I was there that unforgettable night, and indeed I felt loss for words, really
I never liked Pinoched and all his dictatorship, my parents (I wasn´t born in 1973 but I grew up in the early 80´s) told me carefully well the history, all things that were happening unofficially, because the military goberment of Pinochet always managed to deny the horrible reality: thousands of Chileans killed, tortured, dissapeared, etc
. And many of them were tortured, killed or dissapeared at Estadio Nacional, yes, the same one in which U2 performed their most wonderful Pop Mart show.
I was so happy when in 5 October 1988 the country said NO to that butcher
Sadly, after going back to democracy in 1990 Pinochet wasn´t punished at all, he kept going with full powers as always
and that gaves me angry, really.
When U2 came to Chile, first they made a conference press at the airport, in which Bono pointed out that "I´m not fan of Pinochet".
Then, at the gig, the band made several little omages to very significative people of our culture, like Victor Jara, Pablo Neruda and finally the actual Mothers Of The Dissapeared came on stage with the band, and later Bono said the the only thing that was planned was the precense of the Mothers on Stage. All the other things happened during the real show, I mean, the mothers going on circles, the mothers saying words silenced for decades to the audience, etc
Indeed, IMO that has been the most poingnant moment of any U2 concert, beyond words. Now the moment is event more significative, because Sola Sierra (the mother that made the huge with Bono at the end of One) died a couple of years ago, and he couldn´t find justice
Curiously, Pinochet has been out of the news...until today, because he´s procesed by several crimes releated both with human rights and fraud with money, banks, passports, etc.
Today is the 90th birthday of that murder
You know, a while ago I thought that playing Mothers Of Dissapeared in the next 26 February 2006 (well, I didn´t know the date at that time) would make no sense, due the terminal decline of Pinochet´s figure, but today again it acquires huge emotionality and meaning again, because of the justice taking processes against Pinochet FOR THE FIRST time here in Chile.
Let´s see what will happen at Estadio Nacional, and I´ll be there to tell you