CHILE: The National Stadium

The Winter, 2003 Ford Foundation Report has an article entitled "In Chile, a New Generation Revisits a Haunted Space". This is the National Stadium, where under Pinochet many were executed, rather like the bullring in Badajoz, Spain, by Franco forces. The production of the film "Estadio Nacional" is described by Alex Wilde, who was the foundation's representative in Chile from 1993 to 1999. The military bombed the presidential palace on September 11, 1973, thus ending Allende's brief experiment in democratic socialism (1970-73). Between September 11 and November 7 some 12,000 people were held in the stadium, which served as a concentration camp. They included more than 1,000 foreigners, among them the American Charles Horman, whose fate was the subject of the film "Missing". Many of those detained were tortured and executed. In November some were sent to Chacabuco and other detention centers, the rest were released. The producer Carmen Luz Parot claims the story was never really reported. There is a eulogy of Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez, who opposed the dictatorship's human rights abuses. There was a bizarre episode when Chile was supposed to play the USSR in a World Cup qualifying match. The Soviet team refused to appear, so the Chilean team took to the field alone, scored a goal (!) and won.

Ronald Hilton - 1/20/03