New film examines Chile's 'Guantanamo'
by Moises Avila Roldan Moises Avila Roldan – 41 mins ago
SANTIAGO (AFP) – A new film by a renowned Chilean director focuses on a Tierra del Fuego island prison, a sort of "Guantanamo Bay" jail for political dissidents who endured hellish conditions there 35 years ago.
Dawson Island, located at the western entrance to the Straights of Magellan, was home for more than a year to 99 politicians and personalities close to the deposed socialist government of president Salvador Allende.
"Dawson - Island 10," a film by Oscar-nominated Chilean director Miguel Littin, is based largely on the autobiography of Sergio Bitar, Allende's minister of mining.
Soon after the September 11, 1973 coup Bitar was bundled off to the bleak, wind-swept island located some 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) south of the capital Santiago.
Bitar, now 69 and Minister of Public Works in President Michelle Bachelet's center-left government, was assigned the number 10 of the movie title.
More than 3,000 people were killed or went "missing" during Chile's 1973-1990 military dictatorship, while some 28,000 others were tortured.
More:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090911/ennew_afp/entertainmentchilefilm_20090911132658