CHILE: Pinochet's doctors say he is on the road to recovery.

Doctors said former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was well on the road to recovery on Tuesday (December 5) after a weekend heart attack that his family said nearly killed the long-ailing 91-year-old. As dozens of supporters continued their vigil outside the hospital where Pinochet is being treated, a spokesman for the family appeared on Tuesday morning to announce that the former dictator is still ill but making progress. "He is still within the critical 48 hour period, but is progressing well," Pinochet's family spokesman Guillermo Garin said. Pinochet, accused of murder and torture during his dictatorial rule of Chile from 1973 to 1990, underwent an emergency angioplasty early on Sunday to reopen blocked arteries. His doctors appeared later on Tuesday morning with even more positive results, saying Pinochet is now out of the critical stage. "The general is in a good state of health now. He has passed the critical stage. He's well, conscious, talking and he's eating. But to be safe - given his medical condition and the age of the patient - he will continue receiving treatment," Doctor Juan Vergara said. Pinochet still evokes strong emotions among Chileans even though he is no longer relevant on the political scene, which has been dominated for 16 years by center-left former exiles from his regime. Some Chileans say he saved the country from communism by ousting leftist President Salvador Allende in a 1973 coup. Others view him as a murderer who should be tried, and accuse him of faking ill health to avoid prosecution for human rights abuses and fraud. Pinochet is expected to remain in the hospital for at least 10 days.

ITN Source | December 6, 2006

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