Compensation for Pinochet Victims Approved

[emad]

Guardian
Thursday December 16, 2004 5:01 PM


SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill granting money and other compensation to some 28,000 former political prisoners, most of them victims of torture during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

The legislation grants the victims a monthly pension of $190, which is less than the minimum monthly wage of $230. President Ricardo Lagos, who is expected to sign the bill into law within days, described the pension as ``austere and symbolic.''

The measure, which will cost an estimated $70 million annually, also grants victims and their families access to education, health and housing benefits.

Lawmakers passed the bill after only two days of debate, and the Tuesday night vote came a day after a judge indicted the 89-year-old Pinochet in the kidnapping of nine dissidents and the death of one of them - reversing earlier Chilean court decisions to exempt Pinochet from trial on health grounds.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4677074,00.html

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. So how much do we owe them for putting Pinochet in power??