The Marusia massacre ( es, Masacre de Marusia) (March, 1925) was the response of the
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
an government under president
Arturo Alessandri
Arturo Fortunato Alessandri Palma (; December 20, 1868 – August 24, 1950) was a Chilean political figure and reformer who served thrice as president of Chile, first from 1920 to 1924, then from March to October 1925, and finally from 1932 to 1 ...
to a
strike
Strike may refer to:
People
*Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
by the workers of a
saltpeter
Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrat ...
mine leading to over 500 dead, over ninety percent being strikers or their family members.
Background
The nitrate ''oficina'' (saltpeter mine) of Marusia was located in the foothills of the Andes in the
región de Tarapacá, about 4 miles northwest of the town of
Huara
Huara is a Chilean town and commune in Tamarugal Province, Tarapacá Region. It is located or ( by road) northeast of Iquique. The village is crossed by the Pan-American Highway and is the crossing point for the road that goes to Oruro in Bolivi ...
. Its monthly production was 865 tons of salt.
In March 1925, the mine workers went on strike to demand higher pay, a shorter workday, and better working conditions. While the negotiations were taking place between the company executives and the worker's representatives, the British engineer who ran the mine, a man much hated because of his habit of whipping his workers, was found dead near the mine. A Bolivian engineer was accused of the crime and executed without due process by decision of the company owners.
Events
The union, under the leadership of Domingo Soto, was afraid of reprisals, and especially of another
massacre
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
like the one that had happened only a few years before in
San Gregorio, so they decided to take several preventive measures. They contacted the other mines, and proposed to blow up the railroad tracks in order to prevent the arrival of strikebreakers. The government, upon being apprised of the unrest, responded by sending forty soldiers under the command of captain
Gilberto Troncoso
Gilberto is the Iberian and Italian version of the originally Norman-French given name ''Gilbert (given name), Gilbert'', used in Italian language, Italian, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Spanish language, Spanish languages. In Galician langu ...
, known as the "''Hyena of San Gregorio''" for his violent behaviour.
The women of Marusia organized themselves under the leadership of
Selva Saavedra
Selva () is a coastal Comarques of Catalonia, comarque (county) in Catalonia, Spain, located between the mountain range known as the Serralada Transversal or Puigsacalm and the Costa Brava (part of the Mediterranean coast). Unusually, it is divid ...
, and decided to resist the advance of the troops. When the soldiers arrived, they entered the town shooting. A group of workers responded by throwing
dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...
sticks at them, killing several soldiers and seizing their guns. Then the workers mounted a counteroffensive, taking over the explosives depot of the mine and cutting the telegraphic wires. Captain Troncoso was forced to retreat.
The miners proceeded to arm the whole town (about 2,400 people). In an open assembly, the union leaders proposed to negotiate their surrender, while some miners advocated calling upon the help of the workers from other mines. In the end, a motion by Soto that the town priest be asked to mediate was adopted.
The army reinforcements arrived in the form of a 300-man battalion under the command of Colonel
Pedro Schultz. They attacked the town in the middle of the night and machine-gunned everyone in sight. Hundreds died, including women and children — the exact number was never properly established. A group of workers were able to mount a hasty defense, throwing dynamite sticks at the advancing troops, and they managed to kill 36 soldiers and to injure 64. The surviving miners escaped with their families into the high mountains. This put an end to the immediate strike, but the conflict flared again less than two months later, and led to the
La Coruña massacre
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
.
Popular culture
The film titled ''
Letters from Marusia
''Letters from Marusia'' ( es, Actas de Marusia) is a 1975 Mexican film directed by Chilean filmmaker Miguel Littín. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was also entered into the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. Th ...
'' is based on a
Patricio Manns
Iván Patricio Eugenio Manns de Folliot (3 August 1937 – 25 September 2021) was a Chilean singer, composer, author, poet, novelist, essayist, play writer and journalist. He is known for his 1965 song " Arriba en la Cordillera".
Life and car ...
novel (1974) inspired by these events.
See also
*
Arturo Alessandri
Arturo Fortunato Alessandri Palma (; December 20, 1868 – August 24, 1950) was a Chilean political figure and reformer who served thrice as president of Chile, first from 1920 to 1924, then from March to October 1925, and finally from 1932 to 1 ...
*
San Gregorio massacre
*
La Coruña massacre
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
*
History of Chile
The territory of Chile has been populated since at least 3000 BC. By the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors began to colonize the region of present-day Chile, and the territory was a colony between 1540 and 1818, when it gained independence from ...
*
List of massacres in Chile
The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in Chile (numbers may be approximate):
References
{{massacres
Lists of massacres by country, Chile
Chile history-related lists, Massacres
Massacres in Chile,
Lists of events in Ch ...
*
Santa María School massacre
The Santa María School massacre was a massacre of striking workers, mostly saltpeter works (nitrate) miners, along with wives and children, committed by the Chilean Army in Iquique, Chile on December 21, 1907. The number of victims is unde ...
References
External links
Military interventions in Chilean politicsMovie ''Actas de Marusia'' (1976), based on the event
{{coord missing, Chile
Conflicts in 1925
Massacres in 1925
March 1925 events
Social history of Chile
History of labour relations in Chile
Protest-related deaths
Massacres in Chile
1925 in Chile
Mass murder in 1925
1925 labor disputes and strikes
Political violence in Chile
Miners' labor disputes