Photojournalist Julio Etchart left his native Uruguay after his release from detention by the military authorities who suspended Congress in 1973 and remained in control until 1985. After studying documentary photography in Newport, Wales, and working with, amongst others, the Guardian and the Observer, Julio was sent to Chile on a number of occasions to document the situation under the regime of General Pinochet, who had deposed the Socialist president Salvador Allende in a military coup on 11 September 1973. Working as a journalist in Chile had its inherent dangers since the regime tried to suppress all forms of dissent and attempted to keep the foreign press at bay as much as possible. While in the UK, Julio had made contact with many Chilean exiles living in Britain who gave him invaluable contacts inside the country that helped him to carry out his work there.
International Women's Day in March 1985 proved a small turning point in the struggle against the dictatorship, when brave women defied a curfew and went out to protest against the regime, calling for political detainees to be released. Though they were beaten back by rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon, Julio's images, that appeared in the international press following these incidents, brought the country back onto the news agenda.
Amnesty International commissioned Julio to produce an exhibition of images to draw attention to the situation in Chile and now, on the 50th anniversary of the coup, his pictures are a reminder of the years of resistance against Pinochet’s brutal regime.
You can see more of Julio’s pictures of Chile on his website.
