Gen Augusto Pinochet's sprightly shuffle across the airport tarmac in Santiago last Friday reopened deep divisions within Chilean society and endangered the "Table of Dialogue" agreements, due to be signed today, in which army and human rights representatives agreed to work together to heal past wounds.
After months of hard work, the Table of Dialogue secured an army commitment to provide information on the whereabouts of the "disappeared", several thousand citizens who were detained and killed under Gen Pinochet's regime between 1973 and 1990. "The sight of the army black berets pointing their guns in all directions was a sign that in Chile Pinochet is untouchable," said Mr Hector Salazar, a human rights lawyer who announced his withdrawal from the Table of Dialogue after the hero's welcome given to the former dictator.
The dialogue "document has no credibility when on the one hand grave human rights abuses are acknowledged, yet the main person responsible for those abuses is received with full military honours," added Mr Roberto Garreton, a former foreign ministry adviser, who also took part in the Table of Dialogue negotiations.
Chile's President-elect, Mr Ricardo Lagos, described Gen Pinochet's return as "a sad day" for Chile and "a great challenge to my administration to show the world that in Chile the armed forces are disciplined, obedient and subject to civil rule".
The Foreign Minister, Mr Juan Gabriel Valdes, said the prospect of the retired dictator arriving at next Saturday's presidential ceremony "verged on the obscene", while Socialist Party deputies called for a "mass mobilisation" to physically prevent Gen Pinochet from attempting to attend the ceremony.
Violence flared at Saturday's "March Against Impunity" in Santiago's Plaza de la Constitucion, where the military police attacked a group of youths who replaced the Chilean flag with that of the guerrilla group known as the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front, resulting in several injuries and half-a-dozen arrests. Isolated incidents also occurred on the edge of several shanty towns in Santiago, where local youths lit bonfires, briefly blocked roads and threw missiles at police.
Meanwhile, human rights lawyers presented the 61st civil case against Gen Pinochet, accusing him of the kidnap and torture of a former army cadet, Claudio Pacheco, and his friend, Jaime Bravo, who were detained and disappeared in 1978.
Legal steps to bring Gen Pinochet to trial will take months to resolve while an upcoming constitutional reform would strengthen his immunity from prosecution. The only possible short cut would be a presidential decree, a move which Mr Lagos will consider carefully in the light of the continuing and unconditional support for Gen Pinochet within the Chilean army.
PA reports:
Baroness Thatcher caused a last-minute delay to Gen Pinochet's departure from Britain, it was reported yesterday, by halting his jet halfway down the runway - to give him a leaving present.
The former prime minister wanted the general's final memory of Britain to be a fond one, and gave him a £500 silver plate inscribed with her signature, said the Sunday Times newspaper. It was seen as a symbolic gesture to mark the former Chilean dictator not being extradited to Spain.