Exorcising Terror

On October 16th, 1998, General Augusto Pinochet, Chile’s former dictator, was arrested by Scotland Yard in England and awaited extradition to Spain on charges of torture and genocide. What ensued became one of the most important human rights trials of the late 20th century: for the first time, a former Head of State was being judged by a foreign court.Here, Ariel Dorfman presents an account of the trial that took place in Great Britain, Spain and Chile as well as in the US, the country that had created Pinochet. Told as a suspense thriller, filled with court-room drama and sudden reversals of fortune, the book also addresses many contemporary issues. What are the limits of national sovereignty in a globalizing world? How does an ever more interconnected world judge crimes committed against humanity? What role do memory and pain and the rights of the survivors play in this struggle for a new system of justice? But above all, the author, by listening carefully to the voices of Pinochet’s many victims, explores how can we purge ourselves of terror and fear once we have been traumatized, and, asks if we can build peace and reconciliation without facing a turbulent and perverse past.