SURVIVINGPINOCHET.COM

IMPRISONED AND TORTURED IN HIS CHILEAN HOMELAND FOR HIS ‘CRIMES’ AGAINST PINOCHET’S DICTATORSHIP, JORGE SANDOVAL ESCAPES TO A NEW LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND. ONLY TO MEET HIS TORTURER. THERE ARE SOME STORIES FROM WHICH THERE IS NO ESCAPE.

Cycling promoter Jorge Sandoval relives his Chilean ordeal in a revealing new book Jorge Sandoval has lived in New Zealand for more than 30 years since coming here as a political refugee. But only now has he felt ready to drop his guard and tell the full story of his torture and incarceration in his native Chile for alleged crimes against the regime of ruthless Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

The result is the book, Jorge Sandoval Surviving Pinochet, as told to Wellington writer Peter Bidwell, which is due for release in late October. Jorge showed feelings that still remained raw all these years later as he recalled his arrest a few days short of his 19th birthday, the torture that followed at the police station in his home town of Tome, and of his 12 months in a concentration camp. He was brought to tears on occasions as he revisited those days in the early 1970s, and it took an emotional trip back to the ruins of the concentration camp in 2005 to give him some closure.

He was a member of a left-wing student group that supported the government of deposed president Salvador Allende, which made him a target when Pinochet seized power in the coup of September 11, 1973. Even after his release Jorge remained a marked man, and it was only his escape to Argentina, and subsequent arrival in Wellington in November 1976, that allowed him to make something of his life.

Jorge came unable to write or speak English, and with a teenage Chilean bride and two Wellington-born daughters soon after he had a lot to contend with in a strange, new land. For years he kept what happened to him a secret, even from his family, despite evidence something wasn’t right when he suffered terrible nightmares.

He had first witnessed the sport of cycling in Chile, and the opportunity to become involved in Wellington as a rider, and later an organiser and promoter, enabled him to make more of a success of his life than seemed possible. In 1988 Jorge launched the first of his 21 men’s tours of Wellington, and later Wairarapa. The event soon attracted an international field, and numerous riders have gone on to achieve distinction at world level. In 2005 and 2006 his growing reputation was evident when he staged rounds of the women’s World Cup on an inner-city circuit in Wellington, the latter event won by remarkable New Zealand rider Sarah Ulmer.

The following year Jorge’s achievements were acknowledged when he was made an honorary member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to cycling. No only was it an overwhelming affirmation of his acceptance in his adopted country. It was also overdue recognition of his cycling efforts when at times it seemed a number of the sport’s administrators were only too eager to put him down.

However, this is not a cycling book. The recurring theme is very much about how what happened to Jorge in Chile has cast a shadow over his life, and how difficult it can be for an immigrant, and members of his family. Jorge had a harrowing moment in 1995 when he confronted the captain of the Chilean navy training ship Esmeralda at Queen Wharf in Wellington, who had tortured him all those years before. Two of Jorge’s brothers followed him to New Zealand. They tell their stories, along with Jorge’s parents and only brother in Chile, his two wives, and their children, with considerable honesty and insight. Jorge’s tale is an inspiring one.

There is heartache and despair but finally his courage and perseverance have enabled him to be a shining example to the many displaced people who come to New Zealand seeking to rebuild their lives.

Jorge Sandoval Surviving Pinochet, with Peter Bidwell, published by Steele Roberts, of Wellington.

Order your book from; http://www.survivingpinochet.com/