Oscar Sarmiento : An Interview About Life in Pinochet's Chile
Oscar Sarmiento Interview
During the Pinochet dictatorship, Sarmiento and his classmates masked their then illegal meetings to develop social justice aspirations with everyday activities, such as soccer matches. Once everyone was gathered in a non-suspicious manner, the group plotted for their fight for democracy. In the interview Sarmiento describes “La Resistencia,” the resistance movement he and his classmates were members of during Pinochet’s regime that focused on the peaceful protest of the dictatorship.
Oscar Sarmiento also stressed the importance of the Vicaria de la Solidaridad during this trying time, as it acted as a “place of refuge.” Sarmiento found the Vicaria de Solidaridad interesting and notes their involvement in the making of arpilleras. The Vicaria de la Solidaridad and those who made arpilleras were crucial to protesting Pinochet, because in the words of Sarmiento:
You cannot get out of any authoritative regime unless you have heart, beauty, a sort of mysticism..."
"Missing" A Poem By Oscar Sarmiento
“I wrote this poem first in Spanish and then I rewrote it in English. I wrote it to focus on the geographical dislocation that took place in many lives after 1973 in Chile. In this case, more specifically, I wrote it to reflect on my relationship to my high school math teacher who left Chile after attending a funeral that was too political for the times. Rosa, along with the philosophy teacher I mention in the poem, had to seek refuge in Canada and thus became one of the many exiles longing to return to Chile after the coup d' état of 1973. The poem is, somehow, a way to pay homage to two bright and brave women: Rosa and Nieves.”
Missing
For R.C. in Montreal
I am after one single Rose—
Rosa Camacho.
1973
left us both worlds apart.
Rosa’s features:
real dark,
petite,
black eyes,
mathematically
sharp.
This is the Rose of memory,
the only Rose I have.
In 1973
I was this little dude,
Mr. know-it-all;
I dared to believe I was class
President.
And Rosa Camacho always so fired up
on mathematics.
To no avail:
I had only eyes for sweet Poesy.
And come 9/11
I see no longer Rosa
nor my philosophy teacher,
Nieves,
who now works for the enemy —
from philosophy to poetry
in Ottawa.
Have you ever
gone through
such a thing?
In a flash, bye to Nieves,
bye to Rosa,
bye to “the whole bunch.”
And "our loved ones"
-this common place-
was a euphemism no longer.
So, I beg you
to follow Rosa’s tracks
in Montreal, Arica
or Paris, Texas.
She is the Rose of memory.
Rosa Camacho: real dark,petite,
an ace
on mathematics.
1973 left us
both worlds apart.
Exile in Chile for the little dude.
Exile in Canada for Rosa.
P.D.:
If you know about her whereabouts
please let her know:
gray-haired guy
still very much the ugly duck he was
but no longer donning his sparkling white shirt,
school uniform,
crew cut,
misses her a bunch.