This is a picture taken near ULS Monday night, shortly before 12am on September 11th.
(ULS = Universidad de La Serena)
Remembering the September 11th terrorist attacks in the US as a foreigner in Chile was very different from every other anniversary of the attacks. Many in the US are unaware that the 9/11/2001 tragedy of the US was not the first September 11th event to make history.
Following the "first 9/11" in 1973, thousands were detained, slaughtered, and tortured in Chile - for this date marks the military coup that overthrew Salvador Allende, the democratically elected Socialist leader, and put into place a dictatorship that lasted until 1990.
It has since become a day to commemorate the profound impacts that Pinochet's dictatorship had on Chile. It's a day of solemn remembrance but also of demonstrations - it is now marked by violence, delinquency, and arrests. The picture above is a typical example of a demonstration on September 11th in Chile.
No comments:
Post a Comment