this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2024
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UK Politics

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (5 children)

Is this straight up misinformation? I've been through 6 articles now and I can't find any other source on this outside of Skwawkbox.

All I can find is stuff about him being a major person behind the Good Friday Agreement and HK + Chagos Islands handovers.

Even the Telegraph and fucking GB News – both of which try to paint Labour/Starmer in the worst light possible – don't say anything about Pinochet. Where does this alleged link come from?

Looking into it, Skwawkbox has been caught lying multiple times, predominantly about the Grenfell Fire. They've also lost a libel case against one Labour MP and breached reporting standards about another. They, and I'm really not joking here, describe themselves as a non-traditional publication aimed at "aunties and uncles on Facebook".

If anybody has any other sources please correct me on this.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Skwawkbox links to this Guardian article, which itself is sourced from a book from the time. It doesn't seem that far-fetched that a renowned negotiator would be involved with a negotiation.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

This article Guardian article, on top of just being an allegation in a book, doesn't accuse Powell of doing what Skwawkbox says he did.

Literally all it says is that the press chief of the 1999 Chilean government (i.e. 10 years and 2 governments after Pinochet stepped down) had meetings with Powell. That's it. Seems normal to me. I imagine the UK government would be chatting to Chile if they arrested David Cameron tomorrow.

Frei and his government, by the way, was anti-Pinochet. During his presidency, he indicted and arrested Pinochet.

I don't know how you could read that and think it's a confirmation that Powell negotiated release for Pinochet.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

It absolutely argues that:

Frei argued to Blair that neither government would benefit if Pinochet were to die in England and that he could be tried in Chilean courts. […] Blair undertook to do what he could within the law provided the exchanges between the two leaders were kept secret. The authors claim that Blair suggested setting up a 'back channel', with two people appointed to liaise between the leaders' private offices.

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