Pinochet’s Residual Legal Claim Over Chilean Collective Memory
One of the most consequential examples of Latin American political communication is a month-long series of political advertising televised throughout Chile during the 1988 national referendum intended to define the democratic future of the country. The collection is known as the Franja de Propaganda Electoral, which loosely translates as “the official space for electoral propaganda.” Produced initially to encourage Chilean voters to participate in the 1988 plebiscite, it consists of 13 hours of televisual content; 6.5 hours for the Franjas in opposition to the military regime (the NO campaign), and 6.5 hours for the pro-Pinochet Franjas (the SÍ campaign).
The 1988 Franja de Propaganda Electoral is collectively the most fascinating cultural/ political media artifact produced during this period in Chilean history. Despite its considerable significance, as of the summer of 2022, a complete set of this archival material remains inaccessible through any institutional collection within Chile.
The material is nearly impossible to find because at the end of the Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990), a series of leyes de amarre or “gag laws” were hurriedly passed to protect the image and interests of Pinochet’s supporters after his exit from the presidential palace. According to one of these dictatorial statutes, no audio-visual material produced in Chile during the military regime will be publicly available unless someone claims authorship and ownership rights over said material, and subsequently authorizes its public circulation. Members of the anti-Pinochet NO campaign completed the authorization process for their programming soon after the 1990 transition to civilian rule, but it has never been completed for the pro-Pinochet SÍ campaign programming. To this day, those who supported the Pinochet regime during the 1988 plebiscite collectively refuse to acknowledge their role in producing the SÍ Franjas, thereby blocking the public circulation of this essential historical content within Chile, even three decades after the first and only national broadcast of the complete series.
In 2015, I negotiated the duplication of the only known complete set of the 1988 Franja de Propaganda Electoral. After years of unsuccessfully searching for a new institutional home for the Franjas outside Chile, in 2019, I uploaded this copy of the entire Franja collection to my personal server, thereby helping to overturn the Pinochet regime’s residual censorship of this content.
What follows is the only publicly available complete set of 1988 Franja content. Click here to access a brief history of the 1988 Franja de Propaganda Electoral and how I gained access to this historical material.
Franja de Propganga Electoral, Colección Completa. Plebiscito de 1988, Chile.
#1, Lunes, 5 de septiembre, 1988 – Monday, September 5, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#2, Martes, 6 de septiembre, 1988 – Tuesday, September 5, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#3, Miércoles, 7 de septiembre, 1988 – Wednesday, September 7, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#4, Jueves, 8 de septiembre, 1988 – Thursday, September 8, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#5, Viernes, 9 de septiembre, 1988 – Friday, September 9, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#6, Sábado, 10 de septiembre, 1988 – Saturday, September 10, 1988 // 11:30 am
#7, Domingo, 11 de septiembre, 1988 – Sunday, September 11, 1988 // 11:30 am
#8, Lunes, 12 de septiembre, 1988 – Monday, September 12, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#9, Martes, 13 de septiembre, 1988 – Tuesday, September 13, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#10, Miércoles, 14 de septiembre, 1988 – Wednesday, September 14, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#11, Jueves, 15 de septiembre, 1988 – Thursday, September 15, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#12, Viernes, 16 de septiembre, 1988 – Friday, September 16, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#13, Sábado, 17 de septiembre, 1988 – Saturday, September 17, 1988 // 11:30 am
#14, Domingo, 18 de septiembre, 1988 – Sunday, September 18, 1988 // 11:30 am
#15, Lunes, 19 de septiembre, 1988 – Monday, September 19, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#16, Martes, 20 de septiembre, 1988 – Tuesday, September 20, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#17, Miércoles, 21 de septiembre, 1988 – Wednesday, September 21, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#18, Jueves, 22 de septiembre, 1988 – Thursday, September 22, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#19, Viernes, 23 de septiembre, 1988 – Friday, September 23, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#20, Sábado, 24 de septiembre, 1988 – Saturday, September 24, 1988 // 11:30 am
#21, Domingo, 25 de septiembre, 1988 – Sunday, September 25, 1988 // 11:30 am
#22, Lunes, 26 de septiembre, 1988 – Monday, September 26, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#23, Martes, 27 de septiembre, 1988 – Tuesday, September 27, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#24, Miércoles, 28 de septiembre, 1988 – Wednesday, September 28, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#25, Jueves, 29 de septiembre, 1988 – Thursday, September 29, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#26, Viernes, 30 de septiembre, 1988 – Friday, September 30, 1988 // 10:45 pm
#27, Sábado, 01 de octubre, 1988 – Saturday, October 1, 1988 // 11:30 am
- Domingo // 2 Oct // Sunday
- Lunes // 3 Oct // Monday
- Martes // 4 Oct // Tuesday
- Miércoles // 5 Oct // Wednesday: El Plebiscito // Voting day.
Originally published online, 05/20/2019.
Transferred and revised, 11/21/2021.
Translated and revised, 07/11/2022.