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.

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📘 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.

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🎟️ Chile’s Military Coup | History