Chile, U.S. share bond after Sept.11 tragedy

Sept. 11 was a tragic date even before the terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001. \nFor 30 years, Chile has been struggling with her own dark memories of violence and political unrest in mid-September. Thursday marked three decades since a military coup seized power from the world's first democratically-elected socialist president, Salvador Allende, and put the government in the hands of a dictator.\nOn Thursday, Chilean families still grieving for their missing loved ones, known as "los desaparecidos," joined mourners around the world as they remembered the years of torture and repression the military government carried out.\nIrma Alarcón, a Chilean doctoral candidate at IU in the Spanish and Portuguese department, remembers the fear that accompanied Allende's presidency.\n"There was chaos in Chile," Alarcón said, remembering bread lines and the general scarcity of consumer products in the three years that the leftist government was in power. \nThe government's programs to radically change the status quo were initially received with intense optimism by the public. However, the programs soon became a source of anxiety for property owners, the armed forces and other social groups because they felt threatened by the changes made during the government's attempt to create a more equalized distribution of wealth.\nThe economy quickly slowed down, and people became desperate. And, as Alarcón said, "the majority realized that something had to be done. But what came after the coup was unforgivable." \nBefore the military coup of Sept. 11, 1973 that removed the leftist government from the head of state, life was different in Chile. \nGraduate student Kristin Sorenson, whose doctoral research included traveling to Chile in 2002, said the country's government had been South America's most stable and longest running democracy.\n"It was a place where people weren't afraid to speak up and express themselves," Sorenson said.\n"Everyone started looking out for themselves" she said, echoing many descriptions of the social changes due to the regime change. \nThe top general from each of the four branches of the Chilean armed services organized and coordinated an attack on the Moneda, the Chilean equivalent of the White House, bombing it with military jets before physically occupying the capital. \nPresident Allende gave a live radio address to his nation as the attack was taking place and, later that afternoon, was found dead. The events leading up to his death are still a mystery.\nIn the days and months after the coup, the country began to stabilize under the tight control of the military regime.\n"People I've talked to in Chile said it was a very repressive state," said Ramón Bannister, a graduate student in the Folklore and Ethnomusicology Department. Bannister's mother is Chilean, and she fled to the U.S. after Sept. 11, 1973. \nOf the military regime, Bannister said that people were "surprised that the dictatorship kept on going, that they never gave power back to the people," which was the original goal of the new leaders. \nOriginally envisioned as a transitional authority between Allende's socialist government and a return to representative democracy, Chief Commander of the Army General Augusto Pinochet took over the government and extended the break from democracy until a plebiscite removed him as head of state in 1989. His dictatorship ended in 1990. \nSorenson cites "international pressure" as another factor in the failure of Pinochet to win a majority of votes in the plebiscite. \nBannister said most people in Chile say they are still in the transition back to democracy and are still recovering from the human rights violations perpetrated under Pinochet's government. Thousands of dissenters and leftists were tortured and killed, and many are still unaccounted for despite investigations since the 1990 transition. \n"I really hope the people who lost relatives and loved ones find them," Alarcón said. "It's the only way to heal."\nLooking back on the dictatorship, Alarcón said things are more positive and there is hope for justice. \n"We should try to move forward," she said, "and to forget certain things, forgive others and give justice." \nIn general, Bannister said people are trying to ignore what happened in order to move on, but there are many things from which Chileans need to heal. The terrorist attacks in the U.S. Sept. 11, 2001 had a profound impact on Chileans. \nKathleen Sideli, director of IU's office of Overseas Study, visited Chile in the spring of 2003 and got a sense of the reaction there. \n"My own sense is that Chile has dealt with such horrific violence on their own land that even though they are sympathetic, they know how to deal with hatred, violence and terrorism," Sideli said.\nAnd as for the shared date, Sideli sees it as a strengthened tie between the two nations, saying that it's "now a bond. Americans understand what other countries endured" -- especially in terms of terrorist activity.\n-- Contact staff writer Jen Green jeagreen@indiana.edu.