SANTIAGO – Chile braced yesterday for clashes between supporters and opponents of the late former dictator Augusto Pinochet as his ex-comrades prepared to bid him farewell in a military ceremony.
Untried for the 3 000 people killed or missing during his 1973-1990 dictatorship, Pinochet remains a polarising figure even in death. President Michelle Bachelet, who was tortured along with her mother during the military regime, denied the late dictator a state funeral.Her father Alberto, an air force general loyal to deposed president Salvador Allende, was tortured to death in 1975.Pinochet died on Sunday, one week after a heart attack and two weeks after his 91st birthday.News of his death led to rioting that left 43 police officers injured and 99 people arrested.The army has not said if Pinochet’s funeral will be private or open to the public, though they are expecting a large number of sympathisers at the Military School, where his open casket is on display at the chapel.After the military ceremony Pinochet’s remains are scheduled to be flown by helicopter to a cemetery for cremation, and his ashes handed over to his wife and five children.Bachelet had to explain Monday why she denied the late dictator a state funeral.Bachelet, like the deposed Allende who died during the violent coup, is a member of the Socialist Party.Anti-Pinochet protesters have called for a march in front of La Moneda, the presidential palace, at the same time that Pinochet’s funeral is scheduled.At three other locations around Santiago on Monday thousands of friends and relatives of 3 000 people killed or missing during the Pinochet years marched in silence to make sure the dictatorship’s macabre legacy was not forgotten.At the Military School some five thousand mourners lined up in the summer heat for their turn to see the casket and bid Pinochet a final farewell.Nampa-AFPPresident Michelle Bachelet, who was tortured along with her mother during the military regime, denied the late dictator a state funeral.Her father Alberto, an air force general loyal to deposed president Salvador Allende, was tortured to death in 1975.Pinochet died on Sunday, one week after a heart attack and two weeks after his 91st birthday.News of his death led to rioting that left 43 police officers injured and 99 people arrested.The army has not said if Pinochet’s funeral will be private or open to the public, though they are expecting a large number of sympathisers at the Military School, where his open casket is on display at the chapel.After the military ceremony Pinochet’s remains are scheduled to be flown by helicopter to a cemetery for cremation, and his ashes handed over to his wife and five children.Bachelet had to explain Monday why she denied the late dictator a state funeral.Bachelet, like the deposed Allende who died during the violent coup, is a member of the Socialist Party.Anti-Pinochet protesters have called for a march in front of La Moneda, the presidential palace, at the same time that Pinochet’s funeral is scheduled.At three other locations around Santiago on Monday thousands of friends and relatives of 3 000 people killed or missing during the Pinochet years marched in silence to make sure the dictatorship’s macabre legacy was not forgotten.At the Military School some five thousand mourners lined up in the summer heat for their turn to see the casket and bid Pinochet a final farewell.Nampa-AFP
