Book burnings in Chile were done by the

military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...

led by dictator General

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

following the

1973 Chilean coup d'état The 1973 Chilean coup d'état Enciclopedia Virtual > Historia > Historia de Chile > Del gobierno militar a la democracia" on LaTercera.cl. Retrieved 22 September 2006. In October 1972, Chile suffered the first of many strikes. Among the par ...

. The military dictatorship burned the books they considered subversive, including leftist literature as well as other books that did not fit the junta's ideology, being part of a campaign to "extirpate the

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

cancer."Bosmajian, p.141 Following the coup, the military began raids to find potential opponents of the new regime, who were then held and some of them executed at the Estadio Nacional and other places. In addition to this, during the raids the military gathered and burned large numbers of books: not just Marxist literature, but also general sociological literature, newspapers and magazines.Bosmajian, p.174 In addition to this, such books were withdrawn from the shelves of bookstores and libraries. In some instances, even books on

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

were burned because soldiers thought it had to do with the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...

. The book burning attracted international protests: the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

condemned them, arguing that it is "a despicable form of suppression" which "violates the fundamental rights of the people of Chile." Sporadic book burning occurred throughout the junta's regime which lasted until 1990. On November 28, 1986, the customs authorities seized almost 15,000 copies of

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

's book ''

Clandestine in Chile ''Clandestine in Chile: The Adventures of Miguel Littín'' ( es, La aventura de Miguel Littín clandestino en Chile) is a report, written by Gabriel García Márquez, about the Chilean filmmaker Miguel Littín’s clandestine visit to his home c ...

'', which were later burned by military authorities in

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

. Together with them, copies of a book of essays by Venezuelan ex-guerrilla and presidential candidate

Teodoro Petkoff Teodoro Petkoff Malec (; 3 January 1932 – 31 October 2018) was a Venezuelan politician, guerrilla, economist and journalist. One of Venezuela's most prominent politicians on the left, Petkoff began as a communist but founded the democratic soc ...

were also burned.14,846 Books by Nobel Prize Winner Burned in Chile
''LA Times'', January 25, 1987

Notes

References

* Haig A. Bosmajian, ''Burning Books'', McFarland, 2006, {{Books Book burnings Censorship in Chile Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990)

See also

Notes

References