Name/TitleBadge: Forward to Freedom ~ A New Decade for Chile
About this objectSmall round badge featuring the motif of a banner-bearing crowd of people, silhouetted in black, marching up hills as the sun rises. The hill on the left is blue with a white star, while those on the right and below are white and red respectively, to resemble the national flag of Chile.
Date Made1989-90
Period1980s-1990s
Medium and MaterialsInorganic, metal and plastic
Subject and Association Keywordssolidarity, unity
Subject and Association KeywordsPolitical activism
Subject and Association Descriptionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Chile:
By early 1973, inflation had risen 600% under Allende's presidency. The crippled economy was further battered by prolonged and sometimes simultaneous strikes by physicians, teachers, students, truck owners, copper workers, and the small business class. A military coup overthrew Allende on September 11, 1973. As the armed forces bombarded the presidential palace (Palacio de La Moneda), Allende committed suicide. A military government, led by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, took over control of the country.
The first years of the regime were marked by human rights violations. The junta jailed, tortured, and executed thousands of Chileans. In October 1973, at least 72 people were murdered by the Caravan of Death. At least a thousand people were executed during the first six months of Pinochet in office, and at least two thousand more were killed during the next sixteen years, as reported by the Rettig Report. At least 29,000 were imprisoned and tortured. According to the Latin American Institute on Mental Health and Human Rights (ILAS), "situations of extreme trauma" affected about 200,000 persons; this figure includes individuals killed, tortured or exiled, and their immediate families. About 30,000 left the country.
The four-man junta headed by General Augusto Pinochet abolished civil liberties, dissolved the national congress, banned union activities, prohibited strikes and collective bargaining, and erased the Allende administration's agrarian and economic reforms.
Chileans elected a new president and the majority of members of a two-chamber congress on December 14, 1989. Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin, the candidate of a coalition of 17 political parties called the Concertación, received an absolute majority of votes (55%). President Aylwin served from 1990 to 1994, in what was considered a transition period.
Named CollectionGlasgow Women's Library
Object TypeBadge
Object numberGWL-2014-43-9
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved