J-Term Practica, 2016

Reconstructing Reality

March 1, 2016

Chile remains a thriving hotbed of neo-capitalistic edifices, bustling streets and gorgeous backdrops sweeping the south that nearly seem surreal. As a young student living in South America six years ago, I was enamored with this version of Chile; an outer exterior of wealth and beauty, brilliantly shielding the fragmented pieces of thousands of stories holding the nation together.

Returning in January placed the sensation of stepping into new territory, with a lens that replaced my former ignorance with a stark insistence of truth and newfound history.

Upon our arrival, we were met by the Honorable Judge Juan Guzmán Tapia, former prosecutor of Pinochet and adamant human rights defender. Our brief introduction was followed by a tour of Villa Grimaldi; a torture site that was utilized during the Pinochet era to hold and execute prisoners of opposition including left-leaning scholars, human rights activists and others that aroused suspicion.

Swaying roses planted for the deceased spread like a blanket over the center square between the torture pool, prisoner cells, and buildings for electrocution. Such movement eerily paralleled the rocking of the waves only miles behind us, a mass gravesite for the bodies of those who had disappeared some 30 years before.

The continuum of events to follow built upon one another like the pages of a history book few had ever read. Testimonials from victims of those who had disappeared, visits to grave sites absent of name or identity, and families crowding a single computer desperately searching for the name of their relative all represented a need for truth I had never before witnessed. Such experiences placed an immense depth to the once shallow picture I had carried of Chile.

Adding to this depth was yet another unspoken cornerstone of Chilean history: the Mapuche people. Mapuche life and influence, which had emerged much before Chile’s statehood, has lain in the folds of Santiago’s urban life as well as Southern Araucanía region for hundreds of years. Their presence remains vividly alive, despite the many attempts to drown their voices.

Visiting sacred tribal areas and listening to years of pillage and destruction was echoed with a common hope shared across influential leaders of various communities. These historical memories, combined with the fiery forecast for a better future, granted a renewed sense of revival for the Mapuche pursuit in achieving autonomy and self-determination.

Victor Hugo once said:

“Intelligence is the wife, imagination is the mistress, memory is the servant.”

Similar to the victims of the Pinochet era, the Mapuche must be given more than just a passing glance if Chile wishes to repair the broken strands of history that have created rifts across classes, races, and generations.

What, and to whom, is Chile oppressing by shattering and reconstructing versions its past? Chile will only heal as a nation when its inhabitants do. Until then, societal development will only remain a surreal figment of the imagination.

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