The incredible story of one family's escape to Wales from General Pinochet's brutal dictatorship

10 Sep 2023 8 minute




Jose with his wife and child after arriving in Swansea in 1977
Luke James

Fifty years ago today, Jose Cifuentes was one of the 350 residents of Poblacion Arturo Prat, a shanty town near Talca in southern Chile, celebrating the news that they would soon be living in a new housing estate.

The 26-year-old social work student was part of a Christian mission to the town which had helped persuade the country’s socialist government, led by president Salvadore Allende, to build proper homes for the community.

After enduring three decades of extreme poverty, residents would not only finally have a decent place to live but also be employed in the construction of their new homes.

“My friends and I went to bed very happy with what we had achieved”, Cifuentes remembered in an interview with Nation.Cymru.

But the events they woke up to the next morning would mean their project and many like them would never be realised and eventually force Cifuentes to flee south America to south Wales.

More:
https://nation.cymru/culture/the-incredible-story-of-one-familys-escape-to-wales-from-general-pinochets-brutal-dictatorship/