Hidden conflicts in organizational systems

Latin America

In Ariel Dorman's play Death and the Maiden, Paulina has obviously been deeply traumatized by her experience of being tortured by former military regime of this Latin American country, and is definitely not prepared to peacefully coexist with those who committed atrocities against their own people. Although the country is never named specifically, anyone familiar with the history would recognize it as Chile, which had been ruled by General Augusto Pinochet in 1973-90. Nowhere does the play mentioned that Pinochet was installed in a coup by the Central Intelligence Agency and supported by the United States government, or that the U.S. has continued to lie about these events up to the present. As part of the transition to democracy, also brokered by the U.S. government, the members of the former regime received an amnesty so that they could never be prosecuted. Paulina is one of the victims of its secret police dungeons and torturers, and has no desire to reconcile with these criminals and let bygones be bygones. This outcome seems far more acceptable to Geraldo, and not only for idealistic reasons but also because he is a young man very concerned with his own career advancement. At the other extreme, Paulina's first reaction to hearing a car pulling up in the middle of the night is to get a gun and hide behind the curtains. As Geraldo explains, this is not simply a question of her simply being paranoid but the danger everyone felt from strangers appearing unannounced at night and knocking on the door. Paulina does not intend to be taken alive again, nor does she trust the stranger Roberto Miranda when he appears again later that night. Instead, she listens to him talking to Geraldo, and decides that he was the same doctor who was present years before when she was being tortured. She is hostile to the idea of letting these criminals off without even being named, and is prepared to kill Miranda despite all of Roberto's protests.

Geraldo's Investigating Commission, like the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in El Salvador, South Africa and other dictatorships supported by the U.S. during the Cold War, is going to be a very toothless organization. It will not even be allowed to publish the names of those accused or torture and murder, nor will any of the military people be required to give evidence. Some will only agree to do so confidentially, but in the end any evidence collected will be turned over to the courts, which are notoriously corrupt and venal. Geraldo has a vague idea that "if we can throw light on the worst crimes, other abuses will come to light," by which he means actual murders that were committed as opposed to victims like Paulina who were tortured but permitted to survive (Dorfman 2). They will only go as far as they are "allowed," and the investigation will be very "limited," which means that none of the torturers will ever really be brought to justice (Dorfman 7). Not once under the old military dictatorship did the courts ever intervene to save anyone from unlawful detention, torture and execution. Paulina knows this perfectly well and so does Geraldo, so she intends to extract her own form of justice -- or revenge.

Paulina is certain that Roberto Miranda is the doctor who was present when she was tortured, mainly because she had vivid memories of his voice even though she was blindfolded. He also liked to listen to Schubert while his victims were being tortured, and she found some cassettes in his car of the same music. On the surface, Roberto appears to be outraged by the crimes of the dictatorship even to the point of saying that the ones who committed murder and torture should be executed. "I'm for killing the whole bunch of them," he tells Geraldo, who does not favor the death penalty at all (Dorfman 11). Roberto seems quite casual about executing people, in fact, as if he has had some experience in these matters before. Perhaps he protests also too much and may well be hiding his real motives and intentions if he is truly the criminal Paulina believes him to be. Then his words and actions take on a completely different meaning, since his real purpose would be to obtain more information from Geraldo about the Investigating Commission and relay to other members of the old regime. After all, he may have had plenty of experience in the past getting information out of his victims, and would be cunning and manipulative enough to make Geraldo believe he is a friend of freedom, justice and democracy. A careful examination of his words also indicates that his real concern is not for the victims of past crimes but to close the door on all this history and forget about it. He makes several statements about how the country should "shut the door on all the divisions and hatreds of the past" and "close an exceptionally painful chapter in our history" (Dorfman 10). These pious platitudes are also very convenient for past torturers, of course, but Paulina is not prepared to let them off so easily and indeed is very likely going to kill him unless Geraldo can persuade her otherwise.

Geraldo is also extremely worried about the serious consequences that will ensue if she kills Roberto, no matter whether he is innocent or guilty. If he is just an innocent Good Samaritan who gave him a ride, then she will be arrested and go to jail for kidnapping and perhaps even murder. Geraldo is not certain that her identification is correct and cautions that "a vague memory of someone's voice is not proof of anything" (Dorfman 18). Very likely he would be making similar remarks to the witnesses who came before his commission, and not only because he was concerned about justice and fairness to the accused. On the other hand, if Roberto is indeed one of the torturers, her action will risk unraveling to accords the new government made with the military (and the U.S.), with the implicit threat that the dictatorship will take over again. Therefore, the decisions she has already made are very dangerous, not only for herself but to the entire country. She is quite cynical about Geraldo aw well and believes he is opportunistic, hoping to become minister of justice someday under the new government. "You be reasonable," she tells Geraldo, "They never did anything to you," and that is the fundamental difference between them (Dorfman 20). His commitment to the Investigating Commission may nothing more than a sham designed to enhance his career, as long as he does not make waves and simply goes along with the system. Geraldo's hidden motives are far more complex than some liberal idealism and commitment to democracy and nonviolence, while Paulina's are more openly personal and political. She not only has a certain feminist discontent at how Geraldo orders her around, but a deep distrust of the type of 'democracy' that he and others like him have established -- one that seems to have very minimal concern for the powerless, the marginalized and victims of past repression. In this sense, Paulina is far more radical and revolutionary than he is, and more inclined to use violent methods to destroy the old order. She strongly dislikes all the compromises that Geraldo has made, and is shrewd enough to realize why he really wanted to be on the Investigating Commission and agreed to it without consulting with her.