Amazon has come under fire for selling T-shirts glorifying the “death flights” of Chile’s military dictatorship in which leftwing opponents of the regime were dropped from helicopters in an attempt to hide their murders. Survivors of the dictatorship expressed outrage that the e-commerce giant could sell T-shirts mocking violent killings. Other T-shirts available on Amazon depicted a body in freefall from a helicopter beneath the caption “Wanna take a ride?” or showed a helicopter with the legend “Pinochet Is My Co-Pilot”. The popularity of Pinochet T-shirts among the US far-right was first highlighted during the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, when the white nationalist Christopher Cantwell wore one in an interview with Vice. Photograph: AmazonLast year, a political storm erupted in Chile when the far-right politician José Antonio Kast – who came fourth in the 2017 presidential elections – was pictured alongside a supporter wearing a T-shirt saying “Pinochet’s Helicopter Tours”.

Source: The Guardian December 05, 2019 23:26 UTC