CHILEAN POLITICS

Online Special: Politics in Chile Browse the NewsHour's coverage of Latin America   Chilean Embassy in Washington Chile's Executive Branch (in Spanish) Spotlight on Chile Pinochet Decision from Human Rights Watch	The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour -- October 5, 1988 PREPARING FOR THE PLEBISCITE As Chileans prepared for a nationwide plebiscite to determine whether longtime military leader Augusto Pinochet was to stay in power, foreign governments looked on with concern and interest. "What's at stake for the U.S. is this: We are convinced of the importance, in terms of our own interests, of a democratic world," US Ambassador to Chile Harry Barnes, told the NewsHour's Charles Krause. "Obviously, this is our hemisphere, and what happens here ... can have a considerable effect on us." Barnes said he thought the end of the Pinochet government could mean the beginning of a democratic structure in Chile. "My own conviction is that Chileans are ready -- more than ready -- to take on the responsibilities of a democratic system again," Barnes said, "and that's very much in our interest."