MAPU Workers Party: "The Resistance is Fighting for Freedom People's Power Socialism”

by Gracie Andrews

In 1973 the Chilean Government, led by Salvador Allende, was overthrown by a military dictatorship headed by Augusto Pinochet. This poster was produced by MAPU (the Popular Unitary Action Movement), a political party in Chile that had been part of the Popular Unitary coalition under Allende’s leadership until the coup. Following the coup, all opposition groups were forcefully repressed, and torture, disappearance, and death awaited those who were unable to flee. Many of those who managed to escape found refuge in Europe, where they continued to resist the Junta in their home country, inspiring solidarity remotely with posters and pamphlets such as this one.

As soon as this poster was uncovered in the archive collection, its message of resistance was clear. Having explored the documents in the archive collection that detailed the brutality of Pinochet’s regime, such as the catalogues of torture committed to “subversives”, this poster instantly encapsulated the tone of the opposition groups resisting the authoritarian regime.

Immediately, the arm of resistance catches the audience’s eye as a universal symbol of resistance. It conveys the spirit behind the groups who opposed the Chilean government, as well as the solidarity felt between other resistance groups both within Chile, but also across the region, which was presently consumed by authoritarian dictatorships.

This powerful and captivating poster was produced in order to inform the wider international community of the need for resistance against the military dictatorship in Chile, as well as the repression that characterised this period in their country, which had been on an optimistic path towards social and democratic development under Allende until the military coup of 1973.

Having been part of the democratic coalition prior to Pinochet’s coup, MAPU had embraced the merits of elections for their cause, to create a socialist Chile. However, having faced the brutality of the military regime, they had resolved that the only means of resistance against the Junta was to fight, which is reflected in the narrative of the pamphlet. The iconic arm of resistance in red ink conveys a clear message, that politics in Chile was no longer to be fought at the ballot box.

The character of this poster broadcasts much of what the movements sought to communicate to the world. The blood red is bold and striking, but also symbolic of left-wing politics and resistance. The vibrant green reflects the colours of the party's flag, but may also be symbolic of Latin America’s guerrilla fighters, and when combined with the red star these colours also invoke the memory of the now martyred hero of left-wing revolution, Che Guevara.

This possible homage to Che is indicative of a wider message in the poster which does not stop at the Chilean border and conveys solidarity across the region with other repressed groups under brutal right-wing regimes. Unity is a central message in this poster, as is hope for Chile. Using the images of smiling but defiant workers conveys the power of collective action and inspires hope, but it also encourages the motivation to fight together to combat the Junta.

Although produced by a Chilean group, the pamphlet expresses the need for socialist unity against their oppressors across Latin America and indeed the Third World. The pamphlet behind the poster presents a very interesting logo in which the shape of Latin America is formed into a fist of resistance, mirroring the central logo on the poster. This call for Pan-American unity is insightful and speaks to the common experiences of Latin America in this period.

The context of the Cold War had intensified US interference in the region, which had manifested itself in violent US-backed coups, such as the one led by Pinochet in Chile, but this story was reinacted across the region, first occurring in Guatemala. Regime change was not the only impact that the Cold War had on Latin America. Tensions between the superpowers also inspired instability in the region as Cuba emerged as a Communist state, further sharpening the US’ watch over the region. The common experience of Latin America's Cold War strengthened an anti-imperialist sentiment that perforated national borders. MAPU calls on this sentiment in the detail of the pamphlet, and this commonality of cause is also represented in the imagery of the arm of resistance.

Solidarity for and resistance to the brutality and injustice of the Chilean military Junta, as well as the various manifestations of right-wing dictatorships across the region, is encapsulated in this poster. The message is powerful, hopeful, and indicative of the sentiment held by many Chileans. This verse from Victor Jara’s final song, written before he was ‘disappeared’, reflects the common message in the pamphlet, which became essential to Latin American resistance and characteristic to the period in the region:

"Let Mexico, Cuba and the world

cry out against this atrocity!

We are ten thousand hands

which can produce nothing.

How many of us in the whole country?

The blood of our President, our compañero,

will strike with more strength than bombs and machine guns!

So will our fist strike again!"

Victor Jara - Estadio Chile, 1973