''Clandestine in Chile: The Adventures of Miguel Littín'' ( es, La aventura de Miguel Littín clandestino en Chile) is a report, written by

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

, about the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an filmmaker

Miguel Littín Miguel Ernesto Littin Cucumides (born 9 August 1942) is a Chilean film director, screenwriter, film producer and novelist. He was born to a Palestinian people, Palestinian father, Hernán Littin and a Greeks, Greek mother, Cristina Cucumides. C ...

’s clandestine visit to his home country after 12 years in exile. The book was written based on 18 hours of recorded interviews by García Márquez with

Miguel Littin Miguel Ernesto Littin Cucumides (born 9 August 1942) is a Chilean film director, screenwriter, film producer and novelist. He was born to a Palestinian father, Hernán Littin and a Greek mother, Cristina Cucumides. Career Miguel Littin dir ...

in 1986.

Summary

After ten years of dictatorship,

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

issued a list with the names of exiles allowed to return to Chile. Miguel Littín was not included in this list; instead, he found his name in another list of those who were banned from visiting Chile. Littín decided to return to his beloved country anyway by using a false passport, a false career background, a false excuse, and even a false wife. During his visit Miguel, disguised as a

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

an businessman, directs three European film crews shooting a documentary about Chilean life under the dictatorship. He shoots interviews with ordinary Chileans and people of organized

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

s who operate underground. He obtains an interview with a resistance leader, being led blindfolded to a clandestine hospital where the leader was taken after being rescued from a public hospital a few hours after he survived an assassination attempt by Pinochet’s secret police. He succeeds in his mission and leaves Chile at the moment when the Chilean authorities have almost discovered his presence in the country. The revelations made in his documentary, '' Acta General de Chile'', are supposed to embarrass the dictatorship by showing its brutality from first hand and all the underground network of young people working to overthrow the dictatorship.

Censorship

On November 28, 1986, the customs authorities seized almost 15,000 copies of García Márquez's book ''Clandestine in Chile'', which were later burned by military authorities in Valparaiso. Together with them, copies of a book of essays by Venezuelan presidential candidate

Teodoro Petkoff Teodoro Petkoff Malec (; 3 January 1932 – 31 October 2018) was a Venezuelan politician, guerrilla, economist and journalist. One of Venezuela's most prominent politicians on the left, Petkoff began as a communist but founded the democratic s ...

were also burned.

Editions in print

* , Hardcover,

Henry Holt & Company Henry Holt and Company is an American book-publishing company based in New York City. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt. Currently, the company publishes in the fields ...

, 1987 * , Paperback,

New York Review of Books New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

, 2010

References

{{Gabriel García Márquez 1986 non-fiction books Books about Chile Censorship in Chile Colombian non-fiction books Henry Holt and Company books Non-fiction books by Gabriel García Márquez NYRB Classics