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DATE=1/11/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=CHILE-PINOCHET REACT (L) NUMBER=2-257976 BYLINE=BILL RODGERS DATELINE=SANTIAGO CONTENT= INTRO: In Chile, there is mixed reaction to the news former dictator Augusto Pinochet has been ruled unfit to stand trial in Spain over human rights abuses committed during his 17-year rule. But as V-O-A's Bill Rodgers reports from Santiago, the Chilean Government expressed satisfaction over the recommendation by the medical team that examined Mr. Pinochet. TEXT: Officials at the Pinochet Foundation in Santiago expressed satisfaction at the news from Britain; but also caution. Foundation Vice President Hernan Guiloff told reporters Tuesday the development does not represent a victory. /// GUILOFF SPANISH ACTUALITY /// He says this opens the door to hope for Mr. Pinochet's release. However, he says the decision is not a "victory" and that there is nothing to celebrate. Despite this, a crowd of Mr. Pinochet's supporters gathered outside the foundation's headquarters -- cheering and chanting slogans. Meanwhile, opponents of the former dictator expressed surprise and dismay. Julia Urquieta belongs to a masjor human rights group. She says her organization still hopes Britain will decide to extradite Mr. Pinochet to Spain. /// URQUIETA SPANISH ACTUALITY /// Otherwise, she says her group will try to put the former dictator on trial if he returns to Chile. The Santiago representative of Human Rights Watch says the former dictator's absence has opened the doors to the investigation and prosecution of some of the violations that occurred during his dictatorship. But the representative, Sebastian Brett, warns all this may change if Mr. Pinochet returns. /// BRETT ACTUALITY /// We're concerned that if he comes back there may be a significant relapse in the trials and the possibility of bringing justice to this country. /// END ACTUALITY /// Meanwhile, the Chilean Government, which requested the medical examination, expressed satisfaction over the conclusion by doctors that the 84-year-old retired general is not physically fit to stand trial. In a carefully worded statement read late Tuesday by Foreign Minister Juan Gabriel Valdes, the government said its representations to Britain about Mr. Pinochet's health have been endorsed. /// REST OPTIONAL /// /// VALDES SPANISH ACT /// For months, Chile has been asking Britain to release the former dictator on humanitarian grounds. British authorities detained Mr. Pinochet 15 months ago at the request of a Spanish judge who wants to extradite and prosecute the former dictator for alleged human rights violations. General Pinochet came to power in 1973, after overthrowing Socialist President Salvador Allende in a bloody coup. More than three thousand people were killed or disappeared during his 17-year rule. (Signed) NEB/WFR/TVM/WD 11-Jan-2000 23:46 PM EDT (12-Jan-2000 0446 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .