Finally, a Dignified Burial : After 17 years, Allende takes his place next to other Chilean presidents

Prior to the military coup that ushered in the rigid rule of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, Chile was widely admired in Latin America for its political tolerance. That honorable tradition was revived Tuesday when Chileans finally gave a dignified burial to Salvador Allende, the democratically elected president Pinochet overthrew in 1973.

That was no easy, symbolic gesture for the new government of President Patricio Aylwin. For Allende is a controversial figure even in death, and many of the men who overthrew him are still alive and still powerful enough to cause political problems. Not least among them is Pinochet himself, still the chief of Chile’s armed forces and publicly unhappy at the decision to hold a formal funeral for the late Marxist president.

Allende died in the final hours of fighting around Chile’s presidential palace in Santiago 17 years ago next week. It is generally believed that he committed suicide rather than surrender to Pinochet’s forces. He was quietly buried in an unmarked grave and his family sent into exile.

Allende’s survivors were present when his body was disinterred. They were joined by Aylwin and most of his Cabinet for a funeral procession along Santiago’s widest thoroughfare to a funeral mass in the national cathedral and burial in the cemetery where other Chilean presidents are buried. Even the date chosen for Allende’s funeral was a symbol of reconciliation. Allende’s family did not choose the anniversary of the coup, but instead the date Allende was elected president, Sept. 4.

At the funeral, Aylwin, a Christian Democrat, admitted with candor and grace that he would still oppose Allende’s policies if the circumstances were the same today as they were 17 years ago. “But the drama lived by Chile since 1973 has taught us that those circumstances should never repeat themselves,” he added. “It is the duty of all Chileans to avoid them.” It was a fitting tribute to a man who--whatever his faults or mistakes--devoted his life to peaceful, democratic politics.