Monday, June 30, 2008

Marcelo, Lenin and Mariano; their story

I am attaching a picture, a very special one that I restored from my old slides taken in 1966. My disappeared college friends: Marcelo Concha, Lenin Diaz, and Mariano Turiel.


This is a rare photo of Marcelo, Lenin and Mariano, for I do not have many where they are all three in the same shot. It shows them walking with fellow students along the streets of Moscow, Russia, during a parade on May 1, 1966.

THEIR STORY
We attended the University of Friendship together. They returned home to Santiago, Chile after their graduation in 1969. Marcelo became an agricultural engineer, Lenin Diaz became an economist, and Mariano became a hydraulic engineer.

As young professionals they were involved in the 1970-73 Allende’s Popular Unity government. After September 11 1973, they fought for the restoration of democracy under the Pinochet dictatorship.

In 1976, Marcelo, Lenin and Mariano were kidnapped and disappeared. My friends were abducted, tortured and murdered. These three friends of mine and many others paid with their lives for the right to live in freedom and democracy.

Now we want to restore their memories and rescue their remains from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean where their captors threw them from helicopter in flight near the port of San Antonio.

Help us find Justice for them!
Help us heal this profound wound in the Chilean society.
Help us to annul the Amnesty Law of Pinochet that protects the perpetrator of these crimes.
No one is above the law!

If you would like to support us, the kind of action we will ask you to take is to write letters, join us in marathons, visit this site, and leave comments. Bookmark this site and visit often to find out what activities you can get involved in to raise awareness of our solidarity campaign.

Pass this link onto your friends, and encourage them to do the same.

“Evil Prevails When Good Men Do Nothing“
... Edmund Burke


Thank you for showing your support today by visiting this site.


HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Write a letter to the Chilean Congress to urge the annulment of the Amnesty Law that permits the impunity of criminals. We will provide specific details on where to send your letters to in future posts.

Join us in a local half or full marathon that we are participating in to denounce this enormous injustice to my college friends, their families, and the world.





Print the pictures of our friends on the front and back of a t-shirt and participate with us...


...or show your support from the sidelines.


Image for the front of the t-shirt






Image for the back of the t-shirt




Visit this site often for updates on the next Marathon date and location.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Santiago Half Marathon, April 6th 2008

Marcelo Concha, Lenin Diaz and Mariano Turiel.
Santiago, Chile. May, 1976.

Thirty two years ago, they were kidnapped and disappeared by the secret police of Pinochet. Disappeared but not forgotten! To remember Marcelo, Lenin and Mariano, our missing friends, we ran the Santiago half marathon on April 6th 2008.





Annul the 1978 Pinochet Amnesty Law.