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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Powerful Document., January 16, 2007
This review is from: Chile: The Other September 11: An Anthology of Reflections on the 1973 Coup (Radical History) (Paperback)
"Chile: The Other September 11" is one of the best books available on the tragic events that inaugurated an era of terror and fascism in the small Latin American country. This is an astounding document of what took place when radical right-wing general Augusto Pinochet lead a CIA-backed military coup against the government of ELECTED socialist president Salvador Allende. The most powerful statement the book makes is that now both Chile and the United States share the dreaded date of a Tuesday, September 11 as a day of horror and death, this is eloquently expressed in a memorable essay by Ariel Dorfman. In-between the chapters and in an important chronology the Nixon White House plot to distabalize Allende's government is detailed, showing how the U.S. in part was deeply responsible for the coup and horrors that fell on Chile. Some right-wingers here cringe, trying to make the book sound "one-sided," maybe it is, but the facts sure aren't. It is also ridiculous that some reviewers here try to discount the brilliant speech given by Fidel Castro shortly after the coup. Castro is a revolutionary leader, something hard to grasp through American eyes eventhough now sadly, we can grasp a taste of what Chile experienced with our own day of terrorism and murder. Castro's speech is both a memorable tribute to the Chilean spirit, the Chilean revolution, Allende, and the solidarity between Cuba and Chile, and yet Castro still gives a well-calculated warning about unarmed nations being defenseless against the tyranny of fascist intentions. The book also features some wonderful poetry that expresses the FEELINGS of what happened, this is an insightful style for the book considering Chile is the home of one of the world's great poets, Pablo Neruda, who's sad fate following the coup is detailed here by his wife. The two most powerful chapters belong to Joan Jara, wife of murdered Chilean folk singer Victor Jara, she writes about her final moments with her husband on the morning of the coup as they held each-other for the last time before he leaves for the city's university, never to be seen again except as a bloodied, murdered victim of the military rulers. Jara also shares here her husband's final poem, written while imprisoned in a horrific sports stadium turned torture center. "Chile: The Other September 11" should not be read by just Latin Americans or history buffs, it should be read by Americans not just as a look into what we've helped unleash on other nations, but as a warning of what we shouldn't allow to happen here. It is easy to dismiss the crimes of men like Pinochet as something from "over there," when in fact, it can happen here because human beings are human beings no matter where they reside. When we hear about "the war on terror" and some of the frightening stereotypes being developed around immigrants and others, it would be wise to read this book and see what happens when ideaological paranoia produces a state of terror and oppression. Chile politically has emerged from the darkness of the Pinochet regime, Michelle Bachelet is now the nation's first woman president (and head of Chile's socialist party), but reading this book, one realizes there are national scars that take longer time to heal. "Chile: The Other September 11" is a book that refuses to be ignored and shouldn't be ignored, it is a look at the past, and a document that helps better understand the present.
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39 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To be read slowly... and again, July 4, 2003
There are history books that one feels a rush to finish, to learn more, to devour. This book demands to be read slowly. carefully. To feel the words. Not only to understand them intellectually but to feel them in your spirit. Read the last words of Salvador Allende before La Moneda Palace was bombed. and then read them again. "It is possible they will smash us," Allenda said "but tomorrow belongs to the people." Tomorrow belongs to the people. Read Joan Jara talk about the week her husband Victor was arrested and tortured, and how she later found him. and read Victor's last poem. and read Ariel Dorfman talk about how the U.S. September 11th reminded him of the Chilean September 11th. and read all of this while remembering that the military coup in Chile, the mass killings that followed, the repression and disappearances, the rise of Augusto Pinochet, was all with the support of Nixon and Kissinger. and then read it all again.
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22 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a one-sided page turner, June 18, 2003
This little account of Sept 11 Chile will just give you the chills. Although it is very one-sided, it shows this side subtely. The voices of the people and their stories are heard. It is a great easy read for someone that wants to know about Chile and teh Socialist movement with Salvador Allende. It's a great title too, because it grabs people's attention from the USA. Sometimes in the US other countries' struggles are unknown.
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