Chile

Published here is a translation of an anonymous account of neighbourhood solidarity and self-defence squads against armed gangs in Concepción, Chile, immediately following the recent earthquake.

With the 30th anniversary of Pinochet's bloody military coup in Chile (11 September 1973), which put an end to Allende's Popular Unity government, the whole 'democratic' bourgeoisie has made full use of the occasion to try to derail workers from their own class interests. It has been trying to sell the idea that the only struggle workers should support is the defence of the democratic state against dictatorship and evil tyrants.

Dictatorship and Democracy: Two Faces of Capitalist Barbarism

On 11th September 1973, a bloody military coup led by General Pinochet overthrew Salvador Allende’s Popular Unity government. A terrible period of repression of the working class followed: thousands of people,1 mostly workers, were systematically massacred, tens of thousands imprisoned and tortured. This appalling barbarity was accompanied by hundreds of thousands of redundancies (10% of the workforce during the first year of military dictatorship).