Voces del Sur nro. 4

 PINOCHET WATCH (No. 49, May 20, 2003)
 Produced by the Institute for Policy Studies

 


CHILEAN TORTURE SHIP LA ESMERALDA MET WITH PROTEST AT INTL PORTS:
 How  to Get Involved

The dramatic Chilean tall ship, La Esmeralda, has set sail once again as part of an annual training voyage. Behind its stately image lies a terrifying history that has led people around the world to protest its arrival and challenge its self-proclaimed status as "the good will ambassador of all Chileans." (See below for how to get involved)

BACKGROUND

In 1973, in the aftermath of the military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet, the Chilean Navy used La Esmeralda, a four-masted naval ship, as a prison and torture chamber. According to testimony collected by Amnesty International and the Organization of American States, at least 110 political prisoners were interrogated and tortured aboard the ship for more than two weeks without charges or trial. This information was corroborated in the Report issued by the Chilean Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

At least one of those tortured on board La Esmeralda, a British-Chilean priest named Michael Woodward, died as a result. His body was later thrown into an unmarked mass grave. Father Woodward's sister, Patricia Bennetts, has repeatedly requested that the Chilean Navy clarify the events surrounding her brother's death. Her letters have gone unanswered. "This ship's story is still as fresh in my mind as ever," insists Bennetts, who filed a criminal suit against ex-dictator Pinochet and high-ranking Navy officials in 2002. "No one has been prosecuted. The Chilean Navy must ask for forgiveness and those responsible for these crimes must be brought to justice. This is the only way we can achieve peace and reconciliation."

2003 TOUR

La Esmeralda's arrival has historically been met with protest at a number of international ports, both during the Pinochet dictatorship and in the 1990s. This year's voyage has been no different. Although the ship now sails as a representative of a democratically elected government, the Chilean Navy has never acknowledged the crimes perpetrated on board La Esmeralda, and those who participated in the acts of torture have not been brought to justice. Thirty years after the savage interrogations that led to at least one man's death, victims and their families are shocked to see La Esmeralda's history whitewashed and the ship touted as an ambassador of good will.

La Esmeralda set sail this year in early April, bound for 14 ports in Latin America and Europe. Letter writing campaigns and public protests surrounding the recent visits to Peru, Ecuador, and Panama led ship captain José Miguel Romero to complain, "I feel as though I was invited to someone's home and after I arrived, they threw stones at me."

Protesters in Peru highlighted the dark history of the Chilean vessel on a "Wall of Shame" that is displayed in front of the Supreme Court in Lima. Amnesty International-Peru called for Chilean authorities to "fully clarify the acts of torture committed on board and to hold those responsible legally accountable." The Permanent Committee for Human Rights of Ecuador and Amnesty International-Ecuador echoed these demands in public events while the ship was docked in Guayaquil. The ship's arrival in Panama was met with similar resistance. The Committee of Families of the Disappeared, SERPAJ-Panama, the follow-up commission for the Panamanian Truth Commission, and other human rights groups condemned the Panamanian government's inclusion of La Esmeralda in that country's centennial celebrations and called upon government officials, diplomats, and the Panamanian public to refrain from visiting the ship.

Public outcry seems to have played a role in the recent cancellation of previously scheduled visits to the Netherlands and Sweeden, as well. Although Chilean government officials simply cited "reasons of State" to explain why La Esmeralda would no longer be docking in these European ports, Chilean press and human rights advocates speculate that the cancellations were in order to avoid protests being planned at these stops.

The ship's voyage is far from over. La Esmeralda is scheduled to dock in Rouen, France (June 9-13), Lubeck, Germany (July 4-8), London, England (July 14-18), Galicia, Spain (July 23-27), Canarias, Spain (August 4-7), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (September 2-5), Buenos Aires Argentina (September 15-18), and Punta Arenas, Chile (September 29-October 1). Although press reports are conflicting, the ship may also be visiting ports in Bremerhaven, Germany and Dartmouth, England.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the coup in Chile and the atrocities committed aboard La Esmeralda. It is high time that these crimes be officially acknowledged by the Chilean Navy and the torturers held accountable. Until that happens, the ship will continue to be received as a symbol of impunity and horror instead of a benevolent representative of the Chilean people.

For a clearing house of information on La Esmeralda's sordid past and actions planned around this year's voyage, go to www.chile-esmeralda.com. Sample Letters to Chilean Embassies and to Chilean President Ricardo Lagos are also available at: http://www.chile-esmeralda.com/take_action/take_action.htm. To add your organization's name to the La Esmeralda protest campaign, write to westphal@umbc.edu by May 23.

For more information:

*Maria Paz Garcia-Huidobro, "Algo más que 'Dama Blanca'" que se publicó por primera vez en el volumen primero del libro "Las historias que podemos contar", Cuarto Propio/Ultimos Tranvías, 2002. http://www.lashistoriasquepodemoscontar.com/mwoodward.htm

*Stacie Jonas and Sarah Anderson, "This Tall Ship has a Long, Bloody Past," Baltimore Sun, June 18, 2000. http://www.tni.org/pinochet/tniips/180600.htm
 

 U.S. TRIAL OF PINOCHET AGENT FERNANDEZ LARIOS STARTS JUNE 16: Get Daily
 Updates

On June 16th, 2003, the trial of ex-Pinochet officer Armando Fernández Larios for the torture and extrajudicial killing of Chilean economist Winston Cabello will commence in U.S. District Court in Miami. The suit, filled by the Center for Justice & Accountability in early 1999, alleges that Fernández Larios, as a member of "the Caravan of Death," directly carried out or participated in causing Winston's murder. Winston was murdered, along with 12 other political prisoners, in October 1973 during a visit of "the Caravan" to the northern Chilean town of Copiapó.

Fernández Larios has been the subject of three extradition requests by the Argentine government for aiding and abetting in the 1974 Buenos Aires murder of Chilean General Carlos Prats. He entered the U.S. in 1987 pursuant to a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in which he confessed to aiding the perpetrators of the 1976 assassination of Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier and U.S. citizen Ronni Karpen Moffitt. He served four months of a 13-year sentence for the Letelier-Moffitt crime and then settled in Miami, where he has worked in an auto body shop and held other jobs.

The plaintiffs in this case -- Zita Cabello-Barrueto, Karin Cabello Moriarty, Aldo Cabello, and Elsa Cabello -- are the sisters, brother and mother of Winston Cabello.

The case was brought under two federal laws, the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Victim Protection Act, which allow victims of severe human rights abuses, or surviving family members, to bring civil claims in U.S. courts against the persons responsible for the abuses, even when the acts were committed abroad.

Pinochet Watch will provide periodic updates on the U.S. trial of Fernández Larios, but to receive more frequent updates, including summaries of key testimony, please contact Chris McKenna, Outreach Coordinator, Center for Justice & Accountability, at cmckenna@cja.org.

For more information, go to:

*Center for Justice & Accountability: http://www.cja.org/cases/cabello.shtml 3. EL UNICO CASTIGO DE FERNANDEZ LARIOS: By Pascale Bonnefoy (in Spanish)