MIR (Movement of the Revolutionary Left)

The Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria of Chile (Movement of the Revolutionary Left), or MIR, is emblematic of the wave of revolutionary movements that emerged in Latin America in the late 1960s. Following Lenin and Che Guevara's doctrines, the MIR took the form of a semi-clandestine political party committed to the creation of the conditions that would lead to a socialist revolution. Most of its leaders were young university-trained intellectuals of petit-bourgeois origin, who organized the party hierarchically and practiced “democratic centralism,” which sometimes promoted internal debates and sometimes imposed decisions from above. The MIR was critical of the ability to bring about radical social change through elections and argued that an armed confrontation with the bourgeoisie was inevitable. The MIR dedicated most of its energy, however, to nonviolent grassroots struggles. Although it did not have a mass membership, in the city the MIR accompanied homeless families squatting for housing, and in the countryside it participated in peasant land occupations to force the implementation of agrarian reform. It also had some presence in trade unions and the student movement.

From 1970 to 1973, during Salvador Allende's Unidad Popular (Popular Unity, UP) government, the MIR chose not to join the UP but decided instead to pressure the government to accelerate the pace of reforms. Although the MIR called for the preparation of the people for a prolonged struggle, it did not have the capacity to prepare them for the brutal repression that unfurled after Augusto Pinochet's military coup of September 11, 1973.

After the military coup, almost all the MIR's leadership died in the hands of the military. Those who survived took refuge in Cuba, while the membership was scattered throughout the Western world. The MIR became then relatively influential within radical sectors of the Latin American left for its work with popular sectors and its analysis of the limited character of liberal democracies in Latin America, many of which had been replaced by military dictatorships.

In the early 1980s, the MIR leadership called on the membership to return to Chile to initiate a prolonged campaign to bring down the dictatorship. The decision proved to be premature, as most of them were captured, tortured, jailed, or disappeared. Nonetheless, the MIR was still able to remain influential with university students and kept a presence in the shantytowns. Because it argued for a popular insurrection against Pinochet, as did other major political forces, the MIR was kept out of the negotiations that led to Pinochet's defeat in the 1989 elections. The work of the MIR and other organizations was, however, crucial in the waves of popular protests of 1983–1985 that forced the military junta to negotiate the transition to civilian rule.

The return to civilian rule, characterized by a restrictive institutional order and a consensus between elitist [Page 964]political parties, has not been favorable to the survival of the MIR. Nevertheless, to this day the MIR remains an important testimony of the commitment of at least two generations of Chilean political activists who fought for socialism, social justice, and democracy.

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