Under Suspicion of Being A Communist(Por sospecha de comunista)

“If I don’t walk, I don’t make any money”. This affirmation made by Leonel Badilla gives us a view of his daily routine in which he walks the Ñunoa neighborhood every day asking for money in order to pay for his daily bread and sleeping arrangements. He must be sure to earn this money by the end of every day or run the risk of staying out on the street.His walk appears difficult and tired given his advanced age, but he has his loyal companion that accompanies him daily, his hand held radio. Leonel listens to his favorite programs by Cristobal Cohen and Marcelo Hermosilla, that accompany him on this route while he ponders ideas regarding his life: his sadly abandoned childhood, his views about the governments of Allende and Pinochet, his being detained under the “suspicion of being a communist“, and his every-day struggle to survive which he considers would have been better had it ended after the military coup d’ etat.