CHILE:Police deployed across Santiago and residents in working class districts erected barricades last night as news of the death of Gen Augusto Pinochet left the Chilean capital in ferment and the country in shock.
Surrounded by doctors and a few relatives, the 91-year-old former dictator died from heart complications at the city's military hospital at 2.15pm local time. Within minutes, cars circled downtown Santiago honking horns and waving flags to celebrate the passing of one of the 20th century's more divisive figures.
Victims of human rights abuses during his 17-year rule gathered at a statue of Salvador Allende, the Chilean president who died during the 1973 coup led by Pinochet, and urged the government to avoid giving any special honours at the burial.
The funeral - expected in the next 48 hours - will be rife with symbolism and controversy.
President Michelle Bachelet, who was herself detained and tortured by Pinochet-era security forces, has not said whether she will attend the ceremony or call a national day of mourning.
As police patrols fanned across the capital to avert clashes between friends and foes of the late dictator, poorer neighbourhoods lit tyres to celebrate.
Even in upper-middle-class neighbourhoods where Pinochet was once revered, his reputation has disintegrated in recent years, because of ongoing investigations into financial crimes, including tax evasion and illegal weapons deals.
Pinochet was also under indictment in three cases stemming from the 3,000 people killed and thousands tortured during his regime, when he was feted by Washington as a bulwark against communism.
Supporters gathered outside the Hospital Militar to mourn the man they credit with laying the foundation for Latin America's most stable and successful economy. They sang the Chilean national anthem and some assaulted journalists.
International reaction to his death was mixed and, in some cases, coy.
Britain's foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, said: "We note the passing of Gen Pinochet and want to pay tribute to the remarkable progress that Chile has made over the last 15 years as an open, stable and prosperous democracy."
A spokesman for Lady Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister who cherished Pinochet's assistance during the Falklands War with Argentina, said she was "greatly saddened" and sent her condolences to his family but would not be issuing a formal statement.
Pinochet's critics remained unforgiving and regretted his passing only because it meant he could not be convicted.
Amnesty International said: "Pinochet's death should be a wake-up call for the authorities in Chile and governments everywhere, reminding them of the importance of speedy justice for human rights crimes - something that Pinochet has now escaped."
When Pinochet seized power in 1973, he knew he would be enjoying the strong support of the United States. Secretary of state and national security adviser Dr Henry Kissinger was an admirer.
"The prevailing mood among the Chilean military is to use the current opportunity to stamp out all vestiges of communism in Chile," stated a CIA memo immediately after the coup. "Severe repression is planned."
Another CIA document from the same period noted that the methods used by Pinochet's secret police were "out of the Spanish inquisition".
When Dr Kissinger and Gen Pinochet met in 1976, according to documents released in 1999, Dr Kissinger told him to ignore criticisms from within the US about his methods and assured him that they were part of a communist propaganda exercise.
He told Pinochet: "We wish your government well."
Dr Kissinger remained loyal to Pinochet throughout his time in power.
In 1999, when the retired dictator was arrested in London and faced extradition to Spain, he backed the campaign for Washington's old ally to be allowed to return home.
The general's relationship with Lady Thatcher was equally strong. She visited him when he was under house arrest, as portrayed in the television film Pinochet in Suburbia.
She thanked him "for bringing democracy to Chile" and dismissed President Allende's supporters as "a small minority of communists who nearly wrecked the country".
Last month, besieged by criticism and pending trials, the ailing general appeared to accept political but not legal responsibility for his regime's brutality.
"Today, near the end of my days, I want to say that I harbour no rancour against anybody; that I love my fatherland above all; and that I take political responsibility for everything that was done which had no other goal than making Chile greater and avoiding its disintegration," he said.