This week, we’d like to share this great short article by Scot Nakagawa over at Anti-Authoritarian Playbook (another newsletter you should definitely check out!) Below is an abbreviated version of his article.
Augusto Pinchet was the leader of Chile from 1973 - 1990, leading one of the most brutal military dictatorships in Latin America at the time (and there were a lot). During his reign, he persecuted lefists, socialists, and any political dissent violently with forced disappearances and torture, if not outright execution.
However in 1988, Augusto Pinochet allowed the Chilean people to participate in a referendum, and 98% of Chilean citizens came out to vote and ultimately rejected his rule. The "NO" campaign, waged by those who opposed Pinochet, has become a primer on how to effectively drive up voter participation among opponents of a violently repressive state. Here's how various movements contributed to creating the conditions to vote out their authoritarian leader:
