La resistencia cultural a las dictaduras del Cono Sur. Un estudio comparado de la solidaridad desde Francia y Suecia con Chile y Argentina a partir de la gráfica política (1973-1990)

Abstract

The establishment of military dictatorships in the Southern Cone in the 1960s and 1970s deeply shocked the progressive sectors of European countries. Before the military coups, a significant solidarity movement had already emerged to support the Latin American revolutionary governments. After the breakdown of democracy and the systematization of repressive practices, the committees reoriented their work to welcoming exiles and denouncing human rights violations. In addition to exerting political pressure, numerous activities and cultural events were organized, in which both local and Latin American artists and writers participated, most of whom arrived as exiles. In order to reflect on the effect, significance and legacy of this experience, this article analyzes as a case study the cultural dimension of solidarity in Sweden and France with Chile and Argentina in comparative perspective, focusing on the political graphics. The study concludes that while the exiles from the Southern Cone tried to weaken the dictatorial regimes from the transnational public space by summoning external support, their European allies represented these demands appealing to local sensibilities. In other words, they chose either to evoke other sensitive examples of crimes of international concern or to reference their own traumatic experiences of their recent past.