Narrow but Endlessly Deep: The Struggle for Memorialisation in Chile Since the Transition to Democracy

Abstract

On 11 September 1973, the Chilean Chief of the Armed Forces, Augusto Pinochet, overthrew the Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende and installed a military dictatorship. By 1990, when Pinochet stood down after an unsuccessful referendum to legitimate himself, the danger to conservative Chile had passed. The country was uneasy but stable, and the possibility of a second Cuba remote. The victory of the right had come at a heavy price to the small nation. By 1990, beginning what is known in Chile as the Transition to Democracy, Chilean society was severely traumatised. This book traces the attempts of survivors, their families, descendants and supporters to memorialise the experiences of torture, terror and state murder at seven infamous Sites of Conscience, all within Santiago. For everyone it has been a hard and bitter journey, and one by no means complete. Show more