State of Siege Lyrics

[Music & lyrics by Raul Ignacio Alvarez]

Decree Law Number 3
is declared by the military junta
Dawning the rule of bloodshed
Dominion of order through terror
Squads of soldiers mobilised
on orders to hunt and incarcerate
dissident enemies of state
Gridlocked machinery of death

In a state of siege
murderous state of siege
Pinochet's state of siege

National stadium, the symbol of peace
Converted into the symbol of anguish
The first of many concentration camps
Systemic state torture inaugurated
Seven thousand people imprisoned
of opposite political doctrine
Awaiting the unknown providence
Electrocution, beatings, rape, murder
Thousands arrested in this state of siege
The armed forces have no regard for human life
Killings begin in this state of siege
Cadavers mounting -
Inundating the land in death

People hunted, rifle-b***ed, bayonetted
People hunted, shot dead in cold blood

Captured victims herded like cattle
Sent unawares to clandestine torture compounds

Pisagua, Chacabuco, Esmeralda,
Isla Dawson, Villa Grimaldi -
The new names of pain, suffering and death!
Cadavers dumped in streets
Cadavers dumped in common graves
Cadavers disfigured beyond recognition
Cadavers disfigured float down the Mapocho River

Blood letting carnage is this state of siege
The armed forces have no regard for human life
Thousands tortured in this state of siege
Victims brutalised - across the land in -

Mass executions in this state of siege
Cadavers vanish in unmarked common graves
Land of the vanquished in this state of siege
Cadavers discarded - across the land

Death toll mounting in this state of siege
Victims becoming the disappeared!

State of Siege (x12)