Word: chile
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Argentina, the six-day Chilean stay was the centerpiece. The question on everyone's lips: What would the activist Pope tell his authoritarian host and oppressed flock? Pinochet, 71, is one of South America's two remaining military dictators.* A practicing Roman Catholic, as are 10 million of Chile's 12 million people, he has ruled with an iron hand, claiming that the threat of Communism justified his repressive regime. Opponents accuse the government of imprisoning, torturing and killing thousands of ordinary citizens. Americas Watch, the U.S. human rights group, recently called Chile a "model of the national-security state...
Chileans received their answer from the Pope even before he set foot on Chilean soil. En route from Rome to Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital and the first stop on his tour, he was asked by reporters whether he planned to press human rights issues in Chile. "That is my task this time," John Paul replied. "People would want to tell us to 'stay in the sacristy, do nothing else.' They say it is politics, but it is not politics -- this is what we are." In answer to another question, he described the country's system of government as "currently dictatorial...
...Pinochets, but prayed with them briefly in the palace chapel, an event that was broadcast on the government-owned television channel. Pinochet is eager to show he is not a pariah and hopes the goodwill extended to John Paul by ordinary Chileans will rub off on him. Chile's bishops had initially invited the Pope to come and celebrate the peaceful resolution of a territorial dispute between Chile and Argentina that nearly led to war before a Vatican- brokered peace agreement was signed in 1984. John Paul, who is no stranger to powerful military rulers -- from former Philippine President Ferdinand...
...rule, he told them that "every nation has the right of self- determination" but noted that "it is also necessary that respect for human rights is assured." That restraint contrasted with his tough talk aboard the papal jet en route to Uruguay but typified the Pope's comments in Chile. The Polish-born Pontiff is keenly aware that authoritarian and dictatorial governments are not easily budged...
Known as a supernova, the exploded star was first sighted at the end of February by a University of Toronto astronomer working in Chile...