162 results where found for «The Vargas War»


Candombe for José (Candombe para José)

Music piece by:
Roberto Ternán
Testimony by:
Sara De Witt
Experience in:
« We were in Tres Álamos barracks in September 1976. I don’t recall how many of us women were imprisoned there. I believe there were close to a hundred of us. »
[...]
« We stood in the barracks yard and began to sing in unison. We sang the “Ode to Joy” and another song of which I remember just one verse: “se va, se va, se va hacia la libertad” (going away, going away, going away towards freedom). »
[Read full testimony]

Ode to Joy (Himno a la alegría)

Music piece by:
original by Friedrich von Schiller (lyrics) and Ludwig van Beethoven (music). Free version in Spanish by Amado Regueiro Rodríguez, aka Orbe (lyrics) y Waldo de los Ríos (music), popularised in Chile by Miguel Ríos.
Testimony by:
Amelia Negrón
Experience in:
« Preparations for that Wednesday night became more intense. It would be a different night. We women prisoners had secretly organised ourselves, but more importantly, we had also coordinated with the male prisoners. »
[...]
« And the director counted to four and then, all of a sudden, we burst into song in unison. The voices of the nearly 120 women political prisoners in Tres Álamos concentration camp began singing 'Ode to Joy' as loudly as we could, towards the sky. »
[Read full testimony]

Captive Quena (Quena cautiva)

Music piece by:
Claudio Durán Pardo
Testimony by:
Claudio Durán Pardo
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, September - December 1975
« 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. »
[...]
« It was already late spring in Santiago and the dry, translucent, warm air made the melodies travel far beyond Pavilion A without me noticing. »
[Read full testimony]

Errant Wind (Viento errante)

Music piece by:
Patricio Hermosilla Vives
Testimony by:
Patricio Hermosilla Vives
Experience in:
« Finally, in the Chacabuco Concentration Camp, after three days aboard the Policarpo Toro (a war ship which had an uncertain destination since sailing from Valparaíso in December 1973; the question was not when and where we would dock, but how we would fall overboard), I felt that death had decided to take a step back and watch from me from a little further away. »
[Read full testimony]

South-Eastern Storm (La Sudestada)

Music piece by:
Poni Micharvegas
Testimony by:
Luis Alfredo Muñoz González
Experience in:
« While I was in solitary confinement in Cuatro Álamos, one day I noticed there was a large room at the end of the corridor, which, overnight, the dinos had filled with prisoners. »
[...]
« At the end of the day, these comrades organised quite a 'jamboree': talking, sharing information, asking questions and singing. It was a frenetic activity of solidarity, support, courage and warmth. »
[Read full testimony]

Casida of the Dark Pigeons (Casida de las palomas oscuras)

Music piece by:
Federico García Lorca (words), Paco Ibáñez (music)
Testimony by:
Luis Alfredo Muñoz González
Experience in:
« According to scientists, memory and music processing are situated in a deep, ancestral part of the brain, where it is zealously guarded. »
[...]
« They precipitate towards our vocal cords, our tongue and our lips. It rushes forth like a cascade of near-impossible notes, rapidly, before it all ends. »
[Read full testimony]

We Shall Prevail (Venceremos)

Music piece by:
Claudio Iturra (lyrics) and Sergio Ortega (music)
Testimony by:
Lucía Chirinos
Experience in:
« The parish priest at Buen Pastor played the accordion. He played so beautifully. Because I played the piano, I asked him if I could borrow it. 'I'll lend it to you' he said. »
[...]
« While we sang, the policemen began walking towards the prison. They had surely decided to reprimand us or something worse. »
[Read full testimony]

Words for Julia (Palabras para Julia)

Music piece by:
José Agustín Goytisolo (lyrics) and Paco Ibáñez (music)
Testimony by:
Amelia Negrón
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, 1975 and 1976, until the closure of Tres Álamos
« There were so many of us women prisoners. Despite the circumstances, we had managed to invent our own world, one with our rules, according to what we thought and wanted for ourselves, our families and all the Chilean people. »
[...]
« They had been made by women who were political prisoners, they would say to each other; they knew our names, knew of our struggle, our resistance against torture, and could not believe that from those confines we had succeeded in conveying our joy of life, to move forward, to silently shout here we are, and we’re still here. And so they bought our goods, for themselves, to give to their daughters, friends and mothers. »
[Read full testimony]

You Hear It Far Away (Se escucha muy lejos)

Music piece by:
Collective creation
Testimony by:
Ignacio Puelma
Experience in:
« The sound of the sea was carried over the cabins of the Ritoque Prison Camp by the wind. It was the daily music given to us as a gift by the ocean. »
[...]
« I can't quite remember - was it perhaps Luis Corvalán? At any rate, one of the miscreants, as we called The Hierarchy of the UP, who were separated from us in the concentration camp but were allowed to take part in the cultural activities, was the person who presented us with the award: a medal made from a coin and displaying a seagull, Ritoque's Seagull. »
[Read full testimony]

Valparaíso

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
Experience in:
« This song was written and sung in cell number 198 of Valparaíso’s former prison, that is to say, on the top floor of the main building, which was higher than the walls that surrounded it. »
[...]
« He guided my gaze to the distant Miraflores Alto hill, located in the neighbouring city of Viña del Mar, from whence Graciela would come to visit me with her warm gaiety, helping me to get through those times of hardship with joy and hope. »
[Read full testimony]