Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was rushed to a military hospital today after he lost consciousness at breakfast, but his son said he was semi-conscious and under observation.
“I wasn't there but my mother said he was eating breakfast when he fainted and lost consciousness for 30 minutes... He's under observation. He's semi-conscious,” Pinochet's younger son, Marco Antonio Pinochet, told reporters outside the hospital in Santiago.
Pinochet, 89, was hospitalized briefly a month ago for a mini-stroke. He has had frequent small strokes linked to his diabetes.
In an effort to deflect human rights charges stemming from his 1973-1990 rule, Pinochet's lawyers have argued their client has mild dementia caused by the strokes.
About 3,000 people died in political violence during the Pinochet regime and tens of thousands were tortured and driven into exile as the military and secret police brutally targeted dissidents and opponents.
Pinochet has been accused of hundreds of human rights abuses and Chile's courts have on several occasions stripped him of immunity from prosecution -- which is a privilege of ex-presidents -- to be charged in rights crimes.
But he has never been convicted and some cases have been thrown out because of court rulings that he is too ill to participate in his defense.
On several occasions Pinochet's medical emergencies have coincided with key court dates.
But his son said on Tuesday that there is no link between the medical crises and the court situation.
“My father these days is not conscious of what's going on with his legal situation. The truth is that he isn't affected by what's going on in the courts. What affects him is his illness,” Marco Antonio Pinochet said.
The Santiago Appeals Court is due to make a ruling this week on whether Pinochet should lose his immunity from prosecution in a case known as Operation Colombo, which was the alleged cover-up by the Chilean government of the deaths of more than 100 leftists two years after the 1973 coup that launched Pinochet to power.