Pinochet's Lost Millions: The UK Connection

[Magda Hassan]

British business interests in Chile go back a long way and are still very intergrated within the Chilean elite. Britain's role was pivotal in the War of the Pacific 1879-1884 between Peru, Bolivia and Chile made British interests very wealthy. It was a war over the lucrative resources of saltpeter, used in explosives and guano, used in fertilisers. Britain bankrolled the Chilean military which easily won the conflict. Britain was rewarded with monopolies and increased its world saltpeter production by 55% and the Chilean treasury increased its wealth by 900%. The Chilean elite of the day saw itself as "the British of South America". Many of the Chilean officers, such as Lynch, were of British descent and had served time in the Opium Wars and other Imperial adverntures. Britain has also had long standing ties in Argentina as well with families like the Vestys large land owners there. The tradition of morning and afternoon tea still persists (onces- elevenses) and Chile is a tea drinking nation unlike most other places in Latina America which have coffee. Bernado Leighton who with his wife was assassinated in Rome by an Operation Condor ambush was from one of the British Chilean families. Not that Thatcher would give a toss about that.