information:classification, structural:scholar_edition, information:extraction, linguistic:voice_change, structural:expansion
Ideology and public image

Pinochet himself expressed his project in government as a national rebirth inspired by Diego Portales, a figure of the early republic:

will be born again purified from the vices and bad habits that ended up destroying our institutions.... e are inspired in the Portalian spirit which has fused together the nation...

Lawyer Jaime Guzmán participated in the design of important speeches of Pinochet and provided frequent political and doctrinal advice and consultancy.

Jacobo Timerman has called the Chilean army under Pinochet "the last Prussian army in the world", suggesting a pre-Fascist origin to the model of Pinochet's military government.

Historian Alfredo Jocelyn-Holt has referred to Pinochet's figure as " totemic ", and added that it serves as a scapegoat which attracts "all hate". Gabriel Salazar, also a historian, has lamented the lack of an international condemnation of Pinochet in court, since, according to Salazar, that would have damaged his image "irreparably" and that of the judicial system of Chile too.

In 1989, indigenous Mapuche groups representing the "Consejos Regionales" bestowed Pinochet the title Ulmen Füta Lonko or Great Authority.

According to Pinochet, who was aware of his ancestry, he was taught the French language by an uncle, although he later forgot most of it. Pinochet admired Napoleon as the greatest among the French and had a framed picture of him. He also admired Louis XIV.

Pinochet's reputation led Peruvians in the 1990s to call Alberto Fujimori "Chinochet" instead of his ordinary nickname "Chino". Chadian dictator Hissène Habré, a Cold War ally of the West, has been characterized as "Africa's Pinochet" for ordering the torture and mass killing of political opponents during his reign, and for the decades long campaign to see him convicted of crimes against humanity. Images of Pinochet have been used in several Internet memes with the caption "Pinochet's Free Helicopter Rides", referencing death flights which saw political dissidents being thrown from helicopters over the Pacific or the Andes during Pinochet's rule. Variations of the internet meme have seen increased popularity with the rise of far-right and alt-right politics.