The Chile 50 Years campaign is a national initiative with a strong Sheffield basis. Details can be found here but, please, also follow us on Twitter @chile50yrsUK and Facebook . The campaign aims to commemorate the victims of the September 11th 1973 coup and celebrate the solidarity that the Chilean exiled community received from the labour and freedom movements in the UK. We must, however, not forget that, at the same time, Pinochet was protected and supported by successive British governments, most prominently the one led by Margaret Thatcher.
The military coup in Chile was supported by the American government and unseated the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende. It was a crime against the Chilean people and instigated 17 years of oppression led by the dictator General Pinochet. It dragged the nation towards an economic path that increased inequality and social division.
The economic system imposed with extreme brutality by Pinochet and his allies was led by fanatic neoliberal economists, who religiously believed that an economy based on competition, greed and infinite growth would have brought freedom and welfare. This ideology was eventually adopted across the world, with disastrous consequences. The social and climatic catastrophe that we are currently experiencing is the result of such dogmatic thinking.
It is vital that we remember the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Chilean military regime as well as its dark legacy for the future of the world as sadly seen nowadays in several countries across the world, including Britain. Please come along to our day of commemoration on the 9th of September (details in the poster).
