We meet Rosa Silva Alvarez in the Plaza de Armas, an ironic setting for a discussion with a vocal proponent of non-violent action in Santiago. The waiter at the Marco Polo restaurant brings us menus and then goes inside, never to be seen again. Before we finish the introductions, Rosa is already on her second cigarette and already fired up. It is immediately clear that this human rights lawyer with AFEP neither suffers fools gladly nor pulls punches.

The daughter of an executed politician, Rosa helped bring the first successful lawsuit against Pinochet. However, she insists that her focus is not on her past, or even her country's past, and she does not identify as a victim. Instead, she is concerned with what Chilean society is doing today in order to make legitimate, concrete advancements.

However, she comes across as dour and pessimistic about the current state of Chile. Human rights, she says, are not talked about in Chile, but rather are used tactically as a political tool in order to manipulate public opinion and aggrandize the politicians. The state doesn't consider human rights to be a legitimate issue. And, things get worse by the day: "Every day we forget more, every day more families forget. There is no attention paid."

Like many other people with whom we met, Rosa has no affection for the Valech Commission. She asserts that it was "created to give security and impunity to the killers." How can a society that wants to clean up pass a law that provides 50 years of silence? Chile is in need of one thing - justice for all of the law-breakers. We mention the supporting arguments we heard at the Vicaria. Rosa snorts. "We do not have the truth, so don't talk about reparations." It's a convincing point - if the state hasn't identified everything that was broken, and who was responsible for breaking it, how can it go about making repairs? The Valech Commission, says Rosa, "is a way of doing nothing while looking like we're doing something."

The much-criticized government, while still containing a number of Pinochet sympathizers and supporters, has shifted significantly to the left in recent years, and includes former members of Allende's inner circle. President Bachulet was a victim of torture and her father was killed by the dictatorship. Given that, we ask, how can it be that this new regime just seems to be more of the same?

Rosa argues that the compromise that ended the dictatorship and created the new government gave up too much. Beyond the Pinochet supporters who remain in power, the constitution written during the dictatorship is still the law of the land and amendments require a measure of political consensus that doesn't exist in Chile today. Corruption remains endemic within the military and political system; the military is satisfied with what it has and nobody in government wants to challenge that. In addition, the government controls the press and frequently hides criticism of it.

While she has been critical up to this point, Rosa becomes more pointed as the conversation moves along. Chile is a police state and civil rights are not guaranteed. People only focus on Pinochet when the subject of human rights comes up, ignoring all of the problems that have plagued the country since he was removed from power. Chile is a myth - there is no unity, but rather persistent scapegoating and targeting. As for reconciliation, she says, "name one place where reconciliation has actually happened, successfully?" The implication, quite clear, is that she believes the concept of reconciliation is deeply flawed, if not an outright illusion.

So, why does Rosa continue in her profession if she believes nothing good is happening in Chile? "I keep going because I know I'm fighting a battle that must be fought."

Rosa harbors no illusions about her country, but she also probably has more hope than she lets on. And her persistence should provide hope to those hoping for a stronger commitment to justice and human rights in Chile.