The other 9/II...

[Holy John]

On the other september IIth, I973, perhaps more dramatic than last year for millions of people, Pinochet took power in Chile, overthrewing democratically elected Salvador Allende.

 

[rafmed]

I have a few friends whose families had to leave Chile because of the violations of human rights.
Hundreds of Mothers are still waiting for their sons and daughters to come back, after being dissapeared (not arrested).
Pinochet , on sept 11, 1973, used the air force to bomb the Palace of Government in Santiago and later assasinated President Allende.

 

[Anthony]

Yes, I too remember this date. The horrible tragedy with Pinochet is that he isn't even recognised for the brutalities he committed. Its funny how there is no Silent Thread for that.

Ant.

 

[joyfulgirl]

"They Dance Alone" by Sting

Why are there women here dancing on their own?
Why is there this sadness in their eyes?
Why are the soldiers here
Their faces fixed like stone?
I can't see what it is that they dispise
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone They dance alone

It's the only form of protest they're allowed
I've seen their silent faces scream so loud
If they were to speak these words they'd go missing too
Another woman on a torture table what else can they do
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone They dance alone

One day we'll dance on their graves
One day we'll sing our freedom
One day we'll laugh in our joy
And we'll dance
One day we'll dance on their graves
One day we'll sing our freedom
One day we'll laugh in our joy
And we'll dance

Ellas danzan con los desaparecidos
Ellas danzan con los muertos
Ellas danzan con amores invisibles
Ellas danzan con silenciosa angustia
Danzan con sus pardres
Danzan con sus hijos
Danzan con sus esposos
Ellas danzan solas
Danzan solas

Hey Mr. Pinochet
You've sown a bitter crop
It's foreign money that supports you
One day the money's going to stop
No wages for your torturers
No budget for your guns
Can you think of your own mother
Dancin' with her invisible son
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
They're anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone
They dance alone

 

[rafmed]

MOTHERS OF THE DISAPPEARED

Midnight, our sons and daughters
Were cut down and taken from us
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat
In the wind we hear their laughter
In the rain we see their tears
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat


Night hangs like a prisoner
Stretched over black and blue
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat


In the trees our sons stand naked
Through the walls our daughters cry
See their tears in the rainfall

 

[Holy John]

When I was a pid I used to go at a woman's house. She looked after me while my parents were working (downtown Montr?al while our house is in the suburbs). She was from Chile, she left Pinochet. She didn't talked to me about it, because I was too young to even know what was Chile, but I recall my mom talking about it, how this woman left her country and her familly to come live in Montr?al.

Now, Pinochet is living freely in his country. That is absurd. This man may be old, but his health state dosen't pass before millions of citizens who suffered. He was put there for economical reasons. And for economical reasons he tortured, ordered murders, emprisonned... I don't understand why he is still living freely. He should have a trial at the International Court, just like Milosevic and, hopefully, Hussein and people like that. I know there are rules that prevent such a thing, I know that some country just don't want to put pressure on Chile to extrad him, but that dosen't make any moral sense to me.

My heart goes to all those mothers who lost their familly. In Chile, or in the suffering Argentina from wich I've got no news of a friend since a month.

Cheers

 

[Holy John]

... when I was a KID, not a pid (what's a pid anyways ?)

Cheers

 

[oliveu2cm]

Tragedy.

I uploaded this special for this thread.

Bono alone singing Mothers Of The Disappeared

 

[The Wanderer]

Pinochet was incredibly evil, his reign caused great tragedy and suffering

we should also have a Silent Thread marking the days that Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini came into power, just to name a few, no?

 

[Angela Harlem]

Tis a good point wanderer. Silent threads are a sombre and noble token gesture. What is important is the sentiment behind all the posts in this thread.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

September 11 has been the date of many atrocities; when I first read the title of this thread, I was thinking of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. This was the mass killing of men, women, and children settlers who were traveling across the west. Most people have never heard of it, but the U. of Oklahoma Press (where I work) just published a book on it. The book argues that Brigham Young not only knew about the massacre, but approved of it before it happened.

Anyway, thanks for bringing up the atrocities in Chile. To not know what happened to your loved one is probably worse than knowing the awful truth.

Rest in peace to all those innocents lost to violence.