Pinochet Urges Focus on Future

Former dictator Augusto Pinochet, facing possible trial for human rights abuses while he was in power, urged Chileans to put the past behind them and focus on the future. He made the call in a brief handwritten letter addressed to the Chilean people on National Unity Day, a public holiday tied to the anniversary of his military coup on Sept. 11, 1973. “I hold in my heart the hope that our divisions and yesterday’s pain are overcome and that we will look to the future in benefit of new generations,” the letter read. It was read to reporters by his granddaughter at the Pinochet home in Santiago, the capital.