good bye, pinochet

Well, Pinochet died yesterday of a heart attack at the military hospital in Providencia. I was sitting in Plaza Brasil around 2:45 with Rosie when a guy who had been sitting near us came over and said, "Are you from here?". We said no, and he shrugged and said, "Pinochet died. Cause for celebration," and walked away. It took us both a second to process what that meant. Almost immediately afterward, people started driving around the Plaza honking their horns and shouting. We went to lunch then, but on the way to Gaby's apartment in Las Condes, we passed through Baquedano, which is one of the centers of any big demonstration, and a TON of people got off the metro as we got on, waving huge flags and honking horns and banging on drums. There were demonstrations all day, and it was fascinating to watch the news coverage of the pro-Pinochet demonstrators outside the hospital and the anti-Pinochet demonstrators in front of la Moneda and in Plaza Italia (where Baquedano is). The police were in riot gear at both places, but by the hospital they were just standing around, as were most of the people after a couple of hours of screaming and throwing bottles and whatnot at the cops. But downtown, the "encapuchados" had made their presence known by starting fires, repeatedly running up to the armored trucks and throwing bottles at them, beating them with sticks, etc. They wrap tshirts around their faces (hence their nickname) and really look like they're just playing. A lot of them laugh and run around and make the whole thing seem like a game, which is probably is to them. It's a shame that they did it because it ruined what could have been a peaceful and powerful demonstration of solidarity against the regime's legacy (the marchers convened around the monument to Salvador Allende behind la Moneda in the Plaza de Ciudadania). The same guys (and they're almost all young men) wreaked havoc during the "Pingüinos" protests this past winter (summer up there in the other hemisphere), which were led by very passionate high school students against the injustice in the education system here, but which often drew ludicrously disproportionate police responses because of the small group that just likes to fuck shit up cause throwing things at cops who are just doing their job is a bit of a rush. Bastards. Anyhow, today I'm going to eat breakfast and then go help Rosie pack(!), and hopefully there'll be enough still going on down around there (she lives three blocks from Plaza Italia) that I can snap a few photos but avoid getting tear gassed. Wish me luck!