Jose with his mother in Cuba, about 1948.
Source: Jose Alonso
Memories
Jose and Gaston carry with them potent memories of their homelands. Jose says he is attached to ‘a mythical Cuba that no longer exists,’ a time of happiness and prosperity. Gaston’s memories are a complex fusion of an unhappy childhood, political euphoria and despair, and the trauma he tries to forget.
A Difficult Journey
Gaston was released from prison into the glare of Pinochet’s Chile in 1976. His entire government file was missing, leaving him without an identity. He was not allowed to complete his qualifications. Other members of Gaston’s family had already migrated to Australia and his marriage to the girl he had written to in prison was on shaky ground. It was time to leave.