Complicity and Responsibility in the Aftermath of the Pinochet Regime: The Case of "El Mocito"

Abstract

Forty years after the Pinochet regime, the theme of civilian complicity is just beginning to be discussed publicly in Chile. This lecture will emphasize the importance of this little-discussed topic by examining the case of Jorgelino Vergara, known in Chile as El Mocito, a man who as an adolescent served coffee to the ex-head of Pinochet’s secret police, General Manuel Contreras, and carried out other horrifying tasks in the torture center located at number 8800 Simón Bolívar Street. Accused in 2007 of killing well-known Communist leader Víctor Díaz, Vergara emerged from a clandestine life and testified in court to clear his own name. Thanks to his testimony, 74 former secret police agents were convicted and the remains of three disappeared militants were found. Despite these positive developments, Vergara’s truth has had limits. How does the accomplice construct his truth? How does society approach and frame the truth of the accomplice? To answer these questions, this talk will compare representations of El Mocito in film, print journalism, and on television. What political and ethical questions arise from these very different framings of complicity?

Keywords

• Chile
• Memory
• Dictatorship
• Complicity