Media backlash to Mary Robinson’s handshake with former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet showed that some commentators were now “ready to exploit the slightest weakness” and the era of uncritical coverage was gone, an official warned in 1995. The Chilean leg of the State visit proved particularly controversial after Mrs Robinson’s encounter with the former dictator. Pinochet, who died in 2006, was the head of Chile’s military government from 1974 until 1990. The visit elicited extensive negative media coverage – about the handshake, as well as the overall itinerary and cost. I was the guest of President Frei [the democratically elected president of Chile] just as Pinochet was.

Source: The Irish Times December 28, 2025 07:32 UTC