Chile

John Keenan, best known for his role in organising a boycott of work on jet engines destined for Chile after the Pinochet coup of 1973, passed away in the early hours of 8 September 2023. John was a lifelong trade unionist, initially a member of the Amalgamated Engineering Union and finally, as a result of a succession of mergers over the decades, a member of Unite the Union. Being a trade unionist can be a pretty mundane affair. You attend meetings. You keep your branch functioning. You attend conferences now and again. You go on the odd demonstration. Sometimes, you go out on strike. But...

The article by Barrie Hardy on Chile 1970-73 in Solidarity 682 brought to mind Missing , directed by Costas Gavras, released in 1982, and based on real events. Charles Harman (John Shea) is a US journalist based in Chile in the days of Salvador Allende’s left reformist government. He and his wife Beth (Sissy Spacek) are enthusiastic supporters of Allende. When the Pinochet military coup occurs, Charles is taken by troops and not seen again. His father Ed (Jack Lemon) flies down from the USA to assist in the search for his son. Attempting to enlist the services of the US Embassy he is fobbed...

An article from Workers' Fight (forerunner of Solidarity), October 1972, warning against the threat of the military coup which would come on 11 September 1973.

My Imaginary Country is a documentary by legendary director Patricio Guzmán on the 2019-2022 Chile protests in response to a subway fare increase in Santiago. The documentary has been available in Chile for a year, but it has only recently been released in the UK. It demonstrates how these protests reflected broader societal issues such as rising living costs, unemployment, and huge inequality, with David-and-Goliath confrontations on the streets between protestors armed solely with stones and police equipped with shotguns and armoured vehicles. The bravery and sacrifices of Chile’s working...

For 50 years filmmaker Patricio Guzmán has documented Chile and its people, their moments of greatest hope and periods of darkest despair. His most famous work, The Battle of Chile (1975), depicts the movement of Chilean workers with their hopes raised following the election of Salvador Allende’s reformist socialist government and how that ended in the bloody 1973 coup d’état. The dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet that killed or tortured many thousands of socialists, trade unionists and many others. My Imaginary Country , Guzmán's latest documentary, is about the “social outburst”, a...

After a long campaign, the people of Chile voted on Sunday 5 September to reject a proposed new constitution by a margin of 62% to 38% percent, marking a major defeat for the Chilean left, including recently-elected President Gabriel Boric. Activists had hoped that higher turnout, induced by compulsory voting, would enable them to defy the advance polls. It didn’t. The new constitution would have transformed Chilean politics, though it was not as radical as either its detractors or many of its international supporters made out, at least in economic terms. Its paper guarantees on healthcare and...

On 11 March left-wing former student leader Gabriel Boric was sworn in as president of Chile. Gonzalo Cuadra Malinarich, a physician training to be a psychiatrist, was heavily involved in Boric’s campaign last year. He spoke to Sacha Ismail in February. This is the second part of the interview; read the first part here . (For an overview of the historical background, 1970-2021, see here . For Kelly Rogers’ discussion of the election in December, see here .) What new struggles do you expect to see now? How do you think social movements and the new government will relate? It is difficult to say...

On 11 March left-wing former student leader Gabriel Boric was sworn in as president of Chile. Gonzalo Cuadra Malinarich, a physician training to be a psychiatrist, was heavily involved in Boric’s campaign last year. He spoke to Sacha Ismail in February. This is the first part of the interview; read the second part here . (For an overview of the historical background, 1970-2021, see here . For Kelly Rogers’ discussion of the election in December, see here .) Most of my political activity over the years has been related to health. I was involved in medical and health students’ organisations at...

Over the last decade Chile, the birthplace of neoliberalism under the military dictatorship which smashed the labour movement in the 1970s, has seen a dramatic rise of the left and major social struggles. This is a brief historical overview. For more on Chile including the recent elections, see here . 1970: Socialist Party candidate Salvador Allende elected president in a close three-way race. His government has mass working-class support, in the context of rising workers’ struggles, and carries out radical reforms; but relies on the capitalist state machine. 1973: June – attempted military...

Boric and Kast In the days after the first round of Chile’s presidential election (21 November), the mood amongst left activists in Santiago is bleak. José Antonio Kast, candidate for the far-right Christian Social Front received the largest share of the vote on Sunday, with almost 28%, while Gabriel Boric, candidate for the left coalition Apruebro Dignidad, received almost 26%. They will face each other in a second round run-off on 19 December. Polls predict a knife-edge result. It’s not 30 pesos, it’s 30 years Arriving in Santiago a fortnight ago, one thing quickly became clear. This is a...