Letters
Human Rights in Chile Marjorie Agosin's claim ["Patchwork of Memory," May/June, 1994] that the arpillera (testimonial tapestry) workshops ended because of the "state of absolute silence with...
...In January, 1995, Minister of Public Works Ricardo Lagos offered his resignation after refusing to sign the construction order, saying that a separate facility for military personnel found guilty of human rights abuses amounted to giving them special privileges...
...Paired with the political demobilization of the opposition social movements in the late 1980s and early 1990s is the democratization and reconstruction of traditional social organizations such as mothers' centers and neighborhood councils...
...Stephanie Rosenfeld Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First Oakland, CA Marjorie Agosin responds: Ido not believe that fascism is better than democracy...
...Agosfn claims that "the suspension of the arpillera workshops is Readers are invited to address letters to The Editors, NACLA Report on the Amer- icas, 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 454, New York, NY 10 115...
...XXVIII, No.3, is dis- tributed by Inter Cultural Research Corp., 1224 General Mercer Rd., Washington Crossing, PA 18977...
...a solidarity committed to protecting the fundamental human rights of all Chilean citizens, not only those who live in upscale Santiago neighborhoods...
...The logic and structure of the opposition movements fell apart at the time of the transition to democracy for good reasons: much of the opposition moved into government, the massive human rights violations stopped, and the economy improved...
...Many poor women stopped participating in solidarity workshops because they or their husbands found real jobs, as unemployment fell from some 30% in the early to mid-1980s to (officially) around 6% in 1994...
...It is no longer necessary to smuggle anonymous arpilleras out of Chile for the world to know of the torture and killing that happened there...
...Complex issues such as the relationship between the political parties and the social movements, the widespread desire for stability, and the retreat of the "common enemy"--embodied in General Pinochet-point to the chalContinued on page 47 Addendum The Reference Library of Hispanic Ameri- ca, reviewed in Vol...
...Tragically, there are Chileans who are still totally unaware of the arpilleras and the desperate courage of the women who made these tapestries under the dictatorship...
...Rather than erecting a memorial in a cemetery, those of us who survived the pitiless human destruction of that phase of our nation's history should erect a living monument of determination to tackle the enormous tasks ahead...
...Despite human rights documents such as the 1991 Rettig Report, perpetrators of human rights abuses during the dictatorship enjoy freedom and impunity in Chile today...
...I do want to point out, however, that Chile today is a "controlled democracy," whose interests still reflect the goals of Pinochet, capitalism, and the promotion of a new consumerism-all of which are alien to Chilean culture...
...Granted, the smuggling of anonymous arpilleras is no longer necessary...
...How sad and naive of Stephanie Rosenfeld to believe that by simply erecting a monument in their memory, the government has acted responsibly and with concern for those who were assassinated as political prisoners and for the mothers of the disappeared...
...Today in Santiago's General Cemetery, a proud monument names those murdered by the Pinochet dictatorship...
...Our challenge is to nurture the growth of a new Chile in which every Chilean can recover the true spirit of reconciliation and democracy, a Chile which will weave the welfare of all classes of Chileans into the fabric of its society and government, not only the welfare of those wealthy and powerful enough to be granted special accommodation...
...While many activists feel nostalgia for the solidarity and unity that existed during the dictatorship, Marjorie Agosin's implicit assertion that life was better during the dictatorship is absurd...
...I disagree with Stephanie Rosenfeld's assertion that a new form of expression for the defense of human rights has emerged...
...During the dictatorship, the government repressed the solidarity workshops, forcing them to look to the Catholic Church and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for support...
...I don't deny that I long for the spirit of solidarity present during the years of Pinochet-a solidarity which targeted the overthrow of his regime of terror...
...Today the government supports the creation of microenterprises and productive workshops with credit and training in market analysis, quality control, and accounting...
...Chile still, however, needs a mainstream forum to acknowledge the horrific years of fascism, make human rights abusers accountable for their actions, and provide redress for their victims...
...Human rights activists are working to turn Villa Grimaldi, a torture center during the dictatorship, into a peace park...
...I believe that the government has created new workshops not simply to promote the craft of poor Chilean women but to assure that these crafts are devoid of political content, and that women's political awakening and the power of their grassroots expression are pacified and contained...
...The end of the arpilleras coincides with the opening up of new channels of expression for human rights and other issues...
...CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 lenges of reconstructing civil society in democracy...
...Letters can be sent by e- mail to: NACLA @igc.apc.org...
...During 1994, the funerals continued, as many of the remaining unidentified bodies were dug up, identified, and given proper public burials-with extensive media coverage...
...It is true that the transition to democracy opened up more space for social and economic organization than for political expression...
...The price for the 1994 edition of the three-volume set is $149...
...The fact that the majority of the Chilean Senate approved the construction of a special military jail to house General Contreras and the fact that Minister Lagos' resignation was not approved suggest the government's friendship and even complicity with the previous military government...
...I still believe that the closing of the arpillera workshops reveals a state of indifference to the issues of human rights and military amnesty among Chile's civilian population as well as among the country's government officials...
...simply a microcosm of what has happened to the grassroots organizations more generally," but she leaves out the other half of the story...
...After the former head of General Pinochet's secret police, Manual Contreras, was convicted for his role in the 1976 assassination of Allende's former foreign minister, Orlando Letelier, in Washington, D.C., Chile was gripped in public debate over whether a special prison should be constructed for such human rights violators...
...Human Rights in Chile Marjorie Agosin's claim ["Patchwork of Memory," May/June, 1994] that the arpillera (testimonial tapestry) workshops ended because of the "state of absolute silence with respect to human rights in Chile today" does not hold water...
...Many of us know in our hearts that we face arduous tasks that go beyond pardoning the pardoners of murderers...
Vol. 28 • March 1995 • No. 5
