The Fear Is Over

Abstract

This chapter ends the narrative of the Letelier case with the 1995 decision by the Chilean Supreme Court to ratify the guilty verdict of the lower court in the case of Manuel Contreras and Pedro Espinoza. But several challenges remain in the quest for justice, not the least of which is the resistance of Augusto Pinochet, who remains the head of the Army and threatens the return of the dictatorship if military members are targeted for human rights violations. Espinoza goes to prison willingly, but Contreras resists both legally and physically. By the end of 1995, however, the pressure for him to accept his sentence becomes overwhelming and he submits. The Letelier family expresses relief and joy.