Spanish, British sites targeted

The Miami Herald October 21, 1998 Spanish, British sites targeted

By TIM JOHNSON
Herald Staff Writer

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chileans angered by the arrest of Gen. Augusto Pinochet
want to bug the daylights out of those they view as responsible for his troubles.

Their campaign has already included throwing eggs at diplomatic compounds,
signing petitions and plotting boycotts of Spanish and British products.

Now, their drive is taking a smelly turn: Local authorities have cut off garbage
collection to the Spanish Embassy.

             ``We've got a strategy like the mosquito,'' explained Mayor Cristian Labbe of La
             Providencia district, where the Spanish mission is located. ``One mosquito bothers
             you a little, but lots of mosquitoes will drive you nuts.''

             Pinochet's supporters blame Spain because a senior judge in Madrid issued the
             warrant that led police in London to detain the 82-year-old Chilean in his hospital
             room Friday. Pinochet had recently undergone back surgery.

Chilean wrath is also aimed at Britain for carrying out the arrest in spite of the
immunity that Pinochet believed his diplomatic passport offered.

The decision by Labbe, a former army colonel, drew scorn from some in the
government of President Eduardo Frei.

             ``To deny garbage service to the Spanish Embassy, as that mayor has done, is not
             just ridiculous and provincial, it is a form of protest that doesn't do any good,''
             Foreign Minister Jose Miguel Insulza said.

Mayor Labbe also decided to cut off curb-side parking privileges for the Spanish
Embassy, and is contemplating other measures.

             In the neighboring Las Condes district, where the Spanish and British
             ambassadors have their official residences, council members attending an
             emergency session Tuesday considered a proposal to declare Ambassador Glynn
             Evans persona non grata. The proposal was tabled after it was pointed out that
             such action isn't usually in the purview of city halls.

Evans' two-story diplomatic residence in Las Condes remained behind police
barricades, its facade smeared with dried egg yolk.

             Half a block away, the residence of Spanish Ambassador Juan Manuel Egea was
             shuttered and filthy from egg stains. Passing cars, evidently driven by Pinochet
             supporters, honked incessantly.

A far-right political party, the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), which
fiercely supports Pinochet, has led the drive to punish Britain and Spain.

             ``We are going to start an active boycott of products and industries that the
             Spanish and English have in Chile,'' said Sen. Evelyn Matthei, a party stalwart.
             ``Moreover, we are going to make life impossible for the members of the Spanish
             and English embassies here.''