Role of Working Class in the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR)

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Role of Working Class in the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR): A Critical Review
The Movement of the Revolutionary Left or MIR was a historical event in the political history of Chile that triggered widespread social and economic changes. Formed by the confluence of several small leftist parties that opposed the ruling Chilean Communist Party and parliamentarianism, this party initiated an armed struggle to implement the Marxist socialist system (Gaudichaud). This group was a staunch champion of the rights of the working class, and their ideology is rooted in using concrete, practical, and aggressive measures to gain power and provide the working class with their rights. The Cuban revolution and anti-imperialism movements also inspired Chilean revolutionists, and they had intensified their social and political struggle in the 1950s well before the formation of MIR. The increasing political activism of Chilean revolutionists brought them together on one platform and in 1965 in the form of MIR (Toro). The core feature of this movement was the struggle for the rights of the working class, including peasants and urban pobladores, and intense confrontation with the "bourgeois class." However, they could not kindle the revolutionary spirit in the urban working class to the degree they would have wanted (Judge 415). Nevertheless, the history of this movement explicitly indicates that the role of class difference was crucial in the establishment and success of this movement, and the following paragraphs substantiate this fact.
The historical profile of MIR provides essential details of its establishment's political and social background, making the role of class difference in its success more prominent. The formation of this armed revolutionary movement traces its roots in decades of political strife that marked Chilean history. In the 1940s, the leftists and communists formed a reformist collation under the Popular Front; this was the type of coalition in which socialists and communists were involved in government with the same class they struggled against(Toro). However, their contribution to the second and the third Popular Front was devastating for the cause and the working class they represented. Gabriel González Videl was the president of this coalition who betrayed all communists and leftist ideals by torturing leftist militants (Toro). Thus, these coalition governments failed to fulfill the demands of leftists and communists in Chilean society.
In the 1950s and early 60s, there was an upsurge in the political and social struggle of leftist radicals in Chile. This renewed enthusiasm was due to the growing influence of Imperialism and the successful Cuban revolution; furthermore, the growing intensity of anticolonial struggle in various parts of the world also spurred these social movements. As a result of these socialist tendencies in Chilean society, the Christian Democratic Party capitalized on this revolutionary fervor and came into power under the presidency of Eduardo Frei Montalva (Toro). This party used the slogan "Revolution in Liberty" to gather mass support from the rural class, and after coming into power, they did make some land and social reforms. However, this pa...