Testimonies

Testimonies are sorted by publication date, showing the newest first.
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The Rain is Falling (Scende la pioggia)

Music piece by:
The Turtles ('Elenore'), with new lyrics by Gianni Morandi
Testimony by:
Eduardo René Cuevas
Experience in:
Cárcel de Los Ángeles, September 1973
Tags:
« This song was a workhorse for the prisoners. Iván Moscoso sang it, accompanied by a guitar, in a powerful and defiant voice, and the most altruistic among us sung along in the presence of the gendarme guards, in a courtyard that was only for political prisoners. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 31 March 2015

The Great Gigi L’amoroso (Gigi el amoroso)

Music piece by:
Jacqueline Misrahi, Lana Sebastian and Paul Sebastian. Popularised by Dalida in various languages: Italian ('Gigi L’amoroso'), Spanish ('Gigi el amoroso'), French ('Gigi l'amour'), English ('The Great Gigi l’amoroso'), German ('Gigi der Geliebte') and Japanese ('Ai suru Jiji').
Testimony by:
Eduardo René Cuevas
Experience in:
Regimiento de Infantería Reforzada Nº 3, Los Ángeles (nowadays Regimiento de Infantería Nº 17), October - November 1973
Tags:
« This song was used while the Military Intelligence Service (SIM) subjected me to cruel torture at a clandestine torture centre in the southern Chilean city of Los Ángeles. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 21 March 2015

Neither Fish nor Fowl (Ni chicha ni limoná)

Music piece by:
Víctor Jara
Testimony by:
Joaquín Vallejos
Experience in:
Academia de Guerra Naval, January 1974
Tags:
« I was arrested at home together with a childhood friend who they’d gone to pick up first. My family thought he’d stitched me up, which was not true. »
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Published on: 08 March 2015

La López Pereyra

Music piece by:
Artidorio Cresseri
Testimony by:
Germán Larrabe
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1974 - 1976
Tags:
« 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'. »
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Published on: 05 March 2015

Sadness (Tristeza)

Music piece by:
Hermanos Núñez
Testimony by:
Germán Larrabe
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1974 -1976
Tags:
« A very sad song, often performed by parents of young children. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 05 March 2015

An Old Love Tune (Tonada del viejo amor)

Music piece by:
Eduardo Falú and Jaime Dávalos
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, November 1973 - February 1974
Tags:
« The Los de Chacabuco band, created and conducted by Ángel Parra, performed this zamba by Eduardo Falú and Jaime Davalos at the camp’s weekly shows. »
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Published on: 19 February 2015

Amalia Rosa

Music piece by:
Tino Carrasco
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, November 1973 - February 1974
Tags:
« Los de Chacabuco, a band founded and conducted by Ángel Parra, performed this Venezuelan folk song, in the style of a joropo, singing it at the weekly prison camp show. I dare say it was one of the favourite songs of the audience, comprised of political prisoners. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 19 February 2015

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
Tags:
« 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. »
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Published on: 10 February 2015

Free (Libre)

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:
« 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. »
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Published on: 15 January 2015

Chacabuco’s Soul (Alma de Chacabuco)

Music piece by:
Ángel Parra
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, November - December 1973
Tags:
« This is the original version of a composition by Ángel Parra at Chacabuco, as secretly recorded at the prison camp during his farewell concert. The composer’s voice can be heard. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 15 January 2015