Public support has begun to erode as Chileans become fed up with seeing their cities vandalised.
But many Chileans worry at the threat to part of their country's raw beauty.
The court's ruling came as Chileans marked the anniversary of the 11 September coup.
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But because of it Chileans now have peace, democracy and hope for a better future.
Long the best-educated people in South America, Argentines now trail Chileans and Brazilians in international tests.
For the moment, however, elation over the rescue remained high among Chileans and around the world.
"He was a shift boss who made us proud, " Pinera told Chileans in a televised address.
Nor do Chileans want to see a decade of increasing but precarious prosperity jeopardised by civil disorder.
This does not mean that Chileans will take to the streets, as they did in the 1980s recession.
Some Chileans reckon that the army is still bigger than necessary for a peaceful country of only 16m people.
As the Chileans have shown, exchange-rate uncertainty helps to keep borrowers at home.
Chileans seem to have forgotten temporarily that their gradualist democracy has real achievements of which they can be proud.
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Some Chileans gathered around television screens, but more went about their daily business.
Poorer Chileans, who make up more than half the population, have become used to material well-being unimaginable a decade ago.
Spain, itself a young democracy, is ill-placed, say many Chileans, and some Spaniards agree, to lecture others on democratic behaviour.
Despite the tragedy of the earthquake, which killed hundreds of Chileans, scientists see opportunities to gain valuable information in the aftermath.
The international press chooses not to believe this and listens instead to a vocal minority of Chileans, dissatisfied with the deal.
The solution backed by six Chileans in ten: if he is freed to return to Chile, put him on trial there.
But Chileans may simply decline to give their electoral support to anyone.
Today, a majority of Chileans support President Eduardo Frei, the reconciliation process and the president's request that General Pinochet be sent home.
Consensus among Chileans is that while the free-market formula has served Chile well over a quarter century, the model needs more work.
Many Chileans find they are paying a lot for an uncertain return.
Most Chileans believe the former dictator should be tried, and found guilty.
Opinion polls show that two-thirds of Chileans believe he should be tried.
Britain is also ignoring the delicate arrangement Chileans have made to move from a military dictatorship to the democracy it is enjoying today.
To limit confusion, Deputy Interior Minister Patricio Rosende read aloud the names of 279 Chileans whose bodies had been identified by Thursday evening.
That hope was soon shattered when he was summoned to a stadium in Santiago where thousands of Chileans had been arrested and herded.
The government has appealed for Chileans to give money to a special bank account set up to help those whose homes have been damaged.
Bachelet is widely expected by Chileans to be a candidate in the Nov. 17 presidential election, though she did not address the political angle.
But for now, many Chileans may just be grateful that their country is not suffering the kind of turmoil that has engulfed their neighbours.
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