Testimonies

Testimonies are sorted by witness.
Click on to sort by witness, to sort alphabetically by musical piece title, or to sort by publication date.

Carlos Muñoz:

The Paper Boat (El barco de papel)

Music piece by:
Julio Numhauser, popularised by the band Amerindios
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, 1975 - 1976
Tags:
« One of the most important songs in the detention centres. Impossible to count how many times we sang it. Every time someone was released from a detention camp or there was credible information that a person would be sent into exile, a gigantic chorus would sing this song, in a powerful unison. »
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Coplas of El Yopo (Coplas de El Yopo)

Music piece by:
Unknown. Traditional Venezuelan song. Popularised in Chile by Isabel and Ángel Parra
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, 1975 - 1976
Tags:
« A comrade whose last name was Saavedra (if I recall correctly) sung this song passionately. This song earned him the nickname of ‘El Yopo’ (also ‘Chopo’), as is usual in popular culture. »
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Carmen Espinoza Alegría:

Under my Skin (A flor de piel)

Music piece by:
Julio Iglesias
Experience in:
Colonia Dignidad, April 1975
Tags:
« I’m from Talca. I met César, my comrade, my love, in 1971 or 1972, approximately. We were young idealists, we were members of Juventudes Comunistas, and were student leaders in our secondary schools. »
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Swan Lake

Music piece by:
Piotr Ilich Tchaikovski
Experience in:
Colonia Dignidad, April 1975
Tags:
« When we arrived at Colonia Dignidad, they threw us into a shed. I despaired, took off my hood and a guard gave me a slap so hard that I fell to the ground. This was my arrival at the Colonia. »
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Carolina Videla:

Everything Changes (Todo cambia)

Music piece by:
Julio Numhauser
Experience in:
Cárcel Pública de Arica, 1989-1990
Tags:
« My guitar accompanied me for the entire time that I was deprived of freedom. It was like a magnet. In the afternoon we would sing and play in the courtyard. »
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Friend (Amiga)

Music piece by:
Miguel Bosé
Experience in:
Cárcel Pública de Arica, January 1989
Tags:
« I was 19 years old when they arrested me. I was one of the youngest political prisoners at the time in Arica. »
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Why does the afternoon cry (Por qué llora la tarde)

Music piece by:
Antônio Marcos. Popularised in Chile by Claudio Reyes
Experience in:
Cárcel Pública de Arica, January 1989
Tags:
« My prison term happened during the last year of the dictatorship after the No vote won. I was set free because of 'lack of evidence', after a year and a half in prison. »
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César Montiel:

Under my Skin (A flor de piel)

Music piece by:
Julio Iglesias
Experience in:
Colonia Dignidad, April 1975
Tags:
« At the beginning of the 1970s, I met Carmen, my comrade, my love, at the Juventudes Comunistas of Talca. We had the life of young idealists, sharing our everyday, living this revolutionary process so beautifully. »
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Swan Lake

Music piece by:
Piotr Ilich Tchaikovski
Experience in:
Colonia Dignidad, April 1975
Tags:
« In Colonia Dignidad, they played Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky a lot. It was very repetitive. To several comrades, it reminds them of torture. It is not very enjoyable for us to listen to this piece at this life stage, because it transports us back to all the suffering, to what they did to us. »
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Trim the Sails (Brazas a ceñir)

Music piece by:
Luis Mella Toro
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975
Tags:
« The Navy sailors made us sing every day, when we got up very early to raise the flag. We, as the squaddies, had to sing military songs, their songs. »
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El bimbó

Music piece by:
Georgie Dann
Experience in:
Colonia Dignidad, April 1975
Tags:
« I have a story about 'El bimbó', a song that shaped us in those difficult moments in Colonia Dignidad. It was a song with a tropical rhythm that was very trendy in the 1970s. It was played every day on the radio. Also on Eurovision, in European festivals, and on the TV programme 300 Million. »
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Claudio Enrique Durán Pardo:

Captive Quena (Quena cautiva)

Music piece by:
Claudio Durán Pardo
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, September - December 1975
Tags:
« I first laid my hands on a quena when I was nine years old. It was resplendently fragile and lyrical. My passion for this instrument was immediate, or rather, the quena chose me. »
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Claudio Enrique Durán Pardo (Kila Chico):

To Sing by Improvising (Pa’ cantar de un improviso)

Music piece by:
Violeta Parra
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, June 1975
Tags:
« We made a Venezuelan cuatro from a large plank of wood attached to one of the walls of the "ranch" where we ate. »
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Claudio Melgarejo:

May the Omelette Flip Over (Que la tortilla se vuelva)

Music piece by:
Chicho Sánchez Ferlosio. Popularized by Quilapayún
Experience in:
Comisaría de Concepción, November 1973
Tags:
« I spent a week in captivity, in November 1973. I didn’t hear many songs, but the most popular ones sung by my comrades were 'Venceremos' (We Shall be Victorious) and 'Que la tortilla se vuelva' (May the Omelette Flip Over), also known as 'The Tomato Song', which portrays the bosses' exploitation of the workers. »
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David Quintana García:

To Be Seventeen Again (Volver a los diecisiete)

Music piece by:
Violeta Parra
Experience in:
Intendencia de Rancagua, 1973
Tags:
« I spent 45 days in the torture centre of Intendencia de Rancagua. Previously, I was detained with my brothers in the headquarters of the Cuartel de Investigaciones de Rancagua. »
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To my Little Dove (A mi palomita)

Music piece by:
Teófilo Vargas Candia, popularised in Chile by the group Quilapayún
Experience in:
Cárcel de Rancagua, 1974 - 1975
Tags:
« On 10 September 1974, a folk band of Communist Youth activists arrived at the prison of Rancagua. They were arrested to prevent them from participating in the demonstrations and other acts against the dictatorship on 11 September through their role as musicians and activists. »
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Domingo Chávez Navarro:

Sufferings (Dolencias)

Music piece by:
Víctor Valencia Nieto
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, November 1973 - April 1974
Tags:
« Marcelo Concha Bascuñán sang this song, which many of us liked. I personally knew Marcelo and we were both released from prison at the same time. I left the country, whereas Marcelo stayed in Chile. The DINA picked him up and since then he is one of so many disappeared people. »
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Domingo Lizama:

Three White Lilies (Tres blancos lirios)

Music piece by:
Unknown composer. This song probably relates to European early-years pedagogy.
Experience in:
Cárcel de Valdivia / Cárcel de Isla Teja, 9 October 1973
Tags:
« They arrested me at my workplace in October 1973 . I was 31 years old and worked as a porter at a logging business in Chumpullo, near Valdivia. »
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The Wall (La muralla)

Music piece by:
Nicolás Guillén (lyrics) and Quilapayún (music)
Experience in:
Cárcel de Valdivia / Cárcel de Isla Teja, 1973 - 1978
Tags:
« In prison, there was a guy who played the guitar. He cheered up the afternoons in the cell. We all sang with him. »
[Read full testimony]