Communist Party of Chile

The Communist Party of Chile (, PCCh) is a communist party in Chile. It was founded in 1912 as the Socialist Workers' Party () and adopted its current name in 1922. The party established a youth wing, the Communist Youth of Chile (, JJ.CC), in 1932.

History

thumb|left|100px|[[Luis Emilio Recabarren, Communist Party of Chile leader and founder (1912–1924)]]

thumb|left|100px|[[Luis Corvalán, Secretary-General of the PCCh (1958–1990)]]

The PCCh was founded on 4 June 1912 by Luis Emilio Recabarren, after he left the Democrat Party. The party was initially known as the Socialist Workers' Party, before adopting its current name on 2 January 1922.

It achieved congressional representation shortly thereafter and played a leading role in the development of the Chilean labor movement.

The party was founded as Chile began to industrialize. In the 1920s, the nitrate industry was booming, and many of its workers were among the first communists. The movement then gained momentum within the coal, textile, and port unions.

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. It then participated to the Popular Front's successor, the Democratic Alliance.

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 by a Radical government, a status it had to endure for almost a decade until 1958 when it was again legalized. By the 1960s, 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.

At the time, the U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 27,500.

It later came to power along with the Socialist Party in the Unidad Popular ("Popular Unity") coalition in 1970. Within the broad Unidad Popular alliance, the communists sided with Allende, a relative moderate from the Socialist Party, and other more moderate forces of that coalition, supporting more gradual reforms and urging to find a compromise with the Christian Democrats. This line was opposed by more radically leftist factions of the Socialist Party and smaller far-left groups. The party was outlawed after the 1973 coup d'état that deposed President Salvador Allende. Much of the Communist leadership went underground, and for a while the party's moderation continued even after the coup had taken place. Also, it has been argued by Mark Ensalaco that crushing the Communist Party was not a top priority for the military junta. In its first statement after the coup, the party leadership still argued that the coup could succeed because the Unidad Popular was too isolated, due to actions of the 'far-left'. Around 1977, the party changed direction. However, some of its leaders have also publicly condemned the human rights abuses that have taken place in Venezuela under the government of Nicolás Maduro.

Leaders

{| class="sortable wikitable"

|+Leaders of the Communist Party of Chile

!scope="col"|General Secretary

!scope="col"|Period

!scope="col"|President

!scope="col"|Period

! align="left" |Ramón Sepúlveda Leal

| align="center" |1922–1924

| align=center rowspan="9" colspan="2"|Non-existent position

! align="left" |Luis A. González

| align="center" |?–?

! align="left" |Galvarino Gil

| align="center" |?–?

! align="left" |Maclovio Galdames

| align="center" |?–?

! align="left" |José Santos Zavala

| align="center" |?–?

! align="left" |Isaias Iriarte

| align="center" |?–1929

! align="left" |Carlos Contreras Labarca

| align="center" |1931–1946

! align="left" |Ricardo Fonseca

| align="center" |1946–1948

! rowspan="2" align="left" |Oyarzun Galo González

| rowspan="2" align="center" |1948–1958

| align=left rowspan="2"|Elías Lafertte

| align=center rowspan="2"|1956–1961

! rowspan="2" align="left" |Luis Corvalán

| rowspan="2" align="center" |1958–1990

| align=center rowspan="3" colspan="2"|Non-existent position

! align="left" |Volodia Teitelboim

| align="center" |1990–1994

! align="left" |Gladys Marín

| align="center" |1994–2002

! align="left" |Guillermo Teillier

| align="center" |2002–2005

| align=left|Gladys Marín

| align=center|2002–2005

! align="left" |Lautaro Carmona Soto

| align="center" |2005–2023

| align=left|Guillermo Teillier

| align=center|2005–2023

! align="left" |Bárbara Figueroa

| align="center" |2023–present

| align=left|Lautaro Carmona Soto

| align=center|2023–present

Election results

Chamber of Deputies and Senate elections

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!Election

!Votes

!Chamber seats

!Votes

!Senate seats

!Status

!1918

|1,548

|0.64%

| colspan="3" rowspan="3" |

!1921

|4,814

|2.16%

!1924

|1,212

|0.49%

!1925

| colspan="2" |as part of USRACh

!1937

|17,162

|4.16%

|7,543

|—

|rowspan="2"

!1941

|53,114

|11.80%

|28,449

|12.18%

! rowspan="2" |1945

| rowspan="2" |46,133

| rowspan="2" |10.18%

| rowspan="2" |

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |—

| rowspan="2" |

!1949

|5,721

|1.25%

| colspan="3" rowspan="3" |

|rowspan="5"

!1953

|38,371

|4.93%

!1957

| colspan="2" |as part of FRAP

!1961

|157,572

|11.76%

|74,838

|12.21%

!1965

|290,635

|12.73%

|142,088

|10.73%

! rowspan="2" |1969

| rowspan="2" |383,049

| rowspan="2" |16.60%

| rowspan="2" |

| rowspan="2" |181,488

| rowspan="2" |18.04%

| rowspan="2" |

!1973

|593,738

|16.36%

|380,460

|17.29%

! colspan="8" |1973 Chilean coup d'état

!1989

| colspan="2" |as part of PAIS

|rowspan="5"

!1993

|336,034

|4.99%

|65,073

|3.47%

!1997

|398,588

|6.88%

|357,825

|8.44%

!2001

|320,688

|5.22%

|45,735

|2.64%

!2005

|339,547

|5.14%

|104,687

|2.19%

!2009

|132,305

|2.02%

| colspan="2" |Did not participate

!2013

|255,242

|4.11%

|6,423

|0.14%

! colspan="8" |Changes to electoral system in 2017

!2017

|274,935

|4.58%

|20,217

|1.21%

!2021

|464,885

|7.35%

|335,673

|7.21%

!2025

|538,793

|5.03%

|258,229

|8.34%

Presidential election

;Keys

RP = supported a candidate from the Radical Party
SP = supported a candidate from the Socialist Party
PU–SP = member of the Popular Unity coalition, supported the candidate from the Socialist Party
PDC = supported a candidate from the Christian Democratic Party
Ind = supported an independent candidate
HP = supported a candidate from the Humanist Party
NM–SP = member of the New Majority coalition, supported the candidate from the Socialist Party
NM–Ind = member of the New Majority coalition, supported an independent candidate
AD-SC = member of the Apruebo Dignidad coalition, supported the candidate from Social Convergence

{| class="sortable wikitable"

! colspan="4" class="unsortable" | Presidential

! Year

! Nominee

! No. of votes

! % of votes

| align=center|1920

| align=left|Luis Emilio Recabarren

| align=center|681

| align=center|0.41%

| align=center|1925

| align=left|José Santos Salas

| align=center|74,091

| align=center|28.4%

| align=center|1927

| align=left|None

| align=center|—

| align=center|1931

| align=left|Elías Lafertte

| align=center|2,434

| align=center|0.9%

| align=center|1932

| align=left|Elías Lafertte

| align=center|4,128

| align=center|1.2%

| align=center|1938

| align=left|Pedro Aguirre Cerda (RP)

| align=center|222,720

| align=center|50.5%

| align=center|1942

| align=left|Juan Antonio Ríos (RP)

| align=center|260,034

| align=center|56.0%

| align=center|1946

| align=center|Gabriel González Videla (RP)

| align=center|192,207

| align=center|40.2%

| align=center|1952

| align=left|Salvador Allende (SP)

| align=center|51,975

| align=center|5.5%

| align=center|1958

| align=left|Salvador Allende (SP)

| align=center|356,493

| align=center|28.9%

| align=center|1964

| align=left|Salvador Allende (SP)

| align=center|977,902

| align=center|38.9%

| align=center|1970

| align=left|Salvador Allende (PU–SP)

| align=center|1,070,334

| align=center|36.61%

| align=center|1989

| align=left|Patricio Aylwin (PDC)

| align=center|3,850,571

| align=center|55.17%

| align=center|1993

| align=left|Eugenio Pizarro (Ind)

| align=center|327,402

| align=center|4.70%

| align=center|1999

| align=left|Gladys Marín

| align=center|225,224

| align=center|3.19%

| align=center|2005

| align=left|Tomás Hirsch (HP)

| align=center|375,048

| align=center|5.40%

| align=center|2009

| align=left|Jorge Arrate

| align=center|433,195

| align=center|6.21%

| align=center|2013

| align=left|Michelle Bachelet (NM–SP)

| align=center|3,466,358

| align=center|62.15%

| align=center|2017

| align=left|Alejandro Guillier (NM–Ind)

| align=center|3,157,750

| align=center|45.42%

| align=center|2021

| align=left|Gabriel Boric (AD–SC)

| align=center| 4,620,890

| align=center| 55.87%

| align=center|2025

| align=left| Jeannette Jara

| align=center| 5,218,444

| align=center| 41.84%

Communist Party of Chile

History

Leaders

Election results

Chamber of Deputies and Senate elections

Presidential election

See also

Footnotes

Further reading

External links