Chile: "Nazi" school causes outrage

This is one of those stories where you wonder whether you should give it the publicity, but for interest's sake, here goes.

A self-proclaimed advocate of Nazism from Chiloé, Godofredo Rodríguez, plans to open a school called the "Escuela de Arte Nazi Presidente General Augusto Pinochet" in Ancud. The school uses a swastika as its logo and has, not surprisingly, provoked a certain amount of indignation in the area. Various politicians have protested and today it was reported that Rodríguez has been arrested on an open charge of theft.

Rodríguez does appear to be crazy; the conflation of "Nazism" and Pinochet, and the claiming that "others do the same with Salvador Allende, and he was a Jew and a freemason" are pretty hard to take seriously. But of course, this is not to say that the people of Ancud want to see posters with swastikas around the place and it does raise questions about people's right to propagate their own view of history. In Germany, use of Nazi imagery would not be allowed and if Rodríguez tried denying the Holocaust, that would not be allowed either. There is nothing to stop anyone in Chile denying the disappearances and tortures that happened under Pinochet.


Amplio rechazo a “Escuela de arte Nazi Augusto Pinochet” en Chiloé (Diario U Chile)
Ex diputado Ascencio pide a intendente de Los Lagos prohibir "escuela Nazi" en Ancud (La Tercera)

A Nazi School in Chiloé (ilovechile.cl)

PDI detiene a creador de escuela nazi de Chiloé (El Mostrador)

Memoria Chilena (4)

This is the cover of APSI after the victory of the "no" campaign in the 1988 referendum. 

Image credit: APSI: n° 272, octubre de 1988 . Disponible en Memoria Chilena, Biblioteca Nacional de Chile http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-81480.html .

#10añosMCH

Memoria Chilena (2)

To mark the tenth anniversary of the Memoria Chilena project, I'm going to show a few of their images over the next few days. This man needs no introduction, but this kind of unposed, partial shot of him is not that common.

Image credit: Augusto Pinochet. Disponible en Memoria Chilena, Biblioteca Nacional de Chile http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-98660.html .

Chile: 40 years on (2)

This anniversary is a big one for Chile.

Sergio Carrasco of the Associated Press recalls covering the coup.

Most communications were cut off by then, but AP photographer Santiago Llanquin persuaded a telephone operator to open a line. We reached a hotel in Mendoza, Argentina, and somehow kept that line open for days. AP photographer Eduardo DiBaia rushed from Buenos Aires to set up a makeshift bureau in the hotel, defying censors and transmitting news and photos of the attacks to the outside world. 

Much has been made of US support for the coup (and rightly so), but you don't hear much about British Foreign Office backing for it. Grace Livingstone at the Guardian online sheds some light; pretty shocking to read about criticism of "black propaganda against the Chilean armed services"! Joyce Horman also writes about the murder of her husband for the website. There is also a slide show of images from "Chile from within", a photobook by Susan Meiselas which is being reissued in electronic format. A further guest piece is from human rights judge Baltasar Garzón.

"Time" interviews president Sebastian Piñera on the occasion of the 40th anniversary.

This was a very dark part of our history. We should not forget it. But when we remember it, the question is what is the goal? To reproduce the same anger? Everybody has some lessons to learn. The only thing that [the left] would say is that nothing that happened before September 11, 1973 justifies what happened in terms of human rights abuses afterwards, and I fully agree with them.

In comments to media, Piñera also criticised the complicity of the media, provoking a reaction from journalists. 

Presidential candidate Michelle Bachelet has been very involved in the commemorations - understandable, since she was a victim of torture herself and her father was killed. She visited the Villa Grimaldi detention centre in Santiago and called for a full investigation into human rights abuses. 

A lot of people have been tweeting the BBC story about Carmen Quintana, who was set on fire by soldiers and lived to tell the tale. 

"I feel that I am the voice of so many other Chileans who died," she says. 

  Of the Spanish-language media, there is too much to mention, but just to highlight Robert Funk's column for La Tercera on the lasting divisions within Chile.

Chile: 40 years on

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the September 11 coup in Chile and there has been a predictable flurry of memory-related stories.

Amnesty International UK is hosting an updated version of photojournalist Julio Etchart's 1988 exhibition Chile's 9/11 at the Human Rights Action Centre in Shoreditch, London, on weekdays from 9-20 September (you can see some of the images here).

Hugh O'Shaughnessy recalls witnessing the coup as a journalist in Santiago.

Joyce Horman, whose husband was killed by the military regime and became the subject of the well-known film Missing, continues to fight for justice for the disappeared. An event celebrating the judges, lawyers and human rights activists who led efforts to illuminate this dark period of history will be held at the Charles Horman Truth Foundation in New York on Monday.

Meanwhile, the family of Victor Jara has filed suit in Florida under federal laws allowing legal action against human rights violators living in the United States. The former officer accused of his murder, Pedro Pablo Barrientos, moved to the United States in 1989 and became an American citizen.

Chilean judges have made an unprecedented apology for their profession's involvement in the regime. Chilean courts rejected about 5,000 cases seeking help on locating missing loved ones abducted or killed by the authorities.

Chilean president Sebastian Pinera called for those with information about the disappeared to come forward.

Reuters and AFP also consider the legacy of the dictatorship as the anniversary approaches.  The BBC features the work of muralists who defied the regime.

Chile: Pinochet legacy cases

A couple of things are not happening in Chile.

Firstly, members of Augusto Pinochet's family are not facing corruption charges over the millions of dollars he hoarded away. A judge decided that there was not enough evidence to charge the relatives with involvement in corruption.

Chile judge drops inquiry into Pinochet's millions (BBC)
Chilean Judge Closes Pinochet Embezzlement Case, Family Not Charged (NY Times)
Chilean Judge Closes Pinochet Money Investigation (NY Times)

Secondly, there will be no charges against retired general Fernando Matthei for the murder of Alberto Bachelet, as a human rights lawyer had requested. This case is obviously politically focused: the two generals' daughters are the candidates for the presidency.

Chilean judge rejects murder charge against Gen Matthei (BBC)
Chile Judge Rejects Charging Candidate's Father (NY Times)

"Staging" a coup

There was an outcry on Twitter yesterday over comments by the Wall Street Journal that "Egyptians would be lucky if their new ruling generals turn out to be in the mold of Chile's Augusto Pinochet". I'm not going to go on and on about my reaction to this. It should be obvious from the tone of this blog what I think about it, and it's been done well elsewhere.

Anyway, the BBC News Magazine ran an article this morning comparing the Egyptian coup with that of Pinochet in a rather different way, from the perspective of its staging/theatricality. A coup is, I would suggest, always a carefully-staged public event, often with a fairly long preparation period.

The BBC writes,

There are certain customs, established over many decades, to uphold when declaring a coup.

A rough-hewn general in a crisp uniform reads out a statement on state TV in which he declares that, reluctantly, the armed forces have decided to step in to save the country.[...]
First of all, the general has to get his image right. He needs a well pressed uniform, decked with medals. He needs a podium, or, at the very least, a solid table.
Sunglasses are optional. The general's look as he reads his declaration may become the defining image of his country to the outside world (it will certainly be the image for which he is most remembered by his own people).
The coup statement must follow a certain format. The general should stress that the military is responding to its patriotic duty. Above all, the coup leader must avoid calling his actions a coup - a word which may make him look like a gangster. More often, he will prefer to used the word "intervention". 

 It's true. The "sunglasses" element is of course most iconically represented by general Pinochet:

 Argentina's junta leaders tended to present a show of cooperation:

The military representatives in South America were generally serious, clean-shaven - aside from the neat moustashes sometimes worn - pale-skinned and - so obviously it almost goes unmentioned - always male. They talked about order, security, the eradication of terrorism, Christianity, upholding the family and the (Catholic) Church. Their paternal tenderness was backed up by tanks lining the streets of the capital and the immediate banning of public gatherings.

You can see how General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's television statement fits into this expected show, this tidying up of the messiness of public display. I hope the Egyptian people are not "lucky" enough to end up with a Pinochet on their hands.

Chile: Pinochet officials made secret visits to UK

Declassified documents in Britain have revealed how high-ranking dictatorship officials from Chile came to the UK in the 1980s.

General Fernando Matthei, commander of the Chilean Air Force, for example, visited London in 1982, ostensibly to "visit friends" and "buy a few books from Foyles" (the famous bookshop). However, he also met representatives of the defence ministry. A confidential memo from the Foreign Office noted that Matthei was a "controversial figure" and that his visit must be kept private so that meetings did not attract criticism from human rights groups.

Matthei's visit was apparently not the first of a Chilean official to Britain, the documents show; in fact some of these took place not just under Thatcher, but also under the Labour government of the late 1970s.


Papeles secretos Chile-Reino Unido: los generales fantasma de Pinochet en Londres (BBC Mundo)
Pinochet generals and ministers incognito and “non official” visits to UK (Mercopress; this is a translation of the BBC Mundo piece)

Chile reading

So, I'm trying to clear a little of the backlog in my "starred articles" folder of Google Reader, and first up are a few interesting pieces on Chile.

Richard Seymour has a comment piece in the Guardian online:
Chile, the country Pinochet terrorised, is no longer afraid (Guardian)

Robert Funk has a response to some points raised in the article:
The Guardian on Chile (Robert L. Funk)

And IPS interviews student leader Camila Vallejo, who, among other things, explicitly links her aims to addressing the legacy of the Pinochet dictatorship:
“Another Chile Is Possible, with Greater Democracy and Social Rights” (IPS)

News round-up

Chile
The former head of the secret police in Chile under Pinochet,  Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, and four other former officals of the DINA have been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the disappearance of a young man in 1975.
Condenan a cinco represores de la dictadura chilena (Agencia Pulsar)

Pinochet regime spied on foreign media correspondents, recently uncovered documentation shows.
Revelan que gobierno de Pinochet habría espiado a corresponsales extranjeros (La Tercera)

Mexico
Experts say post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and acute depression are on the rise in Mexico as a result of the increasing violence seen over the last few years.
Mexico’s Spiral of Violence Causes Spike in PTSD (IPS)

Peru
In the next stage of the furore created by the recent Colina Group ruling, human rights organisations in Peru are planning Friday to present a request to the National Magistrates Council to remove Javier Villa Stein from the presidency of the Supreme Court.
Human Rights Groups Seek To Remove Supreme Court Head (Peruvian Times)

“My father has given up on the idea of a pardon because he knows he is innocent and there are no clear and positive signals on the part of the government,” Congressman Kenji Fujimori said.
Alberto Fujimori Has Given Up On Pardon – Report (Peruvian Times)
Kenji Fujimori: "Mi padre renunció a la idea del indulto" (El Comercio)

Chile: Pinochet documentary round-up

This has been widely reported, but for the sake of completeness on the blog I'm going to add some links to the aftermath of my previous post on the screening of "Pinochet".

Chilean police clash with anti-Pinochet demonstrators (BBC)

Hundreds Protest Screening of Pro-Pinochet Film in Chile (NY Times)

The past haunts Chile: film praising Pinochet triggers violent clashes in Santiago (Mercopress)


Pro-Pinochet celebration leads to street protests in Santiago (Guardian)

Chile: Controversy over Pinochet documentary screening

Relatives of the disappeared in Chile have been calling for the public screening of a documentary about Augusto Pinochet to be banned. A number of groups signed a letter to president Sebastián Piñera and there has been criticism from quarters in parliament as well. The event, scheduled for Sunday, is planned by a group called Movimiento 11 de Septiembre and is being presented as a homage to the former dictatorship.

The families do not have the universal support of the human rights sector, however. For example, José Miguel Vivanco, director of the Human Rights Watch Americas, opposes a ban in the interests of free speech. This is also the official stance of the Chilean government, which points to freedom of expression as the reason why it does not have the power to stop the event.

This is a difficult issue. It's certainly in pretty poor taste when supporters of Pinochet and similar regimes can continue to gloat about their heroes in front of the victims and their relatives - but I guess that is the point of free speech, you can't just give it to the nice guys. I live in a country - Germany - where for obvious historical reasons it has been decided not to allow free speech in all circumstances concerning recent history. It is illegal here to deny the Holocaust or to display a swastika or make a Nazi salute (there are exceptions to the prohibition on the displaying of Nazi memorabilia for educational purposes - museums aren't breaking the law!). I understand why they've done it, but it's still pretty strange when you think about it, as repressing opposing viewpoints was such a central part of Nazi ideology as well. I'm not sure it's really the answer to memory debates. It would definitely encourage the "victim"/"wronged hero" stance which many of the right-wing supporters of previous miliary regimes seem to hold.

Most of the news reports explain very litte about the film itself. I found this via "paniko.cl":

From this, it certainly looks like the documentary is going to present Pinochet as saviour of a country in chaos, but I would caution that this is just a short clip.

Families of Chile's disappeared condemn homage to Pinochet (Santiago Times)
Chilean government will not stop screening of Pinochet documentary (Santiago Times)
Familiares de DD.DD piden al gobierno que intervenga para evitar homenaje a Augusto Pinochet (La Tercera)

Chile: Pinochet's will opened

It really is incredibly offensive how supporters of military dictatorships claim they are the victims of "political persecution", usually because they are expected to do something totally unreasonable like, say, obey the laws of their country, or face justice for heinous crimes. And they do it, regular as clockwork. Anyway...

Chile decided to go ahead and open the will of Augusto Pinochet. Why they are doing it now, I'm not completely sure, but the aim was to identify some of the state funds he was suspected of embezzling. He was said to have possessed a sum amounting to almost US$ 18 million which could not be explained by his official salary. In accordance with Chilean law, the contents of the will are not going to be published.

Ahead of the opening, his daughter Lucia gave an interview to La Segunda in which she stated that she "had no expectations" of the will and claimed that the move to check its contents was persecution.

"I've always said it and it's very clear. There's no doubt: This is part of the political persecution which started under the Lagos government... and has continued until today, because no one is brave enough to put a stop to the issue....They are looking for money which doesn't exist."

Meanwhile, Pinochet's grandson was telling La Tercera that

"This is political persecution which is intended to sully his image in any way possible". 

In any case, the will was read, but it seems to have revealed little new information. In fact, the only change from a previous version was the name of the executor. 

The Santiago Times quotes Claudio Javier Barrientos, director of the School of History at Universidad Diego Portales, on the issue of timing. He suggests that the government is looking to make-up to the centre right, while another possible reason for the review of the will, according to Barrientos, is that conservative politicians wanted to settle the problem of access to Pinochet’s funds now, rather than leaving the issue to the end of the year during the lead up to the municipal elections in October.

Lucía Pinochet, a horas de que se abra el testamento de su padre: "Buscan dineros que no existen" (La Segunda)
Nieto de Pinochet tras lectura de testamento: "No espero recibir nada" (La Tercera)
Augusto Pinochet's will to be opened despite family protests (Guardian)
Chile to open dictator Pinochet’s controversial will (Santiago Times)
Sólo cambio de albacea contenía testamento de Pinochet y CDE pedirá hacer público el de 2000 (La Tercera)
Contents of Chilean dictator's will fail to meet expectations (Santiago Times)

Chile: Call for law banning honouring of Pinochet

Chilean daily La Tercera yesterday ran an article on the efforts to introduce a law regulating the public commemoration of Augusto Pinochet. Here's my translation:

Opposition calls for law prohibiting pro-Pinochet monuments to be pushed through

On Thursday, opposition members of parliament criticised the lack of progress on the draft law which would ban the exhibition of images and public monuments which honour the memory of the late general Augusto Pinochet.

The legislators believe that the human rights committee of the lower house needs to resume discussion of the initiative presented a few months ago, following a series of court rulings that established the existence of a conspiracy by government agencies.

The MP for the Democracy Party (PPD), Tucapel Jimenez, son of the iconic trade union leader of the same name murdered during the military regime, explained that the decisions of the courts confirmed the crimes committed by repressive bodies such as DINA or CNI, which were acting on Pinochet's direct orders.

The National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) was the first repressive apparatus of the state and was replaced years ago by the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) with the aim of reducing the harsh criticism which the former body had attracted because of its serious violations of human rights.

In fact, its mentor and director, retired general Manuel Contreras, is serving successive sentences totaling around 300 years for the deaths of dozens of opponents who were detained and in the majority of cases disappeared by that agency.

Jimenez said that "no one would imagine that, for example, in Italy there were public monuments or statues in honor of a drug lord or a criminal."

He said that approving the law, which prohibits the display of any image that honors the memory of Pinochet, "will be a very strong signal to show that Chile does not accept or honour the criminals who participated in a conspiracy."

The bill specifies that "images, statues, plaques or shields honouring or remembering the former commander in chief of the Chilean army, General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, are prohibited in public spaces, institutions and educational establishments".

The text also specifies that this applies to "all members of the military junta that ruled our country from September 11, 1973 until March 11, 1990".

The document clarifies that the law will not apply to instances of strictly private memory, however, this rule shall apply also to the army, navy and air rorce of Chile.

If the initiative is approved in parliament, the complete removal of all pictures, plaques or shields in which Augusto Pinochet appears must take place within 90 days from the publication of the law.

Here's the original:
Oposición pide apurar trámite de ley que prohíbe monumentos en honor a Pinochet (La Tercera)

I live in Germany - a country where it is illegal to display a swastika except in certain educational contexts (ie in a museum exhibition) or own Mein Kampf or make the Heil Hitler salute - so this concept is very familiar to me. Of course, to some extent it may be regarded as a suppression of free speech (Holocaust denial is illegal here too) but given Germany's history, I don't think it is too much to ask that its public institutions and armed forces do not display any pro-Nazi imagery, and the same applies to Chile. I was also reminded of Argentina's move to change the names of certain streets which commemorated dictatorship figures.

Chile: Obama's visit (2)

So, here's an update on how Obama's trip to Chile turned out. As expected, there was no apology, but Obama did say that would consider requests for US information regarding the deaths of Salvador Allende and another former Chilean president, Eduardo Frei Montalva, who died in suspicious circumstances in 1982.

Piñera responded that he would formally request the intelligence material on the matters. He also stressed the "equality" of the relationship between the two countries. To be frank, I don't imagine for a second that Obama sees Chile as an equal to the US, but I do agree that a great deal of progress has been made. A prompt request for any classified documents which could shed light on the Frei and Allende cases, and a swift reponse to this, would be another positive step.

Obama cites Latin Americans as examples for others (NY Times)

Frei Montalva, Allende's predecessor, was a leading Pinochet critic when he died in 1982 after hernia surgery in what many people consider mysterious circumstances.

Pinochet agents allegedly hung his body from a ladder, drained it of fluids and removed organs. Six people were charged last year in an alleged poisoning of Frei Montalva and a cover-up, but the judge in the case has failed to get formal support from the governments of Chile and the U.S. for uncensored files and other evidence.

Frei's son Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, a former center-left president who lost to Pinera last year, met briefly with Obama on Monday. Chilean media quoted him as saying that he personally asked for help solving his father's murder and that Obama promised to cooperate.

Pinera's government formally supported the Frei investigation this year after a leaked U.S. Embassy cable suggested the case would never be solved.

Obama says US ready to help Chile in rights cases (AP)
US ready to help Chile solve human rights crimes but no apology for 1973 events (Mercopress)

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said Tuesday that he'll accept President Barack Obama's invitation to formally request classified U.S. intelligence documents that may identify Chilean agents responsible for more than 1,200 human rights violations during the Pinochet dictatorship.

Pinera made this pledge — his most specific yet on Chile's unresolved human rights cases — during an interview with The Associated Press in which he described Obama's visit as a validation of his country's regional leadership and rejected complaints that it was short on concrete results.

[...]"If there's information that a friendly government such as the United States can provide to us, that advances the speed and strength of Chilean justice, of course we're going to ask for it," Pinera said.

AP Interview: Chile president to ask for CIA files (AP)

Chile: Obama's visit

US president Barack Obama and his family are spending the day in Chile, causing some to wonder if Obama will take the opportunity to discuss the country's past, and the States' role in it. Errrr, I think it's unlikely. Nevertheless, several hundred people are reported to be protesting, demanding that Obama apologise for the US interference which paved the way for Pinochet taking power.

Chile protesters want Obama to apologize for CIA encouragement of Pinochet dictatorship (Washington Post)

In a comment piece in the Los Angeles Times, Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman calls on the US president to prioritise the victims of what he calls "the defining experience of Chile's recent history". Dorfman points out,

A scant seven blocks from the presidential palace, La Moneda, where [Obama] is to be feted by President Sebastián Piñera, 120 researchers are busy all day long compiling a conclusive list of Pinochet's victims so that final amends and compensation can be made.

He suggests,

If Obama prefers places to people, he could acquaint himself with Villa Grimaldi, a former torture house turned into a center for peace, or devote 10 minutes to the Museum of Memory, where exhibits recall the darkest days of Chile's history.

He could even, writes Dorfman, visit Allende's grave.

Ghosts of Chile (LA Times)

The Miama Herald also notes that "some are wondering what he won't say".

Obama has busy schedule during Chile stop (Miami Herald)

I don't expect to see this visit straying from its official schedule, but at least the issue of memory, and the legacy of the Pinochet dictatorship, is being raised in the mainstream US media, so in that sense, what Obama isn't saying is being said quite loudly.

Chile: Paul Schaefer's Death

Nazi Germany, Pinochet's Chile, torture, enslavement, child abuse, a religious cult - if this was a film, you'd call it sensationalist. But it was real. Here's a round-up of the some of the response to the death of Paul Schaefer, founder of the notorious Colonia Dignidad.

For the background: The Torture Colony (Bruce Falconer, 2008, The American Scholar)

Jailed Chilean Cult Leader Schaefer Dies at 89 (NY Times)
Ex-Nazi Paul Schaefer dead in Chile age 88: prison (AFP) [his age seems disputed...]
Chile cult leader Schaefer dies in Chile prison (BBC)
Leader of notorious German colony dead in Chile (AP)
Grim Chapter of Chilean History Closes with Death of Former Nazi and Cult leader (Mercopress)
Paul Schaefer - Nazi, pedophile, murderer - was buried today (Structurally Maladjusted)

News Round-Up

Chile
Looking for the Pinochet link in false accounting plea by British arms giant (Mercopress)

Guatemala
Eterna Primavera, Eterna Tirania (Guatemala Solidarity Network)

Peru
La Teta Asustada y las mujeres victimas de violencia sexual (CNDDHH)
Comision Vargas Llosa convoca a todos los arquitectos y arquitectas (Espacio de memoria)

Spain/Latin America
Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon Could Go on Trial (Memory, Amnesia and Politics)

News/Blogging Round-Up

I have missed most memory-related news items over the past week, but here is a small selection:

Chile
The Legacy of the Pinochet Dictatorship (Memory, Amnesia and Politics)
Pinochet could have received $292 million dollars in loans from Chilean government, unclear if paid or repaid (Chile From Within)

Colombia
Who Cares About the Victims of Forced Displacement? (IPS)

El Salvador
Remembering "la Matanza" of 1932 (Tim's El Salvador Blog)

Guatemala
The Attack on the Spanish Embassy (Guatemala Solidarity Network)

Peru
Vargas Llosa anuncia que museo se llamara ahora Lugar de la Memoria (APRODEH)

News Round-Up

Chile
Chile Magnate May Oust Left, Fights Pinochet Ghost (NY Times)
Chilean journalist on trial for accusing army officer of killing famed singer (Journalism in the Americas)

El Salvador
El Salvador President Mauricio Funes in Abuse Apology (BBC)

Peru
Peru journalist critical of government jailed for defamation (Peruvian Times)
The Commission of Inquiry's Report on the Violent Events in Bagua, Peru: A Truth Commission with Little Truth (NACLA)