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Robyn Orth is also a recent graduate from Tulane University who will be attending Georgetown with me next year. She is currently attending a summer program in Santiago, Chile. After being there for close to three weeks now, I decided to see how her trip has been going.
She told me about how they can cook some mean meat and potatoes, however they pour mayonnaise on everything. She explained how the people seem very polite and sometimes reserved, but generally people are interested and engaged. The scenery is incredible, and judging from her pictures it is really cold. But the most interesting part of her response was the following:
“I would also like to point out that one thing about Chile that strikes me the most is that no matter what subject you are talking about, people always manage to bring the topic back around to the dictatorship. The country is deeply divided between pro-Pinochet and pro-democracy groups and you have to be careful about what you say. You can easily offend someone by saying the wrong thing about the topic. it’s certainly something that is really striking, because the human rights abuses all happened within living memory, as have the economic advances. That being said, I have struck a chord with most Chileans by carefully asking them their opinion on the subject. Once they have initiated conversation, they usually just keep talking. However, the young people don’t seem very interested– maybe the apathy of youth transcends nationalities?”
This is an interesting aspect of the “global girl” theme of a “global citizen,” because no matter how universal one feels they might be in life, there are always certain characteristics that stand out as only being understandable if one has lived in the culture and grown up through the topic. For us United Statesians, we have been lucky enough (really blessed) to have never grown up with a dictator. (Yes, I know some would argue that maybe we’ve had a recent brush of one , and some might be appalled that I even mentioned this, but let’s not have any comparisons to Pinochet.)
Sometimes I find these situations so frustrating; sometimes I even feel guilty for have lived in the US and not feeling like I can really understand. Then I realize that these things simply exist, no matter how “global” we feel everybody has their own perspective. Is the youth in Santiago “apathetic” because they too have not experienced the dictatorship? Or is it the youth that is better at embracing these differences and the global reality that make them t seem “apathetic?” I don’t know, because I haven’t experienced it. But it will be interesting to see if our world continues to move in the global direction how these interactions will evolve along with it.
To Learn More About Chile:
NPR:
Talk of the Nation: Pinochet’s Chile
News of Augusto Pinochet’s death met with celebrations in Chile. The brutal dictator ruled the country for almost two decades and was charged with human rights abuses and corruption. For a look at Pinochet’s life and legacy, join Lynn Neary for a discussion with Chileans who experienced both Pinochet’s brutality and his positive economic reforms. (December 11, 2006)
All Things Considered: A Dictator’s Legacy of Economic Growth
Although many point to Chile’s continued economic growth as a positive effect of the Pinochet dictatorship, the social effects of widespread privatization and repression have led many to ask: at what price progress? (September 14, 2006)
Morning Edition: Chile’s Pinochet to Stand Trial
A judge in Chile charges former General Augusto Pinochet with murder and kidnapping. The controversial dictator has been accused of human rights violations for years and was arrested by Spain in the late 1990s. NPR’s Renee Montagne speaks with Peter Kornbluh, author of The Pinochet File. Kornbluh is also a senior analyst at the National Security Archives in Washington. (December 14, 2004)
Films:
The Judge and the General, PBS film, 2008
Books:
The Pinochet Affair: State Terrorism and Global Justice
By Roger Burbach
In this book, Burbach discusses the rise and fall of General Pinochet, the clash between those who sought to cover up and wash their hands of him, and the judges, lawyers and human rights organizations that sought to expose his cruelties.
The Condor Years: How Pinochet and his Allies Brought Terrorism to Three Continents
By John Dinges
Written by a former victim of a Chilean torture camp, this history of the international “dirty wars” by us allies in South America reveals the covert actions of an international intelligence network responsible for South America’s worst human rights abuses.
The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability
by Peter Kornbluh
Examines thousands of records that were recently declassified by the CIA, White House, NSC, Pentagon and the FBI. Kornbluh offers new revelations about America’s development of a policy dedicated to overthrowing Chile’s democratic government and replacing it with a military leader reviled for his coplete disregard for human rights.
