"We are a little skeptical about what is going to happen," said Marco Antonio Pinochet, the general's son. "We are not sure he is coming home but we know it is a step forward. We don't feel happy, it's a mix of feelings."
His opponents, meanwhile, expressed dismay at what they see as the now inevitable collapse of their best chance of making the general stand trial.
"We are reacting with horror," said Carlos Reyes, spokesman for Chile Democratico, which repre-sents Chileans living in exile. "I feel choked that this criminal is going to escape justice, especially because we have in Chile people still suffering from his reign of terror who are older than him and in even worse health than he is."
In Chile, where the case has already threatened to divide the country and has soured relations with Britain and Spain, reaction was mixed. Pinochet supporters cheered, while opponents vowed to continue efforts to try Pinochet at home if he is allowed to go free.
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