Fondly Remembering A Night -- or Two-- in Jail

How getting caught with a gun can be uplifting

April 22, 20223

By Marc Cooper

Back in 1973, in the waning days of the Allende government in Chile, both myself and writer Ariel Dorfman were arrested on the streets of Santiago in two separate incidents two months apart but with a very similar resolution.

Ariel got busted at night with a paint brush in his hands when he and some other youngsters were out covering city walls with pro-Allende slogans. It was part of a congressional election campaign. The vote was to take place in March and wound up being the last free vote Chile would have for the next 17 years. The military would seize power in September and implant a bloody dictatorship.

Some weeks later, I also got arrested. I had no paint brush. I had a .22 revolver in my jacket pocket and got detained at a late night police checkpoint. This was deadly serious business as a new law in Chile at the time imposed a mandatory two year prison sentence for any firearms violation.

And, still, 50 years later, both Dorfman and I —with no coordination— hold these incidents in high regard as we both experienced something unexpected and downright inspiring. A good life lesson on what another world would look like.

I write all about in in this piece just posted to Truthdig.com. It’s part of a “journalistic dig,” a package of content on Chile I am building on the site. So check out the rest of the content in the Chile Dig as well.