Elena Varela Rancagua Jail Visit

This past Sunday I travelled along with a journalist, documentary filmmaker and a representative of Amnesty International Chile to the Complejo Penitenciario in Rancagua to interview arrested filmmaker Elena Varela.

After arriving and been authorized to visit the jail today we were met with Captain Juan Riquelme of the Rancagua jail who told us we may have been authrorized to visit but not authorized to conduct a formal interview . After several hours of waiting for a response we were finally allowed in but now with our cameras until we get another response to our interview request.

Elena is being held in cell block # 87 in an area among pregnant women. The conversation which lasted 30 mins was held in a common area with one guard inside. Patricio Quevadeo coordinator of Derechos Humanos de Pueblos Originarios, had only previously seen her in photos said of Elena ,on the outside she looked in good spirits considering her situation and expressed how she felt about the situation ,however he also noticed how very affected she was inside.

However , she seemed also to be holding back a bit and didn't fully express how she felt about being detained or make any comments about her treatment as the case is still being investigated. She felt censured of what she could express because of the guard who was inside during the conversation. She did say she was never told as to why whe was arrested and was treated like a criminal however did say that she has been treated well while in jail for the over a month since her arrest .

Her mother also named Elena was accompanied by her husband and Elena's daughters who visited earlier in the day seemed much more affected by her situation . Elena's mother was upset at times and said that , "we know our daughter her daughter and that she was not involved with what they say she did . We found out the news of her detainment from her grandmother and the form they arrested her. This has been a huge nightmare for us to have to talk about all this . I try to be strong when i am with her but it is something I never thought i would have to live through as a mother " she saids while beginning to cry.

Paulina Acevedo , journalist for the Observatorio de Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas also said, " We want you and Elena to know that are many people and organizations working on this and its getting lots of attention not only in Chile but internationally. There are more and more people going to to our web page and physical siging the petition and becoming involved.

Finally Elena's final comment was that she said she's not afraid of what will happen but wants the truth to come out in the investigation.

By : Christian Peña



For more info on the Elena Varela petition click on the Ammesty International Chile link(Spanish)
http://www.amnistia.cl/index_aauu.shtml?sh_itm=eb93fae4e9686022c36425095cdaf75d

Letter to President Bachelet about documentary filmmaker held for past month
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27352