Right-Wing Women in Chile: Feminine Power and the Struggle Against Allende, 1964–1973

335 Pages·2002·15.605 MB·English

by  Margaret Power

RIGHT-WING WOMEN IN CHILE I
Feminine Power and the Struggle Against Allende
1964-1973 ■ fc fk I
Margaret Power

^RIGH WING;WQMEN IN .CHILE*
Feminine Power and the Struggle Against Allende
1964-1973
Margaret Power
The Pennsylvania State University Press | University Park, Pennsylvania
Cover photo, Fig. 5, and Fig. 7 (left)
courtesy Centro de Documentación
El Mercurio.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Power, Margaret, 1953-
Right-wing women in Chile : feminine power and the struggle
against Allende, 1964-1973 / Margaret Power.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-271-02174-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 0-2 71-02195-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Women in politics—Chile—History—2 oth century7.
2. Conservatism—Chile—History—20th century7. 3. Opposition (Political
science)—Chile—History—20th century7. I. Title.
HQ1236.5.C5 P69 2002
306'.2'0820983—dc2i 2001056039
Copyright© 2002 The Pennsylvania State University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park, PA 16802-1003
It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press
to use acid-free paper for the first printing of all clothbound books.
Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ansi Z39.48-1992.
I dedicate this book to my mother,
Margaret Flora MacDonald Power,
and to my sisters,
Kathleen Kuffel and Melinda Power.

Contents
List of Figures, Tables, and Maps vm
List of Abbreviations ix
Preface xi
Introduction i
1 Economic, Political, and Social Change in Chile, 1938-1973 15
2 Women's Political Incorporation and the Right
A Success Story 45
3 Anticommunism and the Mobilization of Women
The 1964 Presidential Campaign 7 1
4 The Christian Democratic Party and Women, 1964-1970 99
5 From the Scare Campaign to the March of the Empty Pots and Pans
The Beginnings of the Anti-Allende Women k Movement 126
6 Poder Femenino and the Anti-Allende Women's Movement 169
7 Poder Femenino and the Working Class
Elite Women and Workers'1 Struggles 193
8 Allende Must Go!
Anti-Allende Women and the Drive to Overthrow the UP Government 217
Conclusion 248
Epilogue 259
Appendixes
Appendix A: List of Informants 2 64
Appendix B: Radio Advertisements Sponsored by Acción Mujeres de Chile 270
Appendix C: Radio Advertisements Sponsored by Chile Joven 272
Appendix D: The Call to the March of the Empty Pots and Pans zyi,
Appendix E: “Golpeando las puertas de los cuarteles” 275
Bibliography 279
Index 299
vi i
Figures, Tables, and Maps
figures
1 1970 presidential campaign advertisement for Alessandri 129
2 1970 campaign advertisement: Alessandri as patriarch 130
3 Acción Mujeres de Chile advertisement 134
4 Advertisement from Chile Joven 136
5 The March of the Empty Pots and Pans 153
6 La Tribuna—featuring an empty pot 166
7 Alejandrina Cox and General Prats 224
tables
2.1 Results of the 1952 presidential elections, by gender 56
2.2 Wages and salaries in Santiago, by gender 66
3.1 Results of the 1958 presidential elections, by gender 73
3.2 Results of the 1964 by-election in Curicó, by gender 74
3.3 Results of the 1964 presidential elections, by gender 95
3.4 Results of the 1964 presidential elections in selected
Santiago districts, by gender 96
4.1 A comparison of voting results from the 1958 and 1964
presidential elections in Puente Alto, by gender 106
5.1 A comparison of voting results from the 1964 and 1970
presidential elections, by gender 138
5.2 Results of the 1970 presidential elections in selected
Santiago districts, by gender 140
8.1 Results of the March 1973 parliamentary elections in
selected Santiago districts, by gender 221
maps
1 Locator map of Chile x
2 Selected Santiago neighborhoods xvi
3 Route of the March of the Empty Pots and Pans, 1 December 1971 154
4 Route of the march from Rancagua to Santiago in support of the
striking El Teniente miners and employees 2 1 3
5 Cities with radio stations seized by anti-Allende women,
August-September 1973 234
6 Cities in which anti-Allende women held demonstrations on
5 September 1973 239
viii