| OCR Text |
Show The Great Escape • 11 prison wall, but because of the complex system of vigilance the Tupamaros had set up, and thanks to a couple of key diversions, he was able to quickly get out of the tunnel, up through the ceiling, and through one wall into his cell, put a poster in place to cover the hatch, change his clothes, wash his face, and receive his father's visit, still breathing heavily and smelling of dirt. But the digging continued basically undisturbed and completely undetected down fifteen feet under the prison wall, through rich dirt, heavy rocks, and loose sand, under the street Solano Garcia, and very close to the living-room floor of the Rial Castillos family home. On the night of Sunday, September 5th, the last mght before cell inspections would resume, the call went out-"Abuso!"-and the escapees made their way to the end cells on then floor to await. Earlier in the day, two groups of Tupamaros had occupied the house across the street and another house diagonally behind it. By nightfall, a large group of Tupamaros was stirring up the people of La Teja, across town, overturning cars, and burning tires in the street. Not everything went smoothly. At eleven o'clock, about an hour after lights out, all the hatches were open and everyone was gathered in the end cells and around the mouth of the tunnel waiting silently for word to start then flight. A common prisoner from the first floor began kicking his door and yelling about a toothache, wanting medical attention, possibly because he knew about the escape and wanted to cause problems. A Tupamaro doctor quickly scrambled back to his cell, knowing that the guards would ask him for medicine. He was right. By keeping his face close to his door and immediately handing the guard a couple of pills, he prevented the guard from seeing into the cell. The plan was for companeros occupying the house across the street to wait for the sign, listening with a stethoscope for tapping from below, and dig through the living room floor to connect with the tunnel. But after months of planning even the smallest details, the end was comedic. The plans had forgotten the slight incline from the street level to the house's front door, |
