Chile: Reburying The Past

"Allende is here!" shouted the thousands who gathered to witness the reburial of a former President. In a government-sanctioned ceremony, the remains of Salvador Allende Gossens were moved from a family plot to Santiago's central cemetery, alongside Chile's other past presidents. A Marxist who tried to introduce radical reform, Allende died, reputedly a suicide, as troops stormed the presidential palace during a 1973 coup that led to 16 years of military rule. Current President Patricio Aylwin, who supported Allende's ouster but quickly tired of rule by the generals, was faint in his praise of Allende. But he added, "The pain of the drama that Chile lived through has taught us that these circumstances should never be repeated."