An Interview with Rodrigo Acuña
by John Kendall Hawkins
Dr Rodrigo Acuña is a teacher, writer and expert on Latin American politics. He has published in numerous media and academic outlets which include ALBORADA: Latin America Uncovered, ARENA Magazine, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), The Conversation, Green Left Weekly, Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research (JILAR), Truthout and Z Network among others. He currently works for the NSW Department of Education and is a contributing editor at Alborada: Latin America Uncovered. He is also the host of Alborada's new podcast Indestructible: Latin America with Rodrigo Acuña. Several of his podcasts there discuss the life of Chile in the last 50 years, including Podcast #11, "Chile, from Allende to Boric." He can be reached on X (Twitter) @rodrigoac7.
We exchanged communiques recently.
#####
JH: It's the 50th anniversary of the Allende coup in September 1973. What have common Chileans learned about their country that they didn't know before the coup? What's the lesson of a half century of healing?
RA: I think some Chileans are always learning new information about the 1973 coup against Allende, such as the important revelation on 2 June 2021 that ASIS was active in Chile during the early 1970s. They were there at the request of the Nixon administration in order to support the CIA. Then there are other revelations like the one that, for several decades, Adriana Rivas (a Pinochet intelligence agent) was living in the Sydney suburb of Bondi working as a nanny and cleaner. In 2007 she was arrested in Chile for the kidnapping an murder of seven people, including a woman who was five months pregnant. Returning to Australia where she had been living since 1978, Rivas, after a massive campaign by the local Chilean Australian community, was arrested in 2019. She is currently incarcerated in a women's prison awaiting extradition to Chile where she will be placed on trial for her alleged crimes.
Now, if you look at the details of the crimes she is being accused of, they are absolutely horrific, however, many Chileans (especially the ones that are economically privileged) have no idea the amount of torture and murder that took place under the US-backed Pinochet regime. Worse, a section of the Chilean population still deny that these crimes even took place. That is why in 2010, the government of president Michelle Bachelet created the Museum of National Memory in Santiago. There, the photos and stories of the victims of the dictatorship can be found as can be school kids who are taken on school excursions to learn about the history of what happened in Chile from 1973 through to 1990.
As for the healing process, I think the continued trials of human rights violators helps as does the recovery of the remains of loved ones who went missing by the military. On the other hand, the scars are too deep to heal completely. Only last month, another member of the Chilean military was sentenced to prison for having participated in the murder of the popular folk singer Victor Jara. Upon his transfer to prison, the former army brigadier took his own life. He was 86 years old and is one of many ex-members of the Chilean military who have committed suicide rather than face time in prison.
JH: I've just watched the recent film, Chile 76, which provides a glimpse of the post-coup years under Pinochet. A period of some 17 years. The film brings a tension that is unique (maybe) to Latin American politics, providing a feeling of numbness as Pinochet dissenters disappear. What can you say about these disappearances?
RA: These disappearances were carried out in order to create a sense of terror and uncertainty among the general population. That is how the film Chile 76 starts: with someone being kidnapped. You do not see the images on the screen as the camera is focusing on paint being stirred, however, any Chilean or Latin American with historical memory will immediately know what is happening when viewing the film. I certainly did.
Regarding the effects of these disappearances, people who had loved ones murdered in this manner during the military dictatorship have never had a full sense of closure. There is no grave for them to lay flowers or hold annual commemorations other than the memorials built for them by the Chilean government or community organisations.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
