History of Censorship in Chile

Description: Independent South American nation at the southern tip of the continent

Significance: From its independence in the early nineteenth century until the 1970s, Chile had a good record of tolerating freedom of expression; that changed under the socialist government of Salvador Allende and its military successor

After Chile won its independence, it avoided many of the chaotic wars of the early nineteenth century that afflicted its neighbors and remained a stable republic. Employing censorship of political opponents, courts that quickly convicted enemies of the regime, and enjoying the support of the Roman Catholic church, its strongman ruler Diego Portales maintained order. By mid-century many of the most oppressive restrictions were lifted, and Chile maintained a free press that welcomed writers and political opponents of neighboring regimes. Although there were occasional brief periods when presidents abused their powers, the tradition of a vigorous press persevered through a civil war in 1891 and a 1925 coup, and Chileans prided themselves on their civil liberties.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Chile’s politically inconsistent regimes fluctuated on reforms and social questions. This gave rise to a spirited debate in the press as conservatives, socialists, and communists vied for power in free elections. By the 1960s Chile’s press represented a broad spectrum of ideas, from pro-Castro publications to those supporting a conservative’s responses to calls for reform. In 1970 election of Salvador Allende, the candidate of the socialist-led Popular Unity coalition, brought dramatic changes in the relationship of government to citizens. In his attempt to establish a socialist society in Chile, Allende encountered increasing resistance from the middle class and the wealthy. Despite the increasing intensity of opposition, however, the tradition of a free press persisted. Allende had promised to uphold Chile’s Statute of Democratic Guarantees, which included freedom of the press, as part of his agreement with other parties that helped him gain the presidency. Nevertheless, his government did attempt—unsuccessfully—to take over one of two private companies that controlled production of newsprint. Such control would have given him the ability to shut down opposition newspapers. Eventually Allende gave up on trying to effect dramatic changes constitutionally, and attempted to do so outside the accepted legal framework until he was killed in a bloody coup instigated by the military in September, 1973.

The coup led by General Augusto Pinochet produced one of most brutal and repressive regimes in the history of South America; it abused human rights, censored free speech, and controlled the press and broadcast media. Public book burnings of works considered subversive were also common. Under the new military government thousands of people suspected of supporting Allende’s regime were detained; many were tortured, and hundreds were murdered. Political prisoners were routinely detained without warrants, and many people were arrested for minor infractions, such as painting antigovernment graffiti, protesting government torture, or demanding accountings of persons who had disappeared in police custody.

The end of the military regime in 1990 and the ascension of an elected president dramatically eased restrictions on most forms of expression and exiled Chileans returned from abroad. The last decade of the twentieth century brought a return of the freedoms to which Chileans had long been accustomed.

While censorship in twenty-first-century Chile has been less of an issue than it was during the repressive regimes of the late twentieth century, satire of powerful political figures often leads to lawsuits. In one case, a site satirizing right-wing newspaper El Mercurio was shut down after being sued by the paper for infringing on its intellectual property. El Mercurio also succeeded for five years in suppressing a documentary about the role the paper played in propaganda during the Pinochet era; some commentators theorized that the paper's effectiveness in this was due in part to connections in the then-current right-wing government of Sebastian Piñera, pointing to the fact that the documentary finally aired after Michelle Bachelet's center-left government took power in 2014 as evidence.

Bibliography

Gallardo, Eduardo. "Arrest, Torture, Exile: Journalism under Military Rule in Chile." Interview by Gideon Long. Journalism Is Not a Crime. Journalism Is Not a Crime, 29 June 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

Jones, Derek. Censorship: A World Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge, 2015. Print.

MacWilliam, Nick. "Chile: Lies, Censorship & El Mercurio." Latin American Bureau. Latin American Bureau, 17 July 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

Peña, Paz. "Online Censorship Is Latent in Chile." Digital Rights Latin America & the Caribbean. Digital Rights Latin America & the Caribbean, 6 Apr. 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

Rohter, Larry. "After Banning 1,092 Movies, Chile Relaxes Its Censorship." New York Times. New York Times, 13 Dec. 2002. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

Schwartz, Daniel. "The Books Have Been Burning." CBC News. CBC/Radio-Canada, 10 Sept. 2010. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.