Planning for Pinochet

The Chilean army commander in chief, Oscar Izurieta, caused a stir in a television interview when he indicated (perhaps in response to the recent death of Alfredo Stroessner) that when Pinochet (now a nonagenarian) died he should receive a funeral with full honors. After the Minister of Defense and the presidential spokesman said it was inappropriate to bring it up, Izurieta backed down, and said he was only referring to what the army would do, not the government.

He also made the point that since Pinochet has not been convicted of anything, he should be presumed innocent. Although cloaked in very nice democratic language, that's rather tough to swallow for a man who was dictator for almost 17 years.