Plight of Pinochet unites - and divides - his homeland

LAST Wednesday night in the Chilean capital there was a potent reminder of the days of military dictatorship. The electricity suddenly went off, and helicopters hovered overhead, just as they did when left- wing saboteurs regularly blasted power pylons and army choppers flew low over the sprawling slums of Santiago in search of "insurgents".

Was Chile's democracy, and its unique transition from military rule, under threat, as Augusto Pinochet's lawyers in the House of Lords claimed? President Eduardo Frei had called a surprise meeting of the National Security Council, which includes the heads of the armed forces, for only the fifth time since the return to democracy in 1990, and reports said the army had been put on "alert" in protest at Gen Pinochet's plight.

This time, however, the blackout had a more innocent explanation. After a long drought in a country that relies on hydroelectricity, there simply wasn't enough power to go round, and the dreaded rationing had begun, plunging much of the nation into darkness. As for the rumours of a military alert, they were quickly quashed.

The arrest of Gen Pinochet in London and Spain's efforts to extradite him have reawakened many of the divisions created by his brutal rule, but suggestions that democracy might be in danger have been dismissed. This weekend, as Chile awaits the verdict of the Law Lords on its former dictator's claim to sovereign immunity, President Frei is in South Africa before heading to Malaysia for an Asia-Pacific economic summit.

"There is no risk whatsoever that things won't carry on as normal in the country," said the interior minister, Ral Troncoso. Even the head of the navy, Admiral Jorge Arancibia, agreed that Chile's "institutionality" was not at risk. The Santiago stock market, meanwhile, has been positively optimistic: since Gen Pinochet's arrest on 16 October, the leading IPSA index has risen over 20 per cent, seemingly unruffled by events in London.

Even if the military were rumbling with discontent - and the Commander- in-Chief, General Ricardo Izurieta, broke his silence on Thursday, saying Gen Pinochet's situation was "unacceptable" - it is difficult to see what they could do. The government, after all, has bent over backwards to defend Gen Pinochet, upholding his immunity at all costs, although the foreign minister, Jose Miguel Insulza, like Mr Frei, maintains he is defending the principle of immunity rather than any individual. As a life-long Socialist Mr Insulza finds himself in an awkward position, and has come in for criticism from his own party, some of whose members have been in London to support bringing Gen Pinochet to justice.

But splits have emerged on the right as well as the left. Joaqun Lavn, a right-wing maverick who also went to London last week, has called on Gen Pinochet to make "gestures of grandeur" on his return, in recognition of the fact that many who oppose the ailing general politically have come out in his defence. Mr Lavn, who once tried to rid Santiago of its chronic smog problem by spraying the city with water from a light aircraft, is mayor of the wealthy Las Condes district of the capital, and is the pro-Pinochet UDI party's candidate in next year's presidential election.

Indeed, while some clearly wish to see the erstwhile dictator thrown into jail come what may, many on both the left and right see Spain's attempt to try Gen Pinochet as an act of colonialism. Chileans, proud of the independence they finally won from the Spanish in 1818, do not like what many regard as an upstart judge in Spain meddling in their affairs.

Others, however, see no need for magnanimity. Alberto Cardemil of the right-wing RN party, the UDI's opposition ally, has called for parliamentary immunity to be lifted from Socialist MPs who went to Britain, so that they can be tried under the state security law for supposedly betraying the nation. Juan Pablo Letelier, whose father Orlando was assassinated by Pinochet's DINA secret police in 1976, responded wryly that Mr Cardemil has "just forgotten the dictatorship is over".