{"id":47162,"date":"2021-12-17T01:26:12","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T01:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=47162"},"modified":"2021-12-17T01:26:12","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T01:26:12","slug":"lucia-hiriart-widow-of-chilean-dictator-pinochet-dies-at-age-99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=47162","title":{"rendered":"Lucia Hiriart, widow of Chilean dictator Pinochet, dies at age 99"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hiriart aroused strong reactions among Chileans for the perceived influence she had on\u00a0Pinochet, who ruled for 17 years.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lucia Hiriart, the widow of late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet<\/a>, has died at the age of 99, her family said.<\/p>\n

Her death on Thursday came three days before a polarised presidential runoff<\/a> in Chile in which one of the two candidates defended the legacy<\/a> of Pinochet\u2019s military regime.<\/p>\n

Hiriart aroused strong reactions among Chileans<\/a> for the perceived influence she had on Pinochet and for the fortune accumulated by her family. Her estate managed a controversial foundation, which was subjected to several judicial probes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the age of 99 and surrounded by family and loved ones, my beloved grandmother passed away. She leaves an immense mark on our hearts,\u201d her granddaughter, who goes by Karina Pinochet on Twitter, posted on the social network.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe gave her life to the service of Chileans and history will know how to value her great work and her work for our beloved country. Rest in Peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

A person holds a placard reading \u2018Goodbye old lady\u2019 as demonstrators congregate after Hiriart passed away in Santiago, Chile on December 16, 2021 [Pablo Sanhueza\/Reuters]<\/figure>\n

Pinochet, a military general, overthrew the nation\u2019s democratically elected<\/a> leftist government in a bloody 1973 coup. During his 17-year reign, more than 3,000 people were killed or disappeared<\/a> and tens of thousands tortured.<\/p>\n

During the dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s<\/a>, Chile also established much of its current market-oriented economic system, which helped drive decades of growth but also spurred inequality<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a biography by the journalist Alejandra Matus, Hiriart is portrayed as a tough character who often criticised her husband. The two were married from 1943 to 2006, when Pinochet died.<\/p>\n

Chileans will vote for a new president<\/a> on Sunday between progressive Gabriel Boric and far-right Jose Antonio Kast, who has previously defended Pinochet\u2019s legacy and said the former dictator would have voted for him if he were still alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cLucia Hiriart lived with impunity, despite the deep pain and division that she caused our country,\u201d Boric tweeted following her death. He called for \u201cmore respect\u201d for the victims of the dictatorship and for Chileans to work for \u201cjustice and a dignified life\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kast did not immediately comment on Hiriart\u2019s death on the social networking site.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera\u2019s Lucia Newman, reporting from a Kast rally in the capital Santiago on Thursday, the final day of campaigning ahead of the election, said the race is extremely close and \u201cevery single vote will count\u201d on Sunday.<\/p>\n

For many Chileans, Kast \u2013 an ultra conservative and a staunch Catholic who is opposed to abortion and same-sex marriage<\/a> \u2013 represents the past, Newman said.<\/p>\n

But he also is the candidate of law and order, \u201cand that is something that many Chileans are yearning for after two years of social upheaval<\/a>\u201c, she reported. \u201cThat is why a lot of people have turned to him at this moment of polarisation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hiriart aroused strong reactions among Chileans for the perceived influence she had on\u00a0Pinochet, who ruled for 17 years.Lucia Hiriart, the widow of late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, has died at the age of 99, her family said. Her death on Thursday came three days before a polarised presidential runoff in Chile in which one of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}