Anarchism in Chile

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Chilean anarchists

The anarchist movement in Chile emerged from European immigrants, followers of Mikhail Bakunin affiliated with the International Workingmen's Association, who contacted Manuel Chinchilla, a Spaniard living in Iquique. Their influence could be perceived at first within the labour unions of typographers, painters, builders and sailors. During the first decades of the 20th century, anarchism had a significant influence on the labour movement and intellectual circles of Chile. Some of the most prominent Chilean anarchists were: the poet Carlos Pezoa Véliz, the professor Dr Juan Gandulfo, the syndicalist workers Luis Olea, Magno Espinoza, Alejandro Escobar y Carballo, Ángela Muñoz Arancibia, Juan Chamorro, Armando Triviño and Ernesto Miranda, the teacher Flora Sanhueza, and the writers José Domingo Gómez Rojas, Fernando Santiván, José Santos González Vera and Manuel Rojas. At the moment, anarchist groups are experiencing a comeback in Chile through various student collectives, affinity groups, community and cultural centres, and squatting.

First stage: The early years (1880–1921)[]

Carlos Pezoa Véliz.

First publications[]

Anarchist propaganda began circulating in Chile around 1880, consisting of literary works arriving from Spain and Argentina. The first libertarian newspaper, El Oprimido, was published in 1893 in Valparaíso, followed by others such as: El Ácrata, La Luz, La Revuelta, La Batalla, El Surco, Acción Directa and others. La Batalla was published continually for a longer period of time, between 1912 and 1926. There were also various newspapers published by general unions with anarchist tendencies, such as: El Siglo XX, La Imprenta (typographers) and El Marítimo in Antofagasta (sailors).^[1]

After the Russian Revolution (which was regarded with distrust by most anarchists from the very beginning), the differences between anarchists and Marxists deepened. Their cohabitation within general unions came to an end, and the moderate and reformist socialists took over the Workers' Federation of Chile (FOCH).^[2]

In December 1919, the Chilean wing of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was founded in Valparaiso. The Chilean IWW differed from the revolutionary workers' organisation in the United States: in Chile, it had clearer anarcho-syndicalist tendencies than in the US, and was more a revolutionary and syndicalist organisation rather than a libertarian one. The IWW had a national reach, from Iquique to Corral. They declared themselves as enemies of the capital, the government, and the church, and their usual tactics were striking, boycotting and sabotaging. It had an enormous influence on the sailors of Valparaíso, Iquique and Antofagasta, and it organised the bakers', ammunition manufacturers', builders' and shoemakers' syndicates. Its most famous wobblies (members) were Juan Onofre Chamorro, Armando Triviño, Pedro Ortuzar and Porfirio Soto, among others.

As far as anarchist literature was concerned, the publishing house Editorial Lux distinguished itself by printing books by Chilean and European anarchists such as Manuel Márquez and José Domingo Gómez Rojas. Among other notable militants were the typographer Enrique Arenas from Iquique, founder of a number of anarchist newspapers, as well as Luis Olea, Alejandro Magno Espinosa and Alejandro Escobar y Carballo, the driving force behind several general unions (Cappelletti, LXXXV).

General Unions and Co-operatives vs Benefit Societies[]

On 1 May 1889, Chilean anarchists first commemorated the Haymarket affair with a crowded public manifestation. A year prior, in 1898, they had founded the Carpenters and Woodworkers' Society, the Caupolicán Society for Education and Mutual Aid, and the Railroad Workers' General Union, all of them of anarchist inspiration.

In 1901, the Italian lawyer and anarchist theorist Pietro Gori visited Chile, and his influence strengthened the ideological principles of the Chilean anarchists.

The first general unions (trade unions organised by profession or specific branches) were created between 1901 and 1902, for professions such as carpenters, railroad workers, sailors, watchmakers, bakers, tram conductors, plasterers, shoemakers, furniture makers, graphic artists and coal merchants. Some of the notable activists during this period were Marcos Yánez, Belarmino Orellana, Eugenio Sagredo Jiménez, Luis Morales and Manuel Guerra.

These general unions were soon engaged in conflict with the older and newer benefit societies, which had been in existence since the mid-nineteenth century, and which they considered incapable of defending the interests of the working class. The newspaper El Faro criticised the old benefit societies, branding them as "the mutualist mummies that have been eternally vegetating without any sort of practical profit, or the economical development of which they should be responsible as the developers of all kinds of social wealth". The newspaper Siglo XX had a similar position on the matter: "It is essential within these societies to assure the payment of the quotas of their members, with no care whatsoever given to whether the individual actually has the resources to meet them or not (...) These societies are powerless in defending the privileges and the interests of the proletariat".^[3]

Anarcha-feminism also started to develop at the beginning of the century, inspired by the writings of Louise Michel, Voltairine de Cleyre, Lucy Parsons and Emma Goldman.

This context of a growing working-class movement set the basis for the emergence of co-operatives, which adopted a strictly defensive position despite their anarcho-syndicalist inspiration. The first co-operative was founded by dockworkers in Iquique on 1 May 1900, and later ones emerged in Antofagasta, Chañaral and Copiapó. In 1904 the first National Convention of Co-operatives was organised in Santiago, with the participation of 20 000 members from 15 organisations. The defensive character of these organisations meant that most co-operatives were under the control of socialists and Marxists, particularly members of the Democrat Party. Many of these went on to form the Workers' Federation of Chile (FOCH).^[2]

The Trotskyist historian Luis Vitale talked about the unifying effect of these organisations.

The red-and-black flag of anarchy.

The First Demonstrations[]

One of the first conflicts triggered by the anarchists was "the Great Boatmen Strike" of 1890, which took place in Iquique, Antofagasta, Valparaíso, Concepción and other smaller ports. A strike broke out in Valparaíso in 1903 at the South American Steamboat Company (CSV), which was suppressed violently, causing the workers to react by setting fire to the company's headquarters.^[2]

The Red Week (1905)[]

In 1905, a spontaneous workers' movement took place in Santiago, encouraged by the anarchists. It came to be known as the Red Week. The movement started as a consequence of an unjustified repression by the police of a rally of protest against taxes on imported meat. The fierce repression and clashes with the police resulted in the deaths of around 200 workers. The indignation of the workers grew stronger and stronger, and most of the labour unions went on general strike. The government declared a state of siege and called upon the army to suppress the movement. The crowds attempted to take over the governmental palace, and even though they did not manage this, the city remained under their control.

A march prior to the Santa María School Massacre.

The response of the government was to increase the repression and to persecute the revolutionary anarchists and syndicalists who were the leaders of the movement. However, anarchist activity was still on the rise. The anarchist newspaper El Alba condemned the acts in an edition released in October 1905: "The people have been assassinated with rage and malice by the young horde of the bourgeoisie. More than 500 citizens have been murdered vilely and cowardly, and more than 1500 were injured".^[1]

The Santa María School Massacre (1907)[]

Antonio Ramón Ramón, the "avenger" of the Santa María School Massacre.

In 1906 a general strike was declared in Antofagasta, run by the railroad workers. On 21 December 1907, the strike aimed at improving the pay of the saltpetre miners in Iquique ended in a massacre carried out by the authorities, known as the Santa María School massacre. It was there that the army fired into the crowd that had gathered in Santa María square, killing around 3000 people, among them workers, women, and children.^[2][4]

First stage: The early years (1880–1921)[]

Carlos Pezoa Véliz.

In 1906 a general strike was declared in Antofagasta, run by the railroad workers. On 21 December 1907, the strike aimed at improving the pay of the saltpetre miners in Iquique ended in a massacre carried out by the authorities, known as the Santa María School massacre. It was there that the army fired into the crowd that had gathered in Santa María square, killing around 3000 people, among them workers, women, and children.^[2][4]

The Chilean Workers' Federation (FTCH) (1906)[]

In June 1906, the general unions of Santiago founded the first national trade union center in the country: The Chilean Workers' Federation (FTCH). The Co-operative Federation of Valparaíso was created at the same time, and brought together the benefit societies and the general unions of the nation's main port city. Following the same example, the Co-operative Foundation of Santiago was created in 1907. The FTCH recognised only one organisation per labour union, as a way of avoiding syndicalist parallelism and also as a strategy to weaken the benefit societies, which were seen as reactionary. In 1907, the FTCH supported the general strike, which peaked on 20 June. The Santa María Massacre was the cause of a major repression of labour organisation, which meant that the FTCH and a large part of the other anarchist organisations were dissolved.

Second stage: The splendour of "the idea" (1921–1931)[]

After the Russian Revolution (which was regarded with distrust by most anarchists from the very beginning), the differences between anarchists and Marxists deepened. Their cohabitation within general unions came to an end, and the moderate and reformist socialists took over the Workers' Federation of Chile (FOCH).^[2]

In December 1919, the Chilean wing of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was founded in Valparaiso. The Chilean IWW differed from the revolutionary workers' organisation in the United States: in Chile, it had clearer anarcho-syndicalist tendencies than in the US, and was more a revolutionary and syndicalist organisation rather than a libertarian one. The IWW had a national reach, from Iquique to Corral. They declared themselves as enemies of the capital, the government, and the church, and their usual tactics were striking, boycotting and sabotaging. It had an enormous influence on the sailors of Valparaíso, Iquique and Antofagasta, and it organised the bakers', ammunition manufacturers', builders' and shoemakers' syndicates. Its most famous wobblies (members) were Juan Onofre Chamorro, Armando Triviño, Pedro Ortuzar and Porfirio Soto, among others.

General Unions and Co-operatives vs Benefit Societies[]

Industrial Workers of the World.

The main achievement of the IWW was organising the dispersal of the workers' movement in its confrontation with the capital and the government. However, it could never bring together all the syndicalist and libertarian organisations; in fact, some of them were the rivals of the industrialist organisations, since they preferred organising themselves in unions or branches. The IWW had a strong relationship with the University of Chile Student Federation (FECH), which alerted the government and caused it to increase the repression until 1920. The nationalist organisations, the right-wing crowd and the members of the Patriotic Leagues attacked the workers' and anarchists' establishments, stormed and sacked the FECH, burning the contents of its library in the streets, with the full permission of the police.

In spite of the remoteness between the IWW anarcho-syndicalism and the FOCH, (oriented by the communists since 1917), both had as a common enemy the Workers' Association, a pro-fascist employer's association.

5 September 1924 the civic and military coup d'état was repudiated by the Chilean left wing. Nevertheless, the restorative military movement of January 1925 was supported by the socialist and communist forces. The anarchists and the organizations who exercised their influence decided to stay back and not trust the military. ^[2]

In 1925 there was a "strike of tenants" in Santiago. The government decided to create a "Housing Board" to solve conflicts between tenants and owners, arrangement that was supported by the communists. The anarcho-syndicalists rejected this arrangement, which they believed had as an objective to divide the strike movement. The anarchists founded that same year a new worker's organization. The Chilean Workers' Regional Federation (known by its abbreviation in Spanish FORCH), affiliated to the International Workers' Association (AIT): taking as a model the Argentinean Regional Worker's Association (FORA). ^[5]

In January 1927 a general strike took place in Santiago and Valparaíso. A month after general Ibáñez demoted president Arturo Alessandri with a new coup d'état. The 1930s crisis hit the population hard which never stopped striking in the streets. In response, the dictatorship suppressed the worker's organizations and disarticulated them almost completely. ^[6]

In May 1929 the American Continental Workers' Association (ACAT) was founded in Buenos Aires, to which representatives of the Chilean IWW assisted. By the mid 30s it had its headquarters in Santiago, Chile. However, the organization did not have the significant impact that was expected due to the repression and the advancement of the left wing and the Latin American populist policies, which then led to the disappearance of the ACAT.

Third stage: Modern syndicalism (1931–1957)[]

Finalized the dictatorship in 1931, the communists and socialists founded the Worker's Confederation of Chile (CTCH). The anarchists create their own General Worker's Confederation (CGT). However, the legalization of the reformist union and its institutionalized, the harsh repression towards the anarchists and the certain disorganization among the libertarians: weakened the anarchist prevalence, that would start falling during the decade, with a slight upturn during the years of the Spanish Revolution, until becoming of little significance in the 1940s decade. The syndicalist prominence had remained in the hands of the reformist syndicalism of the socialists, communists, and the Christian democrats. ^[2]

In 1947 the anarquist from Cobquecura, Chile, Flora Sanhueza, created the "Ateneo Luisa Michel" inspired by the libertarian seminars from the beginning of the century. This Seminar was directed to the makers of fishing nets. In the first four years, the seminar worked as a center for development of these workers, practically in undercover. In 1953, it turned into a school that welcomed the children of women workers, dominating itself as "Libertarian School Luisa Michel". It ended up with more than 70 students. The school stopped functioning in 1957.

The foundation of the Workers' Central Union of Chile (1953)[]

On 18 June 1950 the central anarchist syndicalist National Unitarian Movement of Workers (MUNT) is created. Formed from the Laborer's Federation of Leather and Footwear Workers (FONACC) and 12 other federations of the anarchist court, in which stood out: the Miners' Federation, the Sweets Federation, the Metallurgist Federation, the Resistance Union of Plasterers (URE), the FONACC, etc.

The MUNT had it fixed to have great protagonism in the drafting of the Declaration of Values of the Unique Center of Workers (CUT), founded 12 February 1953 by the Christian syndicalist (libertarian) Clotario Blest. In this Declaration, the Chilean workers pointed out that "the emancipation of the workers is the worker's own doing" (adopting the motto of the First International).

Fourth stage: The "political anarchism" (1957–1973)[]

In the year 1957 the Libertarian Movement was founded on the seventh of July in remembrance of the general strike carried out in 1955, being its main cheerleader Ernesto Miranda. It grouped anarchists and dispersed syndicalists after its exit that year of the Worker's Central (CUT).

In 1958 Law No. 12927 is dictated on "Inner Security of the State" that, changed in diverse occasions, prevails to the present time, sanctioning any act of insurrectionist nature or revolutionary nature.^[7]

Towards 1961 the anarcho-syndicalists centralized around Ernesto Miranda participated in the formation, next to Clotario Blest, of the "Movement of Revolutionary Forces" (MFR); a "coordinator" of groups and individuals representing almost all of the spectrum of the left wing in the 60s.

In 1965, Miranda and a group of anarcho-syndicalists, reunited in the ad hoc "Libertarian" group, participate also next to Blest, of the foundation of the Movement of Revolutionary Left (MIR), retiring soon when Miguel Enríquez and the young people left behind from the Socialist party of Concepción assumed total control of the organization.

In 1972, within the framework of the "ascent of the masses" in Chile during the Popular Unit (promoted by the left wing), the "Libertarian Union Movement" (MSL) was created; this was an organization that did not receiving the support of the "Front of Revolutionary Workers" (of the MIR), so it registered a list on its own to the general elections of the CUT, taking Ernesto Miranda as candidate for president, who obtained as little as 0.35% of the voting. After losing the election of the CUT, Miranda was strongly criticized for proposing the foundation of a "libertarian political party".

In the decade of 1970 there were some sporadic appearances of libertarian groups during the government of Salvador Allende. At the beginning of 1973 the Libertarian Federation of Chile (FLCH) is born after the meeting of old militants and young people disillusioned of the MIR. This federation, although of very short existence, would become famous after writing up a proclamation where they announced the imminence of a coup d'état and the incapacity of the government of Popular Unity in order to confront it.

Fifth stage: The Lost Years (1973–1990)[]

After the coup d'état of general Augusto Pinochet, a repressive wave triggered against all the left wing, including the little individual anarchists who still existed.

In 1975 the Committee of Defense of Human rights (CODEH) is reactivated, by Clotario Blest and Ernesto Miranda, that will be of vital importance for the persecuted by the dictatorship.

The anarchist affiliation during the dictatorship did not have an organic character, limiting itself to the work of some individuals that contributed to the formation of resistance groups against the dictatorship, specially in the university and population scope. Anarchism – as a social movement was forgotten during those years. ^[8]

Contemporary Anarchism in Chile[]

Anarchism makes a comeback in Concepción[]

Between 1992 and 1995, a strong libertarian presence is observed in sectors of Concepción, in the street struggle and the protest activities of the University of Concepción; especially during the day of the young combatant.

In 1990 the "Collective Anarchist" of Concepción is formed, which gathers members of the "Factory of Union and Social Analysis" and the "Collective Liberation". The Collective is shown to the community in the act of 1 May 1990, with a noticeably anarchist poster. From this experience, and after the entrance of several individuals, the first Anarchist Congress in 1991 takes shape. Soon the "Kolektivo Kultural Mano Negra" is formed and will originate in the "Kolektivo Kultural Malatesta", that in 1995 will be the basis of the "Germinal Audio-visual Collective", origin of the "Anarchist Germinal Group".

Precisely, within the oldest groups and of anarcho-syndicalist tendency, we can mention the "Worker's Solidarity" of Concepción, tied to the AIT, and to the "Germinal Anarchist Group" of Penco, which develops propaganda work pro-IFA. This group went from being a group of audio-visual diffusion, soon happened to define itself in 1995 by the tendency of 'especifista', strengthening the work of insertion in cultural spaces like; Boca Sur, Lomas Coloradas and Chiguayante, to soon found a library and a center of documentation in Penco. At present the "Cultural Center Claudia Lopez" (named in memory of the anarchist student assassinated in 1998) is to be found in Concepción.

Within the framework of the strike of the miners of Lota of 1996, a call to the conformation of a "Committee of Solidarity" with the miners takes place. In that space, next to union sectors and Marxist groups, the libertarian presence becomes present in the three months that the struggle lasted. ^[9]

Although the anarchist revival in the 90s seems to come from the Platformism current, near the political left wing (with influences of the MIR and FPMR), that rescues the "political anarchism" of the Libertarian Movement of 7 July and that is manifested by the end of the '80s in the "Man and Society Training Center", [direct antecedent of the "Anarco Communist Congress of Unification" (CUAC) and of the "Libertarian Communist Organization" (OCL-Chile)]; with the foundation in 2002 of the Front of Libertarian Students (FEL) and of the participation in the Presidency of the Republic political campaign of Marcel Claude (through the "Libertarian Network"), this current moves away more and more of the anarchism to constitute itself in a political party of left wing.

Towards the mid '90s, product of the approach to libertarian theses of some militants of the "Youth Lautaro Movement" (MJL-Lautaro) (Marxism–Leninism-maoism), begin to develop an insurreccionalist trend similar to libertarian marxism and situacionism. Towards mid 2000s, this current starts spreading through the "Kolektivo Kamina Libre" and de las casas okupa. Although it is certain that their theses contribute a new air to the traditional anarchism, it is not less certain that their avant-garde practices situate them closer to Marxism–Leninism.

"The idea" expands throughout Chile[]

Anarchist march in Valparaíso, 2005.

During the 2000s a rebirth of "the idea" arose again; this time around the Anarchist Blok, an organization composed by different groups based in Santiago, such as: "Current Anarchist Revolution" (CRA) (the longest standing group; active since 2003), the newspaper "Ideácrata", "Direct Action Editions" or "Santiago's Society for Resistance". During those years "Anarchist May Day" and "Libertarian May, the first" celebrations were held in remembrance of the Haymarket affair.

Noam Chomsky, member of the American IWW; and Eduardo Colombo of the French CNT -and author of L'espace politique de l'anarchie-, visited the country during 2006 as they were invited by the Institute of Anarchist Studies (IEA).

Noam Chomsky.

The libertarian groups "GOKE" and "Neither Helmet Nor Uniform" lead the opposition to compulsory military service through conscientious objection since the early 1990s; becoming, thus, a referent for Chilean antimilitarism.

It is also worth noting the healthy state of the squatting movement, which has refurbished different cultural and social venues re-opening them for community use. In the city of Santiago alone there are several squat houses like "El Ateneo", "La Tortuga", "Volnitza" and "La Máquina" in the Recoleta Commune.

Born in the squatter spaces of the cities of Valparaiso, Villa Alemana and Quilpué, the informal group "Black Column" has become a center of gravity for many people committed to tasks of agitation, urban intervention, hacking, and media activism. They claim to be inspired by their particular interpretation of Situationism, their own update to Autonomism, biopolitical criticism and Queer Theory; they do not belong to an organization as such, although they function within a rhizome-like structure. This situation has made Anarchists from Valparaiso to be sometimes perceived as different from many others in the rest of Chile and elsewhere.

From the beginning of the 1990s the Eco-anarchist tendency started to be expressed in Chile in an incipient way when the works of Murray Bookchin began to be widespread. Nowadays, the "Eco-anarchist Group" (GEA) from Santiago -which advocates Social Ecology – and some other groups linked to organic community farming, permaculture and vegetarianism stand out.

During the 2006 student protests in Chile, young anarchist students at the University of Art and Social Sciences, for the first time in almost half a century, raised their banner in a struggle against education profiteering and for universal gratuity in the education system, beginning thus a campaign that would expand into the following decade and was, in fact, supported massively by the rest of the Chilean students. During the student protests in Chile in 2008 and 2011, libertarians had a significant presence within the assemblies of high school and university students, forcing the reformist sectors (communists and socialists mainly) to maintain the debate regarding universal gratuity. The communist project, up to that point, was oriented towards obtaining a system of "differentiated fee".

In the year 2012 the "First Anarchist Book Fair in Santiago" took place; and it was organized again in 2013, 2014 and 2015.^[10]

New publications[]

In recent years anarchist propaganda and media publications have multiplied, carrying out an increasingly intensive task of propagating anarchist ideas and libertarian practices in the country as well as developing its project in the social movements and organizations. These publications also give evidence of the differences among the anarchists themselves, since many groups adhere to different but not necessarily contradictory tendencies.

There are spaces dedicated to journalism from a libertarian point of view such as: Hommodolars, a website belonging to the Autonomous Collective for Counter-Information Hommodolars, and the newspaper Ojo Subterráneo.

At the beginning of the decade of 2000 the fanzine Ideácrata, the voice of the Chilean 'anarko-punk' began to be published. During 2006–2007, the journal Acción Directa made its appearance.

From 2009 to 2013 El Surco started to be published, with a circulation of 2000 copies, distributed throughout the country and abroad.

Since June 2010, the Anarco-Communist newspaper Solidaridad can be found in the most populated cities of Chile.

Since the end of 2011 the monthly newspaper El Amanecer began to be published in Chillán, with a circulation of 600 copies and presence in other parts of Chile. This publication's aim was to deal with dystopian issues such as Schizoanalysis or Anti-psychiatry. Also, from 2011 the newspaper Acracia is still being published monthly in Valdivia. Since 2014 this publication has become the mouthpiece for FALV. Also, the publication of the anarchist newspaper El Sol Ácrata began in northern Chile during 2012, with presence in Calama and Antofagasta.

There are also some publications linked to the countercultural movement; Desobediencia Publishers, the DSOBDC Editions and the fanzine Akción Direkta, among many others.

As for the audiovisual media, it is worth noting the work carried out by the Productora de Comunicación Social, which produces the videomagazine Sinapsis, a DVD launched in 2007 and renown by its documentaries. Although its periodicity is somewhat irregular and there is no clear estimate of the number of copies being distributed, the material being published has been copied intensively by different kinds of collectives.

Ediciones Espíritu Libertario is a publishing house focusing on the distribution of books, it was founded in the middle of 2001 and is a local referent for the self-management of books manufacturing. In the mid-1990s they published Historia de la subversión olvidada written by Chilean Libertarian historian Óscar Ortiz.

There are also other publishing houses relying on artisan work such as Ediciones Crimental, Afila tus Ideas, and Puñales con Tinta. They have joined efforts, alongside other small publishers, to create The Coordinating Centre of Black Editorials, which has participated in numerous instances within the students movement that has been developed at the same time.

The Criminalization of the Anarchist Movement[]

Educating and profiting = Governing and stealing. Graffiti in Ancud of 2011.

In recent years, hundreds of anarchists have been arrested and prison sentences have been served by individuals who were accused of street disorder, ill-treatment of police officers and the placement of bombs, which has led the anarchist movement to be criminalized.

One of the first victims in the clashes with the police after the return to democracy was anarchist dance student Claudia López Benaiges, who died due to the action of the state security forces during the disturbances of 11 September 1998.^[5] Today there is an Anarchist Social Center in the city of Penco that bears her name.^{[citation needed]}

On 28 January 2006, a bomb was detonated at the entrance of the offices of the National Intelligence Agency of Chile (ANI) in Tenderini Street in the city of Santiago. A group called Autonomous and Destructive Forces Leon Czolgosz took responsibility for this action.

On 31 March 2008 young anarchist Jhonny Cariqueo Yánez died as a result of the beating suffered on 29 March (Young Combatant's Day) while he was under arrest by the Carabineros de Chile in Santiago. ^[11]

On 14 December of that same year, another Anarchist and supporter of the Mapuche cause, Juan "Orangu" Cruz Magna, 28, from Santiago, was shot in the neck by strangers when he was spending some time at the Mapuche community of Temucuicui.^[12]

On 22 May 2009, Anarchist Mauricio Morales died in Santiago Centro when the bomb that he was carrying at his back went off near the Gendarmerie School.^[13]

On 31 December 2009, Basque novelist Asel Luzarraga was arrested in Padre Las Casas, accused of being involved in the placement of four explosive devices. That accusation was finally withdrawn in the face of manifest material impossibility, as it was shown that Asel was outside Chile on the dates of three of those four attacks. In 2013 he published with the publishing house Quimantú: Los buenos no usan paraguas (Desmontando un montaje; desnudando al Estado), an essay that narrates the judicial process in which he was involved.^{[citation needed]}

On 14 August 2010, in the so-called "Bombs Case", the squatter house Sacco y Vanzetti was raided and 14 people were arrested, including anarchists, anti-authoritarians and Marxists. After eight months in prison and several months of probation, all of those charged were declared innocent after a long trial that culminated in the Chilean Supreme Court.^[14] In October 2012, an appeal was rejected that sought to annul the ruling that acquitted the accused.^[15]

In 2012, young Anarchist Luciano Pitronello was sentenced to six years of probation. The process had begun with him being arrested under charges of terrorism for installing a bomb at a bank of Santander branch, and ended with him being charged for handling of explosives and the use a false patent. ^[16]

In November 2013 some young anarchists acquitted in the "Bombs Case" were arrested in Spain accused of installing explosive devices at Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar injuring a woman.^{[17][18][19][20][21][22]} They were found guilty of "Terrorist damages"and" terrorist injuries" and sentenced to 12 years in prison.^[23]

At least 200 artifacts have exploded in Chile since 2005. This has led to the formulation of charges against some thirty anarchists. In the vast majority of cases, these devices have been detonated to cause damage to the property of law enforcement and security forces, banks or transnational corporations and, in some cases, they have injured and even killed people.^[24][25][26]

Anarchism in Chile nowadays[]

Anarchism as a practice in Chile today is mostly present in the organisation of counter movements and culture. Diverse and decentralised collectives and individuals try to disseminate anarchist ideas and practices through squatting, cultural activities, strikes, and protests.^[27] Since 2019, the Anarchist Federation Santiago started organising an anarchist platform in the country's capital.^[28] Further, the Mapuche conflict and anti-government protests, most recently the 2019 uprising Estallido social, form part of contemporary representations of anarchist practices, however sometimes without direct reference to anarchist schools of thought. However, the rejection of the current government institutions and the legitimacy of the current constitution, combined with claims for and practices of autonomy and self-organisation form a central pillar of these movements and are inspired by libertarian anarchist principles.^[29][30][31] Protesting formations like Primera Línea, referred to as "clans" without a central authority, act according to anarchist principles.^[32] Similarly, the Mapuche conflict as a struggle for political, economic, and territorial autonomy is supported by other anarchist movements worldwide.^[33] As it questions the legitimacy of the Chilean Republic as the successor to the colonial sovereign, its struggle fundamentally objects the state and therefore informs itself by anarchist practices.^[34]

Presence in culture[]

The Anarchist ideology has exerted a great attraction in literary circles and Chilean intellectuals. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century there have been a significant number of literati who adhered to the anarchist cause. Among these we can mention Víctor Domingo Silva, Antonio Bórquez Solar, Carlos Pezoa Véliz, Carlos Roberto Mondaca Cortés, Alfredo Guillermo Bravo, José Domingo Gómez Rojas, and the National Literature Prizes: José Santos González Vera, author of Vidas Mínimas, and Manuel Rojas, a renowned novelist, author of Hijo de un Ladrón.

José Domingo Gómez Rojas (1896–1920)

Luis Olea, Magno Espinoza, Alejandro Escobar and Carballo, Marcial Cabrera Guerra, and Eduardo Gentoso^[35] combined their Anarchist journalistic activity and union activism with literature and poetry, which were considered as another means of spreading Anarchist ideals. The most renown of them was Carlos Pezoa Véliz, poet, translator, lecturer, journalist and lyricist of songs.

There were also novelists who supported Tolstoy's ideas such as Pedro Prado, author of La Reina de Rapa Nui and La Casa Abandonada, and Fernando Santiván, who published his autobiographical work Memorias de un Tolstoiano.

In the first decades of the 21st century, "The Idea" has resurfaced through new and diverse musical tendencies, such as punk, hip-hop, trova and electronic music. A stream of post-punk graphic design that has permeated the entire society with its Anarchist slogans has also emerged in the last years.

See also[]

• Manuel Rojas (author)
• Carlos Pezoa Véliz
• Asociación Continental Americana de Trabajadores
• Industrial Workers of the World

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Araya, Mario. 2008. Los wobblies criollos: Fundación e ideología en la Región chilena de la Industrial Workers of the World – IWW (1919–1927).
• Barret, Daniel. El mapa del despertar anarquista latinoamericano
• Ángel Cappelletti y Carlos Manuel Rama. 1990. El anarquismo en América Latina. Edit. Ayacucho, Caracas.
• Covarrubias, Darío. 2009. Destruir para construir Violencia y acción directa, en la corriente anarquista chilena (1890–1914) Tesis para optar al grado de Licenciado en Historia y Ciencias Sociales
• Gambone, Larry. El movimiento libertario en Chile
• Godoy, Eduardo. 2007. "Sepan que la tiranía de arriba, enjendra rebelión de abajo" Represión contra los anarquistas: La historia de Voltaire Argandoña y Hortencia Quinio (Santiago, 1913). Cuadernos de historia 27, Departamento de Ciencias históricas de la Universidad de Chile
• Grez Toso, Sergio, Los anarquistas y el movimiento obrero en Chile. La alborada de "la Idea" en Chile (1893–1915), Santiago, Lom Ediciones, 2007.
• Grez Toso, Sergio, Magno Espinoza. La pasión por el comunismo libertario, Santiago, Editorial de la Universidad de Santiago de Chile, 2011.
• Heredia M., Luis. 1981. El anarquismo en Chile (1897–1931); Ediciones Antorcha, México.
• Muñoz Cortés, Victor. 2009. Armando Triviño: wobblie. Hombres, ideas y problemas del anarquismo en los años veinte. Vida y escritos de un libertario criollo. Editorial Quimantú. Chile
• Muñoz Cortés, Victor. 2011. "Cuando las bombas son de papel. Los trabajadores, el Estado y la propaganda anarquista impresa. (Región chilena, 1915–1927)" Seminario Simón Collier 2010, Instituto de Historia PUC, Santiago, 2011, p. 77–112
• Muñoz Cortés, Victor. 2011. Cuando la Patria mata. La historia del anarquista Julio Rebosio (1914 -1920) Editorial USACH. Chile
• Muñoz Cortés, Victor. 2013. Sin Dios, Ni Patrones. Historia, diversidad y conflictos del anarquismo en la región chilena (1890–1990), Mar y Tierra Ediciones, Chile.
• Muñoz Cortéz, Victor. 2015. El anarquismo y los orígenes del movimiento sindical campesino en Osorno (1930–1940) Revista Fronteras de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades de la UFRO.
• Sanhueza Tohá, Jaime. 1997. "La Confederación General de Trabajadores y el Anarquismo chileno de los años 30" Instituto de Historia, Pontificie Universidad Católica de Chile. HISTORIA, Nº30, Santiago 1997, 313–382
• Solar, Felipe del y Andrés Pérez. 2008. Anarquistas. Presencia libertaria en Chile. RIL Editores. Santiago de Chile. ISBN 9789562846073
• Vitale, Luis. 1998. Contribución a una Historia del Anarquismo en América Latina. Ed. Instituto de Investigación de Movimientos Sociales "Pedro Vuskovic". Santiago de Chile.
• Vivanco, Alvaro y Eduardo Miguez. 1987. El Anarquismo y el origen del Movimiento Obrero en Chile, 1881–1916.

External links[]

• Hommodolars
• El Amanecer
• Rojoscuro
• El anarquismo en Chile
• Anarquista Germinal
• Centro de Documentación Anarquista
• El anarquismo en Chile (1890–1953) [Memoria Chilena]
• Archivo Histórico La Revuelta
• Periódico Acracia
• Periódico El Sol Acrata
• Periódico El Surco (2009–2013)
• Crimental Ediciones
• Periódico La Boina
• Grupo de Estudios José Domingo Gómez Rojas