The Revolutionary Communist Party ( / PCR) was a Chilean clandestine communist party of

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

ideology founded in 1966 from a split in the

Communist Party of Chile The Communist Party of Chile (, ) is a communist party in Chile. It was founded in 1912 as the Socialist Workers' Party () and adopted its current name in 1922. The party established a youth wing, the Communist Youth of Chile (, JJ.CC), in 1932. ...

(PCCH). During the Popular Unity government, he adopted a critical stance towards the government of

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

. In 1972 the party faced an internal discussion over differences in revolutionary strategy, between those who defended the "

people's war People's war or protracted people's war is a Maoist military strategy. First developed by the Chinese communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong (1893–1976), the basic concept behind people's war is to maintain the support of the population ...

" (Maoists) and those who promoted the "mass insurrection" ( Marxist-Leninists), causing the party to split into two factions (PCR and PCR-ML, respectively), both disappearing in the early 1980s. During part of its existence, it was financed by the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

and by the

Labor Party of Albania The Party of Labour of Albania (PLA), also referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded on 8 November 1941 as the Communist Party of ...

. The PCR was led by Jorge Palacios, David Benquis and Luis Bernales. After the

1973 Chilean coup d'état The 1973 Chilean coup d'état () was a military overthrow of the democratic socialist president of Chile Salvador Allende and his Popular Unity (Chile), Popular Unity coalition government. Allende, who has been described as the first Marxist ...

, a faction of the party would exist in exile in France. In 1980, the RCP of Chile helped found

Revolutionary Internationalist Movement The Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM) was an international communist organization founded in France in March 1984 by 17 various Maoist organizations around the world. It sought to "struggle for the formation of a Communist Internati ...

(RIM) publishing the theoretical magazine "A World to Win" where the RCP of Chile made its last two participations in the 1981 and 1982 edition. Although the RCP of Chile would largely cease to exist by the time of the first RIM conference in 1984. After the disappearance of the party in Chile, in 1979 the group "Acción Proletaria" emerged, made up of a small group of former PCR militants with a pro-Albanian tendency, including Miguel Asenjo, Mauricio Aravena and

Eduardo Artés Eduardo Antonio Artés Brichetti (born 25 October 1951) is a Chilean educator and political figure. He is the leader of the Patriotic Union, which nominated him as a candidate for the 2017 and 2021 presidential elections. Artés seeks the "refo ...

. This group would be the base that would form the Chilean Communist Party (Proletariat Action) in 1985. The PCR dissolved amid internal strife. One section of the party later reconstituted itself as the Communist Organization Recabarren in 1985.

References

{{Authority control Political parties established in 1966 Revolutionary Communist Party (Chile) Defunct political parties in Chile Anti-revisionist organizations Far-left politics in Chile Defunct Maoist parties 1966 establishments in Chile Maoism in South America