Chile's 9/11: Chilean Exiles and Musicians tell their story

by Redqueen (redqueen [at] riseup.net)

Sat, Sep 13, 2003 6:58PM

September 11th 2003 marks the 30th anniversary of the Chilean coup that toppled Socialist president Salvador Allende. The death of the coveted leader was the start of years of repression of the Chilean people under the Pinochet regime. Chilean exiles came to the US, forming a strong political and artistic presence in the San Francisco Bay area. In this half hour documentary produced by Pauline Bartolone, members of the music ensemble Grupo Raiz reflect on the coup 30 years later, and how their lives as musicians helped form their identities as Chilean exiles in the US.

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This is a story about the survivors of the other September 11th; about how a group of Chilean exiles responded to terrorism through music, and how they used art to educate about and protect themselves against injustice. In this next half hour, Quique Cruz, Fena Torres, Hector Salgado and Lichi Fuentes tell us about Grupo Raiz, a Chilean music ensemble based in Berkeley California. With Rafael Manriquez and Ellen Moore, the 6-member group created a musical marriage between political beliefs and Andean culture. We start the story in 1970 in Chile, the year Salvador Allende was elected.

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