or rejected for another 8-year period. The new constitution was approved by a margin of 67.04% to 30.19% according to official figures; the opposition, headed by ex-president Eduardo Frei Montalva (who had supported Pinochet's coup), denounced extensive irregularities such as the lack of an electoral register, which facilitated multiple voting, and said that the total number of votes reported to have been cast was very much larger than would be expected from the size of the electorate and turnout in previous elections. Interviews after Pinochet's departure with people involved with the referendum confirmed that fraud had, indeed, been widespread. The Constitution was promulgated on 21 October 1980, taking effect on 11 March 1981. Pinochet was replaced as President of the Junta that day by Admiral Merino. During Pinochet's reign it is estimated that some one million people had been forced to flee the country.

Armed opposition to the Pinochet rule continued in remote parts of the country. In a massive operation spearheaded by Chilean Army para-commandos, some 2,000 security forces troops were deployed in the mountains of Neltume from June to November 1981, where they destroyed two MIR bases, seizing large caches of munitions and killing a number of guerrillas.

According to author Ozren Agnic Krstulovic, weapons including C-4 plastic explosives, RPG-7 and M72 LAW rocket launchers, as well as more than 3,000 M-16 rifles, were smuggled into the country by opponents of the government.

In September 1986, weapons from the same source were used in an unsuccessful assassination attempt against Pinochet by the FPMR. His military bodyguard was taken by surprise, and five members were killed. Pinochet's bulletproof Mercedes Benz vehicle was struck by a rocket, but it failed to explode and Pinochet suffered only minor injuries.

He shut down parliament, suffocated political life, banned trade unions, and made Chile his sultanate. His government disappeared 3,000 opponents, arrested 30,000 (torturing thousands of them) ... Pinochet's name will forever be linked to the Desaparecidos, the Caravan of Death, and the institutionalized torture that took place in the Villa Grimaldi complex.

Almost immediately after the military's seizure of power, the junta banned all the leftist parties that had constituted Allende's UP coalition. All other parties were placed in "indefinite recess" and were later banned outright. The government's violence was directed not only against dissidents but also against their families and other civilians.

The Rettig Report concluded 2,279 persons who disappeared during the military government were killed for political reasons or as a result of political violence. According to the later Valech Report approximately 31,947 were tortured and 1,312 exiled. The exiles were chased all over the world by the intelligence agencies. In Latin America, this was made in the frame of Operation Condor, a cooperation plan between the various intelligence agencies of South American countries, assisted by a United States CIA communication base in Panama. Pinochet believed these operations were necessary in order to "save the country from communism". In 2011, the commission identified an additional 9,800 victims of political repression during Pinochet's rule, increasing the total number of victims to approximately 40,018, including 3,065 killed.

Some political scientists have ascribed the relative bloodiness of the coup to the stability of the existing democratic system, which required extreme action to overturn. Some of the most infamous cases of human rights violation occurred during the early period: in October 1973, at least 70 people were killed throughout the country by the Caravan of Death. Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi, both U.S. journalists, " disappeared", as did Víctor Olea Alegría, a member of the Socialist Party, and many others, in 1973. British priest Michael Woodward, who vanished within 10 days of the coup, was tortured and beaten to death aboard the Chilean naval ship, Esmeralda.

Many other important officials of Allende's government were tracked down by the DINA in the frame of Operation Condor. General Carlos Prats, Pinochet's predecessor and army commander under Allende, who had resigned rather than support the moves against Allende's government, was assassinated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1974. A year later, the murder of 119 opponents abroad was disguised as an internal conflict, the DINA setting up a propaganda campaign to support this idea ( Operation Colombo), a campaign publicised by the leading newspaper in Chile, El Mercurio.

Other victims of Condor included, among hundreds of less famous persons, Juan José Torres, the former President of Bolivia, assassinated in Buenos Aires on 2 June 1976; Carmelo Soria, a UN diplomat working for the CEPAL, assassinated in July 1976; Orlando Letelier, a former Chilean ambassador to the United States and minister in Allende's cabinet, assassinated after his release from internment and exile in Washington, D.C. by a car bomb on 21 September 1976. Documents confirm that Pinochet directly ordered the assassination of Letelier. This led to strained relations with the US and to the extradition of Michael Townley, a US citizen who worked for the DINA and had organized Letelier's assassination. Other targeted victims, who escaped assassination, included Christian-Democrat Bernardo Leighton, who escaped an assassination attempt in Rome in 1975 by the Italian terrorist Stefano delle Chiaie; Carlos Altamirano, the leader of the Chilean Socialist Party, targeted for murder in 1975 by Pinochet, along with Volodia Teitelboim, member of the Communist Party; Pascal Allende, the nephew of Salvador Allende and president of the MIR, who escaped an assassination attempt in Costa Rica in March 1976; US Congressman Edward Koch, who became aware in 2001 of relations between death threats and his denunciation of Operation Condor, etc. Furthermore, according to current investigations, Eduardo Frei Montalva, the Christian Democrat President of Chile from 1964 to 1970, may have been poisoned in 1982 by toxin produced by DINA biochemist Eugenio Berrios.

Protests continued, however, during the 1980s, leading to several scandals. In March 1985, the murder of three Communist Party members led to the resignation of César Mendoza, head of the Carabineros and member of the junta since its formation. During a 1986 protest against Pinochet, 21-year-old American photographer Rodrigo Rojas DeNegri and 18-year-old student Carmen Gloria Quintana were burnt alive, with only Carmen surviving.

In August 1989, Marcelo Barrios Andres, a 21-year-old member of the FPMR (the armed wing of the PCC, created in 1983, which had attempted to assassinate Pinochet on 7 September 1986), was assassinated by a group of military personnel who were supposed to arrest him on orders of Valparaíso's public prosecutor. However, they simply executed him; this case was included in the Rettig Report. Among the killed and disappeared during the military junta were 440 MIR guerrillas. In December 2015, three former DINA agents were sentenced to ten years in prison for the murder of a 29-year-old theology student and activist, German Rodriguez Cortes, in 1978.[citation needed ] That same month 62-year-old Guillermo Reyes Rammsy, a former Chilean soldier during the Pinochet years, was arrested and charged with murder for boasting of participating in 18 executions during a live phone-in to the Chilean radio show "Chacotero Sentimental".

On 2 June 2017, Chilean judge Hernan Cristoso sentenced 106 former Chilean intelligence officials to between 541 days and 20 years in prison for their role in the kidnapping and murder of 16 left-wing activists in 1974 and 1975.

The first country in the world to make that momentous break with the past-away from socialism and extreme state capitalism toward more market-oriented structures and policies-was not Deng Xiaoping's China or Margaret Thatcher's Britain in the late 1970s, Ronald Reagan's United States in 1981, or any other country in Latin America or elsewhere. It was Pinochet's Chile in 1975.

In 1973, the Chilean economy was deeply depressed for several reasons, Allende's government had expropriated many Chilean and foreign businesses, including all copper mines, had controlled prices, inflation reached 606%, income per capita had a contraction of -7.14% in 1973 only while in comparison to 1970 it had contracted by -30%, GDP contracted by -5% in 1973, and also public spending rose from 22.6% to 44.9% between 1970 and 1973 creating a deficit of 25% of the GDP, while some authors like Peter Kornbluh also argue that economic sanctions by the Nixon administration helped to create the economic crisis other authors like Paul Sigmund and Mark Falcoff argue there was no blockade because there was still (just less) aid and credit as well as not a real embargo on trade; the economic and political crisis had the armed forces taking power in September 1973 with Augusto Pinochet, José Toribio Merino Castro, Gustavo Leigh and César Mendoza as their leaders.

By mid-1975, after two years of Keynesianism, the government set forth an economic policy of free-market reforms that attempted to stop inflation and collapse. Pinochet declared that he wanted "to make Chile not a nation of proletarians, but a nation of proprietors". To formulate the economic rescue, the government relied on the so-called Chicago Boys and a text called El ladrillo, and although Chile grew very quickly between 1976 and 1981, it had a large amount of debt which made Chile the most affected nation by the Latin American debt crisis.

In sharp contrast to the privatization done in other areas, Chile's nationalized main copper mines remained in government hands, with the 1980 Constitution later declaring the mines "inalienable". In 1976, Codelco was established to exploit them but new mineral deposits were opened to private investment. In November 1980, the pension system was restructured from a PAYGO-system to a fully funded capitalization system run by private sector pension funds. Healthcare and education were likewise privatized. These mines would ultimately help them economically however they would fall partly in American hands.

Wages decreased by 8%. Family allowances in 1989 were 28% of what they had been in 1970 and the budgets for education, health and housing had dropped by over 20% on average. The junta relied on the middle class, the oligarchy, foreign corporations, and foreign loans to maintain itself. Businesses recovered most of their lost industrial and agricultural holdings, for the junta returned properties to original owners who had lost them during expropriations, and sold other industries expropriated by Allende's Popular Unity government to private buyers. This period saw the expansion of business and widespread speculation.

Financial conglomerates became major beneficiaries of the liberalized economy and the flood of foreign bank loans. Large foreign banks reinstated the credit cycle, as debt obligations, such as resuming payment of principal and interest installments, were honored. International lending organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Inter-American Development Bank lent vast sums anew. Many foreign multinational corporations such as International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT), Dow Chemical, and Firestone, all expropriated by Allende, returned to Chile. Pinochet's policies eventually led to substantial GDP growth, in contrast to the negative growth seen in the early years of his administration, while public debt also was kept high mostly to finance public spending which even after the privatization of services was kept at high rates (though far less than before privatization), for example, in 1991 after one year of post-Pinochet democracy debt was still at 37.4% of the GDP.

The Pinochet government implemented an economic model that had three main objectives: economic liberalization, privatization of state owned companies, and stabilization of inflation. In 1985, the government initiated a second round of privatization, revising previously introduced tariff increases and creating a greater supervisory role for the Central Bank. Pinochet's market liberalizations have continued after his death, led by Patricio Aylwin. According to a 2020 study in the Journal of Economic History, Pinochet sold firms at below-market prices to politically connected buyers.

Critics argue the neoliberal economic policies of the Pinochet regime resulted in widening inequality and deepening poverty as they negatively impacted the wages, benefits and working conditions of Chile's working class. According to Chilean economist Alejandro Foxley, by the end of Pinochet's reign around 44% of Chilean families were living below the poverty line. According to The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein, by the late 1980s, the economy had stabilized and was growing, but around 45% of the population had fallen into poverty while the wealthiest 10% saw their incomes rise by 83%. But others disagree, Chilean economist José Piñera argues that 2 years after Pinochet took power, poverty was still at 50% and the liberal reforms reduced it to 7.8% in 2013 as well as income per capita rising from US$4.000 in 1975 to US$25.000 in 2015, supporters of the reforms also argue that when Pinochet left power in 1990 poverty had fallen to 38% and some claim that since the consolidation of the neoliberal system inequality has been reducing. However, protests erupted in late 2019 in response to growing inequality in the country which can be traced back to the neoliberal policies of the Pinochet dictatorship.

American scholar, Nancy MacLean, wrote that the concentration of money in the hands of the very rich and the perversion of democracy through the privatization of government was always the goal. The architect of this economic model known as "public choice", James M. Buchanan, traveled to Chile and worked closely with the Pinochet regime. MacLean's account, however, has come under scrutiny. Economist Andrew Farrant examined the Chilean constitutional clauses that MacLean attributes to Buchanan, and discovered that they pre-dated his visit. He concludes that "evidence suggests that Buchanan's May 1980 visit did not particularly influence the subsequent drafting of the Chilean Constitution" and "there is no evidence to suggest that Buchanan had any kind of audience with Pinochet or corresponded with the Chilean dictator."

1988 referendum, attempt to stay in power and transition to democracy

According to the transitional provisions of the 1980 Constitution, a referendum was scheduled for 5 October 1988, to vote on a new eight-year presidential term for Pinochet. Confronted with increasing opposition, notably at the international level, Pinochet legalized political parties in 1987 and called for a vote to determine whether or not he would remain in power until 1997. If the "YES" won, Pinochet would have to implement the dispositions of the 1980 Constitution, mainly the call for general elections, while he would himself remain in power as president. If the "NO" won, Pinochet would remain President for another year, and a joint Presidential and legislative election would be held.

Another reason for Pinochet's decision to call for elections was the April 1987 visit of Pope John Paul II to Chile. According to the US Catholic author George Weigel, he held a meeting with Pinochet during which they discussed a return to democracy. John Paul II allegedly pushed Pinochet to accept a democratic opening of his government, and even called for his resignation.

Political advertising was legalized on 5 September 1987, as a necessary element for the campaign for the "NO" to the referendum, which countered the official campaign, which presaged a return to a Popular Unity government in case of a defeat of Pinochet. The Opposition, gathered into the Concertación de Partidos por el NO ("Coalition of Parties for NO"), organized a colorful and cheerful campaign under the slogan La alegría ya viene ("Joy is coming"). It was formed by the Christian Democracy, the Socialist Party and the Radical Party, gathered in the Alianza Democrática (Democratic Alliance). In 1988, several more parties, including the Humanist Party, the Ecologist Party, the Social Democrats, and several Socialist Party splinter groups added their support.

On 5 October 1988, the "NO" option won with 55.99% of the votes, against 44.01% of "YES" votes.In the wake of his electoral defeat, Pinochet convened a meeting of his junta at La Moneda, in which he requested that they give him extraordinary powers to have the military seize the capital. Air Force General Fernando Matthei refused, saying that he would not agree to such a thing under any circumstances, and the rest of the junta followed this stance, on grounds that Pinochet already had his turn and lost. Matthei would later become the first member of the junta to publicly admit that Pinochet had lost the plebiscite. Without any support from the junta, Pinochet was forced to accept the result. The ensuing Constitutional process led to presidential and legislative elections the following year.

The Coalition changed its name to Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (Coalition of Parties for Democracy) and put forward Patricio Aylwin, a Christian Democrat who had opposed Allende, as presidential candidate, and also proposed a list of candidates for the parliamentary elections. The opposition and the Pinochet government made several negotiations to amend the Constitution and agreed to 54 modifications. These amendments changed the way the Constitution would be modified in the future, added restrictions to state of emergency dispositions, the affirmation of political pluralism, and enhanced constitutional rights as well as the democratic principle and participation to political life. In July 1989, a referendum on the proposed changes took place, supported by all the parties except the right-wing Southern Party and the Chilean Socialist Party. The Constitutional changes were approved by 91.25% of the voters.

Thereafter, Aylwin won the December 1989 presidential election with 55% of the votes, against less than 30% for the right-wing candidate, Hernán Büchi, who had been Pinochet's Minister of Finances since 1985 (there was also a third-party candidate, Francisco Javier Errázuriz, a wealthy aristocrat representing the extreme economic right, who garnered the remaining 15%). Pinochet thus left the presidency on 11 March 1990 and transferred power to the new democratically elected president.

The Concertación also won the majority of votes for the Parliament. However, due to the "binomial" representation system included in the constitution, the elected senators did not achieve a complete majority in Parliament, a situation that would last for over 15 years. This forced them to negotiate all law projects with the Alliance for Chile (originally called "Democracy and Progress" and then "Union for Chile"), a center-right coalition involving the Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI) and Renovación Nacional (RN), parties composed mainly of Pinochet's supporters.

Due to the transitional provisions of the constitution, Pinochet remained as Commander-in-Chief of the Army until March 1998. He was then sworn in as a senator-for-life, a privilege granted by the 1980 constitution to former presidents with at least six years in office. His senatorship and consequent immunity from prosecution protected him from legal action. These were possible in Chile only after Pinochet was arrested in 1998 in the United Kingdom, on an extradition request issued by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón. Allegations of abuses had been made numerous times before his arrest, but never acted upon. The extradition attempt was dramatised in the 2006 BBC television docudrama Pinochet in Suburbia, with Pinochet played by Derek Jacobi. Shortly before giving up power, on September 15, 1989, Pinochet prohibited all forms of abortion, previously authorized in case of rape or risk to the life of the mother. Pinochet argued that due to advances in medicine, abortion was "no longer justifiable".

Chile was officially neutral during the Falklands War, but Chile's Westinghouse long-range radar that was deployed in the south of the country gave the British task force early warning of Argentinian air attacks. This allowed British ships and troops in the war zone to take defensive action. Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister at the time of the war, said that the day the radar was taken out of service for overdue maintenance was the day Argentinian fighter-bombers bombed the troopships Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram, leaving 53 dead and many injured. According to Chilean Junta member and former Air Force commander, General Fernando Matthei, Chilean support included military intelligence gathering, radar surveillance, allowing British aircraft to operate with Chilean colours, and facilitating the safe return of British special forces, among other forms of assistance.

In April and May 1982, a squadron of mothballed British Hawker Hunter fighter-bombers departed for Chile, arriving on 22 May and allowing the Chilean Air Force to reform the No. 9 "Las Panteras Negras" Squadron. A further consignment of three frontier surveillance and shipping reconnaissance Canberras left for Chile in October. Some authors have speculated that Argentina might have won the war had the military felt able to employ the elite VIth and VIIIth Mountain Brigades, which remained sitting in the Andes guarding against possible Chilean incursions. Pinochet subsequently visited the UK on more than one occasion. Pinochet's controversial relationship with Thatcher led Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair to mock Thatcher's Conservatives as "the party of Pinochet" in 1999.

Pinochet's regime was responsible for many human rights abuses during its reign, including forced disappearances, murder, and torture of political opponents. According to a government commission report that included testimony from more than 30,000 people, Pinochet's government killed at least 3,197 people and tortured about 29,000. Two-thirds of the cases listed in the report happened in 1973.

Professor Clive Foss, in The Tyrants: 2500 Years of Absolute Power and Corruption (Quercus Publishing 2006), estimates that 1,500-2,000 Chileans were killed or "disappeared" during the Pinochet regime. In October 1979, The New York Times reported that Amnesty International had documented the disappearance of approximately 1,500 Chileans since 1973. Among the killed and disappeared during the military regime were at least 663 Marxist MIR guerrillas. The Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front, however, has stated that only 49 FPMR guerrillas were killed but hundreds detained and tortured. According to a study in Latin American Perspectives, at least 200,000 Chileans (about 2% of Chile's 1973 population) were forced to go into exile. Additionally, hundreds of thousands left the country in the wake of the economic crises that followed the military coup during the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the key individuals who fled because of political persecution were followed in their exile by the DINA secret police, in the framework of Operation Condor, which linked South American military dictatorships together against political opponents.

According to John Dinges, author of The Condor Years (The New Press 2003), documents released in 2015 revealed a CIA report dated 28 April 1978 that showed the agency by then had knowledge that Pinochet ordered the assassination of Orlando Letelier, a leading political opponent living in exile in the United States.

According to Peter Kornbluh in The Pinochet File, "routine sadism was taken to extremes" in the prison camps. The rape of women was common, including sexual torture such as the insertion of rats into genitals and "unnatural acts involving dogs". Detainees were forcibly immersed in vats of urine and excrement, and were occasionally forced to ingest it. Beatings with gun butts, fists and chains were routine; one technique known as "the telephone" involved the torturer slamming "his open hands hard and rhythmically against the ears of the victim", leaving the person deaf. At Villa Grimaldi, prisoners were dragged into the parking lot and had the bones in their legs crushed as they were run over with trucks. Some died from torture; prisoners were beaten with chains and left to die from internal injuries. Following abuse and execution, corpses were interred in secret graves, dropped into rivers or the ocean, or just dumped on urban streets in the night. The body of the renowned Chilean singer, theatre director and academic Víctor Jara was found in a dirty canal "with his hands and face extremely disfigured" and with "forty-four bullet holes".

The practice of murdering political opponents via " death flights", employed by the juntas of Argentina and Chile, has sometimes been the subject of numerous alt-right and other right-wing extremist groups internet memes, with the suggestion that political enemies and leftists be given "free helicopter rides". In 2001, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos informed the nation that during Pinochet's reign, 120 bodies had been tossed from helicopters into "the ocean, the lakes and the rivers of Chile". In a final assessment of his legacy during his funeral, Belisario Velasco, Chile's interior minister at the time remarked that "Pinochet was a classic right-wing dictator who badly violated human rights and who became rich."

Pinochet himself expressed his project in government as a national rebirth inspired by Diego Portales, a figure of the early republic:

[Democracy] will be born again purified from the vices and bad habits that ended up destroying our institutions.... [W]e are inspired in the Portalian spirit which has fused together the nation...

-  Augusto Pinochet, 11 October 1973.

Lawyer Jaime Guzmán participated in the design of important speeches of Pinochet, and provided frequent political and doctrinal advice and consultancy.

Jacobo Timerman has called the Chilean army under Pinochet "the last Prussian army in the world", suggesting a pre-Fascist origin to the model of Pinochet's military government.

Historian Alfredo Jocelyn-Holt has referred to Pinochet's figure as " totemic", and added that it serves as a scapegoat which attracts "all hate". Gabriel Salazar, also a historian, has lamented the lack of an international condemnation of Pinochet in court, since, according to Salazar, that would have damaged his image "irreparably" and that of the judicial system of Chile [for the good] too.

In 1989 indigenous Mapuche groups representing the "Consejos Regionales" bestowed Pinochet the title Ulmen Füta Lonko or Great Authority.

According to Pinochet, who was aware of his ancestry, he was taught the French language by an uncle, although he later forgot most of it. Pinochet admired Napoleon as the greatest among French and had a framed picture of him. Another French ruler he admired was Louis XIV.

Pinochet's reputation led Peruvians in the 1990s to call Alberto Fujimori "chinochet" instead of his ordinary nickname "chino". Chadian dictator Hissène Habré, a Cold War ally of the West, has been characterized as "Africa's Pinochet" for ordering the torture and mass killing of political opponents during his reign, and for the decades long campaign to see him convicted of crimes against humanity. Images of Pinochet have been used in several Internet memes with the caption "Pinochet's Free Helicopter Rides", referencing death flights which saw political dissidents being thrown from helicopters over the Pacific or the Andes during Pinochet's rule. Variations of the internet meme have seen increased popularity with the rise of far-right and alt-right politics.

Pinochet and his government have been characterised as fascist. For example, journalist and author Samuel Chavkin, in his book Storm Over Chile: The Junta Under Siege, repeatedly characterizes both Pinochet himself and the military dictatorship as fascist.

However, he and his government are generally excluded from academic typologies of fascism. Roger Griffin included Pinochet in a group of pseudo-populist despots distinct from fascism, which included the likes of Saddam Hussein, Suharto, and Ferdinand Marcos. He argues that such regimes may be considered populist ultra-nationalism but lack the rhetoric of national rebirth, or palingenesis, necessary to make them conform to the model of palingenetic ultranationalism. Robert Paxton meanwhile compared Pinochet's regime to that of Mobutu Sese Seko in the former Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), arguing that both were merely client states that lacked popular acclaim and the ability to expand. He further argued that had Pinochet attempted to build true fascism, the regime would likely have been toppled or at least been forced to alter its relationship to the United States. Anna Cento Bull also excluded Pinochet from fascism, although she has argued that his regime belongs to a strand of Cold War anti-communism that was happy to accommodate neo-fascist elements within its activity.

World Fascism: a Historical Encyclopedia notes that "Although he was authoritarian and ruled dictatorially, Pinochet's support of neoliberal economic policies and his unwillingness to support national businesses distinguished him from classical fascists."

Historian Gabriel Salazar stated that high visibility of Pinochet and neglect of co-workers was reminiscent of fascist leadership:

It is notable that in all the declarations of Pinochet's men, nobody has mentioned the creators of the new Chilean society and state, I haven't heard anybody mention Jaime Guzmán, Carlos Cáceres Contreras, Hernán Büchi, Sergio de Castro. There is no mention of the true brains, or that the whole of the armed forces were involved in this, in dirty and symbolic tasks. Everything is embodied in Pinochet, it's very curious that figures of the stature of Büchi are immolated before the figure of Pinochet, in what is to me a fascist rite, give everything to the Führer, "I did it, but ultimately it was him".

Pinochet was publicly known as a man with a lack of culture and this image was reinforced by the fact that he also portrayed himself as a common man with simple ideas. He was also known for being reserved, sharing little about his opinions or feelings. Before wresting power from Allende, Pinochet had written two books, Geopolítica (1968) and Campaña de Tarapacá (1972), which established him as a major figure in Chile's military literature. In Geopolítica Pinochet plagiarized his mentor general Gregorio Rodríguez Tascón by using paragraphs from a 1949 conference presentation of Rodríguez without attributing them to him. Rodríguez had previously lectured Pinochet and René Schneider and Carlos Prats in geography and geopolitics. In contrast to the two latter Pinochet was not an outstanding student but his persistence and interest in geopolitics made Rodríguez assume the role as his academic mentor. Rodríguez granted Pinochet a slot as assistant lecturer in geopolitics and in geography. According to Rodríguez, Pinochet would have been particularly impressed by his lectures on The Art of War. Pinochet would later succeed Rodríguez in the geopolitics and geography chair.

Investigative journalist Juan Cristóbal Peña has put forward the thesis that Pinochet felt intellectual envy of Carlos Prats and that the latter's assassination in 1974 was a relief for Pinochet.

During his lifetime, Pinochet amassed more than 55,000 books in his private library, worth an estimated 2,840,000 US dollars (2006-07). The extent of his library was revealed to the public only after a police inspection in January 2006. Pinochet bought books at several small bookshops in the old centre of Santiago and was later supplied with books from abroad by military attachés who bought texts Pinochet was searching after. As ruler of Chile he used discretionary funds for these purchases. The library included many rare books including a first edition (1646) Historica relacion del Reyno de Chile and an original letter of Bernardo O'Higgins. A significant part of the books and documents of the library of José Manuel Balmaceda was found in Pinochet's library in 2006. Pinochet's library contained almost no poetry or fiction works.

Supporters sometimes refer to Pinochet as my general (the military salutation for a general) while opponents call him pinocho (Spanish for " Pinocchio", from the children's story). A common nickname used by both younger generations is el tata (Chilean Spanish equivalent of "the grandpa"). Since the Riggs Bank scandal he has been referred to sarcastically as Daniel Lopez, one of the fake identities he used to deposit money in the bank.

Pinochet was arrested in London on "charges of genocide and terrorism that include murder" in October 1998. The indictment and arrest of Pinochet was the first time that a former government head was arrested on the principle of universal jurisdiction.

After having been placed under house arrest on the grounds of the Wentworth Club in Britain in October 1998 and initiating a judicial and public relations battle, the latter run by Thatcherite political operative Patrick Robertson, he was released in March 2000 on medical grounds by the Home Secretary Jack Straw without facing trial. Straw had overruled a House of Lords decision to extradite Pinochet to face trial in Spain.

Pinochet returned to Chile on 3 March 2000. So as to avoid any potential disruption his flight back to Chile from the UK departed from RAF Waddington, evading those protesting against his release. His first act when landing in Santiago's airport was to triumphantly get up from his wheelchair to the acclaim of his supporters. He was greeted by his successor as head of the Chilean armed forces, General Ricardo Izurieta. President-elect Ricardo Lagos said the retired general's televised arrival had damaged the image of Chile, while thousands demonstrated against him.

In March 2000, Congress approved a constitutional amendment creating the status of "ex-president", which granted its holder immunity from prosecution and a financial allowance; this replaced Pinochet's senatorship-for-life. 111 legislators voted for, and 29 against.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of judge Juan Guzmán's request in August 2000, and Pinochet was indicted on 1 December 2000 for the kidnapping of 75 opponents in the Caravan of Death case. Guzmán advanced the charge of kidnapping as the 75 were officially " disappeared": even though they were all most likely dead, the absence of their corpses made any charge of "homicide" difficult.

In July 2002, the Supreme Court dismissed Pinochet's indictment in the various human rights abuse cases, for medical reasons (vascular dementia). The debate concerned Pinochet's mental faculties, his legal team claiming that he was senile and could not remember, while others (including several physicians) claimed that he was affected only physically but retained all control of his faculties. The same year, the prosecuting attorney Hugo Guttierez, in charge of the Caravan of Death case, declared, "Our country has the degree of justice that the political transition permits us to have."

Pinochet resigned from his senatorial seat shortly after the Supreme Court's July 2002 ruling. In May 2004, the Supreme Court overturned its precedent decision, and ruled that he was capable of standing trial. In arguing their case, the prosecution presented a recent TV interview Pinochet had given to journalist Maria Elvira Salazar for a Miami-based television network, which raised doubts about his alleged mental incapacity. In December 2004, he was charged with several crimes, including the 1974 assassination of General Prats and the Operation Colombo case in which 119 died, and was again placed under house arrest. He suffered a stroke on 18 December 2004. Questioned by his judges in order to know if, as president, he was the direct head of DINA, he answered: "I don't remember, but it's not true. And if it were true, I don't remember."

In January 2005, the Chilean Army accepted institutional responsibility for past human rights abuses. In 2006, Pinochet was indicted for kidnappings and torture at the Villa Grimaldi detention center by judge Alejandro Madrid (Guzmán's successor), as well as for the 1995 assassination of the DINA biochemist Eugenio Berrios, himself involved in the Letelier case. Berrios, who had worked with Michael Townley, had produced sarin gas, anthrax and botulism in the Bacteriological War Army Laboratory for Pinochet; these materials were used against political opponents. The DINA biochemist was also alleged to have created black cocaine, which Pinochet then sold in Europe and the United States. The money for the drug trade was allegedly deposited into Pinochet's bank accounts. Pinochet's son Marco Antonio, who had been accused of participating in the drug trade, in 2006 denied claims of drug trafficking in his father's administration and said that he would sue Manuel Contreras, who had said that Pinochet sold cocaine.

On 25 November 2006, Pinochet marked his 91st birthday by having his wife read a statement he had written to admirers present for his birthday: "I assume the political responsibility for all that has been done." Two days later, he was again sentenced to house arrest for the kidnapping and murder of two bodyguards of Salvador Allende who were arrested the day of the 1973 coup and executed by firing squad during the Caravan of Death.

Pinochet died a few days later, on 10 December 2006, without having been convicted of any of the crimes of which he was accused.

Scandals: secret bank accounts, tax evasion, and arms deal

In 2004, a United States Senate money laundering investigation led by Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Norm Coleman (R-MN)-ordered in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks-uncovered a network of over 125 securities and bank accounts at Riggs Bank and other U.S. financial institutions used by Pinochet and his associates for twenty-five years to secretly move millions of dollars. Though the subcommittee was charged only with investigating compliance of financial institutions under the USA PATRIOT Act, and not the Pinochet regime, Senator Coleman noted:

This is a sad, sordid tale of money laundering involving Pinochet accounts at multiple financial institutions using alias names, offshore accounts, and close associates. As a former General and President of Chile, Pinochet was a well-known human rights violator and violent dictator.

Over several months in 2005, Chilean judge Sergio Muñoz indicted Augusto Pinochet's wife, Lucia Hiriart; four of his children - Marco Antonio, Jacqueline, Veronica and Lucia Pinochet; his personal secretary, Monica Ananias; and his former aide Oscar Aitken on tax evasion and falsification charges stemming from the Riggs Bank investigation. In January 2006, daughter Lucia Pinochet was detained at Washington DC-Dulles airport and subsequently deported while attempting to evade the tax charges in Chile. In January 2007, the Santiago Court of Appeals revoked most of the indictment from Judge Carlos Cerda against the Pinochet family. But Pinochet's five children, his wife and 17 other persons (including two generals, one of his former lawyer and former secretary) were arrested in October 2007 on charges of embezzlement and use of false passports. They are accused of having illegally transferred $27m (£13.2m) to foreign bank accounts during Pinochet's rule.

In September 2005, a joint investigation by The Guardian and revealed that the British arms firm BAE Systems had been identified as paying more than £1m to Pinochet, through a front company in the British Virgin Islands, which BAE has used to channel commission on arms deals. The payments began in 1997 and lasted until 2004.

In 2007, fifteen years of investigation led to the conclusion that the 1992 assassination of DINA Colonel Gerardo Huber was most probably related to various illegal arms traffic carried out, after Pinochet's resignation from power, by military circles very close to himself. Huber had been assassinated a short time before he was due to testify in the case concerning the 1991 illegal export of weapons to the Croatian army. The deal involved 370 tons of weapons, sold to Croatia by Chile on 7 December 1991, when the former country was under a United Nations' embargo because of the support for Croatia war in Yugoslavia. In January 1992, the judge Hernán Correa de la Cerda wanted to hear Gerardo Huber in this case, but the latter may have been silenced to avoid implicating Pinochet in this new case-although the latter was no longer President, he remained at the time Commander-in-Chief of the Army. Pinochet was at the center of this illegal arms trade, receiving money through various offshores and front companies, including the Banco Coutts International in Miami.

Pinochet was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in August 2000 by the Supreme Court, and indicted by judge Juan Guzmán Tapia. Guzmán had ordered in 1999 the arrest of five militarists, including General Pedro Espinoza Bravo of the DINA, for their role in the Caravan of Death following the coup on 11 September. Arguing that the bodies of the " disappeared" were still missing, he made jurisprudence, which had as effect to lift any prescription on the crimes committed by the military. Pinochet's trial continued until his death on 10 December 2006, with an alternation of indictments for specific cases, lifting of immunities by the Supreme Court or to the contrary immunity from prosecution, with his health a main argument for, or against, his prosecution.

The Supreme Court affirmed, in March 2005, Pinochet's immunity concerning the 1974 assassination of General Carlos Prats in Buenos Aires, which had taken place in the frame of Operation Condor. However, he was deemed fit to stand trial for Operation Colombo, during which 119 political opponents were "disappeared" in Argentina. The Chilean justice also lifted his immunity on the Villa Grimaldi case, a detention and torture center in the outskirts of Santiago. Pinochet, who still benefited from a reputation of righteousness from his supporters, lost legitimacy when he was put under house arrest on tax fraud and passport forgery, following the publication by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of a report concerning the Riggs Bank in July 2004. The report was a consequence of investigations on financial funding of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US. The bank controlled between US$4 million and $8 million of the assets of Pinochet, who lived in Santiago in a modest house, dissimulating his wealth. According to the report, Riggs participated in money laundering for Pinochet, setting up offshore shell corporations (referring to Pinochet as only "a former public official"), and hiding his accounts from regulatory agencies. Related to Pinochet's and his family secret bank accounts in United States and in Caribbean islands, this tax fraud filing for an amount of 27 million dollars shocked the conservative sectors who still supported him. Ninety percent of these funds would have been raised between 1990 and 1998, when Pinochet was chief of the Chilean armies, and would essentially have come from weapons traffic (when purchasing French ' Mirage' fighter aircraft in 1994, Dutch ' Leopard 2' tanks, Swiss ' MOWAG' armored vehicles or by illegal sales of weapons to Croatia, during the Balkans war.) His wife, Lucía Hiriart, and his son, Marco Antonio Pinochet, were also sued for complicity. For the fourth time in seven years, Pinochet was indicted by the Chilean justice.

Pinochet suffered a heart attack on the morning of 3 December 2006 and was given the last rites the same day. On 4 December 2006, the Chilean Court of Appeals ordered the suspension of his house arrest. On 10 December 2006 at 13:30 local time (16:30 UTC) he was taken to the intensive care unit. He died of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema, surrounded by family members, at the Military Hospital at 14:15 local time (17:15 UTC).

Massive spontaneous street demonstrations broke out throughout the country upon the news of his death. In Santiago, opponents celebrated his death in Alameda Avenue, while supporters grieved outside the Military Hospital. Pinochet's remains lay in repose on 11 December 2006 at the Military Academy in Las Condes. During this ceremony, Francisco Cuadrado Prats-the grandson of Carlos Prats (a former Commander-in-Chief of the Army in the Allende government who was murdered by Pinochet's secret police)-spat on the coffin, and was quickly surrounded by supporters of Pinochet, who assaulted him. Pinochet's funeral took place the following day at the same venue before a gathering of 60,000 supporters.

In a government decision, he was not granted a state funeral (an honor normally bestowed upon past presidents of Chile) but a military funeral as former commander-in-chief of the Army appointed by Allende. The government also refused to declare an official national day of mourning, but it did authorize flags at military barracks to be flown at half staff, and for the Chilean flag to be draped on Pinochet's coffin. Socialist President Michelle Bachelet, whose father Alberto was temporarily imprisoned and tortured after the 1973 coup and died shortly afterwards from heart complications, said that it would be "a violation of [her] conscience" to attend a state funeral for Pinochet. The only government authority present at the public funeral was the Defense Minister, Vivianne Blanlot.

In Spain, supporters of late dictator Francisco Franco paid homage to Pinochet. Antonio Tejero, who led the failed coup of 1981, attended a memorial service in Madrid. Pinochet's body was cremated in Parque del Mar Cemetery, Concón on 12 December 2006, on his request to "avoid vandalism of his tomb", according to his son Marco Antonio. His ashes were delivered to his family later that day, and are deposited in Los Boldos, Santo Domingo, Valparaiso, Chile; one of his personal residences. The armed forces refused to allow his ashes to be deposited on military property.

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Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, also , , Spanish: [awˈɣusto pinoˈ(t)ʃe(t)]; 25 November 1915 - 10 December 2006) was a Chilean Army General who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being self-declared President of the Republic by the junta in 1974 and becoming the dictator of Chile, and from 1981 to 1990 as President after a new Constitution, which confirmed him in the office, was approved by a referendum in 1980.

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è un'organizazione che difende i diritti umani.

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è un'organizazione che difende i diritti umani.

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Amnesty International was founded in London in 1961, following the publication of the article " The Forgotten Prisoners" in The Observer on 28 May 1961, by the lawyer Peter Benenson. Amnesty draws attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance with international laws and standards.