Musicians Gather in Homage to Allende

New York Times September 8, 2003

By LARRY ROHTER

SANTIAGO, Chile

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/08/arts/music/08CHIL.html

More than just a pair of concerts, it was also a kind of exorcism. To
commemorate the 30th anniversary of the bloody coup that overthrew the
leftist government of Salvador Allende, some of Latin America’s
best-known pop, folk and rock stars performed over the weekend at the
National Stadium here, the site of some of the worst atrocities
committed by the government of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

"The Dream Exists" was the name given to the two nights of music, in
which artists from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Uruguay joined
their Chilean colleagues in a tribute to Allende, who died in the Sept.
11, 1973, coup. Even India was represented with Shalil Shankar leading a
quartet that performed a raga called "Salvador Allende, Son of God."

In terms of musical styles, and not merely geography, the bill was
notable for its diversity. Singer- songwriters and the primarily
acoustic folk bands that were typical of the Allende era predominated,
but to appeal to a younger audience unfamiliar with that period there
were also rock groups and even the occasional reggae and rap band.

"We are all different in our approach to music, but we share a common
emotion and ideals," said Julieta Venegas, a Mexican rock singer who
performed on Friday. "We are all committed to the same things, to the
dream of dignity, development and sovereignty, and needed to be here
together on this occasion and in this place."

In the days after the American-supported coup, about 10,000 people were
rounded up and brought to the soccer stadium, which has a stunning view
of the Andes as a backdrop. There they were beaten and tortured by
soldiers, with some even being executed on the field with machine guns
as the remaining detainees watched from the stands.

Many prisoners were eventually released, but among those killed were two
Americans: Charles Horman, a filmmaker and freelance writer, and Frank
Teruggi, his friend and co-worker. Mr. Horman’s tragedy inspired the hit
1982 Costa-Gavras film "Missing," starring Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek
as the father and wife who battle the Chilean military’s stonewalling
and lies and the indifference of the American government.

The stadium was declared a national monument this year, although it is
still used for sports events and for concerts starring international pop
stars with large followings, like Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart and
Shakira. But as everyone present acknowledged, this was a very different
kind of event.

Each artist was limited to three or four songs. As technicians changed
equipment between acts, large video screens displayed film of Allende in
action and broadcast excerpts from his speeches, which prompted the
crowd to chant slogans like "The people united will never be defeated"
and "You can feel it, you can feel it, Allende is present."

The first of many poignant moments came when the initial act on Friday
took the stage just after 8 p.m.
Quilapayun, a sextet whose sound is built around acoustic guitars,
Andean flutes and hand drums, is the group perhaps most closely
identified with the Allende era and had not played in its original
configuration since 1988.

"We are here to close the circle of memory," the group’s founder,
Eduardo Carrasco Pirard, now a professor of philosophy at the University
of Chile, told the crowd. "Yes, the dream exists, and like all dreams,
it is built from what we have lived through."

The next few performers maintained the same somewhat solemn tone, which
was perhaps best exemplified by the Argentines Leon Gieco and Victor
Heredia. They sang "Surviving," which included lines like "So much
tragedy over this land" and "It’s been so long since I’ve laughed."
With the Brazilian segment of the concert, however, the spirits of the
crowd lifted noticeably. The singer Daniela Mercury and Gilberto Gil, a
singer, songwriter and guitarist who is the Brazilian culture minister,
performed energetic sets that had the audience dancing. Mr. Gil capped
his part of the show with a sensitive version of Bob Marley’s "No Woman,
No Cry," sung in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

"I’m here as a citizen, artist and individual," and not in an official
capacity, Mr. Gil said afterward. But Ms. Mercury noted that it was
especially appropriate for Mr. Gil to be on the bill because "he was a
political prisoner, too," in 1969 and 1970, during the military
dictatorship in Brazil, "and has personally lived through the experience
of exile."

The most overtly political moment of the weekend came on Saturday with
the performance of the Cuban singer and songwriter Silvio Rodriguez. In
March Mr. Rodriguez drew criticism when he threw his support behind the
Cuban government’s jailing of scores of dissidents and its execution
without due process of three men who hijacked a boat to flee the
country.

Between songs here, though, Mr. Rodriguez made a plea for amnesty on
behalf of five Cubans serving terms in United States prisons for
espionage. The crowd hissed and whistled at the mention of the United
States, and applauded Mr. Rodriguez’s performance so enthusiastically
that he ended up being the only artist allowed to give an encore.

The concert was organized on behalf of the Salvador Allende Foundation,
which was set up by Allende’s family and former associates to maintain
his political legacy and personal image. The event was broadcast live on
national radio and on the Internet. Artists performed free or for
significantly reduced fees, though a dispute erupted over rights to the
live concert CD and DVD that are also planned.

Attendance was dampened by unusually bad late-winter weather in the form
of a persistent cold drizzle that forced even performers to bundle up.
But the event drew not just young fans of popular groups like Los
Prisioneros, almost all born after the coup, but many older people who
felt a moral obligation to be present.

Rodolfo Olivares, 45, and his brother-in-law Juan Varas, 50, for
example, arrived with their wives and said the occasion left them
overcome with emotion. Mr. Varas said his cousin Carlos Ibarra was
killed during the coup, and that he himself had been forced into a long
exile in Australia.

"I sent Juan an e-mail saying we needed to attend this show, if only as
an homage to Carlos and to all those who fell and cannot be here," Mr.
Olivares said. "But to hear these songs again, after all this time and
sung by artists of two generations, is profoundly moving, even more than
I had expected."

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company