Cantos Cautivos

« This zamba was the first song we tried to perform in Puchuncaví, with a group made up of prisoners transferred from Chacabuco Detention Camp together with us, newly arrived 'puchuncas'. »

La López Pereyra

Music piece by:

Artidorio Cresseri

Testimony by:

Germán Larrabe

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1974 - 1976

Tags:

[...]

« I looked at the blue sky »

Coplas of El Yopo (Coplas de El Yopo)

Music piece by:

Unknown. Traditional Venezuelan song. Popularised in Chile by Isabel and Ángel Parra

Testimony by:

Carlos Muñoz

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. »

[...]

« because the blues turns me mad. »

« The Puchuncaví detention camp’s daily routine included mandatory participation in the ceremonies of raising and taking down the Chilean flag on the flagpole at the entrance to the camp. »

Music piece by:

Eusebio Lillo and Ramón Carnicer

Testimony by:

Boris Chornik Aberbuch

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, March 1975

Tags:

[...]

« I was detained in Panguipulli on 24 September 1973, along with 17 other young people. I was a high school student. I was also working at the forestry and logging company of Huilo Huilo, which had been taken over by the working class. »

Music piece by:

Eusebio Lillo and Ramón Carnicer

Testimony by:

anonymous

Experience in:

Cárcel de Valdivia / Cárcel de Isla Teja, September 1973

Tags:

[...]

« The Puchuncaví Prisoners Camp had a daily routine similar to that of military regiments. In a ridiculous ceremony, the flag was raised every morning at dawn and then it was taken down at nightfall. »

Music piece by:

Eusebio Lillo and Ramón Carnicer

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975

Tags:

[...]

« We arrived at Dawson Island on the afternoon of 11 September. All we knew was that we had been arrested in the morning - nothing else. »

Music piece by:

Eusebio Lillo and Ramón Carnicer

Testimony by:

Eduardo Ojeda

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros Isla Dawson, September 1973

Tags:

[...]

The Salamander (La salamanca)

Music piece by:

Arturo Dávalos

Testimony by:

Luis Cifuentes Seves

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, January - February 1974

Tags:

« A salamanca is a type of salamander that lives in caves in northern Argentina. By extension, it also represents the cave. In this song, the lyricist turns the salamanca into a place where a coven of witches gathers. »

[...]

« to a lady toad dressed in blue. »

Love Song for a Disappeared Woman (Canción de amor a una desaparecida)

Music piece by:

Sergio Vesely

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975

Tags:

« Daniela was the political codename of María Cecilia Labrín, a member of the MIR. Agents of the DINA arrested her at her home on Latadía Street in Santiago in August 1974. She has never been seen again. »

[...]

« and a blue butterfly »

Prayer So You Don't Forget Me (Oración para que no me olvides)

Music piece by:

Óscar Castro (words) and Ariel Arancibia González (music)

Testimony by:

Rosalía Martínez

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros Cuatro Álamos, November - December 1974

Tags:

« When Katia Chornik contacted me a few years ago asking me to provide my testimony about my musical experience in prison, I thought I didn’t have much to say. »

[...]

« and paint the wallflowers blue »