Customer Reviews

Chile, Pinochet, and the Caravan of Death

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On a recent visit to Chile, I read Patricia Verdugo's insightful book on a specific trail of murders conducted by the infamous "caravan of death" led by General Sergio Arellano- Stark in the aftermath of the 1973 military coup. Verdugo interviews families of the victims, but even more impressively, interviews military officers themselves who have since felt the need to speak out. Apparently, officers in the northern regions were being criticized by their superiors in Santiago for their relatively peaceful takeover during the coup and for failing to create a reign of terror already prevalent in the rest of the country. Hence, Arellano-Stark arrives in his helicopter with his people, overruling local officers, taking political prisoners and executing them, leaving behind a trail of death. One gathers Pinochet himself sent the general to create fear and to send the message he was in charge. Verdugo documents the murders with paintstaking journalism, but is not afraid to also provide perspective and opinion on this inevitably emotional issue. For readers who seek an even more personal perspective, I'd also recommend Verdugo's Bucarest 187 (I don't know if the book is in translation, however) in which she chronicles the disappearance of her own father in the aftermath of the coup. The two books together allows us insight into the work of an excellent Chilean journalist who maintains a rigorous journalistic ethic of investigating the facts to the best of her ability in what must have been trying times for her personally.