The dictatorship in Chile affected the country in many ways. However, I never would have thought that it affected it artistically as well. Chileans found themselves expressing their thoughts and feelings through art, especially graffiti and muraling.
Chile was a democracy up until September 11, 1973 when General Augusto Pinochet took over the country by force and became a dictator. A "dictator" is someone who has complete control over a country, and usually gained this power by force. In the case of Chile, the military dictatorship overthrew a democratically-elected president and created a lot of socioeconomic inequality where the government ignored workers' concerns and instead listened to the needs of the business elites. The Pinochet dictatorship committed serious human rights abuses including torture and killings. Many people were swept up by the military and were never seen again. Today, those people are called "Los Desaparecidos" or "The Disappeared". This dictatorship did not end until 1990, or only about 30 years ago.
