Witness Seminar and Open Forum Series (No 3)

Chile and Scotland: 30 Years On - Event Report

As part of Research Collections ongoing Witness Seminar and Open Forum series, Chile and Scotland: 30 years on took place on Saturday 29 November 2003.  On this dark and extremely wet morning in late November a disparate group of around 40 people came together in Glasgow Caledonian University to collectively remember and bare witness to a terrible but defining event of the 20th century. That event, the overthrowing of Chile’s democratic government by a brutal military coup, ranks with the Spanish Civil War for its traumatic effect not only upon those directly embroiled but also on people throughout the world. Many in Britain recall, as this seminar and forum testify, exactly where they were (much like the assassination of John F. Kennedy) when they heard the news of the Chilean coup and Allende’s death.

Particular thanks are due to Sandy Hobbs who chaired the seminar panel both effectively and compassionately. Sandy himself was a member of the Chile Committee for Human Rights and did much as an individual to help refugees from the Chilean coup and its aftermath including opening up his home to a Chilean family.

Jan Fairley’s contribution was valuable on two counts, firstly she  gave a first hand account, through the eyes of a young woman living in the Chile of the early 1970s, of the tense buildup to the coup, the coup itself and its appalling consequences. Secondly, Jan in her role as a documentary maker was able to offer an optimistic insight into the current political and social climate of post-Pinochet Chile.

Carlos Arrendondo-Ortiz a Chilean born musician and singer-song writer who has lived in Scotland since the coup described what for him remains the ‘authentic’ Chile, that of the poor working class barrios of Santiago. Carlos also emphasized that even under the present ‘democratic’ government the gulf between extreme wealth and extreme poverty remains and that many issues and grievances accumulated under the military dictatorship remain to be adequately addressed.

Sociologist Philip O’Brien spoke, from personal experience, about the UK and Scottish response to the needs of Chilean refugees. Philip mentioned the positive contribution of the incoming Labour government, trade unions, churches, local councils and concerned individuals. Touching on possible parallels with today’s refugee crisis Philip was both pessimistic and optimistic. While he thought that traditional structures which played an important role in the 1970’s were now largely moribund he felt that new dynamic social forces were beginning to emerge.

Retired Factory Convenor of Shop Stewards (Rolls Royce ,East Kilbride) Robert Somerville explained how and why he and his fellow workers (both of left and right) refused to work on eight engines belonging to Chilean Hawker Hunters jets. Robert also movingly told of a Chilean exile still resident in England who visited Rolls Royce to express his gratitude for the solidarity of the East Kilbride workforce. As a prisoner in Pinochet’s Chile, news of the Scottish workers exploit brought him new hope.

Oscar Mendoza who fared badly at the hands of the military after Allende’s fall, including being held in the infamous ‘National Stadium’, has over the past 28 years built a new life for himself in Scotland. Oscar in an attempt to put in context his treatment after the coup described his relatively conventional and privileged childhood. He then told of his radicalization as a student and of his informal access to the circle around President Allende. Regarding present day prospects Oscar expressed the cautiously optimistic view that the current Chilean government  was more complex and open to change  than some pessimists thought.

After a short break the discussion was opened to the floor. In an often very moving series of contributions the concern was repeatedly expressed that today’s refugees were being made rather less welcome than their Chilean predecessors. One contributor pointed out that Glasgow and Scotland had a long tradition of giving a new home to exiles, most notably during the 1930’s. Another spoke of how the outlook and strategy of the British left was changed for ever by the events in Chile. The point was also made that the Chileans who fled here in the 1970s have made a valuable and unique contribution to the economic and cultural life of Scotland. Comments and testimony came from Chileans and Scots alike each adding a distinctly personal dimension to the ‘cold’ facts of history. Those in attendance ranged in age from present day teenagers to people who were young or mature adults at the time of the Chilean coup.

Despite the sadness inherent in many of the individual reminiscences, and the inclement weather outside, people felt that the event was extremely valuable and participants left in a very positive and upbeat frame of mind.

Philip Wallace
Research Colllections 

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Last Updated: 24 July, 2007
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