City of the Dead

On Saturday, March 15, our group was guided around parts of Santiago by a man named Andreas. He was a member of a leftist group that opposed the rule of the Pinochet dictatorship. Our first stop was the plaza in front of La Moneda, the site of the military coup that ended the Allende government. On the side of the building is a large door labeled ¨80¨ where the executive would enter the building in the morning. After the coup, the door was boarded up, a symbol to the people that by boarding up the door, the Pinochet dictatorship would attempt to erase executive traditions.

The last time Allende was seen alive was in the third window from the left. His death was said to be a suicide, but who would commit suicide with an AK-47?

After seeing the sights around the downtown center, we went to the Cemeterio General, which was constructed to look like a city of the dead. It seems to expand forever in every direction. It was my favorite place we saw on Saturday. We visited many graves of the past presidents of Chile, labor leaders, historians, and other important historical figures. After much wandering, we found the tomb of Salvador Allende. What interested me most about the cemetery, however, was the stark class differences that were apparent in the arrangement and presentation of the tombs. Some areas were crowded with apartment-like graves like the one below. Compare that photo with the following one, where there are huge mansion-like structures that house the bodies of entire families. These areas were filled with trees and other foliage, and were remarkably more peaceful. Just as in life, money buys you space and nature.

At the cemetery, I could not help but confront how little becomes of us in death. Many graves were shabby and forgotten. I don´t think I want to be buried in the traditional way, with a gravestone. If there is no one to take care of it, clean it up and bring flowers, it is a lonely and depressing tribute to the vibrancy of life. I hope to be set free and put into the earth more naturally. I will not be caged by the tendency of the human ego to erect monuments that will outlive them.

Next, we went to Villa Grimaldi, the site of a former detention center for political prisoners during the Pinochet era. It has now been turned into a peace park that is rife with symbolism. During its years of operation, an estimated 5,000 prisoners passed through Villa Grimaldi. Of those, 230 were executed, and only 17 of the bodies were ever recovered. The remaining 213 ¨disappeared¨ will probably never be recovered. One of the most haunting exhibits in the park was a giant copper cube that could be entered. Inside it was dark, 18 degrees C, with the sound of the ocean playing. On display were steel poles that were pulled from the ocean. Political prisoners, some from Grimaldi, were pushed from airplanes tied to these poles and fell to their deaths in the ocean. The conditions inside the cube represented what the prisoners must have felt during their last moments of life. Haunting.

Below is a picture of a rose garden. The roses were planted for all the women that passed through Villa Grimaldi, and were labeled accordingly.

This was another beautiful and haunting section of the park. It was the former cite of the prisoners´cells, and now there is a brick pathway grid. Inside each square is a birch tree, symbolizing how even in such circumstances, life will still go on and fight through. The creators of the park chose birch trees because by nature their bark has imperfections that resemble wounds.

Villa Grimaldi was an unsettling experience for all of us. Later that day at the asado, I spoke to Andreas, who had been detained in the South for 46 days, in Spanish and said, ¨Thank you for teaching us about what happened at Villa Grimaldi. I think it is important to understand the past.¨ Andreas said to me: ¨Yes, and don´t you forget.¨