Chile’s leftist president vows to seek repeal of dictatorship-era amnesty law

Associated Press

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile’s left-wing president President Gabriel Boric has promised to push for the repeal of an iron-clad amnesty that has for decades ruled out most investigation of crimes against humanity committed by Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship. President Boric’s vow Wednesday  — during a speech commemorating the 51st anniversary of Gen. Pinochet’s bloody U.S.-backed putsch that ended Chilean democracy and ushered in a 17-year reign of terror — escalates efforts to achieve a legal reckoning for Pinochet’s repression and bring those accused of human rights abuses to trial in local courts, as has happened in neighboring Argentina and elsewhere in the region.