[The Friends of Chile, An Evening With Salvador Allende Benefit
Concert, on May 11, 1974, was one of the first to openly confront the
intervention of the U.S. government in the military coup that had
overthrown Salvador Allende a year earlier.]
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WHEN NEW YORK CITY STOOD WITH CHILE  
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Mariana Fernández
September 21, 2023
Indypendent
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_ The Friends of Chile, An Evening With Salvador Allende Benefit
Concert, on May 11, 1974, was one of the first to openly confront the
intervention of the U.S. government in the military coup that had
overthrown Salvador Allende a year earlier. _

Performers bid goodbye to the audience at An Evening with Salvador
Allende, organized by Phil Ochs with Friends of Chile. Felt Forum at
Madison Square Garden, New York, May 9, 1974,

 

In this special section, co-sponsored by _The Indypendent_ and the
Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung New York Office, we delve into the landscape
of the New York City movement in solidarity with Chile in the
tumultuous aftermath of the Sept. 11, 1973, coup that saw the
overthrow of President Salvador Allende’s democratically elected
government and the rise of General Augusto Pinochet’s oppressive
dictatorship. Fifty years later, we honor the sacrifices and draw
inspiration from the enduring legacy of New York’s solidarity actors
in their pursuit of justice and democracy amid one of Chile’s
darkest chapters.

The global movement standing in unity with Chile initially surfaced
while Salvador Allende’s Unidad Popular democratic socialist
government (1970–1973) was in power. The UP’s victory in the 1970
presidential election and Allende’s unwavering commitment to forging
a democratic path toward socialism garnered substantial attention and
empathy worldwide. The government’s imperative to build a more
equitable society led by the working class served as inspiration for
countless individuals beyond Chile’s borders during the short period
of Allende’s administration.

The news of the military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet on Sept.
11, 1973, sent shockwaves across the world. The oppressive Pinochet
dictatorship, which subjected thousands of Chileans to torture,
murder, and disappearance, ignited international resistance to his
illegitimate government. Standing in support of the Chilean people,
New Yorkers felt compelled to respond. Amid the upheaval and
repression in Chile, New York City became one of the centers for
exiled Chileans seeking safety and support. Various solidarity
initiatives blossomed throughout the city. Leftists, artists and
exiles emerged in this context as key protagonists in a multifaceted
movement that sought to amplify the voices of those suffering in Chile
and challenge the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Pinochet
regime.

The solidarity movement with the Chilean people also played a crucial
role in enlightening Americans about the extent of U.S.
imperialism’s influence in Latin America. These groups exposed the
immoral strategies employed by the U.S. government and corporations to
safeguard their economic and political interests and the consequences
of U.S. interference in foreign governments. 

This special section looks into these New York’s networks and the
pivotal role they played in raising awareness. As we uncover stories
of solidarity in action, we witness how the boundaries of nationality,
language and culture dissolved, and a profound sense of
interconnectedness took root. New York’s response to the Chilean
coup epitomized the true spirit of internationalism, showcasing the
power of collective action in advocating justice on a global scale.

SOLIDARITY INITIATIVES

_Julian Beck and Judith Malina’s Living Theatre reenact torture on
stage at An Evening with Salvador Allende, organized by Phil Ochs with
Friends of Chile, Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden, New York, May
9, 1974._

_On October 20, 1973, New Yorkers gathered on West Broadway between
Houston and Prince St. to recreate a 100-foot-long political mural in
Chile that was destroyed by the military regime._

AN EVENING WITH ALLENDE CONCERT

The Friends of Chile, An Evening With Salvador Allende Benefit
Concert, on May 11, 1974, was one of the main international acts in
support of Chilean exiles, the first to attempt to rally global
rejection of the established dictatorship in the country, and the
first to openly criticize and confront the intervention of the U.S.
government in the military coup that had overthrown Salvador Allende a
year earlier. 

The event, held at Madison Square Garden, was organized by U.S.
protest singer Phil Ochs and Chilean actor and poet Claudio Badal.
Ochs, motivated by his interest in Latin American political
processes, had visited Chile in 1971 to closely experience the labor
and university movements. A close friend and admirer of popular
Chilean communist singer, poet, and actor Víctor Jara, Ochs was moved
to organize the benefit concert after the Pinochet regime kidnapped,
tortured, and executed Jara in the aftermath of the coup.

The evening featured an eclectic and wide-ranging lineup with Arlo
Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Dennis Hopper, Bob Dylan, Swedish diplomat
Harald Edelstam, Gato Barbieri, and others. Allende’s widow,
Hortensia Bussi, was also at the venue. The Living Theater, an
American experimental theater company, staged a vivid reenactment of
the tortures described by former prisoners of the Brazilian
dictatorship (1964–1985), which was also devastating that South
American country at the time. 

MURALS FOR THE PEOPLE

_Cover of Eva S. and James D. Cockcroft, “Murals for the People of
Chile,” in Toward Revolutionary Art, no. 4 (1973): 2-11. Lucy R.
Lippard papers, 1930s– 2007, bulk 1960–1990._

_A leaflet made without computer software urges people to come out for
the Oct. 20 mural action._

_The final step in the mural making came on Oct. 27 when the panels
were presented to representatives of the Chilean National Airlines._

Following the 1973 coup, a group of intellectuals, artists and other
cultural workers organized  a solidarity initiative to replicate a
mural originally created by the Brigada Ramona Parra (BRP) in New
York. The original mural had been destroyed by the dictatorship upon
taking power.

BRP was a muralist brigade associated with the Chilean Communist
Party. Established in Chile in 1968, the BRP was responsible for
producing murals in various public spaces throughout the country,
conveying social and political messages. Following Pinochet’s coup,
the regime launched a concerted effort to eliminate all forms of
leftist art and culture, which included the whitewashing and erasure
of BRP murals.

In a show of solidarity with Chile’s resistance movement, a group
that included important figures of New York’s cultural scene, such
as art critic Lucy Lippard, art historian Jaqueline Barnitz, exiled
filmmaker Jaime Barrios, and Chilean artist Enrique Castro-Cid, issued
a call to join a protest against “censorship, book- and art-burning,
and the arrest of artists and intellectuals in Chile.” Organized
under the name Concerned Artists from the US and Latin America, the
group invited New Yorkers to recreate a 100-foot-long mural that had
been destroyed by the regime. This mural, originally located at the
Mapocho River in Chile, was reproduced on West Broadway between
Houston and Prince Street. 

ARTISTS FOR CHILE

Orlando Letelier was a Chilean economist, politician and diplomat. In
1971, he was appointed ambassador to the United States by Salvador
Allende. Back in Chile in 1973, Letelier assumed various key roles
within the government. After the coup, he was swiftly apprehended by
the military authorities. He was among the initial members of the
Allende administration to be detained and subsequently incarcerated in
a political prison. During his year-long captivity, he endured
imprisonment in different concentration camps and was subjected to
torture.

After mounting international diplomatic pressure that included the
mediation of the governments of Venezuela and the U.S., the regime
agreed to release him on condition that he leave the country. Forced
into exile, Letelier moved to the U.S. and took an academic post in
Washington, D.C. There he became a fellow of the Institute for Policy
Studies. 

On September 21, 1976, Letelier  was killed in a car bombing in
Washington in a politically motivated assassination orchestrated by
agents of the Chilean military regime. The bomb was planted in his
car, and upon detonation, Letelier and his IPS colleague Ronni Moffitt
were tragically killed. Even beyond Chilean borders, Pinochet’s
regime demonstrated the lengths it was willing to take to suppress
opposition.

After his assassination, a group of artists from the US Ad Hoc
Committee of the Museo Internacional de la Resistencia “Salvador
Allende” organ-ized an art exhibition and benefit event at Cayman
Gallery in New York for the “Chile Committee for Human Rights” in
memory of Letelier, showcasing artworks from American and Latin
American artists. 

Nitza Tufiño, Nuyorican artist, co-founder of El Museo del Barrio and
member of the political-artistic collective Taller Boricua, was one of
its organizers. 

THE ESMERALDA SHIP PROTESTS

_Critics of the Chilean regime protested the presence of the Esmeralda
in the bicentennial parade of ships on July 4, 1976._

_The boat was previously used as a site to torture political
prisoners._

_The protest against the Esmeralda was held at Pier 86 on
Manhattan’s West Side where the “torture boat” was docked._

The Chilean naval ship “Esmeralda” was slated to participate in
the July 4th Bicentennial parade of tall sailing ships on the Hudson
River in 1976. The vessel had previously been highlighted in a report
by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization
of American States as a floating detention facility where political
prisoners were subject to torture by electric shock, beatings and
high-pressure water hoses.

_“The four-masted barquentine Esmeralda, Chile's envoy to Operation
Sail, has become the object of protests here by groups charging that
political prisoners were tortured aboard the ship," The New York Times
reported._

_"There would be good reason to protest any Chilean ship coming
here,” Susan Borenstein of the National Coordinating Center in
Solidarity with Chile told The Times. “Its presence would make a
mockery of the very principles of democracy and human decency our
nation is celebrating in this Bicentennial year.”_

_According to The Times, Action for Women in Chile, Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Amnesty
International, religious groups and others expressed their opposition
to this symbol of the Chilean military regime in New York City and
organized a protest at Pier 86 on Manhattan’s West Side. The
National Council of Churches submitted a draft resolution to the New
York City Council calling on Mayor Abe Beame to deny access to the
ship to any city-owned facility._

_— The New York Times: ‘_Four Master From Chile Is Called Torture
Ship’ June 20, 1976. ‘Fete for Chilean Naval Ship Faces Protest’
June 26, 1976.

VELADAS POLÍTICAS

_Part of the audience at the Velada (evening) dedicated to Pedro
Lastra, organized by the Pablo Neruda Cultural Center at the loft of
Marcelo Montealegre and Silvia Doris Dillems Quezada, SoHo, New York,
1979._

Chilean photographer Marcelo Montealegre has been living in New York
City since 1968. In the aftermath of the coup, Montealegre joined the
movement denouncing Pinochet’s dictatorship in the city and
documented a large part of the political and artistic activities that
took place in that context.

By the end of the 1970s, along with other Chilean artists such as
filmmaker Javier Barrios (who arrived in NYC in 1977), he began
organizing monthly meetings at his loft in Soho, nicknamed Veladas
(evenings). In these gatherings, recent exiles and activists shared
and discussed news about the current situation in Chile. They called
the space the Pablo Neruda Cultural Center. 

As the news of the activity started reaching other groups,
Nicaraguans, Salvadorians, Argentinians, and other Latin American
exiles joined the meetings, eventually transforming them into a
political and art center for Latin American solidarity in New York
City.

_SOURCES:_

— _I [[link removed]]__glesias Lukin,
Aimé. _This Must be the Place: An Oral History of Latin American
Artists in New York,_ 1965-1975. New York: Americas Society/ISLAA,
2022_ [[link removed]]_._
—_Power, Margaret. “The U.S. Movement in Solidarity with Chile in
the 1970s.” _Latin American Perspectives,_ vol. 36, no. 6, 2009._
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—The New York Times_ Archives_

_Research & text by Mariana Fernández_

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