ANDRIA HALL, CNN ANCHOR: Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet returns to his homeland today. He left England yesterday, freed from house arrest by the British government. CNN's Lucia Newman is in Santiago with details on what kind of reception Pinochet can expect -- Lucia.</s>LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Goods morning, Andria. I'm speaking to you next to the military hospital here in Santiago, where General Pinochet will be taken shortly after he arrives at the airport, at the international airport where he will be greeted by his closest friends and high-ranking members of the armed forces there to give him a hero's welcome. As you can see, behind me is the helicopters, the heliport, where General Pinochet will be helicoptered to the hospital below. Here he will be given a thorough medical examination. He will be amongst his peers at last after 16-months of house arrest in Great Britain. Down in the street in front of the military hospital there are hundreds and hundreds of his supporters, people who have been here since early this morning down on the street with placards that read: "Thank you, General Pinochet, for existing." "Welcome, General Pinochet, you are our liberator, you saved us from communism." Clearly, these people, his supporters, see the general as a liberator, as a hero for this country. But there are many others in this country who claim that he is just the opposite, that he was a ruthless murderer and a ruthless dictator during his 17 years in power. So, General Pinochet is coming home, he should be arriving within half an hour, but still a very controversial figure in this country, Andria.</s>HALL: All right.
Pinochet Returns to His Homeland Today