My sister-in-law Wendy Tyndale, who has died aged 82 from multiple system atrophy, made secret visits to Chile after the military coup in 1973, smuggling out microfilm sewn into the lining of her clothes with evidence of torture, which helped persuade a new Labour government to offer sanctuary. The Chile Committee for Human Rights (CCHR), which she led, and other campaigners organised the escape of about 3,000 refugees to the UK during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. In 2018 the then Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet, awarded her an honour for her contribution to saving their lives.
Wendy had spent a year studying at the Catholic University of Talca in Chile from 1972, during the Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende, living in a village 150 miles south of Santiago. She shared a roof, food, even the children’s bed, with a peasant family who told her stories that had been handed down through generations.
