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Cantos Cautivos
The Letter (La carta)
- Music piece by:Violeta Parra
- Testimony by:Pedro Mella Contreras
- Experience in:
In January 1987, when solitary confinement was lifted and we were able to receive visitors, a brother who lived in Santiago travelled to see me.
He gave me a cassette with a song that says ‘A letter has arrived.’
When he handed me the cassette, he said: ‘Here is a letter that will really leave a mark on you.’ And so it did.
That song also made sense to the comrades who were with me. Several of them were students from Linares, Los Angeles and Valparaíso.
We listened to the song often on a radio receiver we had in jail. It was rather emotional. That letter moved us all.
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Published on: 30 September 2019
in the post this morning
and in this letter they tell me
that my brother is in jail
and, mercilessly, in chains
they dragged him in the street, yes.
The letter tells the crime
that Roberto has done
supported the strike
that is already resolved
If that is a good reason
please take me to jail too, sergeant, yes.
I’m so far away
waiting for news
the letter tells me that
in my country there's no justice
the hungry ask for bread
and they get bullets, yes.
In this pompous manner
they want to keep their seats
those with fans and tails
unworthy of them
they come and go to church
and forget the commandments, yes.
Ever seen such an insolence,
barbarity and treachery
to present the rifle
and kill in cold blood
those without defence
and with empty hands, yes.
The letter that I received
asks for an answer
I ask that to spread
to the entire population
that
in every generation, yes.
Luckily I have my guitar
to cry my pain
I also have nine brothers
other than the one in jail
all nine are communists
with god's blessing, yes.
Related testimonies:
- What Will the Holy Father Say (Qué dirá el Santo Padre) María Cecilia Marchant Rubilar, Cárcel de Mujeres Buen Pastor, La Serena, September 1973 - January 1974
We sang songs that were popular at the time. We’d sing 'What will the Holy Father say', especially the part that says 'What will the Holy Father who lives in Rome say ... they are slitting the throat of his dove...' quite often, for example when someone was taken off to Regimiento Arica, which was a torture centre.
- Sinner, come to sweet Jesus (Pecador, ven al dulce Jesús) anónimo, Cárcel de Valdivia / Cárcel de Isla Teja, September 1973
One time, a group of male and female evangelicals came to Teja Island to preach. They were taken to the visitors’ yard.
- Three White Lilies (Tres blancos lirios) Domingo Lizama, Cárcel de Valdivia / Cárcel de Isla Teja, 9 October 1973
They arrested me at my workplace in October 1973 . I was 31 years old and worked as a porter at a logging business in Chumpullo, near Valdivia.
- To Be Seventeen Again (Volver a los diecisiete) Gabriela Durand, Recinto CNI, Cuartel Central Borgoño, 1980
I was 18, and already I had been tortured on the
parrilla several times. One day I was with some other comrade prisoners, and as sometimes happened, the guards put some music on. - To Be Seventeen Again (Volver a los diecisiete) David Quintana García, Intendencia de Rancagua, 1973
I spent 45 days in the torture centre of Intendencia de Rancagua. Previously, I was detained with my brothers in the headquarters of the Cuartel de Investigaciones de Rancagua.
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