Chile's Pinochet divisive in death as in life

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) Augusto Pinochet, whose repressive rule in Chile was admired by anti-Communists but was a cause celebre for international leftists, evoked equally strong international reactions after his death.

In Spain, home to many exiles from Pinochet's 1973-1990 dictatorship, a few hundred mostly Chilean demonstrators chanting anti-Pinochet slogans and drinking champagne gathered in Madrid's Puerta del Sol to celebrate Pinochet's death yesterday.

''I'm very happy but also very sad because Pinochet escaped justice,'' one woman told Spanish state television, referring to the failure of prosectors to bring him to trial on human rights charges.

Pinochet, who died yesterday aged 91, polarized Chile during his military rule and spent his old age fighting human rights, fraud and corruption charges in what many people saw as a test case for bringing former dictators to trial.

''The first thing that I experienced when I heard about Pinochet's death was an overwhelming recollection of all of the grief, pain and agony,'' said Joyce Horman, the widow of Charles Horman, the U.S. journalist who disappeared during the coup in Chile and whose story is depicted in the 1982 film ''Missing.'' ''I was also heartened to think of all of the efforts so many people have made who worked so hard and so long to expose the crimes of this man,'' she said, speaking through fresh tears.

Pinochet was never convicted of any crime, but many military officers and former members of his secret police were convicted of torture, assassination and kidnapping.

''It will pass into history that human rights violators must worry about being 'Pinocheted.''' said Francisco Letelier, 47, the son of former Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier, who was assassinated in Washington by Chilean agents in 1976.

''This was a message to tyrants that that they can no longer sit on privileged thrones that exist above the reach of international law,'' Letelier said, alluding to the legal troubles that dogged Pinochet until his death.

Other Pinochet opponents were more frustrated.

''The victims must be frustrated that his death has come before he himself could be condemned,'' said Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, who issued an extradition warrant against Pinochet when the general visited London for medical treatment in 1998.

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