Dear friend,
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As we approach the anniversary of September 11, the thirty-fifth year since Allende died (but not our thirst for justice) and this seventh year since that other September 11th, which has brought even more suffering and even less justice to the world, it is more important than ever to support NACLA's work. So I want to share with you a story that I think illustrates why NACLA is so crucial, and ask you to join me in supporting NACLA, and donate now. |  |
When I was in Santiago recently, filming A Promise to the Dead, a documentary based on my life, I found myself approached by a woman in a poor neighborhood who asked that I come meet her elderly father. I obliged, of course, and the man told me this story:
When Allende came to power in 1970, the old man reminded me, he launched a program to support residents of poor neighborhoods in building their own houses. The man was a carpenter, and so he built a new extension on to his meager home, and on one wall he hung a portrait of Allende. "I wanted to get it built fast," he told me, "because I knew this couldn't last." It was the skepticism of someone who had been through a lot, who had seen many massacres and injustices in his day. And he was, unfortunately, correct — our peaceful revolution would not last. When Pinochet seized power on that, my first September 11th, this man cut a hole in one of the walls of his new home and sealed the portrait of Allende behind it.
And there it remained for more than 17 years. When a referendum defeated Pinochet in 1988, he did not take it out. And when democracy — a restricted democracy with Pinochet still commander in chief of the Army — returned to Chile in 1990, the old man still did not take that portrait out of its hiding place. Only in 1998, when Pinochet was arrested in London, and this man knew that the dictator could no longer do anything to harm him, only then did he take out that picture of Allende and hang it on his wall again.
I think that this man is telling us something very vital about memory, about resistance, about struggle, and about not giving up — and in that way, reminding us of the importance of NACLA's work. Because this is what NACLA has been doing for forty years: it has been taking the stories hidden behind these walls, sealed up by oppression and injustice, and bringing them to the world, making those voices heard.
Will you join me today is supporting this crucial work? If you can give today you will play a key part in supporting NACLA's mission to bring you the overlooked, the under-reported, and the covered-up. Simply visit the new NACLA website to donate online: https://nacla.org/donate. And thank you for your generosity!
This organization has played such an important role in the fight for justice in the Americas over the last four decades. I do hope you will join me in supporting them as they look forward to the next forty years.
Sincerely yours,
Ariel Dorfman
P.S. If you've already responded, thank you so much. And remember, NACLA's website is completely secure, so your information will be kept private. So click here to donate today!
