Santa María School massacre
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The Santa María School massacre was a
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 ...
of striking workers, mostly saltpeter works (nitrate) miners, along with wives and children, committed by the
Chilean Army The Chilean Army ( es, Ejército de Chile) is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade. In recent years, and a ...
in
Iquique Iquique () is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. It has a population of 191,468 ...
,
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 ...
on December 21, 1907. The number of victims is undetermined but is estimated to be over 2,000. It occurred during the peak of the nitrate mining era, which coincided with the Parliamentary Period in Chilean political history (1891–1925). With the massacre and an ensuing reign of terror, not only was the strike broken, but the workers' movement was thrown into limbo for over a decade. For decades afterward there was official suppression of knowledge of the incident, but in 2007 the government conducted a highly publicized commemoration of its centenary, including an official national day of mourning and the reinterment of the victims' remains. The site of the massacre was the
Domingo Santa María Domingo Santa María González (; August 4, 1825 – July 18, 1889) was a Chilean political figure. He served as the president of Chile between 1881 and 1886. Early life He was born in Santiago de Chile, the son of Luis José Santa María G ...
School, where thousands of miners from different nitrate mines in Chile's far north had been camping for a week after converging on Iquique, the regional capital, to appeal for government intervention to improve their living and working conditions.
Rafael Sotomayor Gaete Rafael Segundo Sotomayor Gaete (November 16, 1848 – February 16, 1918) was a Chilean politician and several times minister. He was born in Cauquenes, the son of Rafael Sotomayor Baeza and of Pabla del Carmen Gaete Ruiz. He studied at the In ...
, the minister of the interior, decided to crush the strike, by army assault if need be. On December 21, 1907, the commander of the troops at the scene, General Roberto Silva Renard, in accordance with this plan, informed the strikers' leaders that the strikers had one hour to disband or be fired upon. When the time was up and the leaders and the multitude stood firm, General Silva Renard gave his troops the order to fire. An initial volley that felled the negotiators was followed by a hail of rifle and machine gun fire aimed at the multitude of strikers and their accompanying wives and children.


Historical background

Chilean society faced a crisis from the late 19th century onwards: what was delicately referred to at the time as the "social question"—namely, "the problem of worsening living and working conditions in the country's mining centers and major cities" The nitrate miners' strike of December 1907 was the last of a series of strikes and other forms of unrest that began in 1902, chief among them being the strike in Valparaíso in 1903 and the
meat riots The Meat riot (Spanish: ''Huelga de la carne''), in the Chilean capital Santiago in October 1905, was a violent riot that originated from a demonstration against the tariffs applied to the cattle imports from Argentina. Primeros movimientos soc ...
in Santiago in 1905.Correa et al. (2001) In Chile, the workers' movement in general, and
syndicalism Syndicalism is a Revolutionary politics, revolutionary current within the Left-wing politics, left-wing of the Labour movement, labor movement that seeks to unionize workers Industrial unionism, according to industry and advance their demands t ...
in particular, got started among the nitrate miners. Geographically, the region Chileans today have come to refer to as the
Norte Grande The Norte Grande (''Big North'', ''Far North'', ''Great North'') is one of the five natural regions into which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. It borders Peru to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Altiplano, Bolivia and Ar ...
(Big North) lies within the
Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the ...
, the driest region on Earth. The Norte Grande and the Norte Chico immediately to the south belong to the Chilean ''pampa'', a vast plain located between the Pacific Ocean and the western foothills of the
Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
mountains. The Norte Grande, which administratively consisted (before 1974) of the two Provinces of
Tarapacá San Lorenzo de Tarapacá, also known simply as Tarapacá, is a town in the region of the same name in Chile. History The town has likely been inhabited since the 12th century, when it formed part of the Inca trail. When Spanish explorer Diego ...
and
Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American wars ...
, had been seized by Chile from Bolivia and Peru in the
War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...
(1879–1884), giving Chile an area rich in minerals, principally copper and saltpeter (sodium nitrate). Tensions provoked by the control of the mines had been one of the leading causes of the
1891 Chilean Civil War The Chilean Civil War of 1891 (also known as Revolution of 1891) was a civil war in Chile fought between forces supporting Congress and forces supporting the President, José Manuel Balmaceda from 16 January 1891 to 18 September 1891. The war ...
, when pro-Congress forces triumphed. The mining of nitrate had become the mainstay of the nation's economy at the end of the 19th century, Chile being the exclusive producer worldwide. According to the census of November 28, 1907, Tarapacá Province held 110,000 inhabitants.Zolezzi Velásquez, Mario. La Tercera (1999). "La matanza de la Escuela Santa María". In the provinces of Tarapacá and Antofagasta about 40,000 workers were active in the nitrate industry, of whom about 13,000 came from Bolivia and Peru. Life in the mining camps—a nitrate works was known locally as an ''oficina'', "office", a term whose use extended to the adjoining settlement—was grueling and physically dangerous. The enterprises exercised a severe control over the life and working conditions inside the mines, which rendered the workers extremely vulnerable to arbitrary actions perpetrated by the owners. Each ''oficina'' was a
company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...
in which the mine owner owned the workers' housing, owned the
company store A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...
(known in Chile as a ''pulpería''), monopolized all commerce, and employed a private police force. Each mining camp ran its own money system, paying its workers in tokens, which could be spent only within the mining camp. Mine managers frequently put off paydays for up to three months. At the beginning of the 20th century, the above mentioned "social question" prompted unrest among the workers at the nitrate ''oficinas'' in the Tarapacá Province. They began to mobilize politically, repeatedly petitioning the national government in Santiago to get involved and bring about improvements in their dreadful living and working conditions. The Parliamentary Period governments, however, were reluctant to intervene in negotiations between employers and workers, and they tended to see large scale workers' movements (especially if accompanied by massive demonstrations) as incipient rebellions.


The 18 Pence Strike and the massacre

On December 10, 1907, a
general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...
broke out in Tarapacá Province. This was the start of the 18 Pence Strike (''la huelga de los 18 peniques''), the name referring to the size of the wage being demanded by workers in one particular mining occupation, workers known as ''jornaleros''. A large contingent of strikers traveled to the provincial capital, the port city of
Iquique Iquique () is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. It has a population of 191,468 ...
, carrying the flags of
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 ...
,
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...
,
Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
, and
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. As workers from other nitrate works swelled the ranks of this movement, nearly all commerce and industry in the north of the country was brought to a halt. The demands published by the strikers on December 16 in a memorial were as follows: On December 16, thousands of striking workers from other industries arrived at Iquique in support of the nitrate miners' demands upon the provincial authorities, with the aim of prodding the authorities to act. Previous entreaties to the government, in particular petitions presented by delegations in 1901, 1903, and 1904, had been fruitless. The national government in Santiago sent extra regiments by land and sea to reinforce the two regiments stationed in Iquique. President
Pedro Montt Pedro Elías Pablo Montt Montt (; 29 June 1849, Santiago, Chile – 16 August 1910, Bremen, Germany) was a Chilean political figure. He served as the president of Chile from 1906 to his death from a probable stroke in 1910. His government furth ...
appointed General Roberto Silva Renard to handle the situation. Silva Renard, under confidential orders from the minister of the interior,
Rafael Sotomayor Rafael Sotomayor Baeza (13 September 1823  – 20 May 1880) was a Chilean lawyer and politician. As Minister of War and Navy he was the main organiser of Chilean forces during the War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific ( es, lin ...
, was ordered to use all necessary means to force the miners to dissolve and return to work. More and more worker contingents joined the strike by the day. It has been estimated that by December 21 the strikers in Iquique numbered ten to twelve thousand. Soon after the journeys to Iquique began, this great conglomeration of workers met in Manuel Montt plaza and at the Santa María School, asking the government mediate between them and the bosses of the foreign (English) nitrate firms to resolve their demands. For their part, the bosses refused to negotiate until the workers went back to work. The acting
intendant An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...
of Tarapacá Province, Julio Guzmán García, mediated negotiations with representatives of the ''pampinos'' (plains dwellers) until the arrival at the port December 19 of the titular intendant, Carlos Eastman Quiroga, and General Roberto Silva Renard, chief of the First Military Zone of the Chilean Army, accompanied by Colonel Sinforoso Ledesma. Their arrival was cheered by the workers because a nitrate miners' petition to the government nearly two years earlier, under the previous president, had received an encouraging response, although the demands had not been satisfied. But the interior ministry felt no solidarity with the demands of the strikers. The ministry relayed orders to the strikers to leave the plaza and the school and gather at the horse racing track, where they were to board trains and return to work. They refused, sensing that if they went back to work, their requests would be ignored. In the face of the growing tension between the groups, on December 20, 1907, the strikers' representatives held a meeting with Intendant Eastman. Simultaneously, a decree published in the press announced the declaration of a state of siege, which entailed the suspension of constitutional rights. While the meeting with Intendant Eastman was taking place in the Buenaventura nitrate works, a group of workers and their families tried to leave the spot, but troops opened fire on them by the railroad tracks and kept shooting. As a result, six workers died and the rest of the group was wounded. The funerals of the slain workers were held the next day, December 21, 1907. Immediately at their conclusion, all workers were ordered to leave the school premises and vicinity and relocate to the Club Hípico (Horse Club). The workers refused to go, fearing they might be bombarded by the guns of warships which were lined up alongside the road they would have to travel. At 2:30 in the afternoon, General Silva Renard told the leaders of the workers' committee that if the strikers did not start heading back to work within one hour, the troops would open fire on them. The workers' leaders refused to go, and only a small group of strikers left the plaza. At the hour indicated by Silva Renard, he ordered the soldiers to shoot the workers' leaders, who were on the school's roof, and they fell dead with the first volley. The multitude, desperate and trying to escape, surged toward the soldiers, and were fired upon with rifles and machine guns. After a period of firing from the Manuel Montt plaza, the troops stormed school grounds with machine guns, firing into the school's playgrounds and classrooms, killing in a frenzy without regard to the women and children screaming for mercy. The survivors of the massacre were brought at saber point to the Club Hípico, whence they were sent back to work and subjected to a reign of terror.


Victims

The government ordered that death certificates not be issued for the fallen and had them buried in a mass grave in the city cemetery. The remains were not exhumed until 1940. They were reinterred in the courtyard of the Legal Medical Service of that city. The number of victims claimed by the action is disputed. On one hand, the official report of General Silva Renard speaks at first of 140 dead, later to rise to 195. This is the number offered by a witness to the massacre, Nicolás Palacios, a physician in the mines and a political dissident of national renown. However, this figure is considered unrealistic given the number of workers present. The highest estimate has been 3,600, although this is considered speculative.


Consequences

General Silva Renard reported to the government in Santiago as to what happened, minimizing his role and laying responsibility on the strikers. The National Congress's reaction was lukewarm. Improvements in the conditions of the workers came slowly. It would not be until 1920 that minimum labor standards started to be enacted, such as mandating payment in legal tender and setting the maximum length of the working day. General Silva Renard was seriously wounded in 1914 in an assassination attempt on the part of a Spanish anarchist, Antonio Ramón, whose brother, Manuel Vaca, had been one of the victims of the massacre. General Renard would die a few years later as a result of these injuries.


100th anniversary observances

On the occasion of the centenary of the massacre a mausoleum was inaugurated in the local cemetery, where the remains of one victim and one survivor of the massacre were re-interred. Public exhibits were mounted. President Bachelet decreed a national day of mourning for December 21, 2007.


Cultural influence

The facts of the massacre were suppressed by the government for many years. With the passage of time, its tragic details inspired singers and poets, while its social effects were investigated from the middle of the 20th century on. Chief among these artistic and academic works are: ;Books * 1915 – Francisco Pezoa, ''Canto a la Pampa'' * 1952 –
Volodia Teitelboim Volodia Teitelboim. Volodia Teitelboim Volosky (originally ''Valentín Teitelboim Volosky''; March 17, 1916 – January 31, 2008) was a Chilean communist politician, lawyer, and author. Personal life Born in Chillán to Jewish immigrants (Ukrainia ...
, ''Hijo del salitre'', novel. * 2002 –
Hernán Rivera Letelier Hernán Rivera Letelier (born 11 July 1950 in Talca, Chile) is a Chilean novelist. Until the age of 11 he lived in the Algorta saltpeter mining town, in the north of Chile. When it was closed down, he and his family moved to Antofagasta, where h ...
, '' Santa María de las flores negras''. ;Music * 1970 –
Luis Advis Luis Advis Vitaglich (10 February 1935 – 9 September 2004)http://www.lanacion.cl/p4_lanacion/site ''Falleció Luis Advis, compositor de la "Cantata Santa María de Iquique"'' was a Chilean professor of philosophy, and a noted composer of traditi ...
, '' Cantata de Santa María de Iquique''. (performed by Héctor Duvauchelle and
Quilapayún Quilapayún () are a folk music group from Chile and among the longest lasting and most influential ambassadors of the ''Nueva Canción Chilena'' movement and genre. Formed during the mid-1960s, the group became inseparable with the revolution th ...
) * 2009 –
Luis Advis Luis Advis Vitaglich (10 February 1935 – 9 September 2004)http://www.lanacion.cl/p4_lanacion/site ''Falleció Luis Advis, compositor de la "Cantata Santa María de Iquique"'' was a Chilean professor of philosophy, and a noted composer of traditi ...
, '' Cantata Rock de Santa María de Iquique''. (performed by Colectivo Cantata Rock) *2011 - Diablo Swing Orchestra, ''Justice for Saint Mary'' ;Theater * 2004 –
La Patogallina 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 ''Figure ...
troupe, ''1907''. * 2007 – Teatro del Oráculo troupe, ''Santa María de Iquique: La Venganza de Ramón Ramón''. ;Film * 1975
Humberto Solás Humberto Solás (4 December 1941 – 18 September 2008) was a Cuban film director, credited with directing the film ''Lucía'' (1968), which explored the lives of Cuban women during different periods in Cuban history. His cinematic style borr ...
, ''
Cantata de Chile ''Cantata de Chile'' is a 1976 Cuban social realist musical epic film directed by Humberto Solás about the Santa María School massacre in Chile in 1907. Cast * Nelson Villagra * Shenda Román * Eric Heresmann * Alfredo Tornquist * Leonardo Per ...
''


See also

*
Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works are two former saltpeter refineries located in northern Chile. They were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, as a testament to the historical importance of saltpeter mining in Chile and the cul ...
*
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 ...
* Marusia massacre *
Forrahue massacre 200px, 1912 cover of '' Sucesos'' magazine alluding to the massacre. The Forrahue massacre ( es, Matanza de Forrahue) was the killing of 15 Mapuche-Huilliche farmers in Forrahue, southern Chile by Chilean police in 1912. The massacre occurred ...
* ''Santa María de Iquique'' (cantata) *
List of saltpeter works in Tarapacá and Antofagasta A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...


Notes


References


Citations


Sources

*Anonymous. No date
Pioneros del Salitre
(Nitrate Pioneers) *Anonymous. No date
''El trabajo obrero en las salitreras (II)''
Photos taken at Chilean nitrate works *Artaza Barrios, Pablo, et al. 1998. ''A 90 años de los sucesos de la Escuela Santa María de Iquique''. Santiago:
LOM Ediciones LOM Ediciones («Lom», means in yaghan language: «sun») is a Chilean press based in Santiago. It was established in 1990. Several Chileans and Latin American writers published in this press, like Pedro Lemebel, Tomas Moulian and Enrique Lihn ...
. *Bravo Elizondo, Pedro. 1993. Santa María de Iquique 1907. Documentos para su historia. Santiago: Ediciones del Litoral. *Barr-Melej, Patrick. 2001. ''Reforming Chile: cultural politics, nationalism, and the rise of the middle class''. Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press. *Correa, Sofia et al. 2001. La hora de los desafíos. In ''Historia del siglo XX chileno: balance paradojal''. Santiago: Editorial Sudamericana. *Fuentes, Jordi et al. 1989. Diccionario Histórico de Chile. Santiago: Editorial Zig-Zag S.A. *Grez Toso, Sergio, compiler. 1995. La «Cuestión Social» en Chile. Ideas y Debates precursores. (1804–1902). Santiago de Chile : Dirección de Bibliotecas, Archivo y Museos, Centro de Investigaciones Diego Barros Arana. Series: Fuentes para la historia de la república ; v. 7. *Pizarro, Crisóstomo. 1986. La huelga obrera en Chile: 1890–1970. Santiago: Editorial Sur


External links

*Memoria Chilena. 2007-12-19
A cien años de la masacre de Santa María de Iquique
* Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Chile (CUT) et al. 2007-12-19
100 años de Santa María de Iquique
*Grez Toso, Sergio
La guerra preventiva: Escuela Santa María de Iquique
*Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chil
Libro en línea "La masacre de la Escuela Santa María de Iquique"
*Experiencias Colectivas Columna Negra
"Escuela Santa María de Iquique: Apuntes para la destrucción del mito y la construcción de la memoria no-espectacular"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria School Massacre Massacres in Chile School massacres 1907 in Chile Conflicts in 1907 Massacres in 1907 Deaths by firearm in Chile History of labour relations in Chile Iquique Mass murder in 1907 Political repression in Chile Protest-related deaths Protests Saltpeter works in Chile December 1907 events 1907 labor disputes and strikes