Pinochet in hospital after suffering stroke

Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet suffered a stroke, but is in a stable condition at Santiago’s Army Hospital today, hospital officials said.

The stroke has left the 89-year-old former dictator with “impaired mobility and a neurological deficit”, hospital officials said in a statement. It was unclear what that implied, and hospital officials were not available for comment. The statement said Pinochet was now in stable condition.

Pinochet, who suffers from mild dementia, diabetes, arthritis and has a pacemaker, has suffered several minor strokes in recent years.

His spokesman, retired General Guillermo Garin, said doctors rushed the former ruler to the hospital this morning after “he felt bad during breakfast – as if he would faint”.

Yesterday the Santiago Court of Appeals postponed until next week a decision on whether to uphold his indictment and house arrest for the alleged kidnapping of nine dissidents and the killing of one of them during his 1973-90 military regime. The indictment and house arrest order were issued by Judge Juan Guzman.

It is unclear how this health complication will affect the trial.

A few minutes after Pinochet’s heavily guarded motorcade entered the hospital in the capital’s Providencia district, his wife, Lucia Hiriart, and General Emilio Cheyre, the army commander, were seen entering, as were several other relatives.

Pinochet had an unusually active day yesterday. He came to Santiago from Los Boldos, his countryside residence 80 miles south west of the capital, where he would serve out his house arrest if the court upholds Guzman’s orders.

In Santiago, he visited his office, then went to the dentist and later met with some supporters.

Pinochet’s health problems rescued him from trial three years ago on other charges.