the other 911, on the anniversary of Pinochets coup in Chile


I hope the person in this article, does not object to republishing such a personal article, it was in the Guardian. Tthis man is now a sheffielder(as well as a Chilean) and his story is for all of us to learn from, a braveman, like many women/men from the Sheffield/Chilean community

btw, isn't this just the type of story, the Sheff imc should
be covering on the front page



'Three times I stopped breathing and my heart stopped'

53-year-old school governor and volunteer, retired on medical grounds as a result of torture in Chile

Benjamin Vergara
Thursday September 11, 2003


Benjamin Vergara

I was 23 at the time of the coup and lived in the southern town of Temuco. I had finished one degree and was studying for another, in volcanology and seismology. I was very politically active as a student and trade union leader and a sympathiser of the Popular Unity Coalition.I wasn't surprised by the military coup - we were all expecting something serious to happen towards the end of 1973 - but it came earlier than expected. I had already planned a safe place to go.

I remained in Temuco and tried to organise the resistance. That meant taking charge of the political parties because all their leaders were already detained: some executed; others, nobody knew. I trained people to resist interrogation and for the possibility of armed resistance. At that point we didn't know about torture. Within 24 hours I was already on the military's "most wanted" list.

Was it frightening? Yes and no. I knew I had a responsibility and I was prepared to do whatever was necessary to follow my beliefs. I assumed that our resistance would take three years.

I was first detained by the navy, who tortured me for nine days, then again by the army and then the armed police. My feelings about it now are still strong because I am a disabled person as a consequence of the torture.

In December 1973 I was detained yet again. I was "disappeared". Nobody told my family where I was for 40 days. I was tortured again.

I found strength in the belief that they were going to do whatever they were going to do, whether I told them: yes, no or maybe. I was determined that nobody should suffer because of me, so I didn't say anything. Three times I stopped breathing and my heart stopped. One of the doctors present in the torture chamber resuscitated me. The military chaplain had even given me the last rights.

I remained in jail for three years. I was incommunicado, fed through a hole in the door or the window of my cell. Then I was taken to a war tribunal along with many others and given 32 years. I had only met my defence solicitor five minutes before the trial - it was all for show.

I got married while I was jail. I was in manacles and handcuffs at the entrance of the jail when my wife and her family came for the wedding. There was a five-minute ceremony, and then it was "goodbye", and I was taken back to solitary.

Then the Pinochet regime agreed to release political prisoners to exile. I came to the UK in September 1976, when the Oxford University solidarity programme got me a visa. They offered me a place to study history and sociology, but unfortunately I wasn't able to master English in time to take it up. My wife and I moved to Sheffield, or the "Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire" as it was known then. The trade unions were sympathetic to Chileans and used their influence to find us positions.

When Pinochet was arrested I was over the moon. But when it was announced he was not deemed fit to stand trial, I felt betrayed by the Labour party. I had been a member since 1977 and I knew most of the now cabinet members when they were in Sheffield. They forgot about the past and were living in a different world

I don't want revenge. I don't feel hate. I just have a sense of duty to see justice done, because these things have to be a lesson, not just for Chile, but for humanity as a whole.

· Interview by Liane Katz

others  http://www.guardian.co.uk/chile/story/0,13755,1037940,00.html