One of the daughters of the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet announced her plans to run for office. Lucia Pinochet Hiriart (image) made her candidacy official earlier this week by running for councilor in “one of the most luxurious neighborhoods of Santiago”.According to Chile’s La Nación, Pinochet Hiriart decided to launch her candidacy at the last minute:
(During the registration of her candidacy) she admitted doubt “until the end.” Yet became convinced when she viewed “so much enthusiasm in her neighborhood.”
“They told me that I should be a candidate for deputy (in the national legislature) but I prefer that my son Rodrigo run next year.” [ed. personal translation]
Approximately twelve thousand people registered to run for the hundreds of local seats around the country. Parties opposed to President Michelle Bachelet’s administration hope to make significant gains in the local elections.
Pinochet Hiriart and four of her children had been briefly arrested in 2007 on charges of corruption but those charges were eventually dropped.
Image- CBS News
Sources (English)- BBC News, Reuters, The Latin Americanist
Sources (Spanish)- La Nación, El Mercurio
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