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Australian
woman
'tortured in
Chile'
SYDNEY, Sunday.
A 27-year-old natu
ralised Australian
woman has apparently
been jailed in Chile and
allegedly tortured.
Miss Alexandra Lamas,
the daughter of Hollywood
actor Fernando Lamas, left
Sydney by air on September
(> for three weeks in South
America, two weeks in her
native Argentina and one in
Santiago, Chile.
The week in Chile, at the
outset of her vacation, was to
have been spent at a training
course offered _ by Iter
employer, the Chilean nation
al airline, Lan Chile.
A spokesman for the De
partment of Foreign Affairs
in Canberra said last night
that he believed Miss Lamas
was being held in a Chilean
jail on a charge related to
taking money into the
country for an organisation
the Government regarded as
left-wing.
Dr Joint McCarthy, a Syd
ney general practitioner, said "
last night he had information
that the woman had been
severely tortured.
'Kidnapped for
information'
lie also alleged she had
been kidnapped in tin at
tempt to gain information
about a supposed inter
national plot to overthrow
the military Government in
Chile.
Dr McCarthy said he and
his wife had known Miss
Lamas for about six months
and described her as a "very
meek and mild" person who
was "not specially interested
in politics".
She did not belong to any
Chilea'n organisations in
Australia and would not act
as a money courier.
Since he first learnt of her
plight on Thursday, Dr
McCarthy has organised a
committee of union and Chi
lean national groups to act
against Chilean Government
offices and Chilean com
panies in protest against the
imprisonment.
Lan Chile officials in Syd
ney could not be reached
tonight to comment on
Miss Lamas's imprisonment
or allegations by Dr
McCarthy that the airline
svas partly involved in the af
fair.
Dr McCarthy • said Miss
Lamas's father lives in Los
Angeles and is a US citizen.
Her mother is believed to
live in the Taree area in
northern NSW.
The Foreign Affairs
spokesman said ho believed
there had not been a trial yet.
A Government represen
tative in Chile had been re
fused permission to see Miss
Lamas, but Chilean officials
had said she could be inter
viewed "in due course".
The Government was mak
ing representations on the
woman's behalf through its
embassy in Santiago.
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