(26 Nov 1998) Spanish/Nat
The detention of former dictator General Augusto Pinochet in Britain has continued to provoke strong public anti-British and Spanish protests in Chile's capital, Santiago.
Pro-Pinochet demonstrators staged a campaign for his release both in the city centre and on a bridge over one of Santiago's arterial roads.
They see Pinochet as the nation's saviour and the only one who answered the prayers of the poor.
Insults were hurled on Thursday by pro-Pinochet supporters at public figures both at home and abroad whom they blame for the fate of their ageing former dictator.
Their anger stems from the fact Pinochet must remain in Britain pending possible extradition to Spain on charges of genocide and torture is great.
His future now lies in the hands of the British judicial system where Pinochet is due to appear before court on December 2.
Those loyal to Chile's former dictator took their banners to various points around the capital Santiago on Thursday to demand the release of the man they hail a hero.
They represent an outspoken sector of Chilean society that remains loyal to the 83-year-old now a senator for life.
Scenes such as this and on a far grander scale occur almost daily now as the fate of Pinochet continues to rest in the hands of British justice.
Following a ruling by the U-K's highest court, a final decision on whether the former dictator is to be extradited to Spain to face of charges of genocide and torture lies with the British government.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"We cannot sit back with our arms crossed and do nothing while Marxist colonial countries such as England and Spain put Pinochet on trial. We will continue our protest until my general, senator for life, returns to Chile."
SUPER CAPTION: VOXPOP
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"We are here because we love him (Pinochet) very, very much. Because he is the best President Chile has ever had. He looked after the poor. Got rid of all the slums around the country. Got rid of the poverty belts. And now these people have risen to the middle class, have good homes, and now think about work, you see. Almost everybody."
SUPER CAPTION: VOXPOP
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"Really it is a catastrophe. It is something that we cannot understand, that a stranger like England that knows nothing about what goes on in the country, that they have been told a version of events from 1973 to the present, and that that version has influenced the decision. But nobody has really asked themselves what actually happened between 1970 and 1973."
SUPER CAPTION: VOXPOP
There are fears that Anglo-Chilean trade relations will suffer as a result of Wednesday's decision by the British courts that Pinochet cannot claim diplomatic immunity.
The extradition battle has given those loyal to Pinochet a new cause to proclaim.
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