Former head of DINA Manuel Contreras denies torture and disappearances in dictatorship era

Interviewed by CNN Chile at the Penal Cordillera, former head of DINA Manuel Contreras denied the routine practice of torture and disappearance of socialists during the dictatorship era, adding that he vouched for the organisation as he had never ordered torture.

As Chile commemorated the 40th anniversary of the ruthless dictatorship which fragmented the country into divergent memory frameworks, Contreras sought to contradict the evidence of committed atrocities either by vehemently denying the confirmed facts by seeking to demean the credibility of torture survivors and evidence relating to the desaparecidos, or else projecting blame upon other forces of the dictatorship, such as the air force. The Valech and Rettig reports were also disregarded with Contreras simply claiming he was not ordered to impose torture practices upon detainees and that no one died while in custody.

It is estimated that over 1200 sites were turned into detention, torture and extermination centres during the dictatorship.

According to Contreras, the desaparecidos can be located at the Cemeterio General in Santiago, adding that all bodies were taken to the Servicio Medico Legal prior to burial in mass graves. The practice of disappearing the bodies of murdered socialist militants into the sea was also denied, with Contreras claiming that 'DINA had no ships or aircraft or helicopters', thus striving to impart the assumption that there was no collaboration with other powerful structures within the dictatorship. The desaparecidos, according to Contreras, 'died in combat'.

The Chilean Ministry of Interior dismissed Contreras' interview as 'having no significance or relevance', adding that the imprisoned general imposed destruction upon Chile, reminding people that his rhetoric has been dispelled by the Chilean courts.

The remarks uttered by Contreras elicited outrage in social media, compounded by the fact that right wing supporters clamoured online for the freedom of former military offices, who they described as political prisoners.

DINA's covert operations manual, known as 'Secreto 28', instructs agents to take advantage of instances when people believe the law is not being violated, as it allows further freedom to infringe. The 108 page document instructs DINA to violate the law and ensure that all traces of such violations should be appropriately concealed in order to avoid the possibility of implicating the state and authorities.

President Sebastian Piñera condemned the human rights violations which occurred during Pinochet's era; however he expressed the opinion that both sides of the political spectrum should assume responsibility, adding that Salvador Allende's government 'broke the legality and rule of law'.

Meanwhile in Santiago, activists are determined to continue the struggle for the memory of the desaparecidos. It has been reported that Santiago will be 'bombarded' with thousands of photos bearing the faces of Chile's desaparecidos in various places, including the notorious detention and extermination centre, Cuartel Simon Bolivar.



 

The disappearance of priest Miguel Woodward Iriberry - torturers escape justice

Miguel Woodward Iriberry, priest and MAPU activist

Justice has once again favoured human rights violators. The Court of Appeals in Valparaiso, investigating the disappearance of British Chilean priest and MAPU activist Miguel Woodward Iriberry, has determined that the agents involved will not serve any prison sentence.

José Manuel García Reyes and Héctor Fernando Palomino López were sentenced to three years and one day in prison but granted the benefit of probation.

Manuel Atilio Leiva Valdivieso was acquitted on grounds of dementia. The remaining agents, Carlos Alberto Miño Muñoz, Marcos Cristián Silva Bravo, Guillermo Carlos Inostroza Opazo, Luis Fernando Pinda Figueroa and Bertalino Segundo Castillo Soto were absolved due to lack of evidence of participation.

The torture and detention ship, Esmeralda

Woodward was arrested at his home in Cerro Placeres, Poblacion Heroes del Mar, in the aftermath of the military coup, according to the Rettig Report on September 16, 1973 by Navy officials. He was transferred to the University Federico Santa Maria where he was brutally tortured by simulated drowning in the pool until suffocation. Following the almost fatal torture, Woodward was transferred to the Esmeralda - a naval ship which served as a detention and torture centre. According to testimony from the second in command of the Esmeralda, Eduardo Barison, Woodward died on the ship from the excessive torture inflicted upon him. The official death certificate indicates cardiac arrest as the cause of death, while the prosecution argues that Woodward died as a result of internal bleeding from torture.

Attempts to recover Woodward's body for a proper burial were futile in the wake of systematic disappearances. Following testimony about a mass grave given by the former director of the cemetery at Playa Ancha, an excavation order was given in 2006 to exhume the Woodward's remains. However, the excavation was called six days later as no remains were unearthed. According to the cemetery's records the last burials took place in 1979; however an excavation, presumably to remove the remains of the desaparecidos took place before 1989 and the downfall of the military dictatorship.

Relatives and friends of Woodward have stated that they will appeal the ruling by Jolio Miranda Lillo, declaring the ruling unsatisfactory after eleven years of judicial struggle in pursuit of memory and justice. Throughout the years, 33 people have been accused of the torture and disappearance of of Woodward - only eight made it to the courts, with impunity proving to be a formidable opponent against justice. The family is also considering a petition for the dismissal of Miranda's role in deciding human rights violations cases.



 

Preliminary test results on Pablo Neruda's remains

Almost a month after Pablo Neruda's body was exhumed, initial results published by Chile's Servicio Medico Legal indicate that the poet was suffering from an advanced and metastatic prostate cancer. However, the presence of cancer does not rule out the possibility of assassination by DINA, as claimed by Neruda's personal chauffeur Don Manuel Araya.

Eduardo Contreras, lawyer of the Communist Party of Chile stated that the news of Neruda's illness was not surprising. Results concerning the presence of toxins, which would indicate an assassination, were being carried out in the US.

Araya has questioned the official version of Neruda's death, a mere twelve days after the military dictatorship was unleashed upon Chile. In 2011, his version of events and accusations against the dictatorship were published in El Pais and later evolved into a book entitled 'El Doble Asesinato de Neruda' by Francisco Marin and Mario Cassasus, in which it is argued that Neruda was in fact planning to go into exile and instigate a formidable opposition to the dictatorship from abroad.

The preliminary results have already been hailed by the right wing as proof of 'a leftist conspiracy'. Calling the exhumation a manipulation, the quest for memory has been swiftly ridiculed in a tangle of conspiracy accusations. For the Chilean left, proof tends to be regarded with suspicion after decades of succumbing to the indignities of dictatorial impunity which Pinochet negotiated as part of his brutal legacy.

It should be noted that despite the exhumation of Salvador Allende's body and subsequent confirmation of suicide, many Chileans remain sceptical of this history. Following a historical update on Facebook during last year's September 11, the documented history did not include Allende's alleged suicide. Instead, a statement was issued declaring a strong belief that Allende had been murdered and therefore the historical re-enactment would end prior to the disputed act.

In Asociacion Ilicita: Los Archivos Secretos de la Dictadura (Ceibo Ediciones, 2012) (review here), it is stated that close monitoring of intellectuals and other opponents in exile was carried out by DINA, in order to prevent the possible formation of a government in exile. In light of this revelation, it is indeed suspicious and utterly convenient for the fascist dictatorship that Neruda succumbed to his illness prior to his safe exit from Chile. With such close ties to Allende's government, Neruda would have been a mobilising factor for the Chilean left in exile.

El Doble Asesinato de Neruda has been kindly provided to me by the publishers as a review copy. A review of the book - testimony and thoughts of Don Manuel Araya about the alleged assassination of Pablo Neruda, will be published on this blog by the end of next week.


 

Forty years later, Justice for Victor Jara: School of the Americas Grad Indicted in Murder of the Popular Allende-Era Singer/Activist

This article was first published in Truthout here.

The move to extradite Florida resident Pedro Barrientos Nunez in connection with the murder of famed Chilean singer Victor Jara - a supporter of deposed President Salvador Allende - is re-igniting Chile's campaign for justice for victims of the Pinochet regime's reign of torture and violence.

The US-backed military coup in Chile on September 11, 1973, was a prelude to systematic state terrorism unleashed after the bombing of the presidential palace, La Moneda, and Salvador Allende's alleged suicide.

Allende's Popular Unity was a socialist movement that unified the workers' struggle within a realm of culture. The Nueva Cancion Chilena (New Chilean Song), born out of a necessity in the mid-1960s to articulate social struggle, became a popular feature during Allende's presidential campaign, with musicians wholeheartedly bequeathing their support.

Victor Jara, a Nueva Cancion singer synonymous with the movement, became one of the first victims of the dictatorship when he was brutally tortured and murdered after being apprehended at the Technical University and brought to Estadio Chile- the country's national sports stadium. Secrecy and impunity shrouded Victor's death, until testimony from a former conscript at Estadio Chile revealed the name of Victor Jara's alleged killer.

The name of Pedro Pablo Barrientos Nuñez became the source of a relentless campaign by Chilean social movements to pursue justice for Jara. A documentary aired in May 2012 by Chilevision, entitled Quien Mató a Víctor Jara? (Who Killed Víctor Jara?) drew upon the testimony of several survivors, conscripts, former lieutenants and activists to reconstruct the events leading to the singer's death. In the course of the documentary, ex-conscript Jose Alfonso Paredes Marquez alleged that Barrientos had pulled the trigger, shooting Víctor in the head. "He shot him at almost point blank range because the man would not answer him," stated Paredes.

The campaign "Justicia Para Víctor Jara" (Justice for Víctor Jara) gained momentum last year, with Joan Jara and lawyer Nelson Caucoto Pereira urging the Minister of Defense and the Armed Forces of Chile to reveal classified information that would lead to identifying the lieutenants responsible for Victor's murder.

On December 28, 2012, Chilean newspaper El Mostrador announced indictments had been issued against Barrientos, Hugo Sanchez Marmonti, , Raúl Jofré González, Edwin Dimter Bianchi, Nelson Haase Mazzei and Luis Bethke Wulf in connection with Jara's murder.
Another two former officials were later indicted: Jorge Smith Gumucio and Roberto Souper Onfray. Following the announcement, an international arrest warrant was issued for Barrientos, who had been living in Florida since the 1990s, and Paredes, the ex-conscript, was arraigned on charges related to his alleged role in Jara's death. Judge Miguel Vásquez denied bail to the seven former lieutenants, four of whom already are serving sentences for other unrelated crimes.

Almost 40 years after Jara's murder, Judge Vásquez said he had no doubt about Barrientos' role, despite Barrientos' claim that he was never inside Estadio Chile and "never having heard of the singer Jara in that era." Barrientos had previously stated he was in the vicinity of the presidential palace, La Moneda, during the military coup. Questioned by journalist Macarena Pizarro from Chilevision, he declared his intent to never return to Chile to face prosecution. "I do not have to face justice because I killed no one. I've been to Chile several times, but now, loud and clear, I won't go."

The extradition request detailed the events leading up to Jara's murder. On September 12, 1973, the Technical University was surrounded by soldiers, who apprehended students and staff barricaded in the building, transferring them to Estadio Chile under the command of the Tejas Verdes contingent.
Jara's popularity rendered him a threat to the military dictatorship. His support for Salvador Allende's Popular Unity, and his later role as ambassador for the government's politics and socialist culture, cultivated a symbol of resistance and unity with the campesinos. Upon his arrival at the Estadio Chile, a lieutenant nicknamed "el Principe" recognized Jara and singled him out for brutal torture. The identity of "el Principe" remains disputed, although in his testimony Paredes indicated the nickname referred to Nelson Haase. Judge Vásquez stated that Jara was shot 44 times on September 16 - four days after soldiers brought him to Estadio Chile.

Following his murder, Jara would have become one of Chile's well-known "los desaparecidos" (the disappeared), his body thrown outside the Metropolitan Cemetery for burial in a mass grave, had he not been recognized by a social activist, who alerted others to his fate. Following a secret burial, Joan Jara and her daughters fled to exile in the UK, risking their lives by smuggling Jara's recordings out of Chile at a time when any material related to the Nueva Canción was tantamount to conspiracy against the dictatorship.

The denial of involvement in Jara's murder was echoed by other former lieutenants, exhibiting an impunity bordering upon the ludicrous. From the non-committal replies, outright denial, to out-of-context afterthoughts, like Nelson Haase's, "I was never in Estadio Chile. I don't know it. I don't even like football," the former lieutenants relished their apparent impenetrable status. However, Paredes stated he accompanied Barrientos during the period when Estadio Chile was transformed into the nation's first torture and detention center, and also had access to the interrogation rooms.

All officials indicted for the murder of Jara formed part of the Tejas Verdes contingent, and operated directly under the command of Manuel Contreras Sepulveda, later head of DINA [Direccion de Intelligencia Nacional]. The Tejas Verdes contingent specialized in torture practices, later dispersing to hold official positions in other detention and torture centers throughout Chile, like Londres 38, Villa Grimaldi, Tres y Cuatros Alamos and the notorious extermination center Cuartel Simón Bolívar, headed by Manuel Contreras himself and collaborating with other officials like Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, specializing in the detention of communist and MIR [Movimiento Izquierda Revolucionario] militants.

The role of the US in facilitating the coup against Salvador Allende is well known and asserted by various statements from Henry Kissinger, who declared the issue of communism in Chile "too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves." An equally pivotal role that the US played in supporting the right-wing dictatorship was its training of soldiers and lieutenants through the School of Americas (SOA). Four of the indicted officials are SOA graduates, including Barrientos.

Established in 1946, the SOA trained more than 64,000 Latin American soldiers, bequeathing them a wealth of counterinsurgency techniques, torture instruction and intelligence tactics. The deceitful mission statement of the SOA deemed democracy an integral part of military training; however, Latin American history has been replete with accounts of torture corresponding to tactics learned at the SOA. In reality, the SOA appears to have constituted a military program aimed at eliminating the socialist revival which was intensified after the success of the Cuban Revolution. SOA Watch has established that one out of every seven DINA officials in Chile were enrolled in the school and responsible for the targeting of Communist and MIR militants.

Speaking out against impunity, lawyer Nelson Caucoto urged soldiers who were present in Estadio Chile to break their pact of silence about the atrocities committed, emphasizing a duty towards remembrance as opposed to strengthening Pinochet's hope for oblivion. After the screening of the documentary, Joan Jara asserted her belief "officials lied with impunity," and the expressed the necessity of investigating within the higher echelons of the military in order to extract any semblance of justice.

The extradition request has strengthened tenacity toward preserving memory and justice in Chile. Social networking sites have been influential in disseminating updates about the case. While Barrientos' Facebook profile appears to be inaccessible, his photo, together with the extradition request, has been a prominent feature of Chilean activists' clamor for the right to memory.
If the extradition and subsequent trials are successful, Chilean memory will have succeeded in implementing justice within a country still shackled by remnants of the dictatorship. Last year brought about a resurgence of tactics designed to eliminate references to human rights violations by deconstructing narrative and language. Reclaiming Jara's memory as inherent to the public space will serve as a catalyst for justice against decades of oppression that still flourish in today's society, as impunity provides a channel of legal and political control through torturers and DINA agents employed within the public sphere.

Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.

Dictatorship Relics in Chile: Paying homage to Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko

This article was first published in Upside Down World here.
In another event which exposes the reality of Chilean society’s split memory, an homage to former Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) officer Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko was described as an exercise in freedom of expression by mayor  of Providencia Christian Labbé, in turn prompting outrage and protests from human rights and activist groups in Chile since its announcement.

On November 21, Labbé organised a book launch for the 4th edition of right wing historian Gisela Silva Encina’s Miguel Krassnoff: Prisoniero Por Servir a Chile (Miguel Krassnoff: A Prisoner for Serving Chile). A letter from Krassnoff[1] was read during the event, in which he described his incarceration as ‘illegal, illegitimate and unconstitutional’. Hundreds of activists and relatives of tortured victims gathered to protest the event, some holding placards stating “I don’t forget, nor forgive”. Others turned up with photographs of tortured, assassinated or missing relatives. Protestors hurled eggs and stones in the direction of Club Providencia, resulting in clashes between opposing groups and the use of force and tear gas against protestors by the Chilean police. Earlier that day another indictment was issued against Krassnoff, charging him and three other DINA officers with the kidnapping of Newton Morales Saavedra in 1974.[2]

A message relayed by one of President Sebastian Piñera’s assistants stated that while the President was unable to attend, he wished the event success, bearing in mind that “Krassnoff is a representative symbol of the 1973 – 1978 era.”[3] Following the protests, Piñera issued a retraction, saying the initial message was not his and there was no way his government would have participated in such an event.

Krassnoff was sentenced to 144 years in prison in 2006 for over 20 counts of crimes against humanity. A graduate of the School of the Americas (SOA) and renowned for anti-Marxist sentiment, Krassnoff took part in the September 11, 1973 military coup d’état which ousted President Salvador Allende. Having been in charge of DINA’s Brigada Halcon, Krassnoff was at the helm of Pinochet’s secret service which kidnapped, tortured and assassinated members of Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria de Chile (MIR) – who had formed a paramilitary resistance against Pinochet’s dictatorship. Those arrested were taken to Villa Grimaldi and Londres 38, torture complexes which operated from 1974 to 1978.

According to Stern (Reckoning with Pinochet: The Memory Question in Democratic Chile 1989 – 2006) 4,500 prisoners were tortured from 1974 – 1976; including 205 disappearances. Survivors of torture recount extreme atrocities committed against prisoners. Sheila Cassidy, a British doctor living in Chile at the time of the coup, was arrested and tortured with electric shocks on the accusation of medically treating a Pinochet opponent. Paul Hammer[4], a law student arrested on suspicion of membership in a left-wing paramilitary group states he was beaten, shocked and brought to the verge of suffocation. Another torture survivor of Villa Grimaldi, Pedro Matta[5] was arrested in 1975 and taken to Villa Grimaldi. His extensive research sheds light on the methods and manner of torture.

Prisoners who refused to become collaborators for DINA were kept standing for long hours in tiny cells, torturers submerged the prisoners’ heads in putrid water, others were subjected to the shattering of limbs, performed by a guard who would drive a vehicle over the victim’s legs. Sexual abuse and torture against women was particularly sadistic, which included rape, using animals to sexually abuse women and the burning of genitals. Influential prisoners who refused to succumb to the interrogator’s demands were usually anesthetised, taken on board a helicopter and thrown into the ocean. This elimination of opponents was also affirmed by Cassidy.

Labbé, a personal friend of Krassnoff since their time at the (SOA)[6], so far remains unscathed by the law. A former body guard of Krassnoff, he later formed part of Brigada Halcon, given the duty of instructing guards in torture methods. Reiterating that he allowed the use of Club Providencia each time there was a commemoration pertaining to the Pinochet era, Labbé considers the event as honouring part of Chile’s history. Notwithstanding his role in Villa Grimaldi, Labbé continues to enjoy the authorities’ support and has contested council elections, retaining his place as Mayor since his first campaign.

Despite the testimonies from survivors and reports drawn up by the Valech and Rettig commissions; Chilean society remains split over the dictatorship era. According to Krassnoff’s declaration in the letter read during the book launch, “the military coup didn’t happen. It was a legitimate military intervention.” Once again, memory and blame are displaced. Pinochet’s initial declaration to allegations of human rights abuses, “Sometimes democracy must be bathed in blood” was mellowed through the years into a mission of refuting evidence of torture and murder through the discrepancy oblivion, as he stated in 1995, “The only solution to the issue of human rights is oblivion.”

As evidenced from Gisela Silva Encina’s blog[7] about Krassnoff, Pinochet supporters are in denial of the history of human rights abuses, assassinations and disappearances. Echoing a quote from Krassnoff, “I am a soldier who has been transformed into a persecuted politician.” Encina states that Krassnoff was the victim of lies and that no evidence incriminating Krassnoff was brought forward. Indeed, Dr Patricio Bustos, Head of Servicio Medico Legal, testified that he was tortured by Miguel Krassnoff[8], and that Krassnoff never used a pseudonym to conceal his identity[9]. The testimonies of victims were dismissed as memory manipulation. Encina’s blog also portrays the protestors as criminals attacking Pinochet supporters, thus necessitating the use of force on behalf of the police. Chile’s laws do not deem the celebration of genocide as a crime; therefore once again, victims and their relatives have been subjected to a travesty of justice.

However, the memory of the oppressed refuses to relinquish its stand. Lorena Pizarro, president of Agrupacion de Familiares de Detenidos Desparecidos (AFDD), condemned the homage[10], stating it portrayed Chile as a state which sanctions terrorism, as well as opening an avenue for a repetition of state terror. Alicia Lira, president of the Agrupacion de Familiares de Ejecution Politicos (AFEP) denounced the homage as an affront to memory and an example of the impunity which Piñera’s government is unwilling to counter, since many officers from the Pinochet era remain in authoritative positions.[11] On behalf of the AFDD, Pizarro is suing Labbé[12], demanding to know whether public funds were used to finance the event.

At a time when Chile is experiencing a surge in protests, notably the students’ protests demanding quality and free education, the event elicited responses from political figures. Head of Senate Guido Girardi denounced the homage[13], calling it “a tribute to torture, assassination and rape” and challenged Piñera to take measures against allowing Labbé to run for council elections in 2012. [14] “It is not possible that public authorities honor torturers and murderers … It is not democratic that your party supports a militant who has incurred faults that go against the constitution and the law … Labbé should be prevented from reapplying for office as he clearly has not responded as democracy demands.”

Notes:

[1] http://miguelkrassnoff.blogspot.com/2011/11/carta-del-brigadier-krassnoff-leida-en.html

[2] http://www.lab.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1154:homage-to-a-criminal-in-chile&catid=65:news&Itemid=39

[3] http://www.biobiochile.cl/2011/11/17/gobierno-califica-de-lamentable-error-apoyo-inicial-al-homenaje-a-ex-agente-dina-miguel-krassnoff.shtml

[4] http://peoplesworld.org/villa-grimaldi-chile-s-memorial-to-victims-of-torture/%20Paul%20Hammer

[5] http://thelegacyproject.com/acmatta.html

[6] http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=140065

[7] http://miguelkrassnoff.blogspot.com

[8] http://www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/pais/2011/11/22/%E2%80%9Cnos-tiraron-desnudos-amarrados-a-un-somier-metalico-con-aplicaciones-de-electricidad%E2%80%9D/

[9] http://www.elmostrador.cl/opinion/2011/11/25/yo-estuve-alli-no-hubo-empate/

[10] http://www.londres38.cl/1937/w3-article-92796.html

[11] http://afepchile.cl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=363:afep-frente-a-homenaje-al-criminal-krassnoff-qno-permitiremos-que-se-pretenda-borrar-de-la-memoria-colectiva-el-horror-y-la-traicionq&catid=1:ultimas&Itemid=71

[12] http://www.londres38.cl/1937/w3-article-92800.html

[13] https://nacla.org/news/2011/12/1/homage-criminal-chile

[14] http://ilovechile.cl/2011/11/25/evening-news-6/40508

My review of Reckoning with Pinochet, published in Upside Down World at http://upsidedownworld.org/main/chile-archives-34/3053-book-review-memory-and-justice-in-democratic-chile “My father had breakfast every day with General Pinochet during four years...I cannot understand that General Pinochet could say today ‘I have no idea’,” stated Manuel Contreras Valdebenito in 1999, whose father was head of DINA, Chile’s intelligence services during Pinochet’s dictatorship. By then, a division in loyalty had started to occur between Pinochet and his secret police DINA (Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional).During Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship, violence was implemented as a means of annihilating all socialist and Marxist support in the country. Death and disappearances, torture and exile were common occurrences. A vital factor aiding the regime’s tenacity was the population’s subsequent silence. Fear and terror had created a long, temporary absence of vociferous socialist support, and the definition of justice had been mangled and manipulated by the absence of a memory made public.Two particular memory frameworks prevail through the book Reckoning with Pinochet – The Memory Question in Democratic Chile, 1989 – 2006 (Duke University Press, 2010), described by author Steve J. Stern as emblematic memory and loose memory – the social memory and the personal memory. Although they stand in contrast, it is by blending both concepts that the memory becomes national; the memory of Chile. Personal accounts of torture, disappearances, murder and exile sustain the social experience, which in turn creates a framework that is capable of combating the memory oblivion of the right.Reckoning with Pinochet delves into the memory question and the process through which memory became an essential part of Chilean culture. Drawing on the obvious split of loyalties within Chilean society, Stern vividly portrays the memory of both sides, bringing to light a conclusion which, despite the obvious, has the tendency to remain cloistered in a realm of its own. Despite the propaganda of democracy, Pinochet’s rule was a brutal dictatorship which resorted to extremes to annihilate any evidence of socialist or communist support. Yet, due to the flaws inherent in the subsequent transition to democracy, there still remains a segment of the population which perceives Pinochet as a saviour, and therefore defines atrocities as a method of preserving Chile from ruin. While the socialists perceived the pre-1973 years as the prologue to adversity, supporters of Pinochet drew upon Allende’s presidential term as the disaster prior to deliverance. What the right eliminates from memory is obviously the reality of Pinochet’s brutal massacre of Chileans and other atrocities that render an individual split from his humanity.In its essence, memory can be elusive – a series of certainties that differs according to the recollections of people. At a distance, the repression of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile may be perceived solely as a fragment of the country’s history, not having been burdened with a legacy of death, torture, disappearances and exile. As the book draws on the memory of people, grassroots organisations, elites, truth commissions and judges, it becomes evident that the memory of Chile is strong enough to be sustained beyond its borders. With the rupture of silence, the atrocities committed during the dictatorship became translated into an experience of that particular era in Chilean history, documented both for Chile and for the rest of the world.Throughout the years of transition, Pinochet argued in favour of memory oblivion, describing the concept as “mindful silence as a positive good.” Memory had created a conflict on both sides out of the quest for truth and justice. Patricio Aylwin’s Convivencia law was aimed at shattering the silence that shrouded the era of torture and oppression, thus giving an outlet to narrations of brutality. In the wake of evidence starting to seep out, the military and the Right had “adjusted to the documented factual truth of memory as rupture.” By displacing responsibility for the committed atrocities, Pinochet and the right wing had justified their detachment from the process, and even from culpability. The memory transition at best seemed fragmented. Pinochet sought honour and amnesty. Aylwin was pressing for political stability and ethics, while victim survivors were clamouring for justice. The transition satisfied nobody, yet it was through this period that grassroots activists ascertained the legacy of terror would not be ignored. As testimonies started to emerge from the truth commission’s investigations, the memory oblivion encouraged by Pinochet was relegated to its own irrelevance within the context of the oppressed people’s quest for memory truth. Stern also presents memory as an experience. Whilst the culture of oblivion shelters the middle class from the moral obligation of affirming state violence, thus clashing with the concept of human rights, the memory framework of the socialists is dependent upon exposing atrocities in order to reach a semblance of salvation. The rupture of silence was essential in order to create a framework that portrays the injustice inflicted on Chilean supporters of Salvador Allende, activists within the Unidad Popular and other people who had a socialist background to bring about a relative consciousness that sustains itself from within the confines of history. In due course, other media and creativity sources sprang up, conveying the social memory of the oppressed to the Chileans as a nation. The memory quest for justice remained replete with obstacles from the past, as Pinochet’s legacy loomed over any shattered frontier. In a letter addressed to Chileans in 1998, Pinochet stresses that he never sought power and was trapped by a communist conspiracy. The actions of embedding past realities in the present was unacceptable to the right wing which, in its futile efforts to preserve the culture of oblivion, persevered in a wave of disassociation negation, fabricating a reality that diminished the essence of justice.As the truth emerged, Allende was once again reaffirmed as the leader of marginalised people. A sentiment which had to be sheltered during Pinochet’s reign had once again manifested itself in the loyalty of the people. This was a memory totally independent of justice and its manipulations.Pinochet was finally deemed unfit to stand trial due to dementia, a relic of another fallacy of justice. Responsibility was never legally acknowledged or declared through a trial. Findings state that the scale of torture during Pinochet’s dictatorship was massive and it was also a ‘policy of the state’. Thus, Chile’s memory remained an inconclusive metaphor, blemished by tragedy and the ambiguous process that was supposed to pave the way through democracy.

My review of Reckoning with Pinochet, published in Upside Down World at http://upsidedownworld.org/main/chile-archives-34/3053-book-review-memory-and-justice-in-democratic-chile

“My father had breakfast every day with General Pinochet during four years...I cannot understand that General Pinochet could say today ‘I have no idea’,” stated Manuel Contreras Valdebenito in 1999, whose father was head of DINA, Chile’s intelligence services during Pinochet’s dictatorship. By then, a division in loyalty had started to occur between Pinochet and his secret police DINA (Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional).

During Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship, violence was implemented as a means of annihilating all socialist and Marxist support in the country. Death and disappearances, torture and exile were common occurrences. A vital factor aiding the regime’s tenacity was the population’s subsequent silence. Fear and terror had created a long, temporary absence of vociferous socialist support, and the definition of justice had been mangled and manipulated by the absence of a memory made public.

Two particular memory frameworks prevail through the book Reckoning with Pinochet – The Memory Question in Democratic Chile, 1989 – 2006 (Duke University Press, 2010), described by author Steve J. Stern as emblematic memory and loose memory – the social memory and the personal memory. Although they stand in contrast, it is by blending both concepts that the memory becomes national; the memory of Chile. Personal accounts of torture, disappearances, murder and exile sustain the social experience, which in turn creates a framework that is capable of combating the memory oblivion of the right.

Reckoning with Pinochet delves into the memory question and the process through which memory became an essential part of Chilean culture. Drawing on the obvious split of loyalties within Chilean society, Stern vividly portrays the memory of both sides, bringing to light a conclusion which, despite the obvious, has the tendency to remain cloistered in a realm of its own. Despite the propaganda of democracy, Pinochet’s rule was a brutal dictatorship which resorted to extremes to annihilate any evidence of socialist or communist support. Yet, due to the flaws inherent in the subsequent transition to democracy, there still remains a segment of the population which perceives Pinochet as a saviour, and therefore defines atrocities as a method of preserving Chile from ruin. While the socialists perceived the pre-1973 years as the prologue to adversity, supporters of Pinochet drew upon Allende’s presidential term as the disaster prior to deliverance. What the right eliminates from memory is obviously the reality of Pinochet’s brutal massacre of Chileans and other atrocities that render an individual split from his humanity.

In its essence, memory can be elusive – a series of certainties that differs according to the recollections of people. At a distance, the repression of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile may be perceived solely as a fragment of the country’s history, not having been burdened with a legacy of death, torture, disappearances and exile. As the book draws on the memory of people, grassroots organisations, elites, truth commissions and judges, it becomes evident that the memory of Chile is strong enough to be sustained beyond its borders. With the rupture of silence, the atrocities committed during the dictatorship became translated into an experience of that particular era in Chilean history, documented both for Chile and for the rest of the world.

Throughout the years of transition, Pinochet argued in favour of memory oblivion, describing the concept as “mindful silence as a positive good.” Memory had created a conflict on both sides out of the quest for truth and justice. Patricio Aylwin’s Convivencia law was aimed at shattering the silence that shrouded the era of torture and oppression, thus giving an outlet to narrations of brutality. In the wake of evidence starting to seep out, the military and the Right had “adjusted to the documented factual truth of memory as rupture.” By displacing responsibility for the committed atrocities, Pinochet and the right wing had justified their detachment from the process, and even from culpability.

The memory transition at best seemed fragmented. Pinochet sought honour and amnesty. Aylwin was pressing for political stability and ethics, while victim survivors were clamouring for justice. The transition satisfied nobody, yet it was through this period that grassroots activists ascertained the legacy of terror would not be ignored. As testimonies started to emerge from the truth commission’s investigations, the memory oblivion encouraged by Pinochet was relegated to its own irrelevance within the context of the oppressed people’s quest for memory truth.

Stern also presents memory as an experience. Whilst the culture of oblivion shelters the middle class from the moral obligation of affirming state violence, thus clashing with the concept of human rights, the memory framework of the socialists is dependent upon exposing atrocities in order to reach a semblance of salvation. The rupture of silence was essential in order to create a framework that portrays the injustice inflicted on Chilean supporters of Salvador Allende, activists within the Unidad Popular and other people who had a socialist background to bring about a relative consciousness that sustains itself from within the confines of history. In due course, other media and creativity sources sprang up, conveying the social memory of the oppressed to the Chileans as a nation.

The memory quest for justice remained replete with obstacles from the past, as Pinochet’s legacy loomed over any shattered frontier. In a letter addressed to Chileans in 1998, Pinochet stresses that he never sought power and was trapped by a communist conspiracy. The actions of embedding past realities in the present was unacceptable to the right wing which, in its futile efforts to preserve the culture of oblivion, persevered in a wave of disassociation negation, fabricating a reality that diminished the essence of justice.

As the truth emerged, Allende was once again reaffirmed as the leader of marginalised people. A sentiment which had to be sheltered during Pinochet’s reign had once again manifested itself in the loyalty of the people. This was a memory totally independent of justice and its manipulations.

Pinochet was finally deemed unfit to stand trial due to dementia, a relic of another fallacy of justice. Responsibility was never legally acknowledged or declared through a trial. Findings state that the scale of torture during Pinochet’s dictatorship was massive and it was also a ‘policy of the state’. Thus, Chile’s memory remained an inconclusive metaphor, blemished by tragedy and the ambiguous process that was supposed to pave the way through democracy.