Peasant Revolutionary Movement and Community Councils Base. An Experience of Popular Power in Chile

Abstract

Salvador Allende came to power on November the 4th 1970, inaugurating a series of structural reforms in the Chilean economy and society. In this context, the agrarian reform, which begun in 1962, became central to the new government. The 21st December 1970, it issued the decree 481 to create the Farmers National Council, responsible for channeling the demands of this sector. In parallel, the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria, inspired by the Cuban Revolution radicalized the reform through the creation of the Movimiento Campesino Revolucionario, which controlled the peasants councils in the province of Cautín to implement its agricultural policy, at least until the military coup that ended the project.