Pinochet Regime Victims to Receive Compensation
Chile’s Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill granting money and other compensation to about 28,000 former political prisoners, most of them victims of torture during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
The legislation grants the victims a monthly pension of $190, less than the minimum monthly wage of $230. President Ricardo Lagos, who is expected to sign the bill into law within days, described the pension as “austere and symbolic.”
The measure, which will cost an estimated $70 million annually, also grants victims and their families access to education, health and housing benefits.
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