Abstract

The aim of this manuscript is to argue that the silence played a very important role in the phenomenon of torture in Chile. The dictatorial authorities were silent about its occurrence, the direct perpetrators are silent and all those who are part of the “pact of silence”, as well as those who benefited from it. The torturer is silent when he is interrogating with the aim of spreading terror, but so is the victim who does not inform on the crime. The survivor who cannot articulate a story about his or her experience is silent, and everyone is terrified by the threat of being tortured. Finally, the transitional authorities who seek to put an end to the investigation into a painful past remain silent.