By Sam Dawson From 1973 to 1990 the Chile Solidarity Campaign operated out of a couple of ratty rooms reached via the fire escape behind the offices of Islington North Constituency Labour Party. They were packed with teetering piles of merchandise, leaning shelves, cast-off desks, brimming ashtrays and an ink-oozing Read more…
The journey of Jose, from his dreams of change in Chile, to his experiences as a prisoner and witness of a brutal dictatorship, and his arrival in Wales as a political refugee.
It is difficult to express what this 50 year anniversary means to me. The story begins before the military coup. It goes back to the Popular government when we were all smiling and happy. Yes, we argued like crazy, but the discussions came from the heart, guided only by the Read more…
My mother is a poet and translator and she translated lots of Chilean poets in exile. So growing up in London, I learnt about the horrors of the Pinochet dictatorship through the work of Chilean poets. I read Maria Bravo’s Prayer in the National Stadium which has a heart-breaking poem about her Read more…
Es difícil expresar que significa para mi estos 50 años. Es que la historia comienza antes del golpe militar. Viene desde el gobierno Popular, cuando todos sonreíamos y éramos felices. Si, discutíamos como locos pero las discusiones salían del corazón guiados solo por la idea de querer las cosas más Read more…
It was a strange day. The dawn was bright, spring-like, but as the day wore on and we heard the news, it got darker and darker, it began to cloud over, and at night it even started drizzling, it was cold, which wasn’t very common, almost wintry. Like an omen. Read more…
El día fue extraño. Amaneció radiante, primaveral, pero a medida que iba transcurriendo el día y que se iban escuchando noticias como que se fue oscureciendo, empezó a nublarse, e incluso en la noche ya estaba lloviznando, hacía frío cosa que no era muy común Casi invernal. Como un augurio. Read more…
Ejercicio de memoria siguiendo dos acepciones de la palabra, según el Diccionario de la lengua de la Real Academia Española, uno “memoria que se hace de una cosa pasada” ( pero que perdura en su dolor), y dos “saludo afectuoso a un ausente por escrito” ( mas los ausentes son Read more…
El golpe cívico-militar significó, la caída de un sueño, de un mundo mejor, especialmente de la clase trabajadora.. había caído la UTOPÍA, Hoy a 50 años, recordando a Galeano, que decía acerca de la Utopía, que era como estar en la orilla del mar y la Utopía era el horizonte, Read more…
On the 3rd April 1975, I was detained in the street by DINA, the Chilean Secret Police, at around 19:00, this in Santiago. At some point during the night, it could have been late on the 3rd or early on the 4th I heard the agents outside my door, where was Read more…