Communist Party of Chile

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Partido Comunista de Chile




Leader	Guillermo Tellier

Founded	June 4, 1912 (POS) January 2, 1922 (PCCh)
Headquarters	Vickuña Mackenna 31 Santiago

Political ideology	Communism
International affiliation	Sao Paulo Forum

Website	http://www.pcchile.cl/

The Communist Party of Chile (Spanish: Partido Comunista de Chile) is a Chilean political party that advocates communism. It was founded in 1912, as the Partido Obrero Socialista (Socialist Workers Party) by journalist and intellectual Luis Emilio Recabarren.

It achieved congressional representation shortly thereafter and played a leading role in the development of the Chilean labor movement. Closely tied to the Soviet Union and the Third International, the PCCh participated in the Popular Front (Frente Popular) government of 1938, growing rapidly among the unionized working class in the 1940s. Concern over the PCCh's success at building a strong electoral base, combined with the onset of the Cold War, led to its being outlawed in 1948, a status it had to endure for almost a decade until 1958 when it was again legalized. By the 1960's, the party had become a veritable political subculture, with its own symbols and organizations and the support of prominent artists and intellectuals such as Pablo Neruda, the Nobel Prize-winning poet, and Violeta Parra, the songwriter and folk artist [1].

It later came to power along with the Socialist Party in the Unidad Popular ("Popular Unity") coalition in 1970, but was outlawed again following the 1973 coup d'état that deposed President Salvador Allende. During this time, Communist Party members set up a guerrilla organization, the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front. With the restoration of democracy and the election of a new president in 1990, the Communist Party of Chile was legalized again.

As part of the Popular Unity coalition the PCCh advocated a broad alliance, however it swung sharply to the left after the 1973 coup, regretting the failure to issue arms to the working class and pursuing an armed struggle against Pinochet's regime. Since the restoration of democracy it has acted independently of its previous partners.

Notable members have included:

Víctor Jara – theatre director and musician tortured and killed during Pinochet's rule.
David Silberman – General Manager of Chuqui Copper mine during the Popular Unity Government - disappeared.
Gladys Marín – party leader until her death in 2005.
Pablo Neruda – Nobel prize-winning poet.
Violeta Parra – composer and musician, artist.
Volodia Teitelboim – lawyer and author.
Luis Corvalán – educator and former Secretary-General.
Francisco Coloane – novelist

In the 1999/2000 presidential elections the party supported the late Gladys Marín Millie for the national presidential elections. She won 3.2 % of the vote in the first round. At the last legislative elections, 16 december 2001, the party won 5.2 % of the popular vote, but as a result of Chile's anomalous binomial electoral rules, no seats. The small but significant support of the PCCh is believed to have aided in the electoral victories of former socialist president Ricardo Lagos in the 2000 elections, and in the more recent victory of Chile's first female president, the socialist Michelle Bachelet in January 2006, both whom won in competitive second round runoffs.