Luis Emilio Recabarren
Luis Emilio Recabarren
Father of the Chilean labour movement and pioneer of Latin American communism
"Reading is one of the best means of emancipation for the working classes. That is why we urge you to read much." — Recabarren's constant refrain at workers' gatherings throughout Chile.
A lifelong organizer and theorist who dedicated himself to building Chile's labour movement and socialist party. Witnessing the brutal conditions of nitrate miners, he joined the Democratic Party but broke with its reformism in 1912 to found the Socialist Workers' Party (POS). Despite repeated imprisonment and exile, he launched and edited workers' newspapers, toured the country raising class consciousness, and in 1922 affiliated the party to the Comintern, transforming it into the Communist Party of Chile. Beset by internal party conflicts and failing health, he took his own life in 1924, but the organizational, educational, and press foundations he laid became cornerstones of the Chilean and Latin American revolutionary tradition.
Career timeline
- 1894Joined the Chilean Democratic Party
- 1906Elected deputy for Tocopilla (denied seat)
- 1908–1909Exile in Argentina and Europe
- 1912Founded Socialist Workers' Party (POS) and El Despertar newspaper
- 1918Co-founded Communist Party of Argentina, first national directorate
- 1921Elected deputy for Antofagasta
- 1922Transformed POS into Communist Party (PCCh), attended 4th Comintern Congress
- 1924Committed suicide by gunshot in Santiago