Santiago - Culture

Santiago is the capital and biggest city of Chile with over 5,000,000 people. You can find almost everything you need in this city. It has 5 star hotels, economical bed and breakfast, restaurants of every ethnic background, discos, clubs, a museum, universities, international and national airport, high rise office buildings, theater, malls, fun parks, a modern subway system which makes finding your way around Santiago a lot easier, and a whole lot more. If you like city life Santiago is the place to be. Only an hour or so from Santiago you can also find outdoor opportunities like, hiking, nature, hot springs, and skiing. If you want to venture to other parts of Chile you can get there by bus, airline, and rented car from Santiago.

If you need travel agency information like airline help for travel to other parts of Chile or want to book a cruise, you can get that help in Santiago. If you would like to do outdoor activities you could get a hold of a tour company and they can take you hiking in the mountains, skiing in season (June - September) or go to the ocean and enjoy the beach (summer is December - February). There are a number of car rental agencies where you can rent a car and go out adventuring on your own. Santiago Chile has two modern airports: National and International. They are only a few step apart. From here you can get most every major city in Chile.

Pinochet-the murderer
According to an official Chilean government report, over 3,000 people were killed or disappeared during the 17 years Pinochet was in charge - many citizens of other countries. A series of court challenges left vulnerable to extradition on the Spanish warrant, but the proceedings were halted by Straw's release of the medical evaluation results. Belgium, along with Switzerland and France, are seeking Pinochet's extradition on behalf of citizens of their countries who say relatives were among the missing and dead in Chile. Only Belgium is part of the court challenge. The Spanish government has blocked Garzon's attempts to appeal the court ruling, saying that the matter was no longer the concern of the courts and had moved into the diplomatic realm. Straw has said he will hold his decision on Pinochet's fate until after all court proceedings have been exhausted, but he said lastmonth that he was "minded" to allow the former leader to return to Chile. Straw's decision can also be appealed. A Chilean air force plane is waiting at a British airbase northwest of London to take Pinochet back to South America, should the final decision allow him to return home. Joining Belgium in court are Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Redress Trust, the Association of Relatives of the Disappeared, Justicia and the Medical Foundation for the Care of the Victims of Torture.

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