Violent clashes broke out between Chilean police and opponents of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, who died Sunday.

People threw rocks at cars and set up fire barricades on the main avenue of Santiago, Chile's capital city. Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds.

Policer reported making a number of arrests. There were no immediate reports on any injuries.

Pinochet, a fierce anti-Communist who overthrew Chile's democratically-elected Marxist president Salvador Allende in a bloody coup launched on Sept. 11, 1973, ruled the nation with an iron fist for 17 years.

"The legacy of Pinochet will not be a good legacy," Hernez Benitz, who escaped from Chile to Canada, told CTV Edmonton on Sunday. "It will be one of brutality, of torture, of military rule running amok, of stealing millions of dollars."

Lorena Pizarro, president of an association that represents victims of the dictator's regime, noted that he died "on Dec. 10, the international day of human rights."

Supporters of Pinochet chanted "Pinochet! Pinochet! Long live Pinochet!" outside the Santiago Military Hospital where he died. Some wept.

Many opponents cracked champagne and danced in the streets.

The hospital said Pinochet's condition worsened suddenly on Sunday, and doctors rushed him back to intensive care but were unable to save him.

"He died surrounded by his family," Dr. Juan Ignacio Vergara, the spokesperson for the medical team that treated Pinochet, told reporters.

One week ago, the 91-year-old Pinochet suffered an acute heart attack that left him in critical condition.

Doctors performed an angioplasty, in which a catheter is introduced into a clogged artery to enlarge it and allow restoration of blood flow to the heart. Afterwards, doctors said his recovery had been "satisfactory," and released him from intensive care on Thursday.

Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher's office said she was "greatly saddened" by the news of his death.

President Michelle Bachelet, a political prisoner during Pinochet's regime, has said it would be "a violation of my conscience" to attend a state funeral for him.

A legacy of represssion

Chile's government has said almost 3,200 people were killed for political reasons over his time in power. Thousands more disappeared. Many fled the country, a large number coming to Canada.

Pinochet was never prosecuted for crimes against humanity committed under his command.

"This criminal has departed without ever being sentenced for all the acts he was responsible for during his dictatorship," said Chilean human rights lawyer Hugo Gutierrez.
 
Pinochet has spent much of his old age fighting charges of human rights violations, fraud and corruption, and at the time of his death, he was under indictment in two human rights abuse cases and for tax evasion.

He had been under house arrest in Santiago, the Chilean capital, since a court indicted him for the execution of two bodyguards of Allende.

The indictment came after Pinochet's 91st birthday on Nov. 25. On that day, he made history by taking full political responsibility for abuses committed during his tenure. However, he chose his words carefully and avoided legal responsibility.

"Today, near the end of my days, I want to say that I harbor no rancor against anybody, that I love my fatherland above all and that I take political responsibility for everything that was done which had no other goal than making Chile greater and avoiding its disintegration," he said in a statement.

Santiago Times editor Nathan Crooks told CTV Newsnet that Chile hasn't yet come to terms with the violence of its past, and suggested Pinochet's death might bring that about.

"Other South American countries, you get a feel they have come to terms with their past, but just when you are in Chile for the first time, you get a sense that it's still an unresolved issue. And I think the death of Pinochet is going to force the country to kind of finally come to terms with what happened. And it's going to be a very difficult process."

Marco Antonion, Pinochet's son, said his father had asked to be cremated. His father wanted to avoid vandalism of his tomb by "people who always hated him," he said.

A military funeral is likely.

With a report from CTV's Denelle Balfour and files from The Associated Press