Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (; ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general, politician and US-backed dictator of Chile between 1973 and 1990 who remained the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army until 1998 and was also President of the Government Junta of Chile between 1973 and 1981.
Pinochet assumed power in Chile following a United States-backed coup d'état on 11 September 1973 that overthrew the democratically elected socialist Unidad Popular government of President Salvador Allende and ended civilian rule. Several academics – including Peter Winn, Peter Kornbluh and Tim Weiner – have stated that the support of the United States was crucial to the coup and the consolidation of power afterward. Pinochet had been promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the Army by Allende on 23 August 1973, having been its General Chief of Staff since early 1972. In December 1974, the ruling military junta appointed Pinochet Supreme Head of the nation by joint decree, although without the support of one of the coup's instigators, Air Force General Gustavo Leigh. Following his rise to power, Pinochet persecuted leftists, socialists, and political critics, resulting in the executions of from 1,200 to 3,200 people, the internment of as many as 80,000 people and the torture of tens of thousands. According to the Chilean government, the number of executions and forced disappearances was 3,095.
José María Pino Suárez
Pino Suárez was born on 8 September 1869 in Tenosique, Tabasco, to Alfredo Pino Camára and Josefa Baltasara Suárez. He was a direct descendant of war hero Pedro Sainz de Baranda who famously led the capitulation of the fort of San Juan de Ulúa in 1825, thus conquering the last Spanish foothold in Mexican territory, and effectively ending the Mexican War of Independence. Other members of the distinguished Baranda family include two of Sainz de Baranda's sons, Joaquín Baranda and Pedro Baranda who were Pino Suárez's uncles. The former was a gifted historian, politician and writer who held the Governorship of Campeche on several occasions, as well as being appointed Minister of Justice by President Manuel González, a position he would hold for nearly twenty years thereafter. The latter, General Pedro Baranda would play a crucial role in the existence of the states of Campeche and Morelos, distinguishing himself as the first Governor of the latter. During the War of Reform, General Pedro Barranda supported President Benito Juárez. Another uncle of José Maria Pino Suárez was Joaquín Demetrio Casasús, a prominent jurist, economist, politician and writer. The grandparents of Pino Suárez were (paternally) Tomás Pino and Perfecta Salvatiel. On the maternal branch, his grandparents were José Eusebio Suárez and Baltasara Abreu. At a young adolescent age, Pino Suárez left Tenosique for Yucatán, where he studied at the Catholic School of San Idelfonso, which followed a programme closely linked to the French Lycée. On 12 September 1894, Pino concluded his legal studies at the Escuela Nacional de Jurisprudencia de Yucatán.