Chile's Dictatorship & Culture. What You Need To Know
How repression shaped resistance — through books, music, and film.
🎟️ Chile from 1600-1900 | Short History
1600s — Before the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, indigenous peoples like the Mapuche inhabited Chile.
1818 — Chile gained independence from Spain and spent the next century swinging between conservative and liberal governments.
1900s — Inequality and labor exploitation (especially in mining and agriculture) sparked waves of unrest.
📘 A Long Petal of the Sea | Book
This is where Isabel Allende’s novel A Long Petal of the Sea begins.
Published in 2020, it follows Victor Dalmau, a young doctor (and later family friend to the Allendes) who flees Franco’s Spain during the Civil War.
They board a refugee ship to Chile — organized by none other than poet Pablo Neruda (we’ll return to him later).
In Valparaíso, they try to rebuild a life. But peace is fleeting.
Because Chile, too, would soon fall to dictatorship.
