de.The Armed Forces, led by the person who was then the Commander in Chief ofthe Army, General Augusto Pinochet, complied with the Agreement of the Houseof Deputies eighteen days later, on September 11, 1973. Therefore the origin ofthat government is that of any revolutionary one, in which only the use of force wasleft in order to remove a tyrant. When a President elected by a third of the population is removed, and especiallyif his government has caused the creation of armed militias, it is inevitable that acivil war should ensue. In some countries conflicts of this nature have producedhundreds of thousands of victims. For example, the Spanish Civil War caused onemillion deaths. Even the U.S. Civil War, also the product of a Constitution whichwas not clear concerning the right for a state to seceed from the Union , resulted in650,000 deaths.While it is important to grieve for each one of the victims, Chileans andforeigners, who fell in Chile, and condemning each one of the abuses which bothsides committed in the civil war which lasted for years, it is also important to pointout that the Chilean revolution produced a minimal number of deaths whencompared to any historic standard. Even the Report of the Commission whichPresident Aylwin's government, antagonistic to President Pinochet's, set up (theso-called “Rettig Report”), concluded that in the 17 year period around 2,000people died.In addition to the successful economic transformation carried out by hisgovernment, the momentous achievement which meant avoiding a war withArgentina, and the voluntary transition to a democratic government, the historicaltruth demands recognition that President Pinochet led a legitimate rebellion againsttyranny and that during his government the price was a minimal cost in humanlives, the majority the result of the quasi civil war....
