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This verified Twitter post shows a BBC "man in the street interview" of a Chilean voter who is allegedly a relative of former dictator Augusto Pinochet.

enter image description here

I've tried to research more but the only other evidence I can find is a mention in a Hollywood Reporter article about their decision to interview Alan Dershowitz after the Ghislaine Maxwell verdict.

Is this a real screenshot from a BBC interview? If so, is Gonzalo a relative of the late dictator or is the name just a coincidence?

Comic Sans Strikephim
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  • Why does this matter? Why is this something worth being skeptical about? – jwodder Jan 05 '22 at 20:27
  • @jwodder If you click the link, it tells you who Pinochet was. – Comic Sans Strikephim Jan 05 '22 at 20:28
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    I don't see how it matters whether someone is related to a dictator deposed thirty years ago. Everyone is allowed to have relatives. – jwodder Jan 05 '22 at 20:29
  • @jwodder Additionally, the subtitle says "Kast voter". Surely even you believe that when interviewing a relative of former leader about the new leader, that just might be something relevant viewers should know? – Comic Sans Strikephim Jan 05 '22 at 20:30
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    @jwodder What matters is that the interview is being presented as though Pinochet is just a random person they found in the street. If he is in fact the son of a right-wing dictator who infamously used to have leftists thrown out of helicopters, then he's not going to be the most unbiased person in the world to talk to about a democratically-elected leftist president, and the BBC (a supposedly unbiased organisation) would be doing a great disservice by obscuring his identity. – F1Krazy Jan 05 '22 at 21:25
  • None of Augusto Pinochet's children are called Gonzalo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc%C3%ADa_Hiriart – DJClayworth Jan 05 '22 at 23:04
  • @DJClayworth Sorry, I must have had a bit of a mental lapse while writing my earlier comment. The claim is that Gustavo is a *relative* of Pinochet's, not necessarily that he's his son. – F1Krazy Jan 05 '22 at 23:24
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    How close a relative does someone have to be for this to be an issue? In your opinion? And are any of the claimants actually stating what his relation is, or are they keeping it comfortably vague? The only other claim I've found says "distant cousin", which makes this a total nothingburger. – DJClayworth Jan 05 '22 at 23:49
  • @DJClayworth I don't think it matters to the question. If you have an answer- and "yes they did, he's he's his father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate", post it as an answer. – Comic Sans Strikephim Jan 06 '22 at 00:11
  • The answer is that there appears to be pretty much no evidence that they are related. Is that the answer you are looking for? – DJClayworth Jan 06 '22 at 14:07
  • @DJClayworth If you're asking if I hoped the answer was "yes, it's his grandson" so I could join the bandwagon, does it matter? I thought I'd be responsible and verify it (didn't think I'd be attacked for doing so). That'd be a good answer in lieu of anything better. A great answer would identify Pinochet's patrilineal descendants and show that none named Gonzalo would be the appropriate age. – Comic Sans Strikephim Jan 06 '22 at 14:25

2 Answers2

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I think we have reached the point where we can ask "Is the person interviewed closely enough related to Augusto Pinochet to be significant?" and give the answer "No".

Reasons:

DJClayworth
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  • Thanks. Not really worth the downvotes and attacks I got but that's my fault for not just using Quora. – Comic Sans Strikephim Jan 07 '22 at 20:37
  • One further addendum to the second reason would be: "Who is criticising the BBC for this?" Was it some random person on Twitter with three followers, or was it Ofcom? – GeoffAtkins Jan 11 '22 at 11:34
  • @GeoffAtkins Verified Twitter account with 18k followers. Definitely enough not to be considered some random person (otherwise the downvoters would have closed this). – Comic Sans Strikephim Jan 11 '22 at 15:03
  • @ComicSansSeraphim - I was talking in general, rather than this specific case and giving examples of extremes. – GeoffAtkins Jan 11 '22 at 15:06
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The footage states Gonzalo is "a distant cousin of the former dictator.

It's unclear how distant he actually is.

Comic Sans Strikephim
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