For Grandma (and others too, I suppose)

Grandma:
I am so glad you are enjoying my pictures and writing. Here are a few more for you. This is a picture from "La Moneda," which is the Chilean equivalent of the White House. La Moneda is where Salvador Allende fell in the US-assisted coup which you read about in The Pinochet File. On the gate it says "By Reason or Force" (Por la razon o la fuerza).


Here is another picture from one of the courtyards in La Moneda. It is of the fountain that people throw coins (monedas, incidentally) into. You can see the schoolchildren in their uniforms on the otherside. The other picture is of a very friendly guard who showed me where Michele Bachelet's (La Presidenta) office is and told me when La Moneda was initially built (1805-last year they had the bicentennial) and when it was renovated (1983?) The firefight that you read about in The Pinochet File (in 1973) apparently did not do too much damage. He told me that the renovations were very slight. As you can see in the picture, there is no visible damage.
























This picture (below) is of Plaza de Armas, I am standing at the front of La Moneda, facing away from it, to take this picture. There is a bit of Santiago smog sneaking into this photo. When I get back to the Centro, I will take some better shots. And maybe even some that include me.


Finally, here is a look back at La Moneda after I walked through it. The sun was just peeking over the top of the palacio but I think it the picture still captures the building pretty well:


Some final thoughts for tonight: I am in Chile to study, among other things, the development of human rights over the past fifteen or so years. My goal is to figure out what factors brought about the prosecutions of members of the military and, in particular, those of Pinochet himself. What I am not researching, or rather, what I am taking for granted are the gross human rights abuses and terror propogated by the military and National Guard in Chile during the dictatorship (1973-89). The campaigns to establish what violations have occured have been many (National Commissions of Reconciliation, Reports by the UN Commission on Human Rights, Reports by Amnesty International - see amnistia.cl for links). This includes an estimation of about 3,000 individuals disappeared and many more detained and tortured by the militares (including the current president, Michele Bachelet). With this in mind, I came to Chile somewhat fearing those in uniform. Or if not fearing, at least expecting them to come across as at least cold, distant, unfriendly, and strict. Instead, I have found that those who look terrifyingly stiff in their guard posts begin smiling and greeting as you approach them. I have had instructive and educational conversations with the guards of the palace. They are far more friendly and helpful than their counterparts in the United States. One even complimented my Spanish. Here I am researching the fearsome military and national guard of Chlie and I find those in uniform now to be some of the most welcoming individuals I've come across in the past week.

Time for me to sleep before a big day tomorrow.

Buenas Noches.