“Day of Testimony”

... we take the opportunity to send our warmest greetings to our very dear friends who, in different latitudes, in the halls in the parks of study and reflection, neighbourhood halls and meeting places are commemorating once again the anniversary of what took place on May 4th, 1969. From this magnificent place we should consecrate this movable day so that in the future it will be remembered as the “Day of Testimony” that gives priority to this human attitude and that justifies it in itself and places it above all ideologies, all theories and all practical calculations. This point of view, according to which what comes first is the expression of human life with its certainties, its doubts, its attempts, its rebellions, and which raises up those who have their feet on the earth and their head in the heavens.

Silo - 6th May, 2006.
Manantiales Park of Study & Reflection, Chile.

Punta de Vacas, Mendoza, Argentina, May 4, 1969 - The Healing of Suffering

At the time Silo gave this speech in 1969, the military dictatorship then in power in Argentina had banned all public gatherings in urban areas. Consequently, a bleak spot known as Punta de Vacas, high in the Andes on the border between Argentina and Chile, was chosen as the location for the speech. Early in the morning of May 4, the authorities placed roadblocks on all roads leading to the site. Machine-gun posts, military vehicles, and armed soldiers were stationed along the roads, and everyone was required to show identification papers to pass through the checkpoints, which led to disputes with some members of the international press.


Against the magnificent backdrop of the snow-capped Andes, Silo began to speak to an audience of some two hundred people. The day was cold and bright, and by noon the event was over.


(for full text of Silo's speech see right hand side panel).

In your internal landscape there is an ideal man or woman...

...that you search for in the external landscape. Through so many relationships your ideal remains always just out of reach—like two fragments of flint that do not quite strike except for that brief moment when perfect love dazzles us with its spark.