BBC NEWS | Americas | Chile head revisits torture site: "Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has paid an emotional visit to the place where she was tortured in the 1970s.
She was held at Villa Grimaldi, a detention centre outside the capital Santiago, with her mother in 1975 during General Augusto Pinochet's rule.
The site is now a peace park and memorial to the thousands of prisoners who were tortured by the secret police.
Under General Pinochet's government about 3,000 people were 'disappeared' or killed for alleged communist links.
As she toured the park, accompanied by her mother Angela Jeria, President Bachelet spoke of her painful memories.
'They are moments of sadness that I feel, looking back to these times of terror. But the most important thing about this visit is to focus on life, freedom, dignity and peace,' she said."