Santiago Government Lets Writer Return

SANTIAGO, Chile — Writer Ariel Dorfman returned to his homeland Saturday, saying he was baffled that the military government allowed him in after refusing to let him enter just two weeks ago.

Dorfman, 45, a leftist and outspoken critic of the right-wing government who has been living in the United States, was barred from Chile for 10 years after President Augusto Pinochet seized power in a 1973 coup.

Dorfman was first allowed to reenter Chile in 1983 and has since returned four times. But he was turned back by immigration officials in Santiago on Aug. 2 after being told a decree had been issued in October prohibiting his entry.