CHILE: Former Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet remains in serious condition following heart attack

Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet needs a second operation following his surgery earlier on Sunday in response to a heart attack, Chilean media reported. Pinochet suffered a heart attack on Sunday and was given a bypass operation which his son said brought him back from the brink of death. Pinochet, who stands accused of human rights abuses and corruption from his iron-fisted rule of Chile from 1973 to 1990, was rushed to hospital in the capital Santiago at about 2 a.m. (0500 GMT). He was given the Roman Catholic last rites -- traditionally administered by a priest to the dying -- before surgeons operated on him. Pinochet's relatives and friends rushed to his bedside. His former personal secretary Monica Ananias was in tears as she arrived at the clinic. "He's in a pretty serious state ... We're in the hands of the doctors," Pinochet's son Marco Antonio Pinochet told reporters outside the hospital in Santiago where his father was being treated. Luis Cortes Villa, a friend of Pinochet's, told reporters at that the retired general, who has been frail for some time, had never been so ill. "Pinochet came in in a bad way, we've never seen him in such a condition," said Luis Cortes Villa. Pinochet had fallen ill at about 2 a.m. (0500 GMT) The hospital issued a statement saying he had had "a cardiac arrest ... and a pulmonary edema". Pinochet has spent the past few years in Santiago fighting allegations of human rights abuses and fraud. Under his regime more than 3,000 people died in political violence, many at the hands of secret police. Juan Ignacio Vergara, a doctor at the hospital where the 91-year-old was being treated following a heart attack, told reporters that Pinochet was breathing without assistance. "Right now General Pinochet is in a stable condition, of course as a result of his heart attack he is in a serious condition and during the day we will be evaluating the possibility of another type of procedure with the doctors, the cardiologists and the heart surgeons," said Vergara. Despite concerted efforts, no one has ever brought the former dictator to trial. His defense lawyers have always successfully argued that he was too ill to face charges. A group of around 50 Pinochet supporters gathered outside the hospital, waving photos of the former president. One held a large red, white and blue Chilean flag. Others wept and chanted his name. Army bishop Juan Barros said the administering of the last rites to Pinochet was a normal procedure. "The hospital chaplains attend to all the sick and give God's help in order to give strength in times of sickness," said Barros. Government spokesman Ricardo Lagos Weber said it had no further information on the state of Pinochet's health. "I have been informed very early in the morning and today, around seven in the morning, regarding the admission of General Pinochet in a delicate state of health. Since then we know only what the doctors have said and through the declarations made by Pinochet's relatives. That's what we have and that's all we will have, and from the point of view of his health, that's the little we can say, other than just listening closely to what the doctors are saying." Pinochet marked his birthday last week by issuing a statement in which he accepted "political responsibility" for acts committed during his rule. However, he said his only motive was to make Chile "a great place and prevent its disintegration." "Today, close to the end of my days, I want to make clear that I hold no rancour toward anybody, that I love my country above all else," he said in the statement. Two days later he was placed under house arrest in connection with the murder of two bodyguards of former Marxist President Salvador Allende -- the man he overthrew in a 1973 coup. Human rights lawyers have complained in the past that Pinochet's health deteriorates every time he is placed under house arrest. Despite Pinochet's dismal human rights record, many Chileans love him and said he saved Chile from Marxism. Many of them abandoned him, however, after it came out in 2004 that he had stashed some $27 million in secret off-shore bank accounts during his time in power. Pinochet has been arrested several times for crimes allegedly committed during his rule. In addition to the 3,000 killed or "disappeared" during Pinochet's rule, some 28,000 people were tortured and thousands of Chileans left the country for exile. The hospital said it would give an update on Pinochet's state of health at 7 p.m. (2200 GMT). Pinochet's latest illness revived speculation over how the Chilean government would handle a funeral for the former dictator. Some Chileans say he should be given full state honours while others would regard that as a disgrace.

ITN Source | December 4, 2006

Tags:. .priest. .dying. .speculation. .revived. .monica