Political and human rights analysts have agreed that the Pinochet case has had a positive effect on Chile, mainly because absence of the former dictator relieved pressure on both Mr Ricardo Lagos and a right-wing candidate, Mr Joaquin Lavin, in the presidential election.
Human Rights Watch, in its recent report, best summarised developments in Chile since Gen Augusto Pinochet's arrest in London, saying that in the election the political climate did not bear out the doom-laden predictions of opponents of Gen Pinochet's arrest, who claimed it would bring chaos, instability and violence, upsetting Chile's progress toward full democracy. It added that politicians on both sides of Chile's left-right divide clearly wished "to avoid the shadow of Pinochet".
The enforced absence of Gen Pinochet since October 1998 had other important and largely unforeseen consequences in Chile, stimulating action by the courts together with a greater awareness of Chile's obligations in the field of human rights. Most importantly, it opened up debates concerning the legacy of the military dictatorship and rekindled hopes for justice for its victims.
For the first time since the coup of September 11th, 1973, the military has come face to face with human rights groups in a series of round-table discussions. The real effect of the government-sponsored talks remains to be seen, but new legal ground broken by the courts has undoubtedly furthered the cause of the victims of the military. The change in the attitude of the courts was brought on, in part, by the retirement of six Pinochet-appointed judges.
When the composition of the second bench of the Supreme Court changed so did its interpretation of the 1978 military law. Last July the Supreme Court voted unanimously to support the indictments issued by the investigating judge, Mr Juan Guzman Tapia, to five senior army officers who led the so-called Caravan of Death during the months immediately after the coup.
The Caravan of Death, commanded by Gen Sergio Arellano Stark, under the direct authority of Gen Pinochet, ordered the summary execution of 75 political prisoners.
The court decision opened the door to the prosecution of 220 cases that have been lying dormant in both military and civilian courts. Some 1,500 military officers were involved in 400 war tribunals created after the coup, which led to the execution of over 3,000 individuals.
The recent indictments have radically reshaped the human rights debates that have been continuing in Chile for the past 25 years.
The indictments also constitute the strongest of the 51 cases currently filed, and linked to the former dictator. Chile's jurisdiction in the human rights cases against the lifetime senator Gen Pinochet has no legal weight, however, unless the former military leader is indicted and stripped of his congressional immunity.
The army commander-in-chief, Gen Ricardo Izurieta, tapped his sabre recently when he condemned what he described as a "new interpretation" of the 1978 Amnesty Law by the courts. He went on to say that the recent indictment and arrest of several retired generals and "the parade of officers before the courts are causing bitterness within our ranks and are becoming very difficult to manage".
For the first time since that early-morning coup against President Salvador Allende in the Moneda Palace, the army is on the retreat.