Cantos Cautivos

Lament for the Death of Augusto the Dog (Lamento a la muerte del perro Augusto)

Music piece by:

Sergio Vesely

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975

Tags:

« Augusto the dog (not to be confused with the journalist Augusto Olivares, affectionately nicknamed 'Augusto the Dog', who was murdered in the Presidential Palace on 11 September 1973), was the mascot of the political prisoners held at the Ritoque concentration camp, and accompanied his master when the military junta decided to close that prison and transfer the inmates to the neighbouring Puchuncaví concentration camp. »

[...]

« Shadow of love, doesn’t save you from bitterness. »

The Crux of the Matter (La madre del cordero)

Music piece by:

Tito Fernández

Testimony by:

Servando Becerra Poblete

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, 9 November 1973 - 10 November 1974

Tags:

« I recited this poem in the National Stadium. I continued to do so in the Chacabuco prison camp, earning the nickname of “Venancio” from my fellow prisoners. »

[...]

« from her very lips. »

Today Was Visitors’ Day (Hoy fue día de visitas)

Music piece by:

Sergio Vesely

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976

Tags:

« Visitors’ day was an exceptional day that broke the monotonous routine of all the other days of the week. »

[...]

« far from the jailer’s eye. »

Priests and Soldiers (Curas y milicos)

Music piece by:

Sergio Vesely

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975

Tags:

« I don’t want to exaggerate but Camp Melinka became not only a factory that produced handicrafts and a performance hall but also a university. »

[...]

« who can save me from bearing »

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

Music piece by:

Chicho Sánchez Ferlosio. Popularized by Quilapayún

Testimony by:

Claudio Melgarejo

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. »

[...]

« they steal from the poor worker. »

« While waiting in the grandstands to be interrogated for the first, second or more times, we would sing 'Free' to those who were being lined up to be released. 'Free' was a catharsis, a mixture of joy for those who were going and hope for those of us left behind. Unfortunately, the dictatorship and its civil and military henchmen employed the song for their own propaganda. »

Music piece by:

José Luis Armenteros and Pablo Herrero, popularised by Nino Bravo.

Testimony by:

anonymous

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros, Estadio Nacional, September - November 1973

Tags:

[...]

« This song was performed in the Stadium grandstands by a worker from the Madeco factory: Peineta Vasquez, winner of a Song Festival that was organised at grassroots level, during the times when we were allowed to leave the spaces under the grandstands, inside the stadium, to sunbathe, together with women from various countries, before they got sent off to the pool area. »

Music piece by:

José Luis Armenteros and Pablo Herrero, popularised by Nino Bravo.

Testimony by:

Guillermo Orrego Valdebenito

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros, Estadio Nacional, 1973

Tags:

[...]

« I’m from Chol Chol, part of the Coihue community. I was arrested along with 12 other people and they took us to the Second Police Station of Temuco. »

Music piece by:

José Luis Armenteros and Pablo Herrero, popularised by Nino Bravo.

Testimony by:

Paicavi Painemal

Experience in:

Comisaría de Carabineros N° 2, Temuco, 22 April 1985

Tags:

[...]

« I was taken prisoner on 23 November 1973, at the University of Concepción. In the Regional Stadium of Concepción, we had to sing the National Anthem every day. »

Music piece by:

José Luis Armenteros and Pablo Herrero, popularised by Nino Bravo.

Testimony by:

Marianella Ubilla

Experience in:

Campamento Prisioneros Estadio Regional, Christmas 1973

Tags:

[...]