Fear in Chile: Lives Under Pinochet / Edition 1

by Patricia Politzer

Overview

First-person accounts of life in Pinochet's Chile—"the perfect epitaph to a violent dictatorship" (Library Journal). "Like a García Márquez novel that has suddenly, horrifyingly, come to real life" (New York Newsday), Fear in Chile is an extraordinary collection of first-person accounts of life under dictatorship. In the 1980s, shortly after Chile emerged from one of the century's most notorious reigns of terror, Chilean journalist Patricia Politzer interviewed figures including a revolutionary activist, a military leader loyal to General Augusto Pinochet, a bank clerk concerned with the status quo, the mother of one of the "disappeared," as well as a dozen other men and women from every political position and social stratum of Chilean life. The result is a broad, vivid, yet nonideological view of modern life under military rule, about which Ariel Dorfman writes, "I can think of no better introduction to my country." With the October 1998 arrest of General Pinochet in Great Britain and renewed world awareness of the horrendous crimes committed during his regime, Fear in Chile, updated with a new afterword by the author that considers the recent attempts to prosecute Pinochet for human-rights violations, offers a vivid portrait of Chile's Pinochet era.

Author Biography: Patricia Politzer was, in a national radio broadcast in 1978, one of the first journalists to speak out against the Pinochet coup, and for many years she had a weekly political interview column in the opposition newspaper La Epoca. She is now a cabinet member in the Chilean government under President Lagos. Diane Wachtell is associate director of The NewPress.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2901565846615
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	06/01/2001
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	1111
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Patricia Politzer was, in a national radio broadcast in 1978, one of the first journalists to speak out against the Pinochet coup, and for many years she had a weekly political interview column in the opposition newspaper La Epoca. She is now a cabinet member in the Chilean government under President Lagos.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	vii
	Foreword	ix
	Preface	xiii
	Statement by the Cardinal Archbishop of Santiago de Chile	xvii
	The Executed Mayor: Blanca Ester Valderas Garrido	3
	A Mayor of the Regime: Colonel Juan Deichler Guzman	20
	The Decline and Frustration of a Banker: Sergio Astrain Torres	39
	A Young Apostle's Rebellion: Carlos	49
	A Model Militant Party Member: Raquel	69
	A Pinochet Diehard: Elena Tesser de Villaseca	93
	Copper: Boom, Strike, and Unemployment: Victor Lopez Rivera	100
	Corporatism: A Product of Reason: Andres Chadwick Pinera	117
	The Rebellion of an Old-fashioned Priest: Damian Acuna Jarpa	127
	To Disappear Is Not to Die: Elsa Esquivel Rojo	140
	Poor, Hungry, and Oppressed: Blanca Ibarra Abarca	154
	The Fate of the Union Movement: Manuel Bustos Huerta	174
	A "Chicago Boy" with No Regrets: Carlos Paut Ugarte	200
	The Soldiers' Friend: Moy de Toha	214
	Afterword	247

Editorial Reviews

Vivid.... Politzer's interviews weave a chronicle of sustained horror.

Los Angeles Times Book Review

A remarkable and moving document about life under military dictatorship.

New York Newsday

Every story has revealing, touching moments.

Boston Globe

I can think of no better introduction to my country.

Ariel Dorfman

Chileans had always thought 'it can't happen here'; Politzer, one of Chile's best opposition journalists, shows how it did.

New York Times

Through these interviews with both pro-and anti-government Chileans, journalist Politzer conveys the widespread fear that has become endemic in this country. For another account, see Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Clandestine in Chile ( LJ 6/15/87).-- Ed. . She juxtaposes accounts of relentless killings, disappearances, and police brutality with exalting reports of economic prosperity under Pinochet's regime. Macabrely fascinating, this book is a timely release in light of the upcoming Chilean presidential election that was mandated by the 1988 plebiscite. The book may become the perfect epitaph to a violent dictatorship.-- Bibi Thompson, ``Library Journal''

Library Journal

A translation of Miedo en Chile. A first person chronicle of life under dictatorship by a journalist who was one of the first to speak out against the Pinochet Coup and who authors a weekly political interview column in the opposition newspaper La Epoca. No scholarly paraphernalia. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"Must-reading for would-be dictators. . . . Chileans had always thought 'it can't happen here'; Politzer, one of Chile's best opposition journalists, shows how it did." —The New York Times\

"Every story has revealing, touching moments. . . . The voices in Fear in Chile tell about events in Chile but say much more about the human spirit." —The Boston Globe

"Vivid. . . . Politzer's interviews weave a chronicle of sustained horror." —Los Angeles Times Book Review

"A remarkable and moving document about life under military dictatorship." —Newsday

"Dramatic. . . . A timely, balanced report." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher