Thursday, June 16, 2011
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Movies you can watch: The Black Pipernel (2007)
Dir. Åsa Faringer - Ulf Hultberg (2007)
The story about Swedish ambassador in Chile - Harald Edelstam - and his heroic actions to protect the innocent people from the execution during and after the military coup on September 11th 1973. We travel with Edelstam during the terrible moments just after the coup and follows his never-ending fight for human rights, law and order. What drove him? And what price did he end up paying for his total commitment? Haunted by his own demons the we experiences on close hand how a womanizer desperately searches to find love again, a task only doable, if he can fight his own past and redeem himself. After saving hundreds - maybe even thousands - he is challenged once more, this time to save his newfound love from the death penalty issued by the regime. Another impossible task and a desperate chase against time. Based on a true story about a man, that did, what all of us only dreams of.
Labels:
human rights violations,
military coup,
movies
Movies you can watch: Dawson, Island 10
Dir. Miguel Littin (2009)
After the 1973 coup that deposed Allende and brought Pinochet to power in Chile, the former members of his cabinet are imprisoned on Dawson Island, the world's southernmost concentration camp. Veteran filmmaker Miguel Littin follows the ordeal of these men who are determined to survive and provide history with their testimony.
Dawson Island 10 on IMDB
After the 1973 coup that deposed Allende and brought Pinochet to power in Chile, the former members of his cabinet are imprisoned on Dawson Island, the world's southernmost concentration camp. Veteran filmmaker Miguel Littin follows the ordeal of these men who are determined to survive and provide history with their testimony.
Dawson Island 10 on IMDB
Labels:
military coup,
movies,
september 11th 1973
Movies you can watch: Machuca
Dir. Andrés Wood (2004)
In 1973, in Santiago of Chile of the first socialist president democratically elected in a Latin-American country, President Salvador Allende, the principal of the Saint Patrick School, Father McEnroe makes a trial of integration between students of the upper and lower classes. The bourgeois boy Gonzalo Infante and the boy from the slum Pedro Machuca become great friends, while the conflicts on the streets leads Chile to the bloody and repressive military coup of General Augusto Pinochet on 11 September 1973, changing definitely their lives, their relationship and their country.
Machuca in The Internet Movie Database
Labels:
military coup,
movies,
september 11th 1973
Thursday, July 29, 2010
When the day dawns - Angel Parra
Because not everything is about politics, I'll post -once in a while- some of the most famous and important chilean songs composed in the last forty years of our history. Now, we'll listen to Angel Parra and his beautiful song Cuando Amanece el Día/When The Day Dawns... enjoy!
When the day dawns
When the day dawns I say how lucky I am to witness, how the dark night ends, that gave pain and bitterness to my land.
And there I see the man that arises, grows and expands.
When the day dawns I feel that your love grows over time and it gives me a hand in the hair and it gives me grief and comfort.
And there I see the man that arises, grows and expands.
When the day dawns I ask to my two children, to bring light from their eyes, to enlighten so much hope of work and bread.
And there I see the man that arises, grows and expands.
When the day dawns I think about the six o'clock meeting in downtown, where all the people will scream
To defend what has been conquered!
Labels:
chilean music,
music
Sunday, July 25, 2010
The Rettig Report
The Rettig Report, officially The National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation Report, is a report by a commission designated by then President Patricio Aylwin (from the Concertación) encompassing human rights abuses resulting in death or disappearance that occurred in Chile during the years of military rule under Augusto Pinochet, which began on September 11, 1973 and ended on March 11, 1990. It is named after its chairman, Raúl Rettig, a former ambassador of President Salvador Allende. The eight-member commission (including Jaime Castillo Velasco, José Luis Cea Egaña, Mónica Jiménez de la Jara, Laura Novoa Vásquez, José Zalaquett Daher, Ricardo Martín Díaz, and Gonzalo Vial Correa) released its report in February 1991.
The report determined that 2,279 persons were killed for political reasons. In 641 cases, the commission could not conclusively determine that the person was killed for political reasons. It found 508 cases that were beyond its mandate, and that in 449 cases, no information beyond the name of a disappeared person could be determined.
Link to the report in english
The report determined that 2,279 persons were killed for political reasons. In 641 cases, the commission could not conclusively determine that the person was killed for political reasons. It found 508 cases that were beyond its mandate, and that in 449 cases, no information beyond the name of a disappeared person could be determined.
Link to the report in english
Chile denies pardon for dictatorship-era crimes
By Alonso Soto
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Sunday denied a pardon to people jailed for dictatorship-era crimes, a move likely to ease tensions with the opposition and rights groups over a controversial call for clemency.
Chile's Catholic Church had asked Pinera to free or lower jail sentences of military officers convicted for human rights violations as well as other criminals in a call for clemency to mark the country's upcoming bicentennial celebrations.
The pardon request infuriated human right groups and the center-left opposition, rekindling memories of General Augusto Pinochet's 1973-1990 rule that still divides many Chileans.
"Excluded from these (pardon) benefits are those convicted for serious crimes like crimes against humanity," Pinera told reporters. "We need to promote a culture of unrestricted respect to human rights."
Pinera, whose brother was a government minister under Pinochet, said he will still offer pardons to some convicted criminals who are old or sick "as long as these benefits don't hurt the soul of our country."
Rights advocates said Pinera's decision was positive, however, relatives of leftist dissidents kidnapped and jailed during the dictatorship said they will remain alert for any future pardons.
"We hope that what he (Pinera) announced today is aimed at all those linked to human right abuses under the dictatorship," said Lorena Pizarro, head of a group of relatives of the disappeared. "We demand to meet with the government to have absolute clarity about the matter."
Chile's past government said 3,195 people were killed or "disappeared" during Pinochet's rule and around 28,000 people, including former President Michelle Bachelet, were tortured.
For years human rights advocates have called for tougher penalties on former military officers involved in torture and murder during the military rule.
Pinochet, a controversial figure who is either cheered or hated by Chileans, died in 2006 without ever being convicted on charges of human right abuses.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Sunday denied a pardon to people jailed for dictatorship-era crimes, a move likely to ease tensions with the opposition and rights groups over a controversial call for clemency.
Chile's Catholic Church had asked Pinera to free or lower jail sentences of military officers convicted for human rights violations as well as other criminals in a call for clemency to mark the country's upcoming bicentennial celebrations.
The pardon request infuriated human right groups and the center-left opposition, rekindling memories of General Augusto Pinochet's 1973-1990 rule that still divides many Chileans.
"Excluded from these (pardon) benefits are those convicted for serious crimes like crimes against humanity," Pinera told reporters. "We need to promote a culture of unrestricted respect to human rights."
Pinera, whose brother was a government minister under Pinochet, said he will still offer pardons to some convicted criminals who are old or sick "as long as these benefits don't hurt the soul of our country."
Rights advocates said Pinera's decision was positive, however, relatives of leftist dissidents kidnapped and jailed during the dictatorship said they will remain alert for any future pardons.
"We hope that what he (Pinera) announced today is aimed at all those linked to human right abuses under the dictatorship," said Lorena Pizarro, head of a group of relatives of the disappeared. "We demand to meet with the government to have absolute clarity about the matter."
Chile's past government said 3,195 people were killed or "disappeared" during Pinochet's rule and around 28,000 people, including former President Michelle Bachelet, were tortured.
For years human rights advocates have called for tougher penalties on former military officers involved in torture and murder during the military rule.
Pinochet, a controversial figure who is either cheered or hated by Chileans, died in 2006 without ever being convicted on charges of human right abuses.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Chile Rejects Pardons Proposed By Catholic Church : NPR
Chile Rejects Pardons Proposed By Catholic Church : NPR: "- Enviado mediante la barra Google"
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Chile Church seeks pardons, including rights cases
SANTIAGO, Chile — Chile's Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday urged President Sebastian Pinera to grant a sweeping pardon to aged and long-serving inmates — and the fact it would aid military officers who committed crimes against humanity has angered relatives of their victims.
Families of people who were slain or who vanished during Augusto Pinochet's 1973-1990 dictatorship protested outside La Moneda palace as Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz and Monsignor Alejandro Goic, president of the Episcopal Conference, met with the president.
"Our proposal is not meant to open up wounds of the past, nor to make them heal by decree," Goic said of the plan, which is designed to mark Chile's 200-year independence celebrations Sept. 18 with a display of clemency.
But the wounds of the past remain bitter for many Chileans.
According to official statistics, 3,065 opponents of Pinochet's right-wing regime were killed and 1,200 more disappeared. Some 600 military personnel have been accused of crimes against humanity but no more than 150 are now in prison.
Mireya Garcia, vice president of the Group of Relatives of the Detainees and Disappeared, said those who commit crimes should serve their sentences. "Justice doesn't have to do with clemency but with what is fair," she told The Associated Press.
The church's proposed amnesty would apply to prisoners who are sick or older than 70 or those who have served half their sentence. Garcia's group says about 35 military personnel jailed for dictatorship-era "dirty war" crimes apparently would be eligible, though officials have not given an exact count.
The main opposition to the pardons for former military officials comes from left-center sectors who have a majority in the Congress, but some law-and-order members of Pinera's conservative bloc are also uneasy at the idea of seeming to go easy on convicts.
Pinera himself has sought to distance his brand of conservative politics from the far-right Pinochet dictatorship
Gen. Humberto Julio, president of an organization of retired military officials, praised the church proposal, saying it would help national reconciliation.
"It's incorrect to talk about impunity when the intention is to apply a sentence according to the age and health condition of prisoners," he said.
Families of people who were slain or who vanished during Augusto Pinochet's 1973-1990 dictatorship protested outside La Moneda palace as Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz and Monsignor Alejandro Goic, president of the Episcopal Conference, met with the president.
"Our proposal is not meant to open up wounds of the past, nor to make them heal by decree," Goic said of the plan, which is designed to mark Chile's 200-year independence celebrations Sept. 18 with a display of clemency.
But the wounds of the past remain bitter for many Chileans.
According to official statistics, 3,065 opponents of Pinochet's right-wing regime were killed and 1,200 more disappeared. Some 600 military personnel have been accused of crimes against humanity but no more than 150 are now in prison.
Mireya Garcia, vice president of the Group of Relatives of the Detainees and Disappeared, said those who commit crimes should serve their sentences. "Justice doesn't have to do with clemency but with what is fair," she told The Associated Press.
The church's proposed amnesty would apply to prisoners who are sick or older than 70 or those who have served half their sentence. Garcia's group says about 35 military personnel jailed for dictatorship-era "dirty war" crimes apparently would be eligible, though officials have not given an exact count.
The main opposition to the pardons for former military officials comes from left-center sectors who have a majority in the Congress, but some law-and-order members of Pinera's conservative bloc are also uneasy at the idea of seeming to go easy on convicts.
Pinera himself has sought to distance his brand of conservative politics from the far-right Pinochet dictatorship
Gen. Humberto Julio, president of an organization of retired military officials, praised the church proposal, saying it would help national reconciliation.
"It's incorrect to talk about impunity when the intention is to apply a sentence according to the age and health condition of prisoners," he said.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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