Carlos Labbé: Navidad & Matanza

( Revista SEA , n° 327, February 24 th, 1999)

VIVAR VIRDITTI FAMILY: SEQUESTERED HAPPINESS

The kidnapping of Bruno and Alicia, the children of renowned businessman Juan Francisco Vivar and distinguished journalist Teresa Elena Virditti, has shaken the nation. Days before the heartbreaking event, SEA had the opportunity to sit down with the entire happy family.

He greeted us with his characteristic smile and courtesy in the living room of his Los Domincos residence. He stroked the back of his sweet Great Dane Violeta. Four years ago, when Alicia, his little girl, started maturing, Juan Francisco Vivar realized they were going to need a bigger house. “When they were young the kids couldn’t sit still. They ran and jumped around all day long, and it dawned on us that what we really needed was a park. The change of scenery has made life more enjoyable. The children have rediscovered nature, and I’ve always enjoyed golfing, open spaces, horseback riding, and afternoon walks.”

Teresa Elena Virditti sat on the couch listening attentively to her husband. Earlier she had shown us the studio and library where she does her work for the journal without neglecting the needs of the family. “For Juan Francisco, the park is the most important thing, but for me there is nothing like my desk,” she comments with a smile. That’s how the Vivar Virditti’s are: an active family. “They were restless when they came out of me,” jokes the owner of the board and video game company. Bruno, the eldest son, who is very close to his mother, wanted to major in journalism, but discovered that it was not for him. Now he has taken an interest in biology. “Since I was very young, my father has brought home chemistry sets for my entertainment,” he says. Alicia, her parents say, “will be able to do whatever she wants because everything makes her happy.” The little girl nods her head and pets the dog. “In this family, everyone has their own space,” says Juan Francisco Vivar.

SEA:It must have been fun for your children to grow up surrounded by all the games your company produces.

Juan Francisco Vivar:In truth, yes. At one point I realized that the best way to test a product was to try it out at home. If Bruno and Alicia liked it, the game would be a success among the children of the nation. Although each one was tested in its own way (Vivar and his daughter laugh). Bruno, for example, performed strength tests on the materials. I’ll never forget when I brought home the first videogame, already quite some time ago. And he, accustomed to me bringing him stilts and skateboards, jumped on top of the machine (more laughter from the girl), hoping it would carry him away or something like that. Honestly I think my children are a great indicator of the tastes of Chilean children. They’re as healthy and sharp as anyone, I’m glad they’re like this. They’re happy, they want for nothing, especially affection.

SEA:Your garden demonstrates that you are a family that enjoys outdoor activities.

JFV:Yes, it’s odd, but at the same time it makes sense; I’ve filled the house with board games, but they’d rather go outside.

Teresa Elena Virditti:We have a great love for trees and all things green. My mother planted that oak when she was just a girl. This was part of my great-grandparents estate. The park wasn’t so well maintained then; it was a fairly dry garden with lots of wild grass, de rulo , as they say in the country. I remember clearly that there was a small forest, and there are still a few of those birch trees left. My sisters and I played hide and seek in that forest and pretended we were camping. I’ve always said that the children enjoy nature because on my side of the family there have been many great naturalists and botanists.

JFV:And from my side they get their manners, then. (Everyone laughs happily.) In any case, as a family, we’re characterized by our taste for fine things. This includes board games, which are proof of the beauty of human ingenuity, of the human mind, which is a marvel, which we also see in video games. It’s the same with nature. Every now and then, my wife, Terelenita, and I, we long for some landscape or climate we’ve not seen for some time. So we travel. For example, at the end of last year we were watching an American Christmas movie, as a family, everyone together in the projection room, when suddenly we were struck by a powerful nostalgia for snow. It’d been several months since we’d experienced that cold, white, exquisite substance; we missed that feeling of enormity. Except for Bruno, who is a skiing fanatic — when there isn’t any snow in Santiago he’ll go spend a weekend in Europe or Colorado. (Bruno nods, closing his eyes.) He took second place in the ’91 season. So, we all went to Switzerland. Why not? We said. We went for a few days. We still laugh recalling when Bruno tried to teach Alicia how ride a sled. He tried to show her how under a pine tree because it was starting to snow. It was really funny. All of a sudden they realized that the sled had disappeared. They thought someone had taken it without them noticing, but no. The sled went down the hill on its own! Even I was worried when I saw the empty sled show up at the chalet. Tell me that isn’t funny. (They all burst out laughing.)

SEA:So you must already have a trip planned for this summer.

JFV:The children want to go to the beach. They love swimming in the sea, they look like fish, it’s really quite a sight. Yes, we just want to get in the car, head to someplace nearby where the sea is calm, and get in the water. I love swimming in the sea, when I was very young I even swam competitively, at university level. Besides, both Terelenita and Alicia enjoy the sun, they like to tan. That’s why they’re so beautiful. But the point is to be together. It’d be nice to take a little trip inside the country and find somewhere to relax. Our beaches are just as beautiful as the great Caribbean or Mediterranean resorts. You have to appreciate what you have, that’s why we’ve already planned to go together as a family — like always — and enjoy the summer here on the central coast. We like to travel, to move, but the most important thing is to be together and to be grateful for the beautiful family we’ve created.

HOSTERIA VERGANZA is located on Highway 5 South, at the exit for the city of San Fernando. It’s the closest thing to a hotel you can find between Rancagua and Talca, and so it caught the attention of Boris Real — a lover of comfort, after all — who interrupted his trip to Navidad to stay there on the night of January 12 th, 1999. None of the employees remember him, except for Alvaro, the bartender who sometimes plays the piano, because on that night he had to prepare nine double-shots of whiskey and twenty-nine grenadines for the end table where Boris Real and another man, a blonde American or European, sat until sunrise. They conversed quietly, they seemed relaxed, says Alvaro. Every time one of them emptied a glass, they burst out laughing and signaled me, snapping their fingers. The rest of the time they wore impassive expressions. Around sunrise, it seemed to me, they spent two hours staring at each other without blinking. But when the morning light began coming in through the windows, I saw that they each were holding a butter knife in their right hand, and, taking turns, delicately tapping out a tune on wine glasses. At first the sounds were almost imperceptible, but after a few minutes I began to hear sharp, deep, undulating scales. When they were producing a clear melody, one of them half closed his eyes. Seeing this, the other nodded and stopped playing. It seemed like a game, like something invented by children who discover that the piano in the hallway actually works. But this conflicted with their appearance, their impeccable dark suits, their white shirts, their ties, their gelled hair. Around seven-thirty, without a word, they got up from the table. Taking the napkins from their laps, they brushed some crumbs off their jackets. They left some five-dollar bills on the table. The blond man bent over and picked up a heavy, black wooden case that was sitting next to his chair and handed it to the other man. They shook hands. Then they walked down separate hallways to their rooms. Two hours later the blonde man left. The other man left after breakfast, in a Corvette or a Porsche, a car that made an impression on the parking lot attendants.