September 5, 2024 • 33 mins
The saga of Latin American anarchism continues as Andrew explores the 19th and 20th century history of anarchism in Chile.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Cozon Media.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Welcome to it could happen here.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
I'm Andrew Sage of the YouTube channel Andrewism, and I'm
excited to discuss yet another facet of anarchist history from
another part of the world. This time we're taking a
look at the history of anarchism in Chile. In my
discussion of Peruvian anarchist cyindicalism, I mentioned the cross border
contacts between Peruvian and Chilean syndicalists, particularly of the IWW variety.
(00:29):
So what else were they doing in that time? Howid's
syndicalism gets started in Chile, let's find out. All credit
due to the work of Larry and Bone's anarchism in Chile,
and especially Jose Antonio Quterres Danton's eighteen seventy two to
nineteen ninety five anarchism in Chile without father Ado nos Coomensimos.
(00:50):
During the French Revolution of eighteen forty eight that founded
the French Second Republic, which was part of the so
called Springtime of the People's where revolutions swept through Europe,
two notable figures of Chilean and liberal revolutionary history happened
to be at Paris at the time Santiago Arcos and
Francisco Bilbao. Santiago Arcos was a Chilean liberal who lived
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in exile in Paris because of his father's involvement with
the independence government. There, he rubbed shoulders with French socialists
and liberals alike and also met Francisco Bilbao. Upon his
families were two into Chile, they tried and failed to
start a bank due to government pressure, so his father
returned Europe, but Arcos stayed in Chile, and after his
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father died he got a hefty inheritance and would go
on to take part in various struggles around Latin America.
Arcos also famously wrote Frontiers and Indians, A Question of
Indians and which he advocated for killing off of the
indigenous people because it was cheaper than maintain the garrison
to protect the settlers from attacks. Bit of a record
(01:51):
scratch movement, but unfortunately typical of the time. Francisco Bilbao
was another Chilean liberal who lived in Paris. Prior to
his migration, he published a rather controversial article to Chilean
sociability Las Sosiability dad Chilena, which was condemned by Chilean
authorities as blasphemous and immoral for its critique to the
(02:13):
Church and state. After his condemnation, he moved to Peru,
where he was condemned for criticizing the Peruvian president. So
he left for Paris, and in Paris he met Racos
and upon their returned to Chile. Together, Arcos and Bilbau
founded Las sosier Dad de la igual Dad or the
Equality Society, which was marginally influenced by mutualist thought. You see.
(02:36):
Anarchism thus came to Chile by way of the mutualist strain. Unfortunately,
it was quickly suppressed by the conservative government, but not
before the establishment of the country's first mutual aid society
of as many of one hundred artisans. Those artisans would
take part in the eighteen fifty one Chilean Revolution against
the Conservative government, which unfortunately didn't succeed. After the feeling
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of the revolution, the conservative government began a program of
political persecution against the instigators of the uprisings, which included
arrests and deportations. Bilbao and Arcos were among those exiled.
Other mutual lid societies were formed in the late eighteen
fifties as mutualism was caden influence among artisans like printmakers, shoemakers,
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and tailors. In eighteen sixty two, the Mutual Aid Society
La Union was founded as a general mutual for all
artists of all trades in Santiago and offered both workshops
and medical services, and established a school for artisans and
their children. By the early eighteen sixties, there were some
seventy cooperatives, both consumer and producer. By eighteen seventy there
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were thirteen neutrals which served alleviate misery. In spite of
the economic depression. La Union branched out over a dozen cities,
and in addition to education, health and welfare, it formed
a philharmonic society. So why do you think they orcs
became influential. It's probably because they were practicing what they preached,
(04:04):
showing the proof of concept of their ideas through practical
application of the principles of liberty, mutuality, solidarity and self education.
In eighteen seventy two, the Chilean section of the International
Workingmen's Association was established in Valparaiso, which is a major
coastal city in Chile. Eighteen seventy two was also the
year the anarchists were kicked out of the International, so
(04:26):
the Chilean section didn't last too long, but it did
plant to see libertarian ideas were spreading, particularly among the
nitrate miners.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Keep that in mind for later.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Then boom eighteen seventy nine, Chile goes to war with
Bolivia and Peru and actually wins, which makes Bolivia landlocked,
and that's why it's still land ocked to this day.
The war profited the Chilean and English nitrate mind bosses
and the Chilean state, but of course the workers themselves suffered.
By eighteen eighty there were thirty nine mutual a societies
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responding to those needs after the war. In eighteen eighty seven,
the Union Republicana del Pueblo or People's Republican Union was
formed with an anarchist platform.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Not long after, with a series of strikes by rail.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Workers, miners and others, the workers launched the first national
general strike in eighteen ninety and it was brutally crushed
and followed by further brutality as in eighteen ninety one.
The President Bamasada tried to press through reforms against the
wishes of both Congress and foreign capital interests, which.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Led to a civil war.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
The workers suffered semur Semo and Bamasada was defeated and
deposed and then committed suicide. Truly revolutionary anarchism came to
Chile in the eighteen nineties through an anarchist immigrant from
Spain named Manuel Chinchilla. Chilean anarchist Carlos Rquera was influenced
by Chinchilla, and together they formed the Centro des Studio
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Socialists or Center for Social Studies in eighteen ninety two
and published the paper El o Primido The Oppressed. Another
group of anarchists from iri Centro Sociality, the Tarbajadores or
Workers Social Center, founded the journal L three to dil
Pueblo the People's Scream. Among the other societies and papers
forming during this period included societ Dad, the Protecti al Trabajador,
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Imuto Apoyo, a Society for Workers Protection and mutual Aid,
and El Proletario the Proletaria. In eighteen ninety four, the
Chilean mutualists formed the Federacion de Trabahadores Chile or Workers
Confederation the FTCH, which was the first national federation of
workers in Chile and history. It wasn't all that radical
outside the context of conservative government, that is, as it
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fought for social reform as well as the usual activities
of education and health insurance. But it was influential. By
nineteen twenty five it had more than one hundred thousand members.
In eighteen ninety eight there was a general strike in
the coastal city of Ikike, and new societies were formed,
like Partido Obrero Francisco Bilbao, which became an anarchist group
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in eighteen ninety nine. Eastern societies were also formed for
railway workers and carpenters, which should go on to play
a major role in the Santiago general strike of nineteen
oh seven. Magazines, as always were also founded, like La
Tromba Irrabele and Latin Torture. We also got to see
the full demonstrations against military service and the army in
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Chilean history, under the slogan the army is the academy
of crime. From nineteen hundred to nineteen ten, anarchists were
the best organized of all the radical groups, according to
Larry Gombone, particularly in print making, bacon shoemaking, and the docks.
In nineteen hundred, there were thirty resistant societies concentrated in
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central Chile. Among industrial workers. The resistant societies were decentralized,
rotated positions, acted autonomously, and were active in strikes. By
nineteen ten, there were four hundred and thirty three resistant
societies for total membership of fifty five thousand. The YIR
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nineteen hundred also marked the establishment of man communales or
brotherhoods within the mutualist movement, which fused the mutual aid
societies were trade unions. The first man Cuminale organized Nikike,
ballooned into a movement of six thousand members, which is
the majority of the nitrade and maritime workers in northern Jile.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
The man Cuminale movement.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Favored direct action at a much greater level of organization
and solidarity than the resistant societies. The resistant societies were local,
man communales spanned large territories, uniting different trades on a city,
then provincial, then national level. One of the accomplishments of
these movements was the growing presence of workers' strikes, empowered
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by solidarity. In nineteen oh two, harbor workers staged a
sixty day strike, and in nineteen oh three there was
a general strike in the port city of Alparaiso. Resulting
in the murder of more than one hundred workers by
the state. That rebellion spread to the cities Antofagasta, Iota
and Coronet and lasted for forty three days. Where the
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Man Communales federated in nineteen oh four as the Grand
Man Communal de Abreras. They brought together twenty thousand members.
A year after their federation was the Red Week of
nineteen oh five. Tired of the inhuman conditions, the cost
of living, the high taxes, a workers committee known as Sentreo,
their studious sociate Dad at the Nao Obrero called all
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workers to join the strike and to support the cause.
By October twenty second of nineteen oh five, thirty eight
thousand people had joined the uprising, including pushers, shoemakers, tanners,
cigar makers, truckmen, tapestry makers, typographers, telegraphers, blacksmiths, tinsmiths, bakers.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
And railway workers.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
The mayor eighteen hundred police officers tried to kill the
energy on the streets, as did the ruling class funded
White Guard, but despite their massacre two hundred and fifty workers,
the movement continued to grow. By nineteen oh six, workers
were active in the Feracion de Tabadores de Chile or
the FDCCH and students had organized the Feracion de Sudiantes
(10:11):
de Chile or FeH. Unfortunately, the Mancominale movement almost died
after the nineteen oh seven Depression and severe military repression,
the worst instance of which was the Santa Maria massacre
of Ikike, where over three Thouist and manitrad miners and
their supporters were killed by machine gun file after going
on strike for better living conditions than the company towns
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built around the mines. The company towns were run by
the mine owners, who owned the workers' housing, owned the
company store, monopolized all commons, employed a private police force,
and paid workers in tokens instead of money. The strikers
was joined by their wives, children and other workers in
the city of Ahike and had set up strike headquarters
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at the Santa Maria School. They were given an hour
to disband or be fired upon. When they stood firm,
a cittant General silver Renard, known as the Butcher of Ikike,
gave US troops the order to fire upon the strikers,
their wives and their children. One eyewitness said, quote on
the central balcony stood thirty or so men in the
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prime of their life, quite calm, beneath a grade layan flag,
and surrounded by the flags of other nations. They were
the Strike Committee. All eyes were fixed on them, just
as all the guns were directed at them. Standing they
received the shots as though struck by lightning. They fell
and the great flag fluttered down over their bodies. There
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was a moment of silence as the machine guns were
lowered to aim the school yard and the hall occupied
by a compact mass of people who spilled over into
the main square. There was a sound like thunder as
they fired. Then the gunfire ceased, and the foot soldiers
went into the school by the side doors, firing as
men and women fled in all directions. End quote estimates vary,
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with conservative estimates placing the death toll over two thousand,
while Juterres Danton's account reckons as many as three thousand,
six hundred. In any case, if all three thousand of
those miners were members of the Grand Man Comunale Delbreras,
that had mean roughly fifteen percent of the movement was
slaughtered in one massacre, a significant tragedy for sure. Following
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the massacre, the movement formed the Feracio Obrera de Chile
or FOCH, which aimed to pull together all the organizations
involved in the struggle, whether anarchists, Marxists or liberals. It
was co created by the once faltered Man Cominals and
grew in militancy until had fully adopted anarchistiniclist principles. Even
the trade unions outside of the FOSCH were anachistynicalist, but
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eventually the Synaclists and FOCICH would be overtaken by the
Marxists following the rise of the Soviet Union and the
deeper intentions between anarchists and Marxists. Also in the nineteen tens,
the famous Chilean poet Pablo and Ruder was Robin Schoulers
with the anarchists, though he eventually became a Communist of
the Marxist fariety. Meanwhile, the student org FACCH established a
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popular university to link workers and students and develop popular education.
In nineteen twelve, the Federacion Operera Regionale li Chile FORH
or FOT was formed, while nineteen nineteen marked the launch
of the Chile and IWW, which expanded to nineteen cities
and at ten thousand strong, membership all the while the
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strikes continued. Nineteen nineteen marked yet another general strike. The
nitrate minds weren't as profitable as they once were, creating
more attention as workers were laid off. The state was
in debt and with domestic disarray, it needed a distraction,
so it tried to spark yet another war with Peru. Thankfully,
the war never happened when it looked like it would be.
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It was roundly condemned by the FECCH, as they should,
but nineteen nineteen was also the year that reactionaries broke
into the fecch's headquarters and burned down the building. While
archists workers were being jailed, tortured and murdered all the
way into the nineteen twenties. Still, by nineteen twenty five,
there were two hundred and fourteen syndicates in Chile, posting
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the active participation of more than two hundred thousand people,
and it was the first year where Chilean dedication of
the IWW was able to participate in an IWA congress.
Santiago had a wrench strike, and yet still work of
blood was being spilled and tortured, and then a coup
happened in nineteen twenty five, Colonel Carlos Ibaniez took power
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and by nineteen twenty seven sought of fully abolished the
labor movement. Union offices were raided, anarchist groups disbanded, and
journals shut down. The labor movement persisted, the ideas lived on,
but the anarchists were hit particularly hard. Next we'll find
out what happens in the rest of the twentieth century
for the anarchist movement in Chile. We're back talking about
(15:04):
the history of anarchism in Chile. We almost gave Das
Sayer and arrest of the Zierrobente. Let's see what they
get up to for the rest of the twentieth century.
In nineteen thirty, the industry that Chile had been relying
on for years, the one that had caused so much
strife for workers across the country, had suffered a major blue.
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German scientists discovered a synthetic nitrate there was far cheaper
than the natural one. Nitrate is used in both foot
liizer production ammunitions manufactory, so with the cheap alternative to
the form found in the ground, the meager livelihoods of
thousands of workers was now under threat. The mine owners
may have had to reshuffle their finances a bit to
recover from the loss of the booming industry, but it
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was the workers who dealt with.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
The worst of such a crisis.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
They faced famine, mass migration, and overcrowded compounded by the
existing economic pressures of the worldwide recessionnineteen thirty crisis hit
the population hard, but they kept strike and regardless. The
dictatorship of Colonel Carlos Ibanie's fell in nineteen thirty one
due to all that popular unrest. Then things went from
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bad to worse. The center of workers struggle in the
city of Santiago, the headquarters of the Ferracion Obrera de
Chile or FOCH, where organizations of all flavors had worked together,
came under attack in April nineteen thirty four. The police
and the White Guards, which were a group of capitalists
funded meadheads, opened fire on the compound, killing seven workers
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and a child, while badly injuring around two hundred others.
In June of that same year, nineteen thirty four, four
hundred and seventy seven peasants were slain in Alto, Biobiu,
Rankiel and Lonqui May all fairly small towns in the
countryside of Chile. Two years later, in December nineteen thirty six,
the Ferracion Obrera Regionale de Chile or FRCH or FORT
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and the Chilean IWW moved together to form the Confederacion
the Trabajadores or CGT. It was their anarchist alternatives, the
communist and socialist founded Workers Confederation of Chile or CTCCH,
which they saw as more reformists. Together they fought to
achieve the eight hour workday, Sundays off, indemnity for accidents
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at work, monetary recognition for years of service, the right
to retirement, and the right to an old age pension. Meanwhile,
the Chilean Anarchist Federation or FACCH got active and sent
some brigades to support their comrades in the Spanish Civil War.
During the Civil war period, anarchism had another upswing of
popularity in Chile, but since the reformist union had legal
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and institutional back in, since the anarchists were being heavily repressed,
and since there was some disorganization among them, the anarchists
had started to lose their popularity. Anarchist cyndicalism had declined.
Significantly going into the nineteen forties, while reformist cynicalism stayed
strong under the control the socialists, communists and Christian Democrats.
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In nineteen forty six, eight workers were murdered and many
more were seriously injured by the police dogs at Bulmez
Square in Santiago. The persecution of workers, and particularly anarchist
workers continued into nineteen forty seven as Pisagua, a notorious
and Twoman camp once used to detain key folks from
the Carlossi when he has dictatorship, was transformed into a
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concentration camp for socialists, communists, anarchists under President Gabrielle Gonzales Fidela.
The notorious Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet had a stint run
in the camp in that time as well, so, of course,
fearing for their lives, anarchist organizations had to go underground.
Even underground, they were able to accomplish some radical work.
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For example, the Louisa Michelle Cultural Center renamed the nineteen
fifty three to Luisa Michelle Libertarian School, which sought to
educate female workers and later children as well. It had
at a time over seventies two guns It was able
to last for a decade up until nineteen fifty seven,
despite authoritarian repression. In nineteen fifty the Arachis Syneclus Ernesto
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Miranda brought together twelve federations and several syndicates into the
Movimento Unitario Nacional de Travadores or Month, or Movement for
Workers Unity. Prior to the formation of the Month, Miranda
got started in the workers movement at the age of
twenty way back in nineteen thirty two. While working in
the shoe industry, he fought the local Nazis and the police,
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were taking part in various unions and unitary committees. Fo
On the Formation of Month, nineteen fifty three saw the
formation of the Central Unitaria de Travadores or CUT, Chile's
United Labor Center. The initial aims and principles of CUT
were drawn up by members of the Confederacion General de
Travagadores or CGT and anarchist syncalists filled the shoe worker,
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printer and maritime unions. In the CUTS Declaration, the workers
proclaimed that the amount of peace of the workers is
the work of the workers themselves, and that quote the
present capitalist system based on private ownership of land, instruments
and means of production, and exploitation of man by man,
which divides society into antagonistic classes exploited and exploiters must
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be replaced by a social economic system that abolishes private
property until that classless society is reached, in which man
and humanity are assured of their full development. The Central
Workers Union will carry out a revindicative action within the
principles and methods of the class struggle, maintaining its full
independence from all governments and partisan political sectarianism. However, the
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Central Workers Union is not an apolitical union. On the contrary,
representing the conjunctions of all sector of the work in masses,
it is humanimatory action will be derived above the political
parties in order to maintain its organic cohesion. The trade
union struggle is an interiral part of the general class
movement to proletaria and the exploited masses, and as such
a connont I must not remain neutral in the social
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struggle and must assume its proper leadership role. Consequently, it
declares that all trade unions organizations for the defense of
the interests and goals the workers within the capitalist system,
but at the same time, the organizations of class struggle
that points to the economic emancipation of the workers as
their goal, that is, the socialist transformation of society, the
abolition of classes and the organization of human life, to
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the abolition of the oppressive state. Endcode. The CUT tried
and failed to call a general strike in nineteen fifty five,
partially because, unbeknownst to them, the communists and socialist groups
within the CUT had reached their own agreement with the government.
By nineteen fifty seven, the CUT were severely split. The
anacosynicalists abandoned it in protest of its involvement in an
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electoral pact with the FRAP the Frinde Amplio Popular, a
left wing party during the lead up to the presidential
election in nineteen fifty eight. The anarchist synicalists rightfully believed
that the CUT getting involved with the political party would
promised working class independence. However, that act of protest would
also diminish the influence of the anarchists and the union movement.
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Nineteen thwfty seven also marked the rise of Elmo Vimiento
Libertario Fie de Julio or the seventh of July libertarian
movement the Brotia. The anarchists, centrade unionists from Osorno, Temuco, Concepcion,
Dinares and Talca were disposed after leaving the CUT. It
unfortunately dissolved a decade later as his participants got involved
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in other organizations. Ernesto Miranda, one of the co creators
of Month, went on to create Comitte the Defenser the
Revolution Cubana, although by nineteen sixty the Anarchist Federation FAH
was already worn in of the Cuban Revolution's involvement with Russia.
Miranda later went on to form the MIR the Movimento
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de Skierreta Revolutionaria the revolutionary left wing movement in nineteen
sixty five, alongside anarchist synclist Crotario Blessed and trot Enriqueese
Perlvader Cultarioblast had previously visited Cuba, which had impressed upon
him the need for insurrectionary action. Upon his return to Chile,
Blessed formed the Third of November Movement M three end
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to promote revolution and unite the revolutionary left against electoralism.
Before the MR was founded, there was the MFR, the
Movement of Revolutionary Forces in nineteen sixty one, which brought
together non line anarchists, trusteists, maoists, socialists and communists in
the trade union world. With the growing involvement of communist parties,
it eventually took over. The anarchists were eventually sideline in
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the m MIR and it was quickly known as a
fully mL org. The MIR persists to this day. Another
organization was also founded in this time, the VP of
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Van Garadia Organizata DEB were rejected the authoritarianism of the MIR,
with an ideological blend of anarchism and anti authoritarian Marxism.
Both MIR and VOP were doing their thing and would
play struggles and getting their finance in through bank robberies,
but this wouldn't last and both groups would also faced
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repression and reaction from the authorities. Then came nineteen seventy
with the election of Popular Unity candidate A Salvador Allende
to the presidency. Allende was considered a democratic socialist, the
first Marxist democratically elected in Latin America. Allendady cleared an
amnesty for all political prisoners and even to coun members
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of VP. As part of his personal guard or Crupo
de Amigo's personalities gap. By nineteen seventy one, they already
warned the President that the right was plotting to overthrow
the government, but the president didn't take them on, so
they took matters into their own hands and executed one
of the key plotters in the coup plans.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
For that, they were.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Punished in nineteen seventy too, workers began to take over
their workplaces, as the US had imposed a trade and
credit embargo in retaliation for the nationalization of us.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
O and Copper Minds.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Neighborhood committees took goods from the work of control factories
and distributed them amongst the communities. The FDR or Friend
Trabadori's Revolution Scenarios or Revolutionary Workers Front played a major
role in this process. Proven that workers were quite capable
of running a factory by themselves and their government and
bosses were no longer necessary. But for all his alleged
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socialist credits a end, they couldn't believe this was possible,
so he sent observers to give orders within the affected factories. Meanwhile,
peasants were taken over land and organizing through the MCR
or Movimientole Campesinos Servlu scenarios or revolutionary peasants movement. The
government was feeling the pressure applied from without and within.
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By nineteen seventy three, Henry Kissinger and the other d
Ones of the US did a test run coup, but
the people back arcaded the neighborhoods and factories from the
police and army. Being the first elected Marxis president of
Latin Miracle, Allende was patient zero for a pattern of
interventions that would plague the region for years to come.
After three years of presidency and a second cop attempt,
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a Costo Pinochet took power in a US backed coup
in nineteen seventy three. A few months after the first
coup attempt, tanks rolled on the streets of Santiago. Thousands
were tortured, raped and murdered. Anarchists were disappeared. Those that
escaped death found themselves in concentration camps, many of which
were ironically established on the remains of the old nine
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trade mind villages. All political parties and trade unions were banned.
Some courses at universities were closed down, denounced as the
home of revolutionary sentiment. The secret police direction hinta national
called Folks in Fair. The executive would be thrown into
the sea, and Pinochet would go on to rule for.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Nearly sevenineteen years.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
In nineteen seventy five, anarchist Crotario Bless and Ernesto Miranda
would activate the Committee of Defense of Human Rights, the
Code which would become of vital importance for those persecuted
by the dictatorship. They will record the rights violations and
rescue and help escape those being persecuted. In nineteen seventy
seven and seventy eight, the CODAS managed to organize the
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first event during the dictatorship to commemorate International Worker's Day,
which helped to disrupt the fair people had of the dictatorship.
Six years after the coups headed into the eighties, despite
the oppression, the anarchists were starting to reorganize. Alongside libertarian
leading members of the former Popular Unity Coalition. They created
the Umbrella Group Socialist Ideas and Action PAS and took
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part in the struggles against the dictatorship in the eighties.
In nineteen eighty, syndicates affiliated with Norway's IWA was able
to secure the freedom of europe members in prison for
nearly a decade, exchanging the m prison one for exile
while the Marxist mir managed to assas Saint the chief
of Army intelligence from her Vergara Campos and a few
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other significant military figures, as well as bombing US affiliated corporations.
In nineteen eighty two, textile workers went on strike despite
the risk of oppression, and they were joined by a
solidarity strike by nineteen eighty three, when children and teachers
wouldn't attend school, people wouldn't buy anything, and workers would
stay home, the police tried to disrupt the marches of
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the people. Two were killed as a result, and one
hundreds were arrested or wounded. But between nineteen eighty three
and nineteen eighty four, mass protests became more frequent and
the people defended themselves against the police with molotovs, stones
and barricades. While anarchists were involved in these struggles, anarchists
ideas went to focus. The focus was on top leanded dictator. However,
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by nineteen eighty four you had a libertarian magazine called Lavois.
The Lattery is most circulating. Eighty seven, the anarchist black
flags reappeared in Santiago. Concepts and social centers also established
with an anarchist streak, such as the Center for Social
Studies Elduende the ELF in Santiago and the Collectiva Araquista
(29:14):
Librascion cal In Conceptcion, both under the umbrella of the
Taira de Analyst in NiCl Social the Studio for Social
Studies and Analysis, which was created with the aim of
bride and space for the oppressed. A newspaper called Akrata
Anarchist was published by Collectivo and Arquista Conceptcion, and the
Bulletin Liberacion by the cal Accion Director was published by
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Anarchist Comrades in Santiago. For nineteen eighty nine, Pinochet had
to accept defeat and step down. By nineteen ninety, liberal
democracy had returned somewhat to Chile. In the nineties, several
anarchist groups formed, disappeared, and regrouped, and several anarchists publications
were printed and spread. Yeah the Anarchist into Cities, Federation
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Veracion and Alarquista in Terciodana, the cham Or Juvee Toures
and Time militaristas the Malo the Movement too Anarchistas Luis Cole,
the FAI Conceptscion, Collectivo Cultural Libertario, Bartesta Conceptcion, Red Anarchista
and various other groups in Viallemana, Osorno, Tinuco, Conceptcion, Paparaiso, Santiago,
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et cetera. Jose Antoniogo terrest Anton, the author of one
of the historical accounts I referenced, took part in several
of these orcs as well as their own collective arbor
Neegro returned to delegations the IWA Congress in Spain in
December of nineteen ninety four and took over the work
of the IWW in Chile. As of the twenty first century,
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several collectives and individuals are disseminated in anarchist ideas and practices.
Anarchist book fairs have been hosted in Santiago, and the
Anarchist Federation Santiago has been working in.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Organizing an anarchist platform.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Anarchists inspired or adjacent movements have lit the streets against
the government, protest formations, refew central authorities, and indigenous Mapouche
activists carry on their decounal struggle against the state by
various means, sometimes bordering on an archic and The Mapuch
struggle in Chile, by the way, is a fascinating story
that really deserves its own episodes, which I hope to
(31:20):
explore in the future. Anarchist activists have also continued to
be killed by the police or other reactionaries following the
return of democracy, such as Claudia Lopez men Aches in
nineteen ninety eight and Jnei Carrikeo Yanez and Juan Cruz
Magna in two thousand and eight. Chilean anarchists have also
allegedly been set in bombs around the country meant to
(31:43):
cause damage to law enforcemund security forces, banks, and transnational
corporations property, but also caused an occasional injury or death
to people. Danbone also writes the mutual aid societies still
function and in a society where the welfare state is
practically nonexistent, mutual aid plays a much greater role than elsewhere.
(32:04):
Cooperatives both agricultural and consumer are found in Chile, although
you don't have the same level of economic influence that
similar movements have in Western Europe or Canada, and there
are other libertarian oriented developments as well. Left wing Christians
and x Marxistanists who rejected the Vanguard Party formed local
based committees working in progracionis. They function as mutual aid
(32:24):
societies and centers to organize local issues.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
End.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
I hope that the people of Chile, like everywhere else,
can find true freedom. After over a century of anarchists struggle.
I hope they can find revolutionary success. Until that day,
this has been andrew Sage of Andrewism. It could happen here.
Given the historical context of anarchism in Chile. Where am
I to go next? Hopefully far?
Speaker 2 (32:51):
All power to all the people peace.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
It could happen here as a production of pools on.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
For more podcasts from.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Cool Zone Media, visit our website cool zonemedia dot com
or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources
for It could happen here, updated monthly at coolzonemedia dot
com slash sources. Thanks for listening.
Cozon Media.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Welcome to it could happen here.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
I'm Andrew Sage of the YouTube channel Andrewism, and I'm
excited to discuss yet another facet of anarchist history from
another part of the world. This time we're taking a
look at the history of anarchism in Chile. In my
discussion of Peruvian anarchist cyindicalism, I mentioned the cross border
contacts between Peruvian and Chilean syndicalists, particularly of the IWW variety.
(00:29):
So what else were they doing in that time? Howid's
syndicalism gets started in Chile, let's find out. All credit
due to the work of Larry and Bone's anarchism in Chile,
and especially Jose Antonio Quterres Danton's eighteen seventy two to
nineteen ninety five anarchism in Chile without father Ado nos Coomensimos.
(00:50):
During the French Revolution of eighteen forty eight that founded
the French Second Republic, which was part of the so
called Springtime of the People's where revolutions swept through Europe,
two notable figures of Chilean and liberal revolutionary history happened
to be at Paris at the time Santiago Arcos and
Francisco Bilbao. Santiago Arcos was a Chilean liberal who lived
(01:11):
in exile in Paris because of his father's involvement with
the independence government. There, he rubbed shoulders with French socialists
and liberals alike and also met Francisco Bilbao. Upon his
families were two into Chile, they tried and failed to
start a bank due to government pressure, so his father
returned Europe, but Arcos stayed in Chile, and after his
(01:31):
father died he got a hefty inheritance and would go
on to take part in various struggles around Latin America.
Arcos also famously wrote Frontiers and Indians, A Question of
Indians and which he advocated for killing off of the
indigenous people because it was cheaper than maintain the garrison
to protect the settlers from attacks. Bit of a record
(01:51):
scratch movement, but unfortunately typical of the time. Francisco Bilbao
was another Chilean liberal who lived in Paris. Prior to
his migration, he published a rather controversial article to Chilean
sociability Las Sosiability dad Chilena, which was condemned by Chilean
authorities as blasphemous and immoral for its critique to the
(02:13):
Church and state. After his condemnation, he moved to Peru,
where he was condemned for criticizing the Peruvian president. So
he left for Paris, and in Paris he met Racos
and upon their returned to Chile. Together, Arcos and Bilbau
founded Las sosier Dad de la igual Dad or the
Equality Society, which was marginally influenced by mutualist thought. You see.
(02:36):
Anarchism thus came to Chile by way of the mutualist strain. Unfortunately,
it was quickly suppressed by the conservative government, but not
before the establishment of the country's first mutual aid society
of as many of one hundred artisans. Those artisans would
take part in the eighteen fifty one Chilean Revolution against
the Conservative government, which unfortunately didn't succeed. After the feeling
(02:59):
of the revolution, the conservative government began a program of
political persecution against the instigators of the uprisings, which included
arrests and deportations. Bilbao and Arcos were among those exiled.
Other mutual lid societies were formed in the late eighteen
fifties as mutualism was caden influence among artisans like printmakers, shoemakers,
(03:21):
and tailors. In eighteen sixty two, the Mutual Aid Society
La Union was founded as a general mutual for all
artists of all trades in Santiago and offered both workshops
and medical services, and established a school for artisans and
their children. By the early eighteen sixties, there were some
seventy cooperatives, both consumer and producer. By eighteen seventy there
(03:44):
were thirteen neutrals which served alleviate misery. In spite of
the economic depression. La Union branched out over a dozen cities,
and in addition to education, health and welfare, it formed
a philharmonic society. So why do you think they orcs
became influential. It's probably because they were practicing what they preached,
(04:04):
showing the proof of concept of their ideas through practical
application of the principles of liberty, mutuality, solidarity and self education.
In eighteen seventy two, the Chilean section of the International
Workingmen's Association was established in Valparaiso, which is a major
coastal city in Chile. Eighteen seventy two was also the
year the anarchists were kicked out of the International, so
(04:26):
the Chilean section didn't last too long, but it did
plant to see libertarian ideas were spreading, particularly among the
nitrate miners.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Keep that in mind for later.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Then boom eighteen seventy nine, Chile goes to war with
Bolivia and Peru and actually wins, which makes Bolivia landlocked,
and that's why it's still land ocked to this day.
The war profited the Chilean and English nitrate mind bosses
and the Chilean state, but of course the workers themselves suffered.
By eighteen eighty there were thirty nine mutual a societies
(04:59):
responding to those needs after the war. In eighteen eighty seven,
the Union Republicana del Pueblo or People's Republican Union was
formed with an anarchist platform.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Not long after, with a series of strikes by rail.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Workers, miners and others, the workers launched the first national
general strike in eighteen ninety and it was brutally crushed
and followed by further brutality as in eighteen ninety one.
The President Bamasada tried to press through reforms against the
wishes of both Congress and foreign capital interests, which.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Led to a civil war.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
The workers suffered semur Semo and Bamasada was defeated and
deposed and then committed suicide. Truly revolutionary anarchism came to
Chile in the eighteen nineties through an anarchist immigrant from
Spain named Manuel Chinchilla. Chilean anarchist Carlos Rquera was influenced
by Chinchilla, and together they formed the Centro des Studio
(05:52):
Socialists or Center for Social Studies in eighteen ninety two
and published the paper El o Primido The Oppressed. Another
group of anarchists from iri Centro Sociality, the Tarbajadores or
Workers Social Center, founded the journal L three to dil
Pueblo the People's Scream. Among the other societies and papers
forming during this period included societ Dad, the Protecti al Trabajador,
(06:14):
Imuto Apoyo, a Society for Workers Protection and mutual Aid,
and El Proletario the Proletaria. In eighteen ninety four, the
Chilean mutualists formed the Federacion de Trabahadores Chile or Workers
Confederation the FTCH, which was the first national federation of
workers in Chile and history. It wasn't all that radical
outside the context of conservative government, that is, as it
(06:37):
fought for social reform as well as the usual activities
of education and health insurance. But it was influential. By
nineteen twenty five it had more than one hundred thousand members.
In eighteen ninety eight there was a general strike in
the coastal city of Ikike, and new societies were formed,
like Partido Obrero Francisco Bilbao, which became an anarchist group
(06:58):
in eighteen ninety nine. Eastern societies were also formed for
railway workers and carpenters, which should go on to play
a major role in the Santiago general strike of nineteen
oh seven. Magazines, as always were also founded, like La
Tromba Irrabele and Latin Torture. We also got to see
the full demonstrations against military service and the army in
(07:20):
Chilean history, under the slogan the army is the academy
of crime. From nineteen hundred to nineteen ten, anarchists were
the best organized of all the radical groups, according to
Larry Gombone, particularly in print making, bacon shoemaking, and the docks.
In nineteen hundred, there were thirty resistant societies concentrated in
(07:42):
central Chile. Among industrial workers. The resistant societies were decentralized,
rotated positions, acted autonomously, and were active in strikes. By
nineteen ten, there were four hundred and thirty three resistant
societies for total membership of fifty five thousand. The YIR
(08:02):
nineteen hundred also marked the establishment of man communales or
brotherhoods within the mutualist movement, which fused the mutual aid
societies were trade unions. The first man Cuminale organized Nikike,
ballooned into a movement of six thousand members, which is
the majority of the nitrade and maritime workers in northern Jile.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
The man Cuminale movement.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Favored direct action at a much greater level of organization
and solidarity than the resistant societies. The resistant societies were local,
man communales spanned large territories, uniting different trades on a city,
then provincial, then national level. One of the accomplishments of
these movements was the growing presence of workers' strikes, empowered
(08:45):
by solidarity. In nineteen oh two, harbor workers staged a
sixty day strike, and in nineteen oh three there was
a general strike in the port city of Alparaiso. Resulting
in the murder of more than one hundred workers by
the state. That rebellion spread to the cities Antofagasta, Iota
and Coronet and lasted for forty three days. Where the
(09:06):
Man Communales federated in nineteen oh four as the Grand
Man Communal de Abreras. They brought together twenty thousand members.
A year after their federation was the Red Week of
nineteen oh five. Tired of the inhuman conditions, the cost
of living, the high taxes, a workers committee known as Sentreo,
their studious sociate Dad at the Nao Obrero called all
(09:28):
workers to join the strike and to support the cause.
By October twenty second of nineteen oh five, thirty eight
thousand people had joined the uprising, including pushers, shoemakers, tanners,
cigar makers, truckmen, tapestry makers, typographers, telegraphers, blacksmiths, tinsmiths, bakers.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
And railway workers.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
The mayor eighteen hundred police officers tried to kill the
energy on the streets, as did the ruling class funded
White Guard, but despite their massacre two hundred and fifty workers,
the movement continued to grow. By nineteen oh six, workers
were active in the Feracion de Tabadores de Chile or
the FDCCH and students had organized the Feracion de Sudiantes
(10:11):
de Chile or FeH. Unfortunately, the Mancominale movement almost died
after the nineteen oh seven Depression and severe military repression,
the worst instance of which was the Santa Maria massacre
of Ikike, where over three Thouist and manitrad miners and
their supporters were killed by machine gun file after going
on strike for better living conditions than the company towns
(10:34):
built around the mines. The company towns were run by
the mine owners, who owned the workers' housing, owned the
company store, monopolized all commons, employed a private police force,
and paid workers in tokens instead of money. The strikers
was joined by their wives, children and other workers in
the city of Ahike and had set up strike headquarters
(10:54):
at the Santa Maria School. They were given an hour
to disband or be fired upon. When they stood firm,
a cittant General silver Renard, known as the Butcher of Ikike,
gave US troops the order to fire upon the strikers,
their wives and their children. One eyewitness said, quote on
the central balcony stood thirty or so men in the
(11:15):
prime of their life, quite calm, beneath a grade layan flag,
and surrounded by the flags of other nations. They were
the Strike Committee. All eyes were fixed on them, just
as all the guns were directed at them. Standing they
received the shots as though struck by lightning. They fell
and the great flag fluttered down over their bodies. There
(11:35):
was a moment of silence as the machine guns were
lowered to aim the school yard and the hall occupied
by a compact mass of people who spilled over into
the main square. There was a sound like thunder as
they fired. Then the gunfire ceased, and the foot soldiers
went into the school by the side doors, firing as
men and women fled in all directions. End quote estimates vary,
(11:57):
with conservative estimates placing the death toll over two thousand,
while Juterres Danton's account reckons as many as three thousand,
six hundred. In any case, if all three thousand of
those miners were members of the Grand Man Comunale Delbreras,
that had mean roughly fifteen percent of the movement was
slaughtered in one massacre, a significant tragedy for sure. Following
(12:21):
the massacre, the movement formed the Feracio Obrera de Chile
or FOCH, which aimed to pull together all the organizations
involved in the struggle, whether anarchists, Marxists or liberals. It
was co created by the once faltered Man Cominals and
grew in militancy until had fully adopted anarchistiniclist principles. Even
the trade unions outside of the FOSCH were anachistynicalist, but
(12:45):
eventually the Synaclists and FOCICH would be overtaken by the
Marxists following the rise of the Soviet Union and the
deeper intentions between anarchists and Marxists. Also in the nineteen tens,
the famous Chilean poet Pablo and Ruder was Robin Schoulers
with the anarchists, though he eventually became a Communist of
the Marxist fariety. Meanwhile, the student org FACCH established a
(13:06):
popular university to link workers and students and develop popular education.
In nineteen twelve, the Federacion Operera Regionale li Chile FORH
or FOT was formed, while nineteen nineteen marked the launch
of the Chile and IWW, which expanded to nineteen cities
and at ten thousand strong, membership all the while the
(13:27):
strikes continued. Nineteen nineteen marked yet another general strike. The
nitrate minds weren't as profitable as they once were, creating
more attention as workers were laid off. The state was
in debt and with domestic disarray, it needed a distraction,
so it tried to spark yet another war with Peru. Thankfully,
the war never happened when it looked like it would be.
(13:50):
It was roundly condemned by the FECCH, as they should,
but nineteen nineteen was also the year that reactionaries broke
into the fecch's headquarters and burned down the building. While
archists workers were being jailed, tortured and murdered all the
way into the nineteen twenties. Still, by nineteen twenty five,
there were two hundred and fourteen syndicates in Chile, posting
(14:11):
the active participation of more than two hundred thousand people,
and it was the first year where Chilean dedication of
the IWW was able to participate in an IWA congress.
Santiago had a wrench strike, and yet still work of
blood was being spilled and tortured, and then a coup
happened in nineteen twenty five, Colonel Carlos Ibaniez took power
(14:33):
and by nineteen twenty seven sought of fully abolished the
labor movement. Union offices were raided, anarchist groups disbanded, and
journals shut down. The labor movement persisted, the ideas lived on,
but the anarchists were hit particularly hard. Next we'll find
out what happens in the rest of the twentieth century
for the anarchist movement in Chile. We're back talking about
(15:04):
the history of anarchism in Chile. We almost gave Das
Sayer and arrest of the Zierrobente. Let's see what they
get up to for the rest of the twentieth century.
In nineteen thirty, the industry that Chile had been relying
on for years, the one that had caused so much
strife for workers across the country, had suffered a major blue.
(15:25):
German scientists discovered a synthetic nitrate there was far cheaper
than the natural one. Nitrate is used in both foot
liizer production ammunitions manufactory, so with the cheap alternative to
the form found in the ground, the meager livelihoods of
thousands of workers was now under threat. The mine owners
may have had to reshuffle their finances a bit to
recover from the loss of the booming industry, but it
(15:48):
was the workers who dealt with.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
The worst of such a crisis.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
They faced famine, mass migration, and overcrowded compounded by the
existing economic pressures of the worldwide recessionnineteen thirty crisis hit
the population hard, but they kept strike and regardless. The
dictatorship of Colonel Carlos Ibanie's fell in nineteen thirty one
due to all that popular unrest. Then things went from
(16:13):
bad to worse. The center of workers struggle in the
city of Santiago, the headquarters of the Ferracion Obrera de
Chile or FOCH, where organizations of all flavors had worked together,
came under attack in April nineteen thirty four. The police
and the White Guards, which were a group of capitalists
funded meadheads, opened fire on the compound, killing seven workers
(16:34):
and a child, while badly injuring around two hundred others.
In June of that same year, nineteen thirty four, four
hundred and seventy seven peasants were slain in Alto, Biobiu,
Rankiel and Lonqui May all fairly small towns in the
countryside of Chile. Two years later, in December nineteen thirty six,
the Ferracion Obrera Regionale de Chile or FRCH or FORT
(16:58):
and the Chilean IWW moved together to form the Confederacion
the Trabajadores or CGT. It was their anarchist alternatives, the
communist and socialist founded Workers Confederation of Chile or CTCCH,
which they saw as more reformists. Together they fought to
achieve the eight hour workday, Sundays off, indemnity for accidents
(17:21):
at work, monetary recognition for years of service, the right
to retirement, and the right to an old age pension. Meanwhile,
the Chilean Anarchist Federation or FACCH got active and sent
some brigades to support their comrades in the Spanish Civil War.
During the Civil war period, anarchism had another upswing of
popularity in Chile, but since the reformist union had legal
(17:42):
and institutional back in, since the anarchists were being heavily repressed,
and since there was some disorganization among them, the anarchists
had started to lose their popularity. Anarchist cyndicalism had declined.
Significantly going into the nineteen forties, while reformist cynicalism stayed
strong under the control the socialists, communists and Christian Democrats.
(18:03):
In nineteen forty six, eight workers were murdered and many
more were seriously injured by the police dogs at Bulmez
Square in Santiago. The persecution of workers, and particularly anarchist
workers continued into nineteen forty seven as Pisagua, a notorious
and Twoman camp once used to detain key folks from
the Carlossi when he has dictatorship, was transformed into a
(18:24):
concentration camp for socialists, communists, anarchists under President Gabrielle Gonzales Fidela.
The notorious Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet had a stint run
in the camp in that time as well, so, of course,
fearing for their lives, anarchist organizations had to go underground.
Even underground, they were able to accomplish some radical work.
(18:47):
For example, the Louisa Michelle Cultural Center renamed the nineteen
fifty three to Luisa Michelle Libertarian School, which sought to
educate female workers and later children as well. It had
at a time over seventies two guns It was able
to last for a decade up until nineteen fifty seven,
despite authoritarian repression. In nineteen fifty the Arachis Syneclus Ernesto
(19:09):
Miranda brought together twelve federations and several syndicates into the
Movimento Unitario Nacional de Travadores or Month, or Movement for
Workers Unity. Prior to the formation of the Month, Miranda
got started in the workers movement at the age of
twenty way back in nineteen thirty two. While working in
the shoe industry, he fought the local Nazis and the police,
(19:31):
were taking part in various unions and unitary committees. Fo
On the Formation of Month, nineteen fifty three saw the
formation of the Central Unitaria de Travadores or CUT, Chile's
United Labor Center. The initial aims and principles of CUT
were drawn up by members of the Confederacion General de
Travagadores or CGT and anarchist syncalists filled the shoe worker,
(19:54):
printer and maritime unions. In the CUTS Declaration, the workers
proclaimed that the amount of peace of the workers is
the work of the workers themselves, and that quote the
present capitalist system based on private ownership of land, instruments
and means of production, and exploitation of man by man,
which divides society into antagonistic classes exploited and exploiters must
(20:16):
be replaced by a social economic system that abolishes private
property until that classless society is reached, in which man
and humanity are assured of their full development. The Central
Workers Union will carry out a revindicative action within the
principles and methods of the class struggle, maintaining its full
independence from all governments and partisan political sectarianism. However, the
(20:37):
Central Workers Union is not an apolitical union. On the contrary,
representing the conjunctions of all sector of the work in masses,
it is humanimatory action will be derived above the political
parties in order to maintain its organic cohesion. The trade
union struggle is an interiral part of the general class
movement to proletaria and the exploited masses, and as such
a connont I must not remain neutral in the social
(20:59):
struggle and must assume its proper leadership role. Consequently, it
declares that all trade unions organizations for the defense of
the interests and goals the workers within the capitalist system,
but at the same time, the organizations of class struggle
that points to the economic emancipation of the workers as
their goal, that is, the socialist transformation of society, the
abolition of classes and the organization of human life, to
(21:22):
the abolition of the oppressive state. Endcode. The CUT tried
and failed to call a general strike in nineteen fifty five,
partially because, unbeknownst to them, the communists and socialist groups
within the CUT had reached their own agreement with the government.
By nineteen fifty seven, the CUT were severely split. The
anacosynicalists abandoned it in protest of its involvement in an
(21:45):
electoral pact with the FRAP the Frinde Amplio Popular, a
left wing party during the lead up to the presidential
election in nineteen fifty eight. The anarchist synicalists rightfully believed
that the CUT getting involved with the political party would
promised working class independence. However, that act of protest would
also diminish the influence of the anarchists and the union movement.
(22:08):
Nineteen thwfty seven also marked the rise of Elmo Vimiento
Libertario Fie de Julio or the seventh of July libertarian
movement the Brotia. The anarchists, centrade unionists from Osorno, Temuco, Concepcion,
Dinares and Talca were disposed after leaving the CUT. It
unfortunately dissolved a decade later as his participants got involved
(22:30):
in other organizations. Ernesto Miranda, one of the co creators
of Month, went on to create Comitte the Defenser the
Revolution Cubana, although by nineteen sixty the Anarchist Federation FAH
was already worn in of the Cuban Revolution's involvement with Russia.
Miranda later went on to form the MIR the Movimento
(22:51):
de Skierreta Revolutionaria the revolutionary left wing movement in nineteen
sixty five, alongside anarchist synclist Crotario Blessed and trot Enriqueese
Perlvader Cultarioblast had previously visited Cuba, which had impressed upon
him the need for insurrectionary action. Upon his return to Chile,
Blessed formed the Third of November Movement M three end
(23:13):
to promote revolution and unite the revolutionary left against electoralism.
Before the MR was founded, there was the MFR, the
Movement of Revolutionary Forces in nineteen sixty one, which brought
together non line anarchists, trusteists, maoists, socialists and communists in
the trade union world. With the growing involvement of communist parties,
it eventually took over. The anarchists were eventually sideline in
(23:36):
the m MIR and it was quickly known as a
fully mL org. The MIR persists to this day. Another
organization was also founded in this time, the VP of
(23:57):
Van Garadia Organizata DEB were rejected the authoritarianism of the MIR,
with an ideological blend of anarchism and anti authoritarian Marxism.
Both MIR and VOP were doing their thing and would
play struggles and getting their finance in through bank robberies,
but this wouldn't last and both groups would also faced
(24:17):
repression and reaction from the authorities. Then came nineteen seventy
with the election of Popular Unity candidate A Salvador Allende
to the presidency. Allende was considered a democratic socialist, the
first Marxist democratically elected in Latin America. Allendady cleared an
amnesty for all political prisoners and even to coun members
(24:38):
of VP. As part of his personal guard or Crupo
de Amigo's personalities gap. By nineteen seventy one, they already
warned the President that the right was plotting to overthrow
the government, but the president didn't take them on, so
they took matters into their own hands and executed one
of the key plotters in the coup plans.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
For that, they were.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Punished in nineteen seventy too, workers began to take over
their workplaces, as the US had imposed a trade and
credit embargo in retaliation for the nationalization of us.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
O and Copper Minds.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Neighborhood committees took goods from the work of control factories
and distributed them amongst the communities. The FDR or Friend
Trabadori's Revolution Scenarios or Revolutionary Workers Front played a major
role in this process. Proven that workers were quite capable
of running a factory by themselves and their government and
bosses were no longer necessary. But for all his alleged
(25:32):
socialist credits a end, they couldn't believe this was possible,
so he sent observers to give orders within the affected factories. Meanwhile,
peasants were taken over land and organizing through the MCR
or Movimientole Campesinos Servlu scenarios or revolutionary peasants movement. The
government was feeling the pressure applied from without and within.
(25:53):
By nineteen seventy three, Henry Kissinger and the other d
Ones of the US did a test run coup, but
the people back arcaded the neighborhoods and factories from the
police and army. Being the first elected Marxis president of
Latin Miracle, Allende was patient zero for a pattern of
interventions that would plague the region for years to come.
After three years of presidency and a second cop attempt,
(26:16):
a Costo Pinochet took power in a US backed coup
in nineteen seventy three. A few months after the first
coup attempt, tanks rolled on the streets of Santiago. Thousands
were tortured, raped and murdered. Anarchists were disappeared. Those that
escaped death found themselves in concentration camps, many of which
were ironically established on the remains of the old nine
(26:38):
trade mind villages. All political parties and trade unions were banned.
Some courses at universities were closed down, denounced as the
home of revolutionary sentiment. The secret police direction hinta national
called Folks in Fair. The executive would be thrown into
the sea, and Pinochet would go on to rule for.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Nearly sevenineteen years.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
In nineteen seventy five, anarchist Crotario Bless and Ernesto Miranda
would activate the Committee of Defense of Human Rights, the
Code which would become of vital importance for those persecuted
by the dictatorship. They will record the rights violations and
rescue and help escape those being persecuted. In nineteen seventy
seven and seventy eight, the CODAS managed to organize the
(27:25):
first event during the dictatorship to commemorate International Worker's Day,
which helped to disrupt the fair people had of the dictatorship.
Six years after the coups headed into the eighties, despite
the oppression, the anarchists were starting to reorganize. Alongside libertarian
leading members of the former Popular Unity Coalition. They created
the Umbrella Group Socialist Ideas and Action PAS and took
(27:49):
part in the struggles against the dictatorship in the eighties.
In nineteen eighty, syndicates affiliated with Norway's IWA was able
to secure the freedom of europe members in prison for
nearly a decade, exchanging the m prison one for exile
while the Marxist mir managed to assas Saint the chief
of Army intelligence from her Vergara Campos and a few
(28:10):
other significant military figures, as well as bombing US affiliated corporations.
In nineteen eighty two, textile workers went on strike despite
the risk of oppression, and they were joined by a
solidarity strike by nineteen eighty three, when children and teachers
wouldn't attend school, people wouldn't buy anything, and workers would
stay home, the police tried to disrupt the marches of
(28:31):
the people. Two were killed as a result, and one
hundreds were arrested or wounded. But between nineteen eighty three
and nineteen eighty four, mass protests became more frequent and
the people defended themselves against the police with molotovs, stones
and barricades. While anarchists were involved in these struggles, anarchists
ideas went to focus. The focus was on top leanded dictator. However,
(28:54):
by nineteen eighty four you had a libertarian magazine called Lavois.
The Lattery is most circulating. Eighty seven, the anarchist black
flags reappeared in Santiago. Concepts and social centers also established
with an anarchist streak, such as the Center for Social
Studies Elduende the ELF in Santiago and the Collectiva Araquista
(29:14):
Librascion cal In Conceptcion, both under the umbrella of the
Taira de Analyst in NiCl Social the Studio for Social
Studies and Analysis, which was created with the aim of
bride and space for the oppressed. A newspaper called Akrata
Anarchist was published by Collectivo and Arquista Conceptcion, and the
Bulletin Liberacion by the cal Accion Director was published by
(29:38):
Anarchist Comrades in Santiago. For nineteen eighty nine, Pinochet had
to accept defeat and step down. By nineteen ninety, liberal
democracy had returned somewhat to Chile. In the nineties, several
anarchist groups formed, disappeared, and regrouped, and several anarchists publications
were printed and spread. Yeah the Anarchist into Cities, Federation
(30:00):
Veracion and Alarquista in Terciodana, the cham Or Juvee Toures
and Time militaristas the Malo the Movement too Anarchistas Luis Cole,
the FAI Conceptscion, Collectivo Cultural Libertario, Bartesta Conceptcion, Red Anarchista
and various other groups in Viallemana, Osorno, Tinuco, Conceptcion, Paparaiso, Santiago,
(30:24):
et cetera. Jose Antoniogo terrest Anton, the author of one
of the historical accounts I referenced, took part in several
of these orcs as well as their own collective arbor
Neegro returned to delegations the IWA Congress in Spain in
December of nineteen ninety four and took over the work
of the IWW in Chile. As of the twenty first century,
(30:45):
several collectives and individuals are disseminated in anarchist ideas and practices.
Anarchist book fairs have been hosted in Santiago, and the
Anarchist Federation Santiago has been working in.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Organizing an anarchist platform.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Anarchists inspired or adjacent movements have lit the streets against
the government, protest formations, refew central authorities, and indigenous Mapouche
activists carry on their decounal struggle against the state by
various means, sometimes bordering on an archic and The Mapuch
struggle in Chile, by the way, is a fascinating story
that really deserves its own episodes, which I hope to
(31:20):
explore in the future. Anarchist activists have also continued to
be killed by the police or other reactionaries following the
return of democracy, such as Claudia Lopez men Aches in
nineteen ninety eight and Jnei Carrikeo Yanez and Juan Cruz
Magna in two thousand and eight. Chilean anarchists have also
allegedly been set in bombs around the country meant to
(31:43):
cause damage to law enforcemund security forces, banks, and transnational
corporations property, but also caused an occasional injury or death
to people. Danbone also writes the mutual aid societies still
function and in a society where the welfare state is
practically nonexistent, mutual aid plays a much greater role than elsewhere.
(32:04):
Cooperatives both agricultural and consumer are found in Chile, although
you don't have the same level of economic influence that
similar movements have in Western Europe or Canada, and there
are other libertarian oriented developments as well. Left wing Christians
and x Marxistanists who rejected the Vanguard Party formed local
based committees working in progracionis. They function as mutual aid
(32:24):
societies and centers to organize local issues.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
End.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
I hope that the people of Chile, like everywhere else,
can find true freedom. After over a century of anarchists struggle.
I hope they can find revolutionary success. Until that day,
this has been andrew Sage of Andrewism. It could happen here.
Given the historical context of anarchism in Chile. Where am
I to go next? Hopefully far?
Speaker 2 (32:51):
All power to all the people peace.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
It could happen here as a production of pools on.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
For more podcasts from.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Cool Zone Media, visit our website cool zonemedia dot com
or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources
for It could happen here, updated monthly at coolzonemedia dot
com slash sources. Thanks for listening.
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Robert Evans
Garrison Davis
James Stout
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