A Mother’s Cry

Lina Penna Sattamini, a former freelance interpreter with the U.S. State Department, lives in Rio de Janeiro.

"A family's chance descent into the indignities of Brazil's military dictatorship is uncompromisingly recorded in nearly a decade of letters penned across continents; so too is the inextinguishable hope to set free a son, grandson, and brother. Arbitrarily imprisoned, brutally tortured, and subsequently whisked abroad to safety, Marcos P. S. Arruda would then face years of difficult rehabilitation. His is the tale of many a political prisoner; but, fortunate to escape with his life, he has ever since borne witness against the oppression, corruption, and brutality of authoritarian regimes, their supporters, and their protectors the world over."--Ralph Della Cava, Columbia University

Acknowledgments ixA Political Chronology of the Brazilian Military Dictatorship (1964–85) xiiiIntroduction: The Personal and the Political under the Brazilian Military Regime / James N. Green 1We Must Never Forget: A Memoir / Lina Penna Sattamini 191. The Beginning 212. Operation Bandeirante 233. The Military Hospital 264. Incommunicado 325. Our First Visit 366.. Still Imprisoned 407. Transferred to Rio 488. Solitude 629. Support in the United States 6810. My Return to Brazil 7111. The Saga Continues 7712. Anguish 8513. Despair 9214. Freedom 9515. Exile 10016. Protest 10417. Recovery 10818. Continuing the Struggle 11219. Another Martyr of the Dictatorship 12020. In Search of a Permanent Visa 12221. Returning Home 12822. Never Forgetting 133Epilogue: No Path for the Righteous Traveler / Marcos P. S. Arruda 137Editor's Postscript / James N. Green 175Bibliography 177Index 181