Remembering the Past, Honoring the Victims
- Puente Bulnes, a seemingly ordinary bridge in Santiago, Chile, carries a heavy past weight.
- This episode of Stories of Resistance explores Cordova's tireless efforts to memorialize the victims and raise awareness about the atrocities committed at the bridge.He organizes monthly cleanups, hosts...
- The story highlights Cordova's personal connection to the bridge - he himself narrowly escaped execution there in the aftermath of the 1973 coup.
Puente Bulnes, a seemingly ordinary bridge in Santiago, Chile, carries a heavy past weight. While bustling with traffic today, it served as a site of execution during the Pinochet dictatorship. Aquiles Cordova is dedicated to ensuring this dark past is never forgotten.
This episode of Stories of Resistance explores Cordova’s tireless efforts to memorialize the victims and raise awareness about the atrocities committed at the bridge.He organizes monthly cleanups, hosts memorial events, and commissions murals depicting the faces of those lost.
The story highlights Cordova’s personal connection to the bridge – he himself narrowly escaped execution there in the aftermath of the 1973 coup. His commitment stems from a profound sense of survivor’s guilt and a determination to honor the memory of those who were not so blessed.
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Transcript
michael Fox (narrator): Aquiles Cordova adopted a bridge.
It is not a pretty bridge. Four lanes of busy traffic rush across puente Bulnes during most hours. To the North, it buttresses against two overpasses that lead to a bustling highway. Below it, run the milky gray waters of the Mapocho River, after passing through downtown Santiago. Chile.
Trash and discarded clothes catch against the rocky shoreline or the concrete legs of the bridge. They flap in the current. It reminds Aquiles of a past that no one wants to remember, but which everyone must.
On special days, Aquiles Cordova holds memorials.
Once a month, he leads cleanup brigades.
Every so ofen, he invites muralists to come. They paint the walls.huge life-sized pictures of faces and figures. Names and phrases like “Never Again.”
50 years ago. In another time, this bridge was a favorite execution site for the military and police of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Hundreds were shot and pushed over the bridge into the rushing waters below, in the early months of the Pinochet dictatorship.
Today, Aquiles Cordova will not let it be forgotten-ever.
For him, it’s personal. The day after the September 11th coup, 1973, a young Aquiles Cordova found himself on the edge of Puente Bulnes, staring down the barrel of a gun. A young soldier on the other side, shouting orders.
Aquiles’s life flashed before his eyes. He saw it all: birth to present. Like a movie real on high speed.
And then… he was allowed to go. He was one of the lucky ones.
Aquiles Cordova has grey hair now.
He will never forget.
He won’t let anyone else forget either.
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Hi folks, thanks for listening.I’m your host Michael Fox.
I visited Puente Bulnes late last year in Santiago, and covered one of the mural painting activities there. It