-“The Other 9/11” — 30-Year Anniversary of Coup in Chile

On Sept. 11, 1973, a U.S.-backed coup brought down the democratically
elected government of Salvador Allende in Chile. The coup began a
repressive dictatorship under Gen. Augusto Pinochet that lasted until the
end of the 1980s.

Here are the stories of some Chileans now living in California:

HECTOR SALGADO
A few days after the military coup 30 years ago, Salgado — then a high
school student in Chile — was abducted by the secret police for three
months. After that, Salgado spent three years imprisoned in the
concentration camp of Isla Quiriquina in the south of Chile. Today, Salgado
is a teacher and a musician. He is currently working on a documentary and a
book about his experiences as a political prisoner.

“According to a recent survey in 49 cities all over Chile, 67.5 percent
of Chileans aren’t interested in remembering or knowing more about the
military coup of 1973,” Salgado said today. “This is important because it
is representative of a generation with no memory. It is the sad legacy of
17 years of dictatorship and 13 years of a never-ending
transition-to-democracy period, negotiated among the political elite. For
me it is very important to remember our recent history — so we do not
repeat horrible mistakes and because there is still no justice for the
abuses against human rights from those dark years.”

FERNANDO TORRES
Torres was a political prisoner in 1975-76 in the northern Chilean city of
Antofagasta. After being abducted by the secret political police, Torres
was secretly transferred to the concentration camp of Tres Alamos in
Santiago. Torres is currently a freelance journalist and a longtime member
of the staff at the La Pe Cultural Center in Berkeley, Calif.

“Both Sept. 11s are connected by the many failures of U.S. foreign
policy,” Torres said today. “After calling us ‘irresponsible people’
because we elected the socialist Salvador Allende, Henry Kissinger
supported and financed the coup that killed thousands of people. He is our
own Bin Laden.”

CLAUDIO DURAN
Duran, who is also known as Quique Cruz, was captured by Gen. Pinochet’s
secret political police in 1975. After having been “disappeared” for two
months in the torture center Villa Grimaldi, Duran was sent to Santiago’s
concentration camps Tres Alamos and Puchuncavi. Duran is an author and
musician and a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University.

“Let’s put aside the political amnesia for a while and read the reports
from the U.S. Senate’s Church Committee,” Duran said today. “Nixon and
Kissinger are responsible for terror in our society. They plotted and gave
a lot of U.S. taxpayer money to the Chilean terrorists who air-raided and
bombed many buildings in September 1973.”