Cantos Cautivos

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:

Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, 31 December 1975

Tags:

« 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. »

[...]

« We sang and sang: 'Ode to Joy', 'El negro José', 'Palabras para Julia', 'No volveré', and we kept singing and singing. We would start singing a song and the men, fellow prisoners on the other side, beyond the walls that separated us, would respond. That night we went to bed around one in the morning, exhausted and hoarse but so happy. We had broken the chains - it was still possible to think of freedom. »

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The Paper Boat (El barco de papel)

Music piece by:

Julio Numhauser, popularised by the band Amerindios

Testimony by:

Carlos Muñoz

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. No one could possibly forget it. Especially significant at Tres Álamos, as this was the “exit” camp. »

[...]

« If freedom was decreed when the prisoner was at another camp, the prisoner would be transferred to this detention centre. In the version sung in the camps, the verse that goes, 'se va, se va, se va y regresará' ('going away, going away, going away and will come back') was replaced by 'se va, se va, se va y no volverá' ('going away, going away, going away, never to come back'). »

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Beloved Friend (Amado amigo)

Music piece by:

Sergio Vesely

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975

Tags:

« This song, written in my cell at the Puchuncaví Prison Camp, speaks to a friend and fellow prisoner; it could be any one of the thousands behind bars. »

[...]

« Paper boat (barco de papel): We had a habit of wishing farewell to our comrades who were released or about to be transferred to other prisons. People who were not fortunate enough to be included in the group would gather around those who were about to leave, a ritual that sometimes included singing Julio Numhausser’s beautiful song 'El barco de papel'. The first verse goes like this: 'Se va el barco de papel por el mar de la esperanza, llevando un montón de sueños y los niños no lo alcanzan. Se va, se va y no volverá. Se va, se va a la libertad.' (The paper boat sails to a sea of hope, carrying dreams and children can’t reach it. There it goes, there it goes, and it will never return. There it goes, there it goes to freedom.). »

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Moments (Los momentos)

Music piece by:

Eduardo Gatti

Testimony by:

Scarlett Mathieu

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, 1974

Tags:

« ‘Moments’ was a song sung by the female comrades whose partners were imprisoned on the other side of Tres Álamos, or were fugitives or disappeared. We all sang it, but it was like their anthem. »

[...]

« When someone was expelled, we sang the tango ‘Volver’ by Carlos Gardel. Also ‘No volveré’ by Chabela Vargas, although it was a bit negative. »

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