Mauricio Redolés: “There is no greater public awareness of the wound left by the dictatorship” | National

“The dictatorship transformed this country into a country divided into stagnant social classes and an automatically reproduced democracy with little or no social mobility,” says Redolés, who spent nine years, nine months and nineteen days in exile.

A little over a week ago, the Santiago Court of Appeal upheld the decision awarding compensation. Mauricio Reds for moral harm as a direct victim of torture and humiliation during the dictatorship.

In an interview with BioBioChile, Redolés reflects on what it was like to live away from Chile after being sentenced to alienation.

“Exile should not be confused with immigration for economic or even political reasons. In my case, I was sentenced to alienation at a War Council conducted by the Chilean Navy on January 10, 1975,” he explains.

“When talking about exile, it is not stated that there are as many types of shoots as the number of shoots. An exile is not the same for a doctor and a worker, not the same as someone who was in Argentina, about to enter dictatorship in 1975, and exile in Italy or England,” he assures.

“In my particular case, I was in exile for nine years, nine months and nineteen days, and I have lived for at least nine years renting rooms in houses where I share the bathroom and kitchen with people I do not know.”

During his stay outside of Chile, Redolés devoted himself to giving speeches about his experiences as a former political prisoner or forming Latin American folk music groups or singing as a soloist.

“I sometimes read my poems in front of the Chilean and Latin American community. I took advantage of the fact that I had studied sociology at The City University and received an Honors Bachelor of Science in Sociology in 1982. I published two collections of poetry and two poetry books (between 1978 and 1985) and recorded two albums with my friend. songs and poems (in 1978 and 1985). In those years, I wrote poems, composed songs and started to write chronicles”.

“What dictatorship has changed us as a country is rarely reflected”

For him, being away from Chile was decisive in his art. “Neither I nor you would be the same without the dictatorship,” he admits.

In this sense, it reflects how our country emerged after seventeen years of dictatorship.

“The many fractures and traumas caused by the fascist dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and Jaime Guzmán confront us with the task of recovering from these powerful blows. As strong as the lines of César Vallejo: There are such blows in life… I don’t know! blows as God’s hate; as if all that they had suffered in front of them was going to accumulate in their souls… I don’t know!”

“It is rarely reflected in terms of what has changed us as a country. They are not all about mechanically putting the blame on the dictatorship, but rather crude processes that give a real and precise explanation of the damage done by the dictatorship. “Many more complex processes rooted in various ways ultimately give us the Chile of today.”

“For example, how have the measures that eagerly sought to democratize it affect Chilean education? And deep down, many of these measures contributed to the destruction of public education. So let’s remember that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I have no doubts about the good will of ending the exclusionary policies of the education system. But the politics of the current school admissions system is destroying public education,” he thinks.

“It is said that this is done so that sectors with low income can enter quality high schools. True, I share that policy in that sense, but people are used as a synonym for low-income sectors. But this generality does not distinguish between working people and those sectors of the lumpen that are not concerned with education but are also people,” says Redolés.

“And why is this happening? I’m afraid it’s because the people who design these education policies don’t know the realities of the public. They don’t know how much drug trafficking and crime have penetrated the popular sectors. And they don’t know because they don’t know because it’s this intelligentsia that designs public systems like education, transportation, healthcare, etc. They raise their kids in private schools, “They drive cars and receive treatment in private clinics. This “elimination” of public policy and politics in general goes beyond the left and the right.”

“The dictatorship has transformed this country into a country divided into stagnant social classes and an automatically reproduced democracy with little or no social mobility. Often young anarchists are attacked in “white overalls” who go head-to-head with bureaucrats to end public education. Young anarchists are not the children of the dictatorship, but the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the dictatorship. In contrast, the bureaucrats of the state apparatus are the descendants of the dictatorship and the children of conciliatory democracy.

According to Redolés, the dictatorship remains an open wound in Chilean society, emphasizing “The worst part is that there is no greater awareness of this wound in society”.

“For example, barras bravas were spotted in Plaza Dignidad for the ‘social epidemic’. A dumb commentator, barras bravas’s talk of social change, revolution, etc. Said it was for. However, in the program of Días Contados on the Via X channel, Juan Cristóbal Guarello reminded us that the various sectors of the barras bravas are Pinochetista.”

Redolés: “Public workers are making the coup”

In this sense, he pointed to the state’s debt to the victims of the dictatorship.

“Let’s remember that the coup was carried out by public officials. Weren’t the Army, Navy, Air Force and Carabineros paid with government money?” highlights.

“Often the Armed Forces and the Carabineros are spoken of as pure angels who came to earth from heaven to help us. It is so pathetic that when there is a national disaster such as great fires, earthquakes, tidal waves, tsunamis, floods, and containment in damaged sectors, they act by executing rescue, salvage and restoration work. The republic emerges, esteemed deputies, mayors, ministers, etc. “thank you” for what they do. But they are not doing themselves a favor by performing these duties! They are paid, on unbeatable conditions compared to other Chilean workers “They are given shelter, health and welfare! And by thanking them, it is given the impression that they are doing these acts as good people, not because it is the State’s duty.”

“I call on all men and women who have been abducted and kidnapped, tortured and tortured, imprisoned and imprisoned by the Chilean State authorities so far, to exercise their right to demand compensation and punishment from the state. ” he concludes.

“I conclude this interview by thanking attorney Karinna Fernández and attorney Luis Pérez Camousseight for representing me so well in these procedures.”