Word: pinochets
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Jorge is a law-abiding citizen of Santiago, an academic. He drives a Fiat, goes to the movies, shops at the overflowing markets, and lives in a nice part of town very near General Pinochet. At 2 or 3 a.m. most nights, he receives phone calls. The anonymous, "unofficial" callers say, "Your children are dead meat. We will cut off their arms and legs." And so on. About twice a year, Jorge attends the funeral of a friend who has disappeared in the middle of the night. Also unofficial...
There are opposition magazines, yes. And for the last four years they have not had to send copy to a censor's office. Elisabeth, star political reporter for the best of these magazines, the New Left Apsi, writes in-depth critiques of the junta, often exposing Pinochet's weakness within the ruling elite. They are printed and read by perhaps 5000 people. The tiny circulation of these magazines insure that the cost to the junta of their being read by a handful of intellectuals is far outweighed by the benefit of bringing them before the U.N. as proof of Chile...
...Chile, however, the United States has not only enormous influence, but tremendous responsibility. We can take a large part of the credit for both the birth and life of the junta under Pinochet. But we also have the potential to be a force for good...
...token actions of the new U.S. ambassador--holding a candle at a funeral for a "disappeared" Chilean, and mentioning the words "human rights" to Pinochet--triggered an outburst of hopeful speculation in Chile that is hard to believe. According to Apsi, because of Ambassador Barnes actions and the recent demonstrations, the junta will fall within a year...
Apsi's assessment may be naive, but there is no doubt that events are coming to a head in Chile as they have recently in the Philippines. The Chilean resistance, like the regime it opposes, is not what it seems. America will soon face a dilemma with Pinochet similar to the situation we are in now with Marcos. It is time we looked to the part of Chile that is too often hard to see: the people who quietly struggle for freedom, and those who struggle just to survive...