Violence marks Pinochet’s passing

SANTIAGO – Riot police clashed with thousands of demonstrators in the midst of celebrations in the Chilean capital after the death on Sunday of former dictator Augusto Pinochet.

The body of the retired general lay at a humble military school chapel after the left-wing government denied him a state funeral. The ex-strongman, who evaded years of efforts to bring him to justice in hundreds of cases of murder and torture arising from his 1973-1990 regime, died aged 91 in Santiago’s Military Hospital Sunday, a week after suffering a heart attack.His passing sparked carnival-like celebrations as thousands of anti-Pinochet demonstrators flocked into the streets of the capital.But the mood soured when riot police used water cannon and tear gas to block their progress down the capital’s main Alameda avenue toward the presidential palace.Some demonstrators fired back with stones and bottles.Interior Ministry Under Secretary Felipe Harboe said police were forced to intervene when hooded groups infiltrated a crowd of some 5 000 anti-Pinochet protesters who until then had been demonstrating peacefully.Six police officers were injured and an unspecified number of demonstrators were arrested, officials said.Violence also erupted at demonstrations in the capital’s suburbs and the city of Valparaiso.The government of President Michelle Bachelet – who, together with her parents, was detained during the Pinochet regime – said there would be no state funeral or national mourning for the former president.”The government has authorised flags to fly at half-staff at army facilities,” the secretary general of the government, Ricardo Lagos Weber, said.Pinochet’s body was taken to the chapel at the Santiago Military School late Sunday.It was to remain there all day Monday ahead of a funeral with military honours, but without national pomp, scheduled for Tuesday.The death of Pinochet, who came to power in a US-backed military coup in 1973 that toppled the Socialist government of Salvador Allende, struck a deep nerve in a country where many suffered under his regime and others defend it as salvation from the road to communism.Nampa-AFPThe ex-strongman, who evaded years of efforts to bring him to justice in hundreds of cases of murder and torture arising from his 1973-1990 regime, died aged 91 in Santiago’s Military Hospital Sunday, a week after suffering a heart attack.His passing sparked carnival-like celebrations as thousands of anti-Pinochet demonstrators flocked into the streets of the capital.But the mood soured when riot police used water cannon and tear gas to block their progress down the capital’s main Alameda avenue toward the presidential palace.Some demonstrators fired back with stones and bottles.Interior Ministry Under Secretary Felipe Harboe said police were forced to intervene when hooded groups infiltrated a crowd of some 5 000 anti-Pinochet protesters who until then had been demonstrating peacefully.Six police officers were injured and an unspecified number of demonstrators were arrested, officials said.Violence also erupted at demonstrations in the capital’s suburbs and the city of Valparaiso.The government of President Michelle Bachelet – who, together with her parents, was detained during the Pinochet regime – said there would be no state funeral or national mourning for the former president.”The government has authorised flags to fly at half-staff at army facilities,” the secretary general of the government, Ricardo Lagos Weber, said.Pinochet’s body was taken to the chapel at the Santiago Military School late Sunday.It was to remain there all day Monday ahead of a funeral with military honours, but without national pomp, scheduled for Tuesday.The death of Pinochet, who came to power in a US-backed military coup in 1973 that toppled the Socialist government of Salvador Allende, struck a deep nerve in a country where many suffered under his regime and others defend it as salvation from the road to communism.Nampa-AFP