President Ricardo Alarcon dismissed fears of unrest in the wake of a historic Supreme Court ruling, stripping ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution.
"The country is absolutely calm, as I've always said it would," Alarcon told reporters Wednesday during a visit to a factory outside Santiago.
Tuesday's high court ruling and Pinochet's apparent decision to fight a court-mandated medical exam that could declare him senile and unfit for trial, and defend himself in court has raised fears of a military backlash.
An editorial in La Tercera daily warned Wednesday that the ruling could undermine an agreement binding the military to provide information on 1,198 people that disappeared under Pinochet's 17-year regime (1973-1990).
"The political class did not foresee Pinochet's intention to fight the charges against him," the daily said, predicting renewed tension in the country.
Several papers highlighted a curt response made to reporters by Army Commander Ricardo Izurieta after he visited Pinochet to give him his personal support after the ruling.
"No authority tells me what to do ... I decide what I will and will not do," Izurieta said after reporters asked if it was true that the government had recommended he forgo a visit to Pinochet a week earlier.
Grilled on the general's attitude, Alarcon said: "If the military wants to show solidarity for somebody who received an unfavorable court sentence, it seems a perfectly legitimate thing to do.
"But it's something else altogether if that circumstance is used to send messages that fall outside the scope of the Armed Forces," he added.
Alarcon, however, said he felt sure that the comments made by Izurieta were normal in every respect.
The president, instead, was harshly critical of the right-wing opposition parties' reaction to the Supreme Court ruling -- National Renovation and Alliance for Chile said the verdict was "strictly political in nature" and "provided and instigated by a socialist government."
"I think it shows lack of respect for the judicial system," said Alarcon, who heads a coalition comprising Socialists, Christian Democrats and radical parties -- SANTIAGO (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
