When I received my Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1970, I could not have envisaged that a few years later, I would become a political prisoner in my native Chile. Nor could I have imagined that Henry Kissinger would get my case into his hands as a result of UC’s intervention.
On December 15, 1974 (forty-five years ago), I was abducted by Pinochet’s infamous DINA secret police. I was first taken to a torture house in south-east Santiago, Chile’s capital, known as “La Discothèque” or “Venda Sexy” (Sexy Blindfold).
Later, I spent five months in three concentration camps in Santiago and the Valparaíso region: Cuatro Álamos, Puchuncaví, and Tres Álamos. My wife Nora Guillén, a ballet dancer, was also imprisoned for political reasons and followed a similar path. Neither she nor I was charged with any offense.
