José Antonio Kast, Chilean conservative candidate, lowered the tone of his commemoration of the 53rd anniversary of the September 11, 1973 coup d'état, in a context where his party, the Republican Party, demands pardons for military personnel imprisoned after the 2019 social uprising.
The article narrates the history of Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, son of a White Russian who fled his country after the civil war and settled in Chile. Krassnoff was born in 1946 in Austrian territory controlled by the allies and became a military officer loyal to Augusto Pinochet.
During the military dictatorship (1973-1990), Krassnoff joined the dreaded intelligence services and participated in interrogations, torture, and disappearance of political prisoners at the Villa Grimaldi detention center. He was sentenced to more than 1,000 years in prison for multiple trials related to human rights violations.
From Punta Peuco prison, Krassnoff, now 80 years old, became an almost solitary voice of vindication of the coup d'état, communicating through letters. The article suggests that his case represents the persistent tensions between the memory of the dictatorship and the current demands for forgiveness for convicted military personnel.
