Prats González, Carlos (1915–1974)

Carlos Prats González (February 2, 1915–September 30, 1974) was a Chilean general and government minister under Salvador Allende. Prats, who attended Chile's Escuela Militar and Academia de Guerra plus the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, enjoyed a successful military career, becoming a general in 1968. Appointed commander of the army following the 1970 assassination of General René Schneider, Prats also served as President Salvador Allende's minister of interior, the second most important political post in Chile, as well as holding other ministerial portfolios in a vain attempt to shore up the Allende government.

Prats backed Allende initially because the constitution required it and increasingly because he supported some of the Unidad Popular's political and economic goals. Unfortunately, the more the public perceived him as an Allende supporter, the more he lost the support of numerous civilians and also of his fellow army officers. Indeed, the general became the target of public insults and some vulgar displays of disdain. Eventually the pressure became too great: In August 1973, Prats resigned his commission, but not before recommending that Allende appoint General Augusto Pinochet as his replacement.

Following the 1973 coup, Prats and his wife fled to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fearing that he might become the leader of an anti-junta cabal, Pinochet authorized his murder. Operatives of the Chilean secret police, including Michael Townley, an American citizen, used a car bomb to kill Prats and his wife. Their death illustrated the length to which the junta would go to remain in power. Prats remains a symbol of loyalty to Chile's constitution.

See alsoAllende Gossens, Salvador; Chile: The Twentieth Century; Pinochet Ugarte, Augusto.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Prats González, Carlos. Memorias Testimonio de un soldado. Santiago, Chile: Pehuén, 1985.

Additional Bibliography

Carrió, Alejandro. Los crímenes del Cóndor: El caso Prats y la trama de conspiraciones entre los servicios de inteligencia del Cono Sur. Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, 2005.

Haslam, Jonathan. The Nixon Administration and the Death of Allende's Chile: A Case of Assisted Suicide. London: Verson, 2005.

                                  William F. Sater