Chile History and Politics
Letelier: Forgotten Terror in DC
I knew that the United States had a part in many dealings with different countries with dictators including Chile and Cuba. What I did not know was that those dealings had any repercussions on American soil. I am not surprised that this incident is forgotten history nor am I surprised that Minister Letelier has not received justice. As the video stated, the U.S. has a tendency to forget the history that has the potential to paint our country in a bad light and would much rather focus on the scandals of popular culture than the our foreign relations.
The Colony: The story of forced labor, killings, and torture was a bit of a shock to me due to the information from a previous assignment that stated that Chile was ranked higher than the United States in terms of governmental cleanliness. Since I am an American that grew up with out history, I am accustomed to hearing about our failures, but since I do not know much about other countries, it is hard to come to terms with other places having similar stories as us. The colony seems to be a situation similar to both the Holocaust and a cult due to the punishments and the god-like status the leader had among his followers. What I do not understand is how so many adults can be persuaded to comply with such a horrible environment. The sacrificed their safety, morals, and endangered their children in order to follow a man that obviously did not have their best interests in mind. Why did they not revolt when their most likely had the majority? How does one man obtain so much of an influence that they have absolute power over human beings?
I knew a majority of the information from Sparler's history lesson due to having multiple classes with Dr. Rojas. That history is what made me choose Chile over any other Spanish speaking country. I feel as though I have a familiarity to the country because of the novels, poems, and songs that I have had the privilege to study at LC. I would like to see the aftermath of injustice, foul play, and death along the streets of Santiago because knowing what happened there will make everything that much more beautiful. The problem I have is that I get the names mixed up which creates confusion when I am trying to discuss certain events. The biggest mishap that I have is that I always get Pablo Neruda and President Allende backwards, but once it is straight I think I have a pretty good grasp on the history of Chile and their relationship with the United States. The history often makes me extremely disappointed in my own country, sometimes to the point of disgusted, and I am ashamed that we have a legacy of prospering on the failures of other countries and communities. I think my feelings of guilt make play a role in my nervousness of being an American in Chile because based on our track record, I wouldn't blame them for hating us.
I knew that the United States had a part in many dealings with different countries with dictators including Chile and Cuba. What I did not know was that those dealings had any repercussions on American soil. I am not surprised that this incident is forgotten history nor am I surprised that Minister Letelier has not received justice. As the video stated, the U.S. has a tendency to forget the history that has the potential to paint our country in a bad light and would much rather focus on the scandals of popular culture than the our foreign relations.
The Colony: The story of forced labor, killings, and torture was a bit of a shock to me due to the information from a previous assignment that stated that Chile was ranked higher than the United States in terms of governmental cleanliness. Since I am an American that grew up with out history, I am accustomed to hearing about our failures, but since I do not know much about other countries, it is hard to come to terms with other places having similar stories as us. The colony seems to be a situation similar to both the Holocaust and a cult due to the punishments and the god-like status the leader had among his followers. What I do not understand is how so many adults can be persuaded to comply with such a horrible environment. The sacrificed their safety, morals, and endangered their children in order to follow a man that obviously did not have their best interests in mind. Why did they not revolt when their most likely had the majority? How does one man obtain so much of an influence that they have absolute power over human beings?
I knew a majority of the information from Sparler's history lesson due to having multiple classes with Dr. Rojas. That history is what made me choose Chile over any other Spanish speaking country. I feel as though I have a familiarity to the country because of the novels, poems, and songs that I have had the privilege to study at LC. I would like to see the aftermath of injustice, foul play, and death along the streets of Santiago because knowing what happened there will make everything that much more beautiful. The problem I have is that I get the names mixed up which creates confusion when I am trying to discuss certain events. The biggest mishap that I have is that I always get Pablo Neruda and President Allende backwards, but once it is straight I think I have a pretty good grasp on the history of Chile and their relationship with the United States. The history often makes me extremely disappointed in my own country, sometimes to the point of disgusted, and I am ashamed that we have a legacy of prospering on the failures of other countries and communities. I think my feelings of guilt make play a role in my nervousness of being an American in Chile because based on our track record, I wouldn't blame them for hating us.
I think the last part of your blog is really eye-opening for me, because sometimes I go into things naive. It really made me realize how being American can have its disadvantages while in Chile. Great insight.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your perspective on this topic! I also was wondering why so many adults were so compliant, and I remember learning about Nazi actions in psychology and the leaders that ran operations like this used highly effective psychological tactics to get even smart coherent adults to be compliant to committing violent acts, which I still find interesting.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of points you made in your blog. It is sad that we have brushed aside and forgotten about certain parts of our history, but I am also not suprised that it was, as you said becuase it may portray us Americans in a bad way.
ReplyDeleteI think it is so interesting that you know so much about the history of Chile prior to these videos and readings. I also agree with you when it comes to being an American in Chile, or in any other country. I know that in one of our pre-departure meetings we were answering those questions on the little pieces of paper, we talked about being an American in another country and how it can be scary because we do not have the best reputation. While I do not think I can have an impact on the whole country, I hope to show my host family and the other students at the university that we are not as bad as we may come off as.
ReplyDeleteI agree that learning about the colony and the power Schaefer had over so many people was just astounding. It's insane and super scary. That's so wonderful that you know a lot about Chile already! I also think it's horrible the role the U.S. had in Chile's dark period with Pinochet in power. We really shouldn't get involved in other countries affairs. I think it's wrong that we don't ever learn about what an impact we had on Chile because I think it is a great learning experience that should be taught so it doesn't happen again. People may think we are the "greatest country" but we still have a lot of room to grow and a lot of our actions say otherwise.
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