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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE May 8, 2006
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| February 24, 2006 |
Valparaiso, Chile – Another September 11, and Chile’s Contemporary History |
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| Hillside landscape of Valparaiso, a UNESCO World heritage site and former home of renowned poet Pablo Neruda. |
After passing through the Tierra del Fuego fjords and along the southern Chilean coast, Peace Boat called on Valparaiso, its third urban Latin American port. Having suffered through a brutal dictatorship during the 1970’s and 80’s, Chile has managed a remarkable recovery both economically and politically. A symbol of the latter is the recent election of Michelle Bachelet, the first female leader in South America, who also happens to represent the center-left sector. Hence, participants in our global voyage were eager to understand Chile’s current socio-political situation and contribute in its recovery process. |
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| Mural depicting political victims from the Pinochet regime as well as the courtyard of the infamous former Valparaiso Jail – a detention and torture center. |
A day-long study program in Valparaiso began lectures from leaders of the social sector working to amend the negative effects from the devastating dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. As history recalls, on September 11th, 1973, the military launched a coup d'état which resulted in the death of then President Salvador Allende and gave way to nearly 20 years of terror headed by General Pinochet. Most disturbing is that event was actively supported by the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in order to remove a democratically elected president with socialist tendencies. |
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| Enrique Nuñez, on right, recalls torture treatments during his time as a political prisoner under Pinochet’s regime. |
Enrique Nuñez, president of the Non-Government Organization (NGO) Agrupación de Ex-presos Políticos (Group of Former Political Prisoners) states: “Here in Chile, two towers were not destroyed, what was destroyed was an entire social project which benefited the masses. While at the same time, it was a moral blow to the hope which Allende’s presidency gave to other Latin American countries.” |
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| Peace Boat participant Sato Juichi, at forefront, contributes in the coloring of the Valparaiso peace mural. |
In addition to the lectures, participants of the study program contributed to the completion of a peace mural organized by onboard guest lecturer Juan Chaparro and three other local artists. During his time onboard, Juan expressed the importance of public art within the Chilean socio-political framework. Thus, Peace Boat participants felt privileged to be a part of such an influential project. Sato Junichi expressed his sense of accomplishment by stating that he hopes “the message transmitted through the mural, an artistic way of expression, will give positive strength to those who view it.” |
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| The daunting halls of the former Valparaiso Jail are now low cost art studios. |
During the late afternoon, participants visited the former Valparaiso Jail, a symbol of repression from the Pinochet era. Our guides, former prisoners themselves, recalled horror stories from a time when the edifice remained saturated with political prisoners – mostly teachers, artists, activists, labor leaders, intellectuals. Since 2000, however, the prison has been converted into a cultural space designed to host music festivals, live theatre, and art expositions. But most inspiring is that former cells now function as low cost art studios. Symbolically, the project now known as “The Jail: a Cultural Hill” has aided in the psychological reparation of a society still recovering from its darkest period. |
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| Final version of the peace mural painted by members of the Valparaiso School of Fine Arts and Peace Boat participants. |
The scorecard from Augusto Pinochet’s coup d'état remains dismal: 1700 citizens executed, 3500 disappeared, 30000 detained, half a million exiled, and vile torture methods as the norm. Nelson Aramburú, former torture victim and current executive secretary of the NGO Tortura Nunca Más (Torture Never Again) states: “The level of liberty which we [Chileans] have reached today is the product of our constant struggle and fighting.” Mr. Aramburú proudly reminds us how even though Pinochet might not be judged because of his health and age, there are roughly 500 military officers from the dictatorship years under trial at the moment and several have already been convicted.
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