Catalogue Number
NMLH.1992.409.12.135
Object Name
Poster
Title
Chile - Could It Happen Here?
Events
Chilean Coup
Description
Poster, "Chile - Could It Happen Here?"
White poster featuring a prominent central image of a black bald eagle wearing a top hat coloured to represent the United States of America's flag, witting above a dead dove (representing both peace and South America), with the eagle's talons creating a pool of blood where Chile would be within the map. The eagle's winds are spread creating a large shadow effect around the dove. Above reads "Chile - could it happen here?" and below "Chile at the Half Moon" with information on the time, date and location of an evening about the situation in Chile.
The poster is an evocative pictoral representation of the interventionist policies of the United States of America in Central and South America, in which they actively supported various repressionary regimes and coup d'etats, which were known to have undertaken to be undertaking human rights violations. The reason for this active intervention and support of dictatorships in Latin America was to limit the influence of the Soviet Union and Communism; the USA actively sought to destabalise left-wing regimes and install right-wing governments in their place, often to the detriment of the people living under the dictatorships. The image is a graphic depiction of this situation.
The poster was probably screen printed, and was created by the East London Chile Solidarity Committee, part of the Chile Solidarity Campaign.
