The Hindu : A Latin remembrance

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 04, 2003

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A Latin remembrance

IT WAS ON September 11 three decades ago that Latin America suffered its most serious tragedy in recent history when the marxist President of Chile, Salvador Allende, was ousted and forced to end his life by a U.S.-sponsored military coup. General Augusto Pinochet, who spearheaded the coup, set the trend and led the continent into its darkest period of state terror. Slowly emerging from that trauma, the continent has been making serious attempts to come to terms with those violent days and simultaneously consolidate the movement toward democracy. Chile has declared a football stadium in Santiago, the capital, as a national monument in memory of the 10,000 people who were taken there in the aftermath of the Pinochet coup, beaten, tortured and executed with machine gun in full view of the public. In Peru, its northern neighbour on the same western coast, a truth and reconciliation commission has held public hearings on the cases of thousands of people who `disappeared' under a notorious tyranny. In Argentina, where a democratically elected government is waging a grim battle for survival, Parliament has acted to remove the immunity military leaders had given themselves. In Brazil, which was the first nation to come under military dictatorship and which last year elected a trade union leader as President, a former political prisoner is a Cabinet Minister. There are many such symbols to mark the continent's successes in its search for truth and democracy.

Perhaps the most dramatic soul-searching is happening in Peru where the return of democracy was vitiated by the dictatorial deeds of the Alberto Fujimori regime. The truth and reconciliation exercise, modelled on the path-breaking South African precedent and asked by the Government to examine 20 years of conflict and authoritarianism, concluded that more than twice as many people died in the period than had been believed. The report blamed both the military rulers and the Shining Path guerrillas who waged a prolonged, bloody war but concluded that the military was responsible for "generalised and systematic violations of human rights." As part of its massive effort, the commission is providing reams of new evidence to prosecutors against 120 former military commanders who wielded extraordinary powers. Its report recounts the massacres and disappearances during the dictatorship and points out that the rulers were indifferent in particular to the sufferings of Peru's Indians who bore the brunt of the war, targeted by both sides.

All over the continent, legitimate and independent-minded Governments were destabilised and overthrown by military cliques during the 1970s and 1980s. In the past year, these countries have been attempting to learn the lessons of a benighted era so that history does not repeat itself. The introspection has been accelerated by concerns over the consequences and implications of the `war on terror'. Perhaps the most remarkable event occurred in the Chilean capital last month, highlighting both deep scars and hopes for the future. At a joint commemorative celebration spread over two nights of music, Brazil's political prisoner turned Culture Minister, Gilberto Gil, participated along with artistes from various countries, including Cuba. India too was represented, although the tyranny of distance has kept from the Indian public view such moving attempts by countries to regain their soul. "The dream exists" was the event's theme. As Latin America celebrates the winning back of democracy and independence, it will remember that unrelenting vigilance is the price of liberty.

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