Chile in 1973

As you may have read, on the 21^st of December, I wrote a post about one of my Spanish topics on the book ‘Como Agua para Chocolate’. Now we are studying the other part of our cultural topic where we are investigating the Film director Andrés Wood and in particular his most famous film, Machuca (2004).

 

Machuca was set in 1973 in Chile and therefore it is fascinating to study because there are many references to the political situation at that time. For example, some of the characters make their political viewpoint very clear, such as when Gonzalo’s father takes an instant disliking to his daughters new boyfriend because he was fascist, whereas the father was socialist.

Since there are so many links to politics in the film, it is crucial to have some background knowledge before watching it.

The 1970 election was very important to Chilean politics as there were three very different potential leaders who all had very different beliefs. Salvador Allende was standing but America did not want him to become president because Nixon did not trust his Marxist idiologies. Therefore the American government tried to convince the military and the congress to stop supporting him, ending in the murder of the morally-correct Rene Schneider, the commander in chief of the Chilean military. 

Despite this, Salvador Allende was voted president in these elections, as he got plurality (more votes than anyone else - 36% - without getting majority). Allende was a socialist and he tried to lead Chile ‘en la vía al socialismo’ (on the path towards socialism). This included nationalising private companies, land and properties. The most obvious of his policies shown in the film is that he handed out las becas (grants) to the Indians and tried to improve their living conditions so that they could integrate into society (Pedro Machuca received one of these grants, which is why he was able to attend the private school).  Allende also strove to improve women’s rights and encouraged ‘Allendistas’ to volunteer in shanty towns. However, these policies had grave impacts on the economy; since he fixed prices and raised salaries many foot shortages emerged, although it is possible (but not proved) that America denied Chile funds in order to make Allende look worse and therefore take him out of power.

By 1973, the Chilean situation deteriorated further – strikes began as the country was very split between the ‘Allendistas’ and his rivals and there were worries of a war breaking out. This was shown in the film by the graffitti 'no a la guerra civil' (no to the civil war). On the 11^th of September, Allende was opposed in a political coup where the armed forces and police bombarded the Palacio de La Moneda (Palace where Allende was living). We do not know whether he committed suicide or was assassinated but his denial to leave his presidency killed him. 

Antonio Pinochet came to power, who believed in dictatorship and so the military ran the country junta (alone). Nixon was very happy that a Marxist was no longer in power, so he gave a lot of help to Pinochet. However, Pinochet killed anyone who was slightly communist (and their relatives). He remained president until 1990 but was in charge of the Military until 1998.

 To conclude, although Machuca was not created to retell the political events in Chile during the 20^th century, politics is one of the key themes throughout the film and it will help you to understand the characters and subtleties throughout.