NEWS ANALYSIS : Pinochet Still Casts Shadow Across Chile : Latin America: Former dictator divides political loyalties among public and in nation’s Congress.

Some Chileans celebrated Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s 80th birthday last weekend, while others decidedly did not. And that was just a sample of the deep, enduring division in this country over the political legacy of the former dictator who still commands the army.

More significant examples of the split can be seen in the national Congress, where legislators are wrangling over proposals to amend Pinochet’s 1980 constitution and to speed lingering legal proceedings in cases of human rights crimes committed under his military government.

The proposed constitutional amendments and the human rights bill are scheduled for key committee votes next week.

While many political analysts doubt that the measures will pass, President Eduardo Frei insists that they are needed for “national reconciliation and the establishment of full democracy for Chile.”

Since Pinochet turned the government over to elected civilians in 1990, politicians, military officials, human rights lawyers and judges have been seeking ways to bring hundreds of human rights cases to a close. As cases have come up in court, reviving accusations against officers, Pinochet’s army has rumbled with unrest. The recurring tensions have raised concern about the future of military-civilian relations.

Frei, a Christian Democrat who took office in March, 1994, has proposed legislation providing for special judges to investigate human rights cases and close them.

Leaders of the opposition National Renovation party agreed to support the bill with modifications.

But the agreement has caused friction within National Renovation and with its opposition allies in a right-wing party that adamantly opposes the bill.

The army is said to dislike the proposal because it allows continued investigation of rights violations covered by a 1978 amnesty law decreed under military rule.

Members of the Socialist Party, which is part of Frei’s governing coalition, have also rejected the human rights bill, saying it was watered down to please National Renovation.

“Unfortunately, the positive aspects of the bill are those that have been eliminated,” Socialist lawyer Pamela Pereira told reporters.

The Socialists insist that the cases of more than 1,000 Chileans who disappeared under military rule should not be closed until courts find out what happened to the victims.

As it stands, the bill would allow secret testimony about the fate of missing persons but would not set conditions for a case to be closed.

Frei has also proposed a package of constitutional amendments designed to eliminate “authoritarian enclaves” in the government. One amendment would eliminate seats of eight senators appointed before Pinochet left power. The eight “designated” senators, who usually vote with the conservative opposition, now have decisive power in the Congress.

Other amendments would change the composition of the National Security Council and the Constitutional Tribunal. Chile’s top military and police commanders now make up half of the eight-member Security Council. It has strong influence in widely defined security matters and appoints some members of the Constitutional Tribunal, which can strike down legislation on constitutional grounds. The constitution also allows Pinochet to stay on as commander of the army until March, 1998, but Frei has not proposed any change in that provision.