Untried for the crimes related to his dictatorship, Augusto Pinochet got full military honors on Monday, as followers streamed past his open casket and his victims' relatives marched to keep his infamy alive.
President Michelle Bachelet, whose mother, father and herself were tortured under the 1973-1990 regime, denied the late dictator a state funeral but let the former general receive the military tribute.
Pinochet, who died on Sunday one week after a heart attack and two weeks after his 91st birthday, was mourned by followers who filed in silence past his body clad in a grey general's uniform at Santiago's Military School.
PHOTO: AP
Outside, some 5,000 mourners queued in the hot sun for their turn to bid their last farewell to Pinochet.
"He was the best president Chile ever had," said an old woman under a parasol.
At three other locations around Santiago, 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.
Even after his death, Pinochet continued to divide Chile, as Bachelet sought to explain why she denied the late dictator a state funeral.
"In any society, in any country that lacks norms or predetermined laws for a particular situation, it is up to the leaders, the government, to make decisions in the best interests of the people," Bachelet said.
"Over the past several hours we have seen divisive acts that we don't like, but as a society and as a country we have to have the ethical strength to overcome this challenge," the Socialist leader said.
Thousands of people celebrated Pinochet's death in Santiago on Sunday as hooded radicals clashed with police, who later reported 99 arrests and 43 police officers injured in the violence.
Pinochet's youngest son, Marco Antonio, criticized the lack of a national funeral for his father, who, he said, "was totally committed to his country and took it out of indescribable chaos."
Others said a military funeral was too much. Bachelet "forgets the tyrant ordered other armed forces commanders to be put to death," Angel Hoces, head of the Socialist Party of Chile in Mexico, said in the Mexican capital.
High ranking military officers who died under Pinochet's regime include Bachelet's own father, Alberto Bachelet, an air force general who was tortured and died in prison in 1975.
While leftist politicians have slammed Pinochet's 17-year rule, the right recalled his economic policies that it said led to the "Chilean miracle."
Human rights groups and newspapers across the world expressed disappointment that Pinochet died without ever facing trial for the killings and torture committed under his rule.
On his 91st birthday, Nov. 25, Piochet assumed "full responsibility" for all that happened under his regime, but vowed never to apologize, according to his wife, Lucia Hiriart.
Most disappointed over Pinochet's death are all those who tried to bring him to trial for the many human rights violations that took place under his regime.
"The criminal died without every knowing the meaning of being convicted for all his horrible crimes," said Hugo Gutierrez, a lawyer for some of the victims of the regime.
While Pinochet has escaped trial, his wife and five children are still facing charges of stashing millions of dollars in state funds in accounts outside Chile, including in Washington's Riggs Bank.
Amnesty International said Pinochet's death underscored the importance of swiftly prosecuting human rights abusers.
"General Pinochet's death should be a wake-up call for the authorities in Chile and governments everywhere, reminding them of the importance of speedy justice for human rights crimes, something Pinochet himself has now escaped," the human rights group said.
In a market in the Chadian capital, N’Djamena, customers flock to Ache Moussa’s stall to have their long plaits smeared with a special paste in an age-old ritual. Each strand of hair, from the root to the end, is slathered in a traditional mixture of cherry seeds, cloves and chebe seeds, the most important ingredient of all. Users say the recipe makes their hair grow longer and more lustrous. Local and natural hair products are gaining popularity across Africa as people turn away from commercial cosmetics. Moussa applies the mixture and shapes the client’s locks into a gourone — a traditional hairstyle consisting of
The US yesterday wrapped up its first multidomain exercise with Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea, a step forward in Washington’s efforts to enhance and lock in its security partnerships with key Asian allies in the face of growing threats from North Korea and China. The three-day Freedom Edge increased the sophistication of previous exercises with simultaneous air and naval drills geared toward improving joint ballistic-missile defense, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and other skills and capabilities. The exercise, which is expected to expand in years to come, was also intended to improve the countries’ abilities to share missile warnings —
‘APOCALYPTIC : An UN official said that Lebanon was ‘the flashpoint beyond all flashpoints,’ and a conflict that involved it would draw in Syria and other nations Israel on Wednesday said that it does not want war in Lebanon, but could send its neighbor “back to the Stone Age.” The border between the two countries has seen daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants since the attack on Israel by Hezbollah’s ally Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which triggered the war in Gaza. Fears those exchanges could escalate have grown in the past few weeks as cross-border attacks intensified and after Israel revealed it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive, prompting new threats from Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said
‘ONE FELL SWOOP’: Overturning a landmark ruling that said judges should defer to experts would ‘cause a massive shock to the legal system,’ a dissenting opinion said Prosecutors overstepped in charging Jan. 6, 2021, rioters with obstruction for trying to prevent certification of the 2020 presidential election, the US Supreme Court said on Friday, throwing hundreds of cases into doubt, while another controversial ruling struck down 40 years of legal precedent on federal agencies’ ability to regulate critical issues. The matter was brought to the court through an appeal by former police officer Joseph Fischer, a supporter of former US president Donald Trump who entered the Capitol with hundreds of others in 2021. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said prosecutors’ interpretation of the law would “criminalize