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Eric Fichtl
<p>'Memory' and 'vote blank' – two slogans summarising popular exasperation with the post-dictatorship Argentine political landscape. <br /></p>

Thanks for visiting. This website features my photography, writing, and a bit about me.

PHOTOS

Here is a random sample of my photos. Visit my galleries for many more.


<p>A stark warning on a wall in Santiago: 'If the government is capitalist, we will be ungovernable'.</p>
<p>Elephants already alert shortly after sunrise.</p>
<p>Workers laying cobbles in Sibiu. </p>
<p>A close-up of two giraffes crossing the bushveld. </p>
<p>A night scene in Bressanone / Brixen.</p>
<p>A detail of figures at the Temple of the Dawn, or Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchaworawihan, in Bangkok.</p>
<p>A quiet afternoon at the market in the highland town of Ossu.<br /></p> <p>The rustic structure features a functional vaulted roof covering the main trading area (useful given the torrential rainfall in the country) with a facade that mixes shapes from vernacular local architecture with a tinge of art deco, fashionable with the then-colonial ruler.</p>
<p>In Dili's Santa Cruz cemetery, a large cross commemorates the victims of the 1991 massacre by Indonesian security forces. On 12 November, a large crowd including many high school students marched to the cemetery in a funeral procession for a young activist killed by Indonesian forces two weeks earlier. Soldiers opened fire on the crowds, killing over 200 people at the cemetery and in the streets and hospitals after the march.</p> <p>The Santa Cruz massacre was a turning point, ramping up Timorese resistance to Indonesia's annexation of the former Portuguese colony. Smuggled footage of the massacre increased pressure on Jakarta from the international community, but brutal years still laid ahead. A long and ugly guerrilla war eventually led to Indonesia's withdrawal in 1999, a UN-administered transitional period, and Timor-Leste's independence in 2002. </p> <p>Studies suggest more than 200,000 Timorese were killed during the 24 years of Indonesia's occupation – a staggering figure made all the more disturbing when one considers that Timor-Leste's total population in 1975 was only 630,000 people.</p>
TEXTS

A lot of what I write professionally carries no byline. Here are some of the works I have put my name to.

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On Nury Vittachi's 'North Wind'

Hong Kong writer Vittachi examines pressure on free speech during the 1997 handover from Britain to China
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Are They Civilians or Mercenaries?

Misleading government statements mask the actual extent of Washington’s military involvement in Colombia.
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The Ambiguous Nature of “Collaboration” in Colombia

Most Colombians have done something that might result in them being labeled a collaborator or sympathizer by one of Colombia’s armed groups.