Ludovico Manzoni recounts that September 11th 50 years ago, so as not to forget

L’Sept. 11 it is not only the anniversary of the Twin Towers but also that of Pinochet’s Chilean coup which turns 50 this year.

When Ludovico Manzonia very close relative, told me he was working on a podcasts about 50 years since Coup in Chile, the country where he lived, studied and left his heart, I wasn’t surprised. Her Veronese grandmother, my first formidable mother-in-law, often said with the rolled R – which Ludovico inherited – about her, that when her only grandson was eight years old she had phoned her enthusiastically: “Grandma, grandma, the government has fallen!” (it was the Berlusconi government). Perhaps also because of his partisan grandmother and uncle, Ludovico has always been interested in politics and obviously his mother, that would be me, wasn’t too happy, foreseeing disappointments and frustrations, but when I say it everyone shuts me up: «Nice, come on, we Let there be good and honest young people who take care of it! Yes but why my son, poor guy?

However, I only knew that the idea for the podcast had come to him in Chile, last year, when he met Salvador Allende’s daughter, Isabel Allende, who is not the writer. He just told me that she had asked him to keep the historical memory alive for the 50 years of the coup, and that’s exactly what he did in this 5-episode podcast (released on the main platforms) where he interviews some of the protagonists of Chile’s history of today and then. There are the famous Inti Illimani, who were close collaborators of Allende, there are diplomats, journalists and also young people and students. We start from the coup and work backwards to the birth of Allende and the economic and material conditions of Chile. We talk about Pinochet’s betrayal and the very violent repression of dissidents, the leading role that Italy (and all the political parties) had of the constitutional arc) in helping the Chilean resistance, opposing the dictatorship and welcoming Chilean refugees. There are testimonies on the role of the Italians: he interviews Bobo Craxi to talk about the role of his father Bettino, for example. Then we talk about Chile today, about the protests and repression in which he personally participated (obviously I discovered it now, that they could have broken his head).

I think his goal is to make people understand how everything is connected, all one story, 50 years long.

I know the mother is not very credible, but this podcast left me speechless. Do you see how much your children can amaze you? I limited myself to insisting on punctual graduations (which have very little to do with History, his great passion) and in the meantime he worked on this project.

In short, the constitutional reform attempted a year ago by the leader of the Radical Left Gabriel Boric had made people think that Chile could put Pinochet away forever, but it didn’t happen that way and it seems fundamental to me to understand why and what risks Chile, and with him, still runs all democratic countries with a dark shadow in the past.