Human Rights and Historical Memory in Northern Chile: Cycles of Violence, Silence, and Remembering

Abstract: Historical memories defy linear models of space and time – especially those associated with violence and trauma. The 1907 massacre of striking nitrate miners and their families in Iquique, alongside other massacres, such as the 1925 La Coruña massacre, and the 1973–1990 Pinochet dictatorship, illustrate this process. The use of violence as a repressive apparatus has been practiced repeatedly by the state. Despite state attempts to erase this violence, the contested memories continue to circulate in discursive processes that allow distinct moments and events to be thought about in dynamic and multi-layered ways. This article considers the maintenance and recovery of these historical memories by individual and collective actors in a city and region where the fusion of key historical moments and traumas allows for unique interpretations of the country’s violent legacy.