Rebel Recounts Abortive Try on Pinochet’s Life

Two soldiers took part in the attempt to assassinate President Augusto Pinochet on Sept. 7, and the attempt failed because a U.S.-made rocket fired at the president’s car was a dud, according to a rebel leader who claims he led the ambush.

The self-described leader of the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front gave his account in a statement read by two hooded aides to a United Press International reporter at a clandestine news conference Thursday night.

The news conference provided a detailed account of the ambush on an Andean mountain road outside Santiago. A reporter from a banned opposition magazine also attended the news conference.

“We planned to annihilate Gen. Pinochet by destroying his car with two rocket launchers,” the leader’s statement said.

Failure to Fire

The rebel leader said the attempt failed because a U.S.-made rocket that hit the bulletproof back window of Pinochet’s armor-plated Mercedes-Benz did not explode. Another rocket failed to fire, he said.

Five of the president’s bodyguards were killed and 11 others were wounded in the attack. Pinochet, 70, suffered a minor wound in the hand. The president was riding in the car with his 10-year-old grandson, who was unhurt.

Pinochet responded to the attack by decreeing a 90-day state of siege to crack down on left-wing opposition activities. Dozens of arrests have since been made, but no one has yet been charged with the ambush.

The guerrilla leader claimed that an army officer of unspecified rank and a corporal helped train the guerrillas and give final instructions for the attack at a rented house near the ambush site, where the guerrillas hid for five days before the assault.

‘False Information’

A government spokesman described the guerrilla statement as “propaganda aimed at obstructing the investigation of the assassination attempt with false information, particularly regarding the involvement of army personnel in the attack.”

Since it was reactivated by the Chilean Communist Party in December, 1983, the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front has carried out hundreds of bombings on government targets and American banks in a sporadic campaign of urban violence. The presidential ambush was its first large guerrilla attack.

Earlier this year, two conscripts deserted the Chilean army to join the rebel ranks. The desertion was confirmed by the army.

The rebel leader’s statement said that 15 men and 10 women divided into three units blocked the road with a car and trailer as Pinochet’s motorcade returned to the capital from the president’s weekend home in Maipo Canyon, 30 miles southeast of Santiago.

Rifles, Grenades

One escort vehicle was hit by a rocket and exploded in flames as the rebels opened fire with rifles, automatic weapons and hand grenades, the statement said.

A guerrilla emptied a complete submachine-gun magazine at the presidential car as it was turning around and withdrawing up the canyon, it added.

The car was put on display by the government in Santiago, showing the impact of 38 bullets, none of which pierced the armor-plating.

The attackers escaped down the canyon, using red lights and sirens that hoodwinked security reinforcements who were speeding to the ambush site, the guerrilla leader’s statement said.