Neo-Nazis Attacked Gay Young Man in Chile
Victim’s parents says neo-Nazis attacked their son on Sunday morning.
Armed with flags and banners and almost all wearing shirts bearing the slogan “Iqual,” a large group of demonstrators gathered at the foot of the Posta Central Hospital in Santiago on Tuesday evening.
MOVIL leader Jaime Parada speaks to press outside Hospital Posta Central where Daniel Zamudio is being cared for following an anti-gay assault last weekend.(Photo by Jason Suder/The Santiago Times)
Borne of tragedy, the aim of the demonstration was not protest, but to support -- to call attention to an ongoing problem in Chile. A savage attack on a gay man over the weekend highlights the discrimination still abound in one of Latin America’s most developed nations.
Daniel Zamudio, 24, has been in a coma at Posta Central since the weekend after suffering a beating at the hands of a group of suspected neo-Nazis. The attack has prompted severe backlash calling for an end to discrimination in Chile.
“This was a completely irrational action done by a group of very sick people,” Jaime Parada, spokesman for the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh), told The Santiago Times. “For us at Movilh, this is a very grave situation. It’s very sad for society.”
The attack on Zamudio was so brutal that he was admitted to the hospital with multiple broken bones and having suffered numerous strokes. His attackers etched swastikas into his skin, burned him with cigarettes, and cut his ear open during the assault. Zamudio later fell into a coma at the hospital.
Movilh, the gay rights group in Santiago, announced on Tuesday that they plan to pursue all possible legal action once more details become available.
"We will file appropriate legal action on Thursday or Friday of this week and we're asking for an urgent meeting with the Interior Minister,” Rolando Jimenez, president of Movilh, told the press. “The Chilean state cannot afford to have a passive attitude about violence toward homosexuals.”
Ivan and Jacqueline Zamudio, the man’s parents, told the press that this attack wasn’t without precedent for their son.
"He was quite a regular at the discos and told us that some guys had threatened him,” Ivan Zamudio told the press. “They were neo-Nazis and had harassed him previously.”
Daniel Zamundio is still in the ICU at Posta Central, but the hospital’s director, Emilio Villalon, expects the man to recover.
Villalon told the press that Zamundio has been progressing favorably, but the next 48 hours are crucial.
“His evolution has been favorable and it seems he seems like he will improve,” Villalon said. “[The swastikas] in a few months will be nothing but small scars. They are not too deep.”
While this is certainly good news, Zamundio still faces a long path to recovery. The scars, however small they become, should serve as a reminder of the dangers of discrimination. Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter offered the most direct words to address the issue.
“There is nothing more detestable than to build a fraternal society that disrespects and disregards diversity,” Hinzpeter said in a statement. “I think the violence displayed in attacking Daniel Zamudio for his sexual orientation is behavior that, as a society, we need to eradicate once and for all.”
By Payton Guion (guion@santiagotimes.cl)
santiagotimes.cl/chile/
Armed with flags and banners and almost all wearing shirts bearing the slogan “Iqual,” a large group of demonstrators gathered at the foot of the Posta Central Hospital in Santiago on Tuesday evening.
MOVIL leader Jaime Parada speaks to press outside Hospital Posta Central where Daniel Zamudio is being cared for following an anti-gay assault last weekend.(Photo by Jason Suder/The Santiago Times) Borne of tragedy, the aim of the demonstration was not protest, but to support -- to call attention to an ongoing problem in Chile. A savage attack on a gay man over the weekend highlights the discrimination still abound in one of Latin America’s most developed nations.
Daniel Zamudio, 24, has been in a coma at Posta Central since the weekend after suffering a beating at the hands of a group of suspected neo-Nazis. The attack has prompted severe backlash calling for an end to discrimination in Chile.
“This was a completely irrational action done by a group of very sick people,” Jaime Parada, spokesman for the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh), told The Santiago Times. “For us at Movilh, this is a very grave situation. It’s very sad for society.”
The attack on Zamudio was so brutal that he was admitted to the hospital with multiple broken bones and having suffered numerous strokes. His attackers etched swastikas into his skin, burned him with cigarettes, and cut his ear open during the assault. Zamudio later fell into a coma at the hospital.
Movilh, the gay rights group in Santiago, announced on Tuesday that they plan to pursue all possible legal action once more details become available.
"We will file appropriate legal action on Thursday or Friday of this week and we're asking for an urgent meeting with the Interior Minister,” Rolando Jimenez, president of Movilh, told the press. “The Chilean state cannot afford to have a passive attitude about violence toward homosexuals.”
Ivan and Jacqueline Zamudio, the man’s parents, told the press that this attack wasn’t without precedent for their son.
"He was quite a regular at the discos and told us that some guys had threatened him,” Ivan Zamudio told the press. “They were neo-Nazis and had harassed him previously.”
Daniel Zamundio is still in the ICU at Posta Central, but the hospital’s director, Emilio Villalon, expects the man to recover.
Villalon told the press that Zamundio has been progressing favorably, but the next 48 hours are crucial.
“His evolution has been favorable and it seems he seems like he will improve,” Villalon said. “[The swastikas] in a few months will be nothing but small scars. They are not too deep.”
While this is certainly good news, Zamundio still faces a long path to recovery. The scars, however small they become, should serve as a reminder of the dangers of discrimination. Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter offered the most direct words to address the issue.
“There is nothing more detestable than to build a fraternal society that disrespects and disregards diversity,” Hinzpeter said in a statement. “I think the violence displayed in attacking Daniel Zamudio for his sexual orientation is behavior that, as a society, we need to eradicate once and for all.”
By Payton Guion (guion@santiagotimes.cl)
santiagotimes.cl/chile/
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