Chilean activist urges renewed solidarity
By Bill Mason
BRISBANE — Liliana Castillo, president of the Relatives of Political Prisoners in Chile, hailed the Australian people as the "first to boycott the Pinochet regime" nearly 20 years ago, but called on Australians to renew their solidarity in the face of continued human rights abuses and jailing of political prisoners in "democratic" Chile.
Speaking at a public meeting here on November 20, Castillo said that "the reason for my trip is to help re-establish the network that existed previously with Chile" in the days of the junta.
"The democracy we have now was scientifically developed to replace the military regime. Military power is still in place", she said.
Castillo is a veteran of the campaign for workers' and democratic rights in Chile, having been arrested many times under the Pinochet regime and again under the elected government of President Aylwin.
"I represent all the sectors of the left movement in Chile, and we call on the solidarity to be as strong as before."
She urged Australians to support applications for Chilean political prisoners to seek asylum here, and to write letters to the Chilean government calling for abolition of amnesty for the murderers and torturers of the Pinochet era.
In addition to 37 political prisoners still in jail from the previous regime, there are more than 200 imprisoned since "democracy" came to Chile, Castillo explained.
She added that the political opposition in Chile was learning to work together much better, with the aim of creating a political program for struggle now and in the future.
Castillo's visit to Brisbane was sponsored by a coalition of Latin American solidarity organisations, as part of a national tour of the major east-coast cities.
In Brisbane, she was also special guest speaker at the Green Left Weekly dinner-cabaret held at the Resistance Centre on November 21.