Forging the Unity of Two Lonely Stars. Political and Cultural Relations Between Chile and Cuba During the Popular Unity Government

Abstract

This article analyzes the position officially adopted by Fidel Castro and Salvador Allende on the issue of the different revolutionary paths represented by the Cuban Revolution and the “Chilean way to socialism”. It also analyzes the extent to which these two countries considered the cultural field strategic to strengthen ties. I argue that Castro and Allende supported each other and maintained the same discourse, which affirmed the two revolutionary paths’ difference and validity. In the cultural field, relations between Cuba and Chile intensified between 1970 and 1973 and tended to reinforce the image of “brother peoples”. Far from merely echoing the official discourse, the Cuban and Chilean cultural institutions and intellectuals actively sought to contribute to concretizing the rapprochement between the two processes. However, on occasions, they ended up making explicit tensions that the rulers tried to hide.