“Britain’s biggest arms firm, BAE Systems, has been identified on US banking records as secretly paying more than …£1m to General Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator. A Guardian investigation has revealed some of the money was listed as being paid through a front company in the British Virgin Islands, which BAE has used to channel commission on arms deals.”
The Guardian report presents more questions than answers. Was the Blair government aware? Why is BAE still paying Pinochet money so many years after his reign of terror? Could this affect the current legal woes facing the former dictator? Are there similar deals with other dictators?