SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — The opening ceremony of Chile's first Pan American Games on Friday was not only a celebration of athletes, Indigenous peoples and poetry, but laid bare the politically divided country's scars from the military dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet from 1973 until 1990.
In the most awaited moment of the two-hour event, the Pan American flame came through “the tunnel of memory” and into the National Stadium in Santiago that was a center of torture and executions after the coup d'etat five decades ago.
Lucy Lopez, 93, who won a silver in the high jump at the 1951 Pan American Games, Chile's first medal in the games, lit the cauldron.
Political Cartoons View All 1211 ImagesThe Pan American Games, the largest multi-sport event in the Americas, take place one year before the Olympics.
The National Stadium and its surroundings were renovated for the competitions.
Persons:
Chile's, Augusto Pinochet, Lucy Lopez, Gabriel Boric, Pinochet, Rebeca Andrade, Maggie Mac Neil, Marileidy Paulino, Jordan Chiles, Vincent Hancock, Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral, Sebastián Yatra, Selena Torres, ” Torres, Javier Sosa, “, ”
Organizations:
Pan American Games, Pan American, Olympics, U.S
Locations:
SANTIAGO, Chile, American, Santiago, Chilean, Americas, United States, France, Canadian, Dominican, Japan, Colombian, Providencia