So first a mini-rant: I just finished watching Bride Wars (in English with spanish subtitles) w/my host sister and her boyfriend and I'm so disgusted. Chile seems to only get the worst aspects of American culture (and politics:::cough:::Pinochet, anyone?). Anyways, it just reminded me that first, absurdly sexist stereotypes about women abound and continue to be perpetuated all over the place, and second, they continue to make many people rich and famous. You might say that in comparison to things like the global economic crisis and global warming, chick flicks that portray women as shallow, crazy, man-obsessed barbies are pretty low on the scale of importance, but I think they're even more dangerous in a sense because they are so insidious and low profile. The mysogyny doesn't call out on the front pages like terrorism but it frames all of our interactions as humans.
Anyway, rant over. Although, in true blogging tradition, for a beautiful collage of scathing reviews on Bride Wars, go to http://jezebel.com/5127631/could-bride-wars-ruin-anne-hathaway-and-set-feminism-back-20-years
So, onto lighter topics: yesterday we visited La Moneda, the Presidential Palace, where among other things, Allende was assassinated. But let me backtrack a bit.
This week and next week we(American CIEE students)are taking a mandatory course called "Chile Contemporaneo" that basically consists of two lectures a day on topics that range from the history of Chile's constitution, to modern Chilean cinema and the environment. Each class is taught by a professor who specializes in that topic. So far we've had a Historian, sociologist and political scientist. Inevitably each class touches on the 1973 coup in which the military attacked La Moneda, bombed the Presidents office, killed President Allende(though some say he committed suicide)and installed the military junta led by Pinochet that would reign for 17 years and barbarously oppress any/all dissent. The fact that this occurred on September 11th of 1973 seems to especially strike(no pun intended, really, I apologize for the choice of words) Americans. So, after class we all took a field trip to La Moneda, where we were able to get an amazing tour around the entire compound and even enter into the room where Allende died.
Unlike the White House, La Moneda is remarkably accessible. Although we needed our passports to enter and Palace Guards paced around the edges of each building, we were allowed to basically wander around the seat of Chilean government! When our tour led us through gorgeous baroque ball rooms and ornate offices, we could also catch glimpses of caterers and decorators setting up for a Presidential event, mere feet away! Even when we entered the second floor near where Allende's offices were, there were rooms with government workers at their desks with doors open and no sort of fence, or security at all! Compared to the White House, which requires major security clearance, applying at least a year in advance and only allows for very limited tours, this seemed so relaxed. I thought it was especially ironic since (as far as I know...) no American president has ever been attacked/killed inside the White House, whereas this actually happened in La Moneda, and its still easier to get into/explore than the White House.
Anyway, when we finally did arrive at the section that had been bombed in 1973, it looked different than the rest of the beautiful, 200+year old palace. It turns out that after this section was destroyed in the coup, the military government didn't respect the architectural integrity of the building and replaced the windows/walls with austere, modern installations that stick out like sore thumbs. Symbolism, anyone?
Get to the point Allie!: in front of Allende's former office, there is a huge copper coin with his face on the front and then a plaque with the name of those in his administration that also died in the coup. One of our professors noted that the military could easily have surrounded La Moneda, arrested Allende, taken him somewhere far away(as they would later do with over 3,000 Chileans) and murder him quietly. Instead, they opted for a spectacular aerial bombing that left the whole building in flames and dozens dead. Like my professor said, Pinochet knew what he was doing.
Being inside the Allende's actual office was very eerie. Its totally restored; the walls are painted white, a few small paintings/mirrors hang on the wall, and his original desk sits imposingly in the middle of the room, with a large portrait of Allende in very somber greys and yellows hanging behind it. The only indication of the room's bloody past is bullet-ridden bust of some Chilean painter/author standing in the corner.
I have to say, I was expecting more. Although the scale is different, of course, compared with Holocaust museums, or say, the Vietnam memorial, the memorial to Allende and his government was really minimal. I think it speaks to the still taboo nature of the coup and the desire to minimize or ignore that aspect of Chilean history. I'm finding it a bit difficult to maneuver around the coup outside of class because on the one hand, I find it fascinating and integral to Chilean history, but on the other hand, it's a very touchy subject to say the least since so many people were affected and at least 30% still support Pinochet's policies to some extent. Also, I know that Chilean history is made up of many events, only one of which is the coup, and I would hate if people learning about American history only focused for instance on the Trail of Tears, for example, and ignored the rest of our 200+year (laudable?noteworthy?ignominious?...er, fascinating)history.
No comments:
Post a Comment