Application / Itinerary / FAQ / Trip Cost
Please Note: What follows is purely intended as a representative example of what we expect the trip to look like. It's quite simply too early to get commitments from people or organizations to meet on specific dates. That said, we made many of these connections on our scouting trip last May and most have already expressed an eagerness to work with us once more.
June 15, 2009: Depart Seattle for Santiago, Chile.
June 16-21: Santiago - Hostal de Sammy
Note: Our goal in Chile is to schedule meetings around a loose thematic frame, which will allow us to move chronologically from the rise and fall of Allende through to contemporary efforts to pursue justice and promote democracy. This will obviously be at the mercy of individual availability, but the basic idea is as follows:
- 6/16 - Orientation/Allende's Vision: The day begins with an introduction to and orientation in Santiago, our home for the next week. It includes a visit to Allende's tomb in the general cemetery, one of the more remarkable sights in Santiago. We will also aim to speak with one of Allende's former colleagues about what he meant to the country.
- 6/17 - The Coup: The day begins at La Moneda, the seat of the Chilean presidency, where Allende made his last stand on Chile's September 11. From there, we move to Villa Grimaldi, Chile's infamous detention and torture center, where we will interview survivors.
- 6/18 - Living Under Pinochet: The day will be spent interviewing individuals and organizations that played key roles in the resistance against Pinochet and the promotion of human rights during one of Chile's darkest times.
- 6/19 - Trauma and Survivors: Shifting the focus away from the state-level, today's focus is on the individual impact of torture and tyranny. How do victims become survivors? How do their family members recover? We will work with CINTRAS, a long-standing Santiago-based organization devoted to these exact issues.
- 6/20 - Pursuit of Justice: When Pinochet was finally removed from power, an equally challenging task emerged. Who would be prosecuted for crimes committed during his rule? And how would that happen? Would pursuing justice only serve to undermine the tenuous peace and spark more violence? We will aim to meet with human rights lawyers, participants in the Valech Commission, and more.
- 6/21 - A Failed Democracy?: Chileans are highly critical of their government today. Economic studies show a stark polarization between the rich and poor. Former Allende supporters are considered sellouts. What has happened? What does the future hold? We will visit Valparaiso, where Chile's parliament is based.
- Visit to La Perla: The former detention and torture center has been turned into a museum and memory site. We will aim to interview survivors of the camp on site.
Note: In Argentina, the existence of many former detention and torture centers allows us to have a slightly different focus. Our goal is to document these centers and interview survivors on site, in order to bring these stories out of Argentina and to the English-speaking world. We hope to arrange visits to Club Atletico, ESMA, Virrey Cevallos, El Olimpo, Automotores Orletti, and Mansion Sere in nearby Moron. For more information on these memory sites, click over to our Argentine Detention Centers page.
Other focal points during our time in Argentina include:
- Families, Resistance, and the Pursuit of Truth: The Argentine military dictatorship faced staunch resistance from coalitions of family members. Most famous are the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, though the Abuelas and HIJOS have also played a critical role. We will interview members of all of these groups.
- Remembering: Neighborhood groups in Buenos Aires regularly devote baldosas, memorial plaques, to desaparecidos. This is just one part of a growing effort to document and remember victims of the dictatorship.
- Truth Trials: While the process has moved forward in fits and starts, Argentina continues to prosecute those guilty of crimes committed under the military dictatorship. We will speak with those involved in this process.
More on the Legacy Project's 2010 program in Chile and Argentina:
Application: Click here to apply for the Legacy Project's 2010 program in Chile and Argentina!
FAQ: Answers to the most common questions we hear about our student trips.
Trip Cost: A breakdown of the 2010 program costs in Chile and Argentina
Scouting Trip Report: Detailed reports from the many meetings we had on our scouting trip to Chile and Argentina in May 2009
Argentine Detention Centers: An overview of the major ex-Clandestine Centers of Detention, Torture, and Execution in Buenos Aires with advice on visiting them
Annotated Bibliography: The most useful books we have read in preparation for the program
Other Resources: Assorted links to helpful sites.