Landau got the Bernardo O'Higgins Award from the Chilean Ambassador for his work in human rights.
The ceremony was held at the residence of Chilean Ambassador Mariano Fernández in Washington, DC
Read Saúl Landau acknowledgement Speech
Address given by His Excellency Mariano Fernández, Ambassador of Chile,
bestowing the decoration
“Orden Bernardo O’Higgins, en el Grado de Comendador”
upon Mr. Saul Landau
Dear Saul, dear Rebecca, IPS Board Members and staff, distinguished guests, dear friends:
Since 1811, when President James Madison nominated Joel Robert Poinsett as his Consul General to Chile, many distinguished American citizens have played a significant role in Chilean development. Names such as Poinsett, and later Wheelwright, Evans, Campbell, Meiggs are part of the history of our country. Saul Landau belongs to this group of distinguished U.S. citizens that have cooperated closely with Chile.
He has been a Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C. since 1972. He is an award-winning filmmaker, author, poet, and human rights activist. He established deep connections with Chile when he filmed the historic elections of 1970 and then produced two films about Chile during this period: "Que Hacer" (1971), which received awards at Cannes, Venice and Mannheim, and "Conversation with Allende" (1971), an interview that was conducted and finished just after President Allende won the Chilean elections of 1970. It was used to help raise awareness of Allende among American audiences.
Dear Saul, After the coup d’etat, you helped to arrange for Orlando Letelier and other Chilean exiles, like my dear friend Juan Gabriel Valdés, to work at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., and after the assassination of Letelier, you led an independent IPS investigation into the murders.
You also developed a very close working relationship with FBI officers.In fact, in 1989, you nominated FBI special agent Robert Scherrer for a Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award. Scherrer, now deceased, had been key to breaking the Letelier case and to persuade the American-Chilean agent Michael Townley to testify against others involved in the plot.
Later, your investigation of the Letelier case resulted in the 1980 book Assassination on Embassy Row, co-authored with the former Washington Post reporter John Dinges. This book remains the most detailed source of information about the case.
You have also helped keep the pursuit of justice alive by supporting the annual Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards, hosted by the Institute for Policy Studies. For 31 years, this event has brought together the human rights community of Washington D.C. to remember Orlando Letelier and Ronnie Moffitt and recognize new heroes of the human rights movement in the United States and Latin America. Among those that have received this award are the Chilean Catholic organization “Vicaría de la Solidaridad” (1986) and the Chilean Judge Juan Guzmán (2005).
Dear Saul, For more than three decades, you have used your writings to raise awareness in the United States of the pursuit for justice on behalf of your colleagues Letelier and Moffitt and other victims the dictatorship throughout the world. You have also used your articles and your academic teaching to educate new generations of Americans to promote the respect for international human rights and democracy. The present and successful Chilean democracy is unthinkable without the unique, peaceful and engaged fight against the violation of human rights. That was a strong and indefatigable fight for us Chileans, but at the same time a tackled challenge because of the unforgettable support and engagement from friends coming from all over the world.
You were always in the front line of that heroic and memorable strife.
Dear Saul, On behalf of the Chilean government and on behalf of the Chilean people, I thank you very much for your permanent support and friendship for our country and for your commitment with democracy in Chile.
Dear Saul, The Orden Bernardo O’Higgins represents one of Chile’s most precious distinctions.It was created to pay tribute to foreign friends of Chile, distinguished in the promotion of better understanding among foreign countries and Chile, or distinguished in science, in altruism and in international cooperation.You fulfill all the requisites set by the Council of the Order to pay tribute to you.
In the presence of these distinguished guests, your wife and your friends, allow me -on behalf of the Government of Chile- the pleasure and high honor of bestowing upon you la Orden Bernardo O’Higgins en el Grado de Comendador. Together with paying tribute to you, please accept my warm, deepest and most sincere congratulations.
Thank you