Vicariate of Solidarity

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Vicariate of Solidarity

The Vicariate of Solidarity (Vicaría de la Solidaridad) was the principal human rights organization in Chile during the military government of General Augusto Pinochet (1973–1990). Established by the Catholic Church in January 1976, the vicariate took over the activities of the ecumenical Committee of Cooperation for Peace, which had been formed after the 11 September 1973 coup that overturned the Socialist government of Salvador Allende. The brutality of the new regime had caused Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish leaders to establish this humanitarian relief agency for the victims and their families. When the committee was closed in 1975, due in part to government pressure, Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez established the Vicariate of Solidarity as part of the archdiocese of Santiago.

The vicariate focused on providing legal, medical, and humanitarian assistance to Chileans throughout the country. Its legal department became renowned for its creativity in using existing national and international law to defend political prisoners, secure the release of those illegally detained, and investigate assassinations, torture, and disappearances. It also provided technical assistance to human rights organizations in other countries.

In addition to its legal work, the vicariate established medical services, communal kitchens, consumer and producer cooperatives, and basic educational and job training programs, and provided technical assistance and credit, particularly to poor communities. In one year, its facilities provided 5 million meals for children. By the 1980s, public opinion surveys indicated that the vicariate was the most trusted institution in Chile. Also, the pluralism of the organization helped create new relationships between the Left and Christian Democrats, who have worked together since the democratic transition.

With the return of elected civilian government in March 1990, the vicariate began scaling down its human rights activities on the grounds that civic and other organizations could assume such tasks. The vicariate provided the majority of the documents used by the Commission of Truth and Reconciliation in the latter's final report in 1991. The Vicariate of Solidarity closed in December 1992.

See alsoAllende Gossens, Salvador; Chile, Truth Commissions; Human Rights; Pinochet Ugarte, Augusto; Silva Henríquez, Raúl.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Juan Ignacio Gutiérrez Fuente, Chile: La Vicaría de la Solidaridad (Madrid, 1986).

Hannah W. Stewart-Gambino, The Church and Politics in the Chilean Countryside (1992).

Additional Bibliography

Aranda, Gilberto C. Vicaría de la Solidaridad: Una experiencia sin fronteras. Santiago, Chile: CESOC, 2004.

Lowden, Pamela. Moral Opposition to Authoritarian Rule in Chile, 1973–90. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.

                                     Margaret E. Crahan