Democracy Dies in a Day

This message comes from Progressive Insurance. Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. At six in the morning, I remember that somebody called saying that the navy is coming. I was told if it happens, would be very violent. So take care. Protect yourselves. Try to leave your houses. My name is Sergio Vitar. Sergio has been a lot of things, a civil engineer, an author, and at the time he's speaking about, he's a government worker. We'll get to all that later. Right now, Sergio needs to make a decision. He has to leave his house. But where should he go? Where is even safe anymore? Should I go to the palace, government palace? It was completely blocked. The only information he could get was by tuning into the radio. So he flipped it on in the car as he headed for a friend's house on the outskirts of the city. Doctor Salvador Allende. The president of Chile, Salvador Allende, came on the radio. I will not resign, he says. I will pay with my life for the loyalty of the people. The seed we planted in the dignified conscience of thousands and thousands of Chileans will not be shriveled forever. Sergio reached his friend's house. Throughout the day, he could hear bombs, airplanes buzzed low to the ground, and gunfire echo throughout the neighborhood. That afternoon, over the radio, the announcement came. The president was dead. By the radio, there was a list of people called by the military that we should present ourselves. The next day, at 7AM, Sergio's name became one of them. I called my wife saying, could you come? I've been called. His mind was racing, and some embassies had called and offered asylum. But if he tried to take refuge there and the embassies fell, then he might be in even bigger trouble. So Sergio decided to turn himself in. I have nothing to hide. This is a democratic government. So I presented myself. The soldiers took his documents and detained him along with a bunch of other people, some of them who he knew. So we stayed twenty four hours or forty eight hours. And at the time, I think there was a decision among the the the heads of the military, what is called the junta. Should we kill these guys or send them abroad? An helicopter arrived, but there was no answer. They took us, and then they push us to a bus with guys with, machine guns. The soldiers told them if anyone moved, they would be shot. And they took us to an a plane. On the plane, armed men guarded them closely. We didn't know where we were going. Just days before, Sergio Bittar worked for the Chilean government. Blindness because we blindness. Because we were a …