Luis Sepúlveda > La sombra de lo que fuimos

Historical References

The following is a list of historical characters and acronyms mentioned in the novel La sombra de lo que fuimos by Luis Sepúlveda. The page numbers, [pg nn], refer to the first mention of the item in the Espasa 2009 edition of the book.

Tom Rindfleisch

9/17/14

Arellano, Sergio – [pg 60] Commanding general of a Chilean Army death squad that, following the Chilean coup of 1973, flew by helicopters from south to north of Chile. During this foray, members of the squad ordered or personally carried out the execution of 97 individuals held in Army custody. Augusto Pinochet was indicted in December 2002 in this case, but he died four years later without having been judged. The trial is ongoing since other military personnel were also indicted.

Arratia, Pedro Nolasco – [pg 12] El veterano abuelo, one of the founders of the Federación de Obreros de la Imprenta. In 1931, worked with the Confederación General del Trabajo to re-energize workers unions in Chile. Arratia was head of the CGT which unified the four historical anarchist journeyman groups: bakers, leather and shoemaking, printers, and educators.

Ascaso, Francisco – [pg 12] Prominent Anarcho-syndicalist figure in Spain. A baker and waiter, Ascaso joined the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and one of its armed groups, Los Justicieros. He left for Barcelona in 1922, where the group came to be known as Los Solidarios, integrating anarchist figures such as Buenaventura Durruti, Juan García Oliver, Antonio Ortiz and Gregorio Jover. They became active in reprisals against thugs hired by businesses against trade unionists, and they carried out several attacks on banks (1901 – 1936).

Barraza, Jorge Federico Kiko – [pg 118] A 27 year-old former naval cadet and student of socialist economics at the University of Chile. Four months before the election of Salvador Allende, in the final days of the government of Eduardo Frei Montalva, Barraza had decided that the right-wing element in Chile would never accept the election of Allende. He joined a small group that was training as guerillas in a camp at Chaihuín in the jungle near Valdivia. This group modeled itself after the example Che Guevara set in Bolivia. The camp was about to disperse, when they were raided by a government special forces group. Barraza had left the main camp to clear a distant part of the training camp when the attack happened. All the trainees left in the camp were captured and no one knows what happened to Barraza – he was never seen again. He has become a ghostly, legendary, and mysterious symbol of the brutality of the Pinochet regime.

Basoalto, Ricardo Eliezer Neftalí Reyes (Pablo Neruda) – [pg 14] Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet-diplomat and politician Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after the Czech poet Jan Neruda. In 1971 Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Bello, Heriberto Salazar – [pg 63] Member of the Organized Vanguard of the People who was accused of participating in the assassination of Edmundo Pérez Zujovic. On June 13, 1971, Salazar Bello and the brothers Calderón were killed by police in a gunfight at their hideout.

Blest, Clotario – [pg 148] A Chilean union leader and founder of diverse organizations, including the Agrupación Nacional de Empleados Fiscales (ANEF), the Central Única de Trabajadores (CUT), the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), and the Comité de Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (CODEHS) (1899 – 1990).

Brandt, Willy – [pg 78] A German statesman and politician, leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1964 to 1987 and chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1969 to 1974. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 for his efforts to achieve reconciliation between West Germany and the countries of the Soviet bloc. He was the first Social Democrat chancellor since 1930. Though controversial in West Germany, Brandt’s policy of Ostpolitik can be considered his most significant legacy and it aimed at improving relations with East Germany, Poland, and the Soviet Union. Brandt resigned as Chancellor in 1974, after Günter Guillaume, one of his closest aides, was exposed as an agent of the Stasi, the East German secret service (1913 – 1992).

BRP – Brigada Ramona Parra.

Calderón, Ronald Rivera – [pg 63] Member of a leftist terrorist group called Organized Vanguard of the People, who, with his brother Arturo and Heriberto Salazar Bello were accused of assassinating Edmundo Pérez Zujovic. On June 13, 1971, Calderón and his companions were killed by police in a gunfight at his hideout.

Camú, Arnoldo – [pg 139] He was trained in the law at the University of Chile with an emphasis on unión organizations. He was the leader of the sector of the Partido Socialista known as the “elenos”. In the 1960s, they created the Chilean branch of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), begun in Bolivia under Che Guevara. He was assassinated at 36 years of age in September 1973 (1937 – 1973).

Cassidy, Butch – [pg 64] Nickname for Robert Leroy Parker, a notorious American train robber, bank robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch gang in the Old West. Under close pursuit by Pinkerton agents, he fled with an accomplice, the Sundance Kid (Harry Alonzo Longabaugh), and Sundance’s girlfriend, Etta Place. The trio went first to Argentina where, in February 1905, they held up the Banco de Tarapacá y Argentino in Río Gallegos near the Straits of Magellan. They escaped with a haul worth at least US $100,000 today. They vanished north across the Patagonian steppes and were seen in Chile and Bolivia, where Cassidy and Sundance were probably killed in a shootout in November 1908. (1866 – 1908).

Catalán, Elmo – [pg 71] Chilean journalist who worked extensively in radio, newspapers, and televisión. He left Chile for Bolivia in 1968, and became one of the leaders of the Guerrilla de Ñancahuazú (ELN), a guerilla group based in Teoponte, Bolivia. He was killed in 1970 (1932 – 1970).

Ceaucescu, Elena – [pg 74] Wife of Romania’s Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu, and Deputy Prime Minister of Romania. She was born into a peasant family. She joined the Romanian Communist Party in 1937 and met 21-year-old Nicolae Ceaușescu in 1939. After the Communists took power, Elena was an unimportant figure until her husband became general secretary of the party. Starting in 1972, she was given various offices at senior levels in the Romanian Communist Party, and in 1973 she became the second most important and influential person after Ceauşescu himself. In March 1980, she was made a First Deputy Prime Minister, a state title she also held until she was executed in the Romanian Revolution (1916 – 1989).

Ceaucescu, Nicolae – [pg 74] A Romanian communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country’s second and last Communist leader. He was also the country’s head of state from 1967 to 1989. After a brief period of relatively moderate rule, Ceaușescu’s regime became increasingly brutal and repressive. His secret police, the Securitate, was one of the most ubiquitous and brutal secret police forces in the world. His regime collapsed after he ordered his security forces to fire on anti-government demonstrators in the city of Timișoara on 17 December 1989. Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, fled the capital in a helicopter but were captured by the armed forces. The couple was hastily tried and convicted by a special military tribunal and they were both shot by a firing squad (1918 – 1989).

CUT – Central Única de Trabajadores.

DINA – Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional.

Döblin, Alfred – [pg 159] German novelist, essayist, and doctor, best known for his novel, Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929). He was a prolific writer and one of the most important figures of German literary modernism. Döblin moved with his mother and siblings to Berlin when he was ten years old after his father had abandoned them. He engaged with key figures of the prewar and Weimar-era German cultural scene –e.g., Herwarth Walden and the circle of Expressionists, Bertolt Brecht, and Thomas Mann. As a Jew, he was forced into exile by the rise of the Nazi dictatorship. He spent the years of WWII in Los Angeles, where he converted to Catholicism. He ultimately returned to France where his final years were marked by poor health and financial difficulties, and his literary work was met with relative neglect 1878 – 1957).

Durruti, Buenaventura – [pg 12] An anarchist-unionist militant during the period leading up to and including the Spanish Civil War. He trained as a railway mechanic. With other anarchists, he formed the paramilitary group Los Justicieros. Later, with Francisco Ascaso and other members of Los Justicieros, he founded Los Solidarios. In 1923 the group was implicated in the assassination of Cardinal Juan Soldevilla y Romero, as a reprisal for the killing of an anarchist-unionist. Following hard times in Spain, Durruti, Ascaso, and Jover fled to Latin America where they visited Cuba and carryied out bank robberies in Chile and Argentina (1896 – 1936).

ELN – Ejército de Liberación Nacional de Chile.

Enríquez, Miguel – [pg 139] A physician and one of the founders of the Chilean political party and former left-wing organization Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), founded 1965. He was General Secretary of the MIR between 1967 and his death in 1974. After the September 1973 coup, Enriquez led the political-military resistance of MIR against the newly established dictatorship. In October, 1974, his safe house in Santiago was attacked by DINA agents and he was killed (1944 – 1974).

Eterovic, Ramón Díaz – [pg 19] Chilean writer known principally for his dozen novels featuring a private eye, Heredia. These have been adapted for TV in a series called Heredia y Asociados (1956 – ).

Fromm, Erich – [pg 27] A German social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was associated with what became known as the Frankfurt School of critical theory (1900 –1980).

Fucik, Julius – [pg 27] Czechoslovak journalist, an active member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and part of the anti-Nazi resistance. He was imprisoned, tortured, and executed by the Nazis. He was able to publish his diary, Notes from the Gallows (1903 – 1943).

Galeano, Eduardo – [pg 27] Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist. His best-known works are Las venas abiertas de América Latina (1971) and Memoria del fuego (1986), which combine journalism, political analysis, and history (1940 – ).

GAP – [pg 72] Grupo de Amigos Personales; group of military men, related to the ELN and MIR, tasked with the protection of Salvador Allende.

Gardel, Carlitos – [pg 11] French Argentine singer, songwriter, composer and actor, and the most prominent figure in the history of tango (1890 – 1935).

Gelman, Juan – [pg 68] An Argentine poet who published more than twenty books of poetry between 1956 and his death in early 2014. In 2007, Gelman was awarded the Cervantes Prize, the most important in Spanish literature. His works celebrate life but are also tempered with social and political commentary and reflect his own painful experiences with the politics of his country. (1930 – 2014).

Giap, Vo Nguyen – [pg 54] Former journalist and General in the Vietnam People’s Army. Principal commander who orchestrated the US defeat. He also served as a member of the Politburo of the Vietnam Workers’ Party, which in 1976 became the Communist Party of Vietnam (1911 – 2013).

Godoy, Arturo – [pg 123] South American heavyweight boxing champion who had an extensive and successful career roughly between 1931 and 1954. He is best known for his two epic fights with Joe Louis for the World Heavyweight Championship in 1940. He died of cancer in Chile (1910 – 1987).

Guevara, Ernesto “Che” – [pg 71] An Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia in popular culture. As a young medical student, he traveled throughout South America and was radicalized by the poverty, hunger, and disease he witnessed. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia. There he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and summarily executed (1928 – 1967).

Harnecker, Marta – [pg 27] Chilean sociologist, political scientist, journalist and activist. She visited Cuba in 1960 and after studying with Louis Althusser in Paris, she returned to her native Chile in 1968, when she got caught up in the fall of Salvador Allende. She was forced into exile and in Cuba she founded and runs the research institute Memoria Popular Latinoamerica and continues to write (1937 – 2019).

Hendrix, Jimi – [pg 71] An American musician, singer, and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as “arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music” (1942 – 1970).

Himes, Chester – [pg 99] An American writer whose works include If He Hollers Let Him Go and a series of Harlem Detective novels. In late 1928 he was arrested and sentenced to jail and hard labor for 20 to 25 years for armed robbery and sent to Ohio Penitentiary. In prison, he wrote short stories and had them published in national magazines. In 1934 Himes was transferred to London Prison Farm and in April 1936 he was released on parole. During this period he came in touch with Langston Hughes, who facilitated Himes’s contacts with the world of literature and publishing. Some regard Chester Himes as the literary equal of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. In 1958 he won France’s Grand Prix de Littérature Policière. (1909 – 1984).

Hoxha, Enver – [pg 127] The leader of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985, as the First Secretary of the Party of Labor of Albania. He was chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania and commander-in-chief of the armed forces from 1944 until his death. He served as Prime Minister of Albania from 1944 to 1954 and at various times served as foreign minister and defense minister as well. The 40-year period of Hoxha’s rule was characterized by the elimination of the opposition, prolific use of the death penalty or long prison terms of his political opponents and evictions from homes where their families lived and their internment in remote villages that were strictly controlled by the secret police. During his rule, Albania became industrialized and saw rapid economic growth, as well as unprecedented progress in the areas of education and health (1908 – 1985).

Iglesias, Herminio – [pg 106] An Argentine politician with roots in the union movement. He was a supporter of the Peronist Party, and was elected as the Mayor of Avellaneda in the Province of Buenos Aires upon Perón’s 1973 return from exile and subsequent election to his final turn at the Argentine Presidency. He aligned himself with Perón’s most right-wing adviser, José López Rega, during the internal strife that followed Perón’s 1974 death. Iglesias was dismissed from this post following the 1976 military coup headed by General Jorge Videla. Between 1985 and 1989, Iglesias occupied a seat in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies. In the 1990s, he was a Councilor in the Municipality of Avellaneda. The lived his final years largely in seclusion (1929 – 2007).

Jover, Gregorio – [pg 12] Carpenter by profession who joined the anarchist-unionist movement and affiliated himself with the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). He was a personal friend of Buenaventura Durruti and Francisco Ascaso, other anarchists of the period. In the early 1920s he joined “Los Solidarios” along with Durruti and Ascaso. In 1926 he went to Latin America with Durruti and others (1891 – 1964).

Kollontai, Alexandra – [pg 54] Russian Communist revolutionary, first as a member of the Mensheviks, then from 1914 on as a Bolshevik. In 1923, Kollontai was appointed Soviet Ambassador to Norway, one of the first women in the world to hold such a post (1872 –1952).

Korchaguín, Pavel – [pg 53] Central character in a socialist realist novel, How the Steel Was Tempered, written by Nikolai Ostrovsky (1904–1936). The story is a fictionalized autobiography in which his father dies, and his mother works as a cook. He joins the war with the Red Army, and loses his right eye from artillery fire.

Krupskaya, Nadezhda Konstantinovna – [pg 54] Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and politician (Soviet Deputy Minister of Education). Wife of Vladimir Lenin from 1898 until his death in 1924 (1869 – 1939).

Lafargue, Paul – [pg 168] A French revolutionary Marxist socialist journalist, literary critic, political writer and activist; he was Karl Marx’s son-in-law having married his second daughter, Laura. His best known work is The Right to Be Lazy. Born in Cuba to French and Creole parents, Lafargue spent most of his life in France, with periods in England and Spain. At the age of 69, he and 66-year-old Laura died together in a suicide pact. Lafargue was the subject of a famous quotation by Karl Marx. Marx accused him of “revolutionary phrase-mongering” and of denying the value of reformist struggles and led to his remark, reported by Friedrich Engels: “What is certain to me is that, if they are Marxists, then I am not a Marxist” (1842 – 1911).

Laferte, Elías – [pg 40] One of the founders of the Chilean Socialist Workers Party.

Leiva, Sergio – [pg 133] He worked in the Argentinian National Administration for Sports and was active in the Socialist Party. He was working in Chile at the time of the 1973 coup d’état and took refuge in the Argentinian embassy. Nevertheless, Chilean government agents entered the embassy and killed Leiva shortly thereafter. He was 27 years old and was married with a young daughter. According to a newspaper published in 1974, the agent who assassinated him was named Ismael Gustavo Martinez Méndez”. There has never been a settlement of this case between Argentina and Chile – in fact security and intelligence personnel in the two countries cooperated over the years to suppress information about such killings in Chile and Argentina.

Leroux, Julio Ponce – [pg 60] Owner of Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM), a Chilean mining company that is the world’s biggest producer of lithium. Leroux also was Pinochet’s son-in-law. In 2012 a license for SQM to have exclusive rights to lithium mining was withdrawn following a scandal involving government favoritism.

Loyola, Carlos Díaz (Pablo de Rokha) – [pg 14] Chilean poet, born in Licantén, Chile, who won the Chilean Premio Nacional de Literatura in 1965 and is counted among the four greats of Chilean poetry, along with Pablo Neruda, Vicente Huidobro, and Gabriela Mistral (1894 – 1968).

Mifune, Toshiro – [pg 84] A Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo. He also portrayed Musashi Miyamoto in Hiroshi Inagaki’s Samurai Trilogy, as well as Lord Toranaga in the NBC TV miniseries Shōgun (1920 – 1997).

Minh, Ho Chi – [pg 127] A Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1945–1955) and president (1945–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). He was a key figure in the foundation of the DRV in 1945, as well as the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War. He led the Việt Minh independence movement from 1941 onward (1890 – 1969).

MIR – Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria.

Montéhus, Gaston – [pg 36] French anarchist poet and singer (1872 – 1952).

Montoneros – [pg 74] Movimiento Peronista Montonero (MPM) was an Argentine leftist urban guerrilla and subversive group, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The name is an allusion to the 19th century cavalry militias who fought for the Partido Federal during the Argentine Civil Wars. After Juan Perón’s return from 18 years of exile and the 1973 Ezeiza massacre, which marked the definitive split between left and right-wing Peronism, the president expelled the Montoneros from the Justicialist party in May 1974. The group was almost completely destroyed by government suppression by 1975, before the beginning of the Dirty War.

Olivares, Augusto – [pg 72] A well-known journalist better known “Perro Olivares”. He began his career in radio and moved to newspapers and television. He eventually became head of news at Televisión Nacional de Chile. He was an active supporter of Salvador Allende, and was his advisor in the Unidad Popular government. In September 1973 he was among the group close to Allende who fought against the coup d’état mounted by Pinochet. Olivares was the first to die by suicide in the attack (1930 – 1973).

Parra, La Brigada Ramona Parra (BRP) – [pg 126] The name given to a brigade of muralists in the Chilean communist party, created in 1968. The name is in honor of Ramona Parra, killed during a protest in Plaza Bulnes (Santiago) in 1946. The group had no aesthetic aspirations initially but gained practical experience making murals when they responded to a call from Pablo Neruda when he was a presidential candidate of the Unidad Popular. BRP work later gained national attention during the 1970 elections when Salvador Allende was nominated. The essential goals of BRP work are to deliver a clear message to passersby. The two main tactical ingredients are (a) to create the murals in public places, like symbolic plazas or marginal neighborhoods, and (b) to use a unique iconography reflecting their style that combines elements of spikes or sheaves of wheat, raised fists, stars, birds, and workers.

Parra, Ramona – [pg 126] A young Chilean woman who joined the Communist Youth in 1944, along with her sisters Blossom, Olga and Irma. She was shot to death during a demonstration in Santiago, also known as the Bulnes Square massacre, in 1946 (1926–1946).

Pinochet, Augusto – Dictator of Chile between 1973 and 1990 and Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army from 1973 to 1998. He was also president of the Government Junta of Chile between 1973 and 1981. Pinochet assumed power following a US-backed coup d’état on 11 September 1973 that overthrew the elected socialist Unidad Popular government of President Salvador Allende and ended civilian rule. Pinochet had been promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the Army by Allende on 23 August 1973, having been its General Chief of Staff since early 1972. In December 1974, the ruling military junta appointed Pinochet President of Chile by joint decree, although not with the support of one of the coup’s instigators, Air Force General Gustavo Leigh. From its beginning, the new military government implemented harsh measures against its perceived opponents. Various reports and investigations claim that between 1,200 and 3,200 people were killed, up to 80,000 people were interned and as many as 30,000 were tortured during the time Pinochet was in government. (1915 – 2006).

Plata, Alfonso Márquez de la – [pg 156] A Chilean politician, businessman and writer. He was Minister of Agriculture from 1977 until 1980. He was later the Ministry General Secretariat of Government from 1983 to 1984 (1933 – 2014).

Quilapayún – [pg 27] Chilean instrumental and folk music group promoting the Nueva Canción Chilena movement. Formed in the mid-1960s, the group was closely linked to the popular music revolution of the country under the Popular Unity Government of Salvador Allende. They suffered a lengthy period of exile in France. Controversy regarding irreconcilable differences among the group directors led to the division into two groups: one in Chile (named: Quilapayún-Histórico) and one in France (named: Quilapayún-France).

Recabarren, Luis Emilio – [pg 40 and 168] Chilean political figure, elected several times as deputy, and was a driving force behind the Worker’s Movement. During his travels, he became aware of the extreme poverty and near-enslavement of the nitrate workers. In 1894, he joined the Democratic Party of Chile. He became an ardent public speaker and founded several organizations and newspapers to foment solidarity within the workers. Due to his harsh criticisms of the governmental labor policies, he was jailed for eight months. Later, after his return to Chile his ideals and projects were bitterly attacked by the majority of the central committee of the Communist Party of Chile. These harsh criticisms, on top of personal and family problems, caused a severe depression. He committed suicide in Santiago at the age of 48. (1876 – 1924).

Reed, John Silas – [pg 152] Born to a well-to-do family in Portland, Oregon, Reed became a journalist in New York City. Through this work, he became an outspoken supporter of laborers’ rights. He was disenchanted when Woodrow Wilson revoked his promise to keep the U.S. out of World War I. He traveled to Russia to survey and write about the situation. He supported the Bolshevik revolution, and joined Vladimir Lenin’s government as a translator. He wrote his best known work, Ten Days that Shook the World. Returning to the US in April 1918, he was repeatedly arrested for his Communist sympathies and writing. In 1919 he returned to Europe and later, while working again in Russia, he contracted typhus. Medicine was not available due to war shortages and blockades, and Reed died on September 1920. His cremated remains are kept at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis (1887 – 1920).

Rodríguez, Gitano (Osvaldo Rodríguez) – [pg 21] A Chilean folk singer, poet, and essayist. Created the Valparaíso group and is the composer of a popular song dedicated to his city of birth. He was exiled to Europe after the fall of Salvador Allende (1943 – 1996).

Rodríguez, Manuel – [pg 142] One of the fathers of Chilean Independence, who served as a lawyer, politician, guerilla, and military officer. He was Minister of Revenue and of Defense in the government under José Miguel Carrera. He fought against the Spanish for independence and later worked to depose Director Supreme, Bernardo O’Higgins. He was arrested by O’Higgins and assassinated by soldiers who shot him in the back on his way to jail (1785 – 1818).

Rodríguez, Silvio – [pg 109] A Cuban musician, and leader of the nueva trova movement. He is considered Cuba’s best folk singer and known for his highly eloquent and symbolic lyrics. Many of his songs have become classics in Latin American music, and he has released nearly 20 albums. His lyrics are a staple of leftist culture throughout the whole Spanish-speaking world, and he has been banned from the media during several of the dictatorial regimes that ruled Latin America in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He is particularly popular amongst intellectual circles of the left in Latin America and Spain. He has also often served as Cuban cultural emissary in events of solidarity, whether in Chile (1991) or Argentina (1984), both massive concerts given shortly after the fall of the right-wing dictatorships. (1946 – present).

Santana, Carlitos – [pg 11] Mexican and American musician who first became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered a fusion of rock and Latin American music (1947 – present).

Sepúlveda, Carlos Kalle – [pg 21] Oldest son of Luis Sepúlveda (author), who was exiled with the Sepúlveda family and established himself in Sweden. Guitarist in the Swedish rock group Psycore.

Soldevila y Romero, Juan – [pg 12] Spanish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Zaragoza from 1901 until his death. He was assassinated by the anarchist group Los Solidarios in Zaragoza (1843 – 1923).

Taberna, Fredy Gallegos – [pg 133] He was a geographer and sociologist, and Director of the Office of Regional Planning in Iquique. He was a militant socialist who was shot in Pisagua in 1973. His execution took place the day after a court martial, along with 3 other militant socialists. They were accused of provoking a civil war and a rebellion among the armed forces. Their sentence was initially 10 years in jail, but this was modified after the fact by order from above. The Rettig report indicates that the crimes were not proven. In addition, the bodies were never returned to their families and, even today, no one knows where they are.

Tito, Josip Broz – [pg 78] A Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman, serving in various roles from 1943 until his death in 1980. During World War II he was the leader of the Partisans, often regarded as the most effective resistance movement in occupied Europe. After the war, he was the Prime Minister (1944–63), and President (later President for Life) (1953–80) of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. From 1943 to his death in 1980, he held the rank of Marshal of Yugoslavia. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was “seen by most as a benevolent dictator” due to his successful economic and diplomatic policies and was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad (1892 – 1980).

Tolstoi, León – [pg 148] Russian writer, philosopher and political thinker who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Tolstoy was a master of realistic fiction and is widely considered one of the greatest novelists of all time. Tolstoy is equally known for his complicated and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views. His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus led him in later life to become a fervent Christian anarchist and anarcho-pacifist (1828 – 1910).

Tse-Tung, Mao, Zedong, Mao – [pg 93] A Chinese Communist revolutionary and the founding father of the People’s Republic of China, which he governed as Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. His Marxist-Leninist theories, military strategies and political policies are collectively known as Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (often shortened to Maoism) (1893 – 1976).

Ubilla, Pitica – [pg 34] Nickname given to one of a family of three sisters who were scantily clad burlesque dancers performing in the Bim Bam Bum club in Santiago, which opened in 1953. The sisters were named Isabel, Elba, and Raquel. They were the first Chilean performers in this genre to compete successfully with well-established Argentine dancers. A famous journalist, Osvaldo Muñoz Romero, coined the nickname, “Pitica”, which, in his home town jargon, refers to the god Apollo (leader of the muses). It is not clear to which sister he gave this nickname, but it is often thought it was Isabel, the oldest and first to win acclaim in her performing career.

Urdemales, Pedro – [pg 62] A character from Latin American (especially Chilean and Guatemalan) folklore who typifies the rogue, rascal or trickster. In Brazil and Portugal, he is known as Pedro Malasartes. His Spanish name suggests “Mischief Maker” in English.

Urrutia, César Godoy – [pg 40] A Chilean teacher (1918) and politician in the Communist Party. (1901 – 1985).

Vadim, Roger – [pg 42] A French screenwriter, film director, and producer, as well as an author and occasional actor. Born in Ukraine, Vadim immigrated to France with the family. His father became a citizen and French vice-consul to Egypt. After his father’s death, when Vadim was nine years old, the family returned to France, where his mother ran a hostel in the French Alps, which also functioned as a way-station for Jews and others fleeing Nazism. Vadim studied at the University of Paris for a time and later became famous in the film industry. He was married to Brigitte Bardot from 1952 to 1957 (1928 –2000).

Valdivia, Pedro de – [pg 153] A Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. He earlier served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru. In 1540 he led an expedition of 150 Spaniards into Chile, where he defeated a large force of Indians and founded Santiago in 1541. He extended Spanish rule south to the Bío-Bío River in 1546. He later fought in Peru, and returned to Chile as governor in 1549. He began to conquer Chile south of the Bío-Bío and founded Concepción in 1550. He was captured and killed in a campaign against the Araucanian Indians. The city of Valdivia in Chile is named after him (1497 – 1553).

Valenzuela, Pedro Lenín – [pg 121] An 18 year-old revolutionary, modeled after Che Guevara, who tried to high jack a flight in Chile to take it to Havana in February 1970. He was shot dead by Chilean agents at Santiago airport.

Videla, Lumi – [pg 133] A student of philosophy and sociology at the University of Chile and active in socialist movements to improve the situation for the poor and working class. She was married to Sergio Pérez Molina and both were active in the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR). In September 1974 both were detained by the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA – the Chilean secret police under Pinochet). In November 1974, her body was found in a garden area inside the grounds of the Italian embassy. She was 24 years old. Later investigations showed that she had died during a torture session at a DINA facility as a result of asphyxiation. Sergio Pérez disappeared the same month (1950 – 1974).

Yakuza – [pg 83] Members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. They are notorious for their strict codes of conduct and very organized nature. Also known as gokudō.

Zujovic, Edmundo Pérez – [pg 62] A Chilean politician of the Christian Democrat Party. He was Minister of the Interior, Public Works and Finance under the government of President Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964–1970) In 1969, Chilean police attempted to remove a group of squatters at Puerto Montt, killing ten of them. As Minister of the Interior, Zujovic had been consulted about what to do with the squatter camp and may have ordered the police to remove them. In 1971, Zujovic was assassinated by a member of a leftist terrorist group called Organized Vanguard of the People. Zujovic’s assassination is thought to have exacerbated the deepening divide in Chilean politics which would eventually lead to the 1973 coup d’état (1912 – 1971).

This page last modified: February 6, 2021