Conversations like the one I had today are the reason I decided to study in Latin America. I am fascinated by the history of this region, especially the crazy dictatorships people have suffered through and live to tell the story.
Chile is a great Latin American success story. In addition to its economic prosperity and growing middle class, it is one of the most stable democracies in the region. This is remarkable considering it has been only 18 years since Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship ruled. From 1973-1990, more than 3,000 people were killed or simply "disappeared", while many more were forced to flee the country. On September 11, 1973, Pinochet staged a US-backed military coup of Salvador Allende's marxist/socialist government. My homework today was to ask Chilean's about their experience that day. Mi abuela chilena (grandma Lela) said she was living up north in Calama (near the Atacama desert). Her daughter (my host mom) was 6, in primary school. She heard the news on the radio that Allende had been overthrown and went to pick Tatiana up early from school. The rest of the day there was a "toque de queda", which meant everyone had to stay home. Lela said there were tons military personnel in the streets, and they were guarding everything, making sure people stayed home.
I could tell that this was a very emotional thing for her, and she talked about how they detained all the "communists" and most were never heard from again. Most of the disappearances and killings happened in the first 6 months of the dictatorship. Lela heard stories from her family in Santiago that the Rio Mapocho was fully of bodies. One crazy woman she knew didn't get along with her husband, and thus turned him in as a "communist" and they killed him!
Lela talked about how some people still refuse to acknowledge Pinochet's crimes. He actually died in the Military Hospital literally 10 steps from my apartment, which is kind of crazy. I had always thought the place was creepy, and now I really do! Lela said that there were people greiving his death in the street right there in front of the hospital, hailing him as a saint.
Stories like this make me incredibly grateful to live in a free and fairly turmoil-free country in relation to democracy. Whether I like certain governing authorities or not, I am thankful for the limits to thier power. It also makes me admire the strength and success of a country like this, whose female president was herself tortured by Pinochet's regime but is now leading the country to reconcile itself to its troubled past and look toward the future.
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