Augusto Pinochet

Imagine a leader who was in charge of a whole country for a super long time, even longer than your grandparents have been alive! Augusto Pinochet was a general in the army of Chile, a country far away in South America. He became the top leader in 1973 and stayed in charge until 1990.

That's 17 years! He was a very important person in Chile's history, but not everyone remembers his time as leader in a happy way.

Augusto Pinochet was the head of the army. One day, in 1973, he and other army leaders took over the government in a big surprise called a 'coup'. This meant they stopped the president who was already in charge and took control themselves. It was like a big change happening very suddenly, and it meant that regular people didn't get to vote for their leaders for a long time.

When Pinochet was the leader, things were tough for many people. He didn't like people who had different ideas from him, especially those who believed in socialism. Sadly, many people were hurt, some were put in jail, and some even disappeared or were killed. It was a very scary time for anyone who disagreed with him. He also changed the rules of how the country was run.

After many years, the people of Chile got to vote again. They voted that they didn't want Pinochet to be their leader anymore. So, in 1990, he stepped down. But he stayed in the army for a while longer! Later, he faced many problems and was even arrested when he traveled to another country because of the bad things that happened when he was in charge. He died in 2006.