The Interminable Student Battle for Life, Unity and Democracy

by Anna Mitchell

Life, Unity, and Democracy: the three themes of the student movement of South America. This poster depicts the role of the student movement against Pinochet’s regime. The military control and the brutality of Pinochet’s dictatorship started after the coup-d’état on September the 11th, 1973, which overturned an age of socialism under Salvador Allende and the Popular Unity government. In the years that followed, Pinochet created a state of fear and militant rule under which Chileans directly suffered until 1990. Thousands of people in opposition to the military junta were ‘disappeared’, and many more were assassinated by the regime; the official number of presumed deaths identifies 40,018 people but countless more people are unaccounted for. The severe loss of life, coupled with the loss of democracy and unity, left Chile overshadowed by horror which the nation endured for many years. The thousands of testimonies collected since describe how a nation and its people were beaten and brutalised under Pinochet’s dictatorship. My experience studying in Chile from 2019-2020 meant I was a part of the contemporary student movement opposing President Piñera and fighting against the shadow of Pinochet that is undoubtedly still present in Chilean society. This poster caught my eye due to its shocking similarity to that of the message of the student opposition over 40 years later.

During the years of oppression, many political groups from both within Chile and the international political sphere opposed this regime and its reign of terror. The student movement in Chile, and in wider Latin America, was consistently a great source of opposition. After the coup d’état of 1973, the depoliticization of Chilean society led to military control of universities. This suppressed direct student opposition which was led from within universities, meaning that until 1984, the Chilean student movement against the dictatorship was curtailed. The deconstruction of traditional mechanisms for student activism meant that students reorganised under the banners of larger political organisations. One of these larger groups, The Latin American and Caribbean Continental Organization of Students (OCLAE), which was one of the main student organizations opposing the regime, produced this poster. It represented 38 student federations within Latin America who united to support and give voice to the student population. The aspiration of OCLAE to ‘develop the effective solidarity of students in their struggle against fascism, imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, hunger, social injustice’ meant they supported the fight against Pinochet.

The organisation produced a considerable number of supportive media and held the fifth Latin American and Caribbean Student Congress (CLAE) in Santiago, Chile, in May 1973, four months before Pinochet’s coup-d’état, demonstrating their support for Salvador Allende and socialism. During this student congress, resolutions of solidarity were demonstrated again with Chilean students, and the use of the same slogan in the CLAE 14 years later shows the OCLAE’s continuing support of the student movement against Pinochet’s regime in Chile

This poster produced by the OCLAE aims to impassion the student population, encouraging unity and to fight for freedom against dictatorship and for the lives of the Chilean people. Although it is uncertain when this poster was published, other posters designed by Raul Piña were published between 1970-1988 suggesting that this poster was produced at a similar time. The bold poster, with its colourful image of the hourglass filled with letters falling into the Chilean flag, is eye-catching and audacious. The use of multicoloured writing against the black background highlights the message and distinguishes each aim demonstrating their individual importance. The flag being filled by the letters, a nod to learning and education, portrays the importance of the student movement within Chilean society and encourages unity against the dictatorship under the banner of the national flag with its symbolism of national pride. The motif of an hourglass suggests that ‘time is of the essence’, evoking urgency and the need for swift opposition. The poster proposes that time is ‘running out’ and that it is the mobilisation of students in the fight for freedom, democracy, and human life that can ‘stop the clock’ on death and oppression, before time runs out and the dictatorship triumphs. The hourglass is taunting, asking: how long are young people willing to wait before fighting for their lives?

Furthermore, the message of unity came at a time in which many South American countries were suffering under dictatorships and living under repressive regimes, which used disappearances and isolation to increase fear. The use of Spanish and English evokes and encourages strength through international student unity, a key aspect of the OCLAE. This poster stood out to me as it reflected the messages of political posters and street art that can be seen in Santiago today.

Although the style of this poster is different to what one might see in Santiago today, the colours, and more importantly, the message, is one which easily fits into the current political scene in Chile. More recent student protests in Chile, those of 2011 and the social movement of 2019, both emulated a similar message of unity and the fight for democracy. The recent protests in Chile used the power of the united Chilean pueblo and international pressure to protest President Piñera’s government. The social movement of 2019, headed by a university student, led to national strikes and months of protests in the capital and throughout the country against inequality and corruption in Chilean society and government, which has left most of the country in poverty.

Furthermore, they criticised President Piñera, his government, and its indisputable ties with Pinochet’s regime. The social movement was fighting for a change in the constitution and thousands called for President Piñera’s resignation. Even now, in the 21st century, the Chilean students are the ones taking the stand against oppression, fighting for their lives, for real equality and democracy, and doing so through the support and unity of students from across the country and from the united Chilean pueblo. The shadow of Pinochet’s dictatorship undoubtedly remains hovering over Chilean society at all levels. This poster, aimed towards students in the 1970s and 1980s, the aims of the OCLAE who produced it, and the large involvement of young people parallels the contemporary protests. The message has not changed in the last 48 years. The fight for unity, life, and democracy is ongoing, time has not run out, and students continue to be the force that fights for a better future. .