Abstract

In Tocopilla, a port in northern Chile, a thermoelectric plant was installed to supply with electricity the Chuquicamata mine, the world’s largest copper mine during most of the twentieth century. In a context of strikes and socioeconomic demands against labour exploitation and work precariousness, the American owners of Chuquicamata took advantage of an anti-communist law to prevent workers’ organizations and their claims. Moreover, the workers who were labelled as ‘communists’ were also labelled as ‘Indians’ in the context of mining colonialism. The paper examines the historical process of construction of ‘race’ in a political situation that had a profound impact on the lives of Chilean workers in the Atacama Desert.