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Chile bids farewell to PinochetAFP/David Lillo
Supporters of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet hold a vigil in front of the Military School in Santiago where his body will lie in state. Riot police clashed with thousands of demonstrators late December 10 celebrating the death of Pinochet, as his body lay in a humble military school chapel.
By Gideon Long
Reuters
SANTIAGO, Chile
Petroleumworld.com 12 11 06Hundreds of Chileans were expected to file past the body of Augusto Pinochet on Monday, a day after the former dictator, whose 17-year rule polarized his South American homeland, died at the age of 91.
Pinochet died on Sunday in a hospital in the capital Santiago. He suffered a heart attack a week ago and, just when he appeared to be recovering, his health suddenly deteriorated, doctors said.News of his death prompted an outpouring of emotion in Chile where, a third of a century after he swept to power in a swift and violent coup, Pinochet's legacy is still hotly disputed.
Some Chileans say the general saved their country from communism while others regarded him as a murderer who should have been brought to trial for human rights abuses.
"Thank you my general, for giving your life for Chile," read one message scribbled on a piece of cardboard and tied to the railings of Santiago's military college, where Pinochet's body lay in state ahead of his funeral on Tuesday.
Graffiti scrawled on the walls of buildings in central Santiago expressed different emotions. "Today, the murderer died," read one message.
In Spain, Isabel Allende, daughter of former President Salvador Allende who died during the 1973 coup, said she would have preferred to see Pinochet live long enough to face trial.
"At this moment my thoughts are with so many of our dead, certainly my father, but all our people who were disappeared, tortured, in the end murdered," she said.
Pinochet had enjoyed the backing of the U.S. government when he came to power and was a friend of former British leader Margaret Thatcher, who said she was "deeply saddened" by his death.
Bachelet will not attend the funeral but her defense minister Vivianne Blanlot will.
Chile's newspapers were dominated by photographs of the dapper, mustachioed general. "Pinochet dies. Deep shock in Chile and the world," was the headline in the biggest selling paper El Mercurio.
The front page of La Nacion newspaper was black, with a sinister photograph of Pinochet peering out from its center
"Pinochet 1915-2006. Never again," ran its headline.
(Additional reporting by Manuel Farias, Monica Vargas, Rodrigo Martinez, Antonio de la Jara and Pav Jordan)
Reuters 12 10 06
Copyright© 2006 Reuters. All Rights Reserved.
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