Rural political violence during the Agrarian Reform of Eduardo Frei Montalva's government: the case of Linares province, 1967-1970

Abstract

The implementation of the Agrarian Reform in the province of Linares during the Christian Democrat government of Eduardo Frei Montalva (1967-1970) was characterized by a high level of rural conflict, the most pronounced of which was the generation of episodes of political violence involving peasants, public authorities, police, and landowners. The emblematic case of the period was the assassination of the regional head of the CORA, Hernán Mery, which occurred on April 30, 1970, during the expropriation and seizure of La Piedad de Longaví estate. This tragic event, of great national repercussions, highlighted the climate of tension and conflict that prevailed in the countryside of Linares, in the context of the Agrarian Reform at the end of the Frei administration, a period considered the prelude to the intensification of rural conflict during the Popular Unity government. In this sense, to understand this phenomenon of rural political violence, it is necessary to pay attention to the growing rise of peasant struggle in the area, manifested through strikes and land seizures, as well as the political context that opened up after 1967 with the peasant unionization and Agrarian Reform laws.of rural political violence, it is necessary to pay attention to the growing increase in the peasant struggle in the area, manifested through strikes and the seizure of estates, as well as the political context that opened up after 1967 with the laws on peasant unionisation and Agrarian Reform.