Thousands of Chileans flocked to a chapel in Santiago today to pay their respects to former dictator Augusto Pinochet who died yesterday.
Gen Pinochet, who ruled Chile for 17 years, died in a hospital after suffering a heart attack a week ago. He had appeared to be recovering from the attack before his health suddenly deteriorated, doctors said.
News of his death prompted an outpouring of conflicting emotions in Chile where, a third of a century after he swept to power in a swift and violent coup, Gen Pinochet's legacy is still hotly disputed.
Soldiers guard the coffin of former military ruler General Augusto Pinochet at the Military School in Santiago, Chile today.
Some Chileans say the general saved their country from communism, while others regard him as a murderer who escaped justice and should have been tried for human rights abuses.
The government under President Michelle Bachelet, who was held in a notorious detention centre, said there will be no official mourning and that the former dictator will be given a military but not a full state funeral.
Ms Bachelet will not attend the funeral, but her defence minister, Vivianne Blanlot, will.
The Pinochet family criticised the government's decision.
Several thousand people waited in line outside the military college where Gen Pinochet's body lay in state ahead of his funeral tomorrow.
They entered the chapel, prayed, cried and filed past his glass-topped coffin, pausing to pay their respects to the general. Gen Pinochet's wife and at least two of his five children were in the chapel.
The former dictator's body was visible inside, dressed in a dark blue military uniform. His cap, sword and a braided military jacket were draped at the foot of the coffin.
Graffiti scrawled on the walls of buildings in central Santiago expressed different emotions, however. "Today, the murderer died," read one message, and another read: "Pinochet, give my regards to the devil."
More than 3,000 people died in political violence during Gen Pinochet's rule. Some 28,000 people were tortured in secret detention centres, and hundreds of thousands of Chileans went into exile, many never to return.
Gen Pinochet was more recently accused of tax fraud and embezzlement related to $27 million stashed in foreign bank accounts. But he was never brought to trial, as his defence lawyers argued he was too ill to face charges.