The welcome reception at Santiago Airport for Gen Augusto Pinochet passed off without a single public word yesterday morning. The Interior Minister, Mr Raul Troncoso, expressed "government annoyance" at a speech due to be made by the army chief, Gen Ricardo Izurieta, who would have pledged "unconditional support" for Gen Pinochet along with a statement of "institutional disgust" at the delay in bringing him home. The speech was cancelled.
The government considered the speech and ceremony inappropriate for the former head of state, who still faces charges of torture and kidnapping at home.
There were 300 hand-picked guests at the airport when the plane touched down at 10.15 a.m. local time, mainly family, financial backers and sympathetic senators, a group which spontaneously intoned the national anthem as soon as the air force jet appeared on the horizon.
Gen Pinochet got off the plane in a wheelchair but he then walked, reasonably sprightly, to a waiting helicopter with the help of a walking stick, raising his right arm in a triumphant greeting to his supporters.
"Just because someone walks a short distance doesn't mean he is well enough to endure a trial," said Mr Troncoso, unable to conceal a hint of annoyance at Gen Pinochet's gesture.
Minutes later Gen Pinochet was whisked away in an army helicopter to the Military Hospital in the city centre, his home for the next week at least, until further medical examinations determine his current health.
Several thousand Pinochet fans waved flags and sang his battle hymn, Liberty, while executives watched from the terraces of corporate offices. An elegant cavalcade of four-wheel drives and luxury vehicles circled the hospital. The crowd was in excellent form, but the press was greeted with customary suspicion. "Are you on our side?" asked Ms Maria Amalia Orhanovic, agreeing to speak only when I swore lifelong sympathy for the elderly gentleman.
"You've no idea what it was like back then [before the Pinochet coup]" she said, claiming she saw "Cuban machine guns smuggled into the country in sacks of sugar". Mr Sebastian Errazuriz, who owns an import business, insisted that "this wasn't a country before Pinochet, you couldn't get a pair of blue jeans here. Can you imagine a country like that?" I had to confess I couldn't.
Seen from the opposite point of view, Gen Pinochet's return signalled the end of "just one aspect" of ongoing efforts to bring the general to justice for past crimes," said the incoming president, Mr Ricardo Lagos. "Chile will be a full democracy only when the world sees that everyone is equal before the law."
The first opinion polls taken since the return of the general confirmed that the vast majority of Chileans (66 per cent) do not believe that he will be brought before a national court, while 89 per cent said that Gen Pinochet should retire from public life.
Relatives of the disappeared and human rights groups held an all-night vigil as the general's aircraft flew toward the country. "I hope it falls out of the sky," said one woman, holding up a poster of a disappeared relative.
The first images of Gen Pinochet walking across the airport tarmac infuriated the human rights activists. "It looks like he has miraculously recovered his health," said one protester.
Most Chileans appeared indifferent to the general's return, with little prospect of serious disturbances in the coming days. Gen Pinochet's followers have agreed to stay home this weekend while opponents plan to take to the streets today.