Estos rotos, Señor, lo que piden son garantías. Movimientos sociales, represión y muerte obrera en Atacama.(Taltal, 1900-1910)

Abstract

This article analyzes the articulation process of the labor movement that occurred in the southern sector of the Atacama Desert. A historical phenomenon scarcely studied which contributes to the understanding of the period regarding the capitalist and business advancement in the region. It studies the economic and social situation of the first decade of the twentieth century, focusing on the workers’ situation and the articulation of a set of demands aimed at improving their working conditions and their responses when these rights were violated. This action resulted in the configuration of a solid social movement that, through the working press, strikes, and rallies represented their demands in the public space, involving the local community and provoking repression by the authorities that resulted in persecution, exile and death.