The Invisibles against US missile defense
ARIEL DORFMAN STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR THE HUNGER STRIKERS
21.5.2008
Dear Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar:
Back in 1968, your people were a beacon for a world thirsty for justice and liberty. And though your Prague Spring was inspired by deep social movements, it always started with individuals who stood up for their beliefs, who predicted the future merely by daring to demand a voice in the present. Forty years later, there you are, on your hunger strike, asking for something as simple as a referendum, so that the citizens of your republic can opt for peace and non-violence rather than war and aggression. I celebrate your quiet heroism, the same sort of resistance which brought down the dictatorship of Pinochet in Chile. You have my enduring admiration. May there be many Prague Springs and Chilean Springs and a Spring as well in the United States. I can only pray that your voices and bodies will be heard.
In solidarity,
Ariel Dorfman
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Ariel Dorfman (born May 6, 1942 Buenos Aires) is a Chilean novelist, playwright, essayist, academic, and human rights activist.
His writings include Exorcising Terror: The Incredible Unending Trial of General Augusto Pinochet; Widows: A Novel; His most famous play, Death and the Maiden, describes the encounter of a former torture victim with the man she believed tortured her; it was made into a film in 1994 by Roman Polanski starring Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley.
Dorfman, who is Jewish, was born in Argentina but his family moved to the United States shortly after his birth, and then moved to Chile in 1954. He attended and was later a professor at the University of Chile and adopted Chilean Citizenship in 1967.
From 1970 to 1973, Dorfman was part of the administration of president Salvador Allende. He was forced into exile following the military coup in which General Augusto Pinochet came to power.
Since 1985 he has taught at Duke University, where he is currently Walter Hines Page Research Professor of Literature and Professor of Latin American Studies.
Since the restoration of democracy in Chile (1990), he divides his time between Santiago and the United States.
Dorfman's work often deals with the horrors of tyranny and, in later works, the trials of exile.
Dorfman, a critic of Pinochet, has written extensively about the general's extradition case for the Spanish newspaper El País and other publications.
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Sign the petition "No Star Wars" »
Back in 1968, your people were a beacon for a world thirsty for justice and liberty. And though your Prague Spring was inspired by deep social movements, it always started with individuals who stood up for their beliefs, who predicted the future merely by daring to demand a voice in the present. Forty years later, there you are, on your hunger strike, asking for something as simple as a referendum, so that the citizens of your republic can opt for peace and non-violence rather than war and aggression. I celebrate your quiet heroism, the same sort of resistance which brought down the dictatorship of Pinochet in Chile. You have my enduring admiration. May there be many Prague Springs and Chilean Springs and a Spring as well in the United States. I can only pray that your voices and bodies will be heard.
In solidarity,
Ariel Dorfman
-----
Ariel Dorfman (born May 6, 1942 Buenos Aires) is a Chilean novelist, playwright, essayist, academic, and human rights activist.
His writings include Exorcising Terror: The Incredible Unending Trial of General Augusto Pinochet; Widows: A Novel; His most famous play, Death and the Maiden, describes the encounter of a former torture victim with the man she believed tortured her; it was made into a film in 1994 by Roman Polanski starring Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley.
Dorfman, who is Jewish, was born in Argentina but his family moved to the United States shortly after his birth, and then moved to Chile in 1954. He attended and was later a professor at the University of Chile and adopted Chilean Citizenship in 1967.
From 1970 to 1973, Dorfman was part of the administration of president Salvador Allende. He was forced into exile following the military coup in which General Augusto Pinochet came to power.
Since 1985 he has taught at Duke University, where he is currently Walter Hines Page Research Professor of Literature and Professor of Latin American Studies.
Since the restoration of democracy in Chile (1990), he divides his time between Santiago and the United States.
Dorfman's work often deals with the horrors of tyranny and, in later works, the trials of exile.
Dorfman, a critic of Pinochet, has written extensively about the general's extradition case for the Spanish newspaper El País and other publications.
---
Sign the petition "No Star Wars" »
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