Un Día Negro en Historia – A Black Day in History

September 11^th has a new meaning to those of us from the United States of America, ever since the attack (el ataque) on the Twin Towers in NYC, with 2 planes crashing into the structure and killing over 3000 people. In addition, a plane (un avión) hit the Pentagon in Washington, DC as well as one that went down in Pennsylvania.  This day has become a black day in US history, as the terms ground zero and homeland security, took on new meanings and in many ways, define the apprehension and uncertainty that many Americans (norteamericanos) feel even in their sacred land of the free and the home of the brave.

Yet, this date of 9-11 (el once de septiembre) also has strong relevance here in Santiago and throughout Chile, as it is a day of infamy that occurred some 28 years before the attacks on America on that fated day in 2001.  In Chile, this dark day (día negro) is filled with tensions and protests, as people (la gente) reflect and demonstrate on the lingering memory of the dictatorship associated with the rule of the past.  The anger, confusion and uncertainty that many felt in the past, rises to the surface, and everyone understands the hurt (el dolor), the pain and the disillusion.

On this day here in Santiago, the business (los negocios) close early, as do the schools.  There are demonstrations, there are screams and shouts in the streets, a remembrance harkening back to the black days, to the memory (la memoria) of those who sacrificed their ideals and often sacrificed their lives in the torture of the times.  There are fires (unos fuegos), there is danger, and there is anger.

Although the dates (las fechas) are uniquely different in circumstance, they do both bind Chile and the US together as brothers in arms, as people who know injustice and oppression, as those impacted by something from without that stirs up the fear and pain within.  The day of 9-11 means a day of national turmoil and national despair, and in this, the citizens (los ciudadanos) of both countries (ambos países) are brothers and sisters (hermanos y hermanas), with more in common than might be seen only in circumstance, comforting one another in looking forward to a better future (un futuro mejor) to come.