From the title, I understand that some people may be uninterested right away from reading this blog. No worries. Feel free to skip this one. Also, just a heads up, it may be kind of sad. However, I feel that we as human beings should learn from history. In that way, it can be useful.
On September 11, 1973, there was a military coup in Chile, where a leader named General Pinochet came into power, attacking the presidential palace and overthrowing the government led by President Allende. Allende died, and Pinochet took control. There were significant human rights abuses. Many people who may have worked for the government under Allende or were not in favor of the military group, all of a sudden disappeared. Some were later found dead. Some got taken to detention centers. Some were forced out of the country. Some were never heard from again.
A place we visited yesterday is called the Center of Detention "Villa Grimaldi". It was a very sad place. This was a secret place where people got tortured. Some forms of torture were water submersion, electrocution, and graphically worse. The current Chilean president, President Michelle Bachelet, was taken with her mom to this detention center, where both were tortured. I do not know where, but her dad was also tortured and died in relation to these events. Kids were even kidnapped during this time period. It especially struck me that it seems so recent. Since then, Chile has become a democracy. And this topic is not talked about very much, as it provokes much pain, rage, and mixed emotions/feelings.
Therefore, I am not giving much for opinions, but rather merely listing a few facts that were talked about yesterday.
Actually, one of my professors told us that his dad was out in the street after curfew during the time of Pinochet's control. Therefore, a guard shot him in the leg. I cannot imagine these events.
We also went to an archival place, where there are rooms of information and accounts of the victims during this historical time period. For instance, the families came to this place and reported the time of disappearance and what the victim was last seen wearing. There are currently many court cases going on in regards to these happenings.
Another place we visited was called the Solidarity Foundation, which before consisted of an organization that worked with imprisoned people during this time period. Now, it works with the poor. Our guide/speaker actually lost her job back in 1973, as she worked for the government. She also was imprisoned a few times but always released. To the contrary, some of her co-workers were killed or disappeared.
Finally, we visited the General Cemetery. It is the most famous cemetery in Chile. Many of Chile's previous presidents were buried there, such as President Allende, who had control before the military coup. This cemetery is huge. The idea was to make it like a city. Therefore, within it, there are street names, etc. Some of the tombs are actually buildings in themselves. It was unbelievable. I can't even get an idea of how big this place is. While we were there, we saw at least 3 funeral processions going on.
In conclusion, this excursion was very different than the other ones. However, as many of the tour guides said, it is important to learn about it "para que nunca sea mas" (so that it never happens again). One thing that struck me was how recent this is. A memorial that we saw included names upon names of politically targeted individuals, included babies and children ages 9, 15, etc. This was so sad! I imagined a brother of that 9-year old, who could be in his 40's or 50's now, still grieving over this. Obviously, it is very recent, and I was surprised how little this is talked about or eluded to, at least from a foreigner's perspective. However, I then thought about September 11, 2001, of the United States. Yes, the nation was affected and is different because of it, and yes, people are still grieving losses of family members or friends. However, it is probably something that a foreigner may not realize upon a visit to the United States, because it is not something that is talked about very openly on a frequent basis.
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