women’s organized challenges to repression

WOMEN’S ORGANIZED WOMEN’S ORGANIZED CHALLENGES TO CHALLENGES TO

REPRESSIONREPRESSIONCHILE & ARGENTINACHILE & ARGENTINA

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CHILECHILE

• DEMOCRATIC TRADITION; MULTIPLE POLITICAL PARTIES

– 1958 ELECTIONS: ALESSANDRI VS. ALLENDE

– 1964 ELECTIONS: FREI VS ALLENDE– 1970 ELECTIONS: ALLENDE VS.

ALESSANDRI

• ALLENDE – UP (UNIDAD POPULAR

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SALVADOR ALLENDESALVADOR ALLENDE• POPULIST• NATIONALIST• NATIONALIZATIONS• LAND REFORM• NATIONALIZED U.S. COPPER COMPANIES• DESPITE RADICAL REFORMS, WOMEN

WERE STILL VIEWED IN TRADITIONAL ROLES– WOMEN BLAMED ALLENDE FOR SHORTAGES

OF GOODS– WOMEN DEMANDED AN END TO THE

MARXIST GOVERNMENT

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THE 1THE 1STST 9-11 9-11• SEPEMBER 11, 1973

MILITARY COUP– BACKED BY U.S. CIA– DEMOCRATICALLY

ELECTED

SALVADOR ALLENDE KILLEDPHASE I1973-90 AUGUSTO PINOCHET

STATE OF SEIGEDISAPPEARED & MURDERED 3000, ARRESTED 40,000

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MOST BRUTAL DICTATORSHIP MOST BRUTAL DICTATORSHIP IN LATIN AMERICAIN LATIN AMERICA

• MANY WOMEN WERE DISAPPEARED, TORTURED, & KILLED– VILLA GRIMALDE– NATIONAL STADIUM

• PINOCHET’S WIFE IN CHARGE OF WOMEN’S PROGRAMS

– COMMUNITY KITCHENS• WOMEN 1ST TO GO INTO

STREETS TO DEMAND JUSTICE

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ARPILLERASARPILLERAS

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• 1974 A SMALL GROUP OF WOMEN WHOSE CHILDREN WERE DISAPPEARED BEGAN TO MAKE ARPILLERAS (TAPESTRIES)

• VICARIAT OF SOLIDARITY PROVIDED FABRIC SCRAPS

• TAPESTRIES ILLUSTRATED & DENOUNCED HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

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ARPILLERAS DREW ARPILLERAS DREW INTERNATIONAL ATTENTIONINTERNATIONAL ATTENTION

• THROUGH THEIR ARPILLERAS, WOMEN FOUND THEIR POLITICAL VOICES & USED THEM AS A FORM OF POLITICAL POWER

• VIOLETA MORALES: “I MADE MY ARPILLERAS BECAUSE I HAVE A DOUBLE CRIME TO DENOUNCE, THE KIDNAPPING OF BOTH MY SON & MY BROTHER. I JOINED THE WORKSHOP TO CONTINUE FIGHTING & SO THAT THE TRUTH CAN BE KNOWN BECAUSE MY WOUNDS ARE STILL OPEN”

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1978 AMNESTY LAW1978 AMNESTY LAW

• ABSOLVED ALL MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES

• AT THE TIME DEATH SQUADS, KNOWN AS THE “CARAVAN OF DEATH” APPEARED

• 1980s DISCOVER MASS GRAVES• THE MILITARY & JUDICIARY DENIED THE

REPRESSION, TORTURE, MURDERS • IMPUNITY REIGNED, THE MILITARY

DENIED RIGHT TO HABEAS CORPUS

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1988 PLEBICITE1988 PLEBICITE

• TO EXTEND PINOCHET’S RULE • PINOCHET LOST• WOMEN WERE ACTIVE ON BOTH

SIDES OF THE CAMPAIGN

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PHASE IIPHASE II

• 1990-94 AYLWIN: RETURN TO DEMOCRACY

• PERIOD OF ABSOLUTE SILENCE• PINOCHET REMAINED

COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES

• 1998 HE RETIRED, BECAME SENATOR FOR LIFE, GIVING HIM IMMUNITY

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PINOCHET & IMPUNITYPINOCHET & IMPUNITY

• GLADYS MARIN WAS THE 1ST TO FILE A COMPLAINT AGAINST PINOCHET FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HER HUSBAND

• “AFTER YEARS OF PRESENTING HABEAS CORPUS PETITIONS TO THE COURTS, I WANTED TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO LOSE THEIR FEAR OF CHALLENGING HIM DIRECTLY”

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GLADYS MARINGLADYS MARIN• SHE WAS A MEMBER OF THE

COMMUNIST PARY• ELECTED TO CONGRESS, WAS STILL

SERVING WHEN ALLENDE WAS OVERTHROWN

• SHE FLED THE COUNTRY, LEAVING HER HUSBAND & CHILDREN BEHIND

• SHE RISKED HER LIFE TO RETURN TO CHILE

• 1998 FILED CHARGES AGAINST PINOCHET

• POOR WOMEN IDENTIFIED WITH HER

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• SHE WAS THE 1ST WOMAN TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN CHILE

• SHE DIED OF CANCER IN 2005 • BECAUSE SHE PRESSED CHARGES

AGAINST PINOCHET OTHERS SOON FOLLOWED SUIT

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PHASE IIIPHASE III

• 1991 AYLWIN’S TRUTH & RECONCILIATION COMMISSION– DOCUMENTED THE ATROCITIES & DREW

WORLD ATTENTION

• 1995 GEN. CONTRERAS, HEAD OF MILITARY INTELLIGENCE WAS HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR CAR BOMB MURDER OF CHILEAN DISSIDENT ORLANDO LETELIER & U.S. ASSISTANT IN WASHINGTON D.C.

• YET PINOCHET WAS NOT TOUCHED

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PINOCHET’S ARRESTPINOCHET’S ARREST

• 1998 PINOCHET WAS ARRESTED IN LONDON

• BEGAN APPLYING INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAWS

• IN 1999 DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE AFDD & MILITARY

• 2000 PINOCHET WAS EXTRADITED & RETURNED TO CHILE

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• 2000 JUDGE GUZMAN REQUIRED HIS IMMUNITY TO BE LIFTED

• 2001 PINOCHET INDICTED, UNDER HOUSE ARREST– RELEASED DUE TO SENILITY– 2004 IMMUNITY LIFTED AGAIN

• PINOCHET DIED LAST YEAR

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RECENT EVENTS IN CHILERECENT EVENTS IN CHILE• 1994-2000 FREI • 2000-2006 LAGOS• 2006-PRESENT MICHELLE

BACHELET

– 1ST WOMAN PRESIDENT– FATHER WAS TORTURED– SHE & MOTHER

TORTURED AT VILLAGRIMALDI

– 2002 BECAME DEFENSEMINISTER

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30 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF 30 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE COUPTHE COUP

• THE NEWS MEDIA FINALLY FLOODED CHILEAN AIRWAVES WITH IMAGES OF THE COUP FOR THE FIRST TIME

• TODAY: “WHITE-OUT EFFECT” – RAPIDLY CHANGING IMAGES, FREQUENT CUTS THAT MOVE ON TO THE NEXT POLISHED SOUND BITE“

• MARKET-ORIENTED AESTHETICS OF THE TV INDUSTRY CENSORS REPRESENTATIONS OF THE PAST

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• 1970s: IMAGES APPEAR EXTREMELY SLOW, DENSE, ALIENATING

• BLACK & WHITE, FUZZY, IMAGES• LACK OF NATIONAL MEMORY—THE

DISTANCING OF VIEWERS FROM THE IMAGES ROBBED THEM OF THEIR ORIGINAL EFFICACY

• THE SILENCE OF THE DICTATORSHIP IS MIRRORED IN TODAY’S IMAGES, EMPTYING PUBLIC SPACE OF POLITICAL DEBATE

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RECENT EVENTS IN RECENT EVENTS IN ARGENTINAARGENTINA

• 1984-89 ALFONSIN – PROPOSED LAWS TO ABORT TRIALS

OF MILITARY – STOP & DUE OBEDIENCE LAWS

GRANTED IMPUNITY • CONADEP PUBLISHED “NUNCA

MAS”• ARGENTINA WAS THE 1ST

COUNTRY TO TRY ITS OWN MILITARY FOR WAR CRIMES

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• 1990 MENEM: PARDONED & FREED THOSE CONVICTED

• TRIALS FOR KIDNAPPING CHILDREN OF THE DISAPPEARED WERE NOT COVERED BY AMNESTY LAWS– MARIA SERVINI, A JUDGE

INVESTIGATING BABY TRAFFICKING– HER CAR WAS FORCED OFF THE ROAD

IN 1999

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• JUDGES BEGAN ORDERING DETENTION OF MILITARY OFFICIALS

• 1998 JUDGE BAGNASCO ORDERED ARRESTS OF JORGE VIDELA & EMILIO MASSERA

• 4 MILITARY UPRISINGS 1987-90

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HIJOSHIJOS

• ENTER MIDDLE CLASS NEIGHBORHOODS, LEAVE SIGNS:“ATTENTION NEIGHBORS! THERE’S AN ASSASSIN LIVING NEXT DOOR”– FLYERS, MARK ASSASINS HOMES

• CHALLENGE THE IMPUNITY THAT PERMEATES SOCIETY

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DECEMBER, 2001DECEMBER, 2001

• ARGENTINA’S ECONOMY COLLAPSED

• 5 PRESIDENTS IN 2 WEEKS• MAY 2003 NESTOR KIRCHNER

– CHALLENGED PREDECESSORS WHO INSISTED ON AMNESTY

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OCTOBER 28, 2007OCTOBER 28, 2007• FIRST LADY CRISTINA FERNÁNDEZ

DE KIRCHNER BECAME PRESIDENT OF ARGENTINA

“HER HIGHLY COMBATIVE SPEECH STYLE POLARIZES ARGENTINE POLITICS (RECALLING THE STYLE OF EVA PERÓN) BUT SEEMS TO BE APPRECIATED BY A LARGE PART OF SOCIETY, NOTABLY AMONG LOWER-INCOME CITIZENS.”

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THINK ABOUT WHAT THINK ABOUT WHAT ARGENTINA & CHILE SHARE ARGENTINA & CHILE SHARE

IN COMMON, IN COMMON, HOW THEY DIFFERHOW THEY DIFFER