The Shantytown as an Embodiment of the People's Power The experiences just described, help us to understand the second part of the shanty- town's history, which coincides with the coun- try´s progressive politicization, the housing movement's radicalization, and the arrival of the Popular Unified Government. Particularly, between 1970 and 1973, the shantytowns be- gan to operate as a territorial base for central and, especially leftist political parties. This brought about an explosive increase from 23 land occupations in 1969 to almost 350 in 1971 (Murphy 2015)-as well as the emergence of highly organized shantytowns whose names usually referred to leftist characters and slo- gans (Che Guevara, Ho Chi Minh, Camilo Tor- res, Venceremos, etc.). Such is the case of Nueva La Habana, a shantytown located in the La Florida community where, under the leadership of the Revolutionary Left Move- ment, the inhabitants developed innovative ways of grassroots power (Pérez 2022). In this context, the shantytowns were no longer seen as an ecological representation of urban marginality, but rather as the embodiment of the inhabitants´ organizational capabilities. Realizing this, the military dictatorship not only annihilated the settlers’ movement and evicted thousands of families from shantytowns lo- cated in high-income areas. It also replaced their names with phrases that, in the words of one government official, would restore "the nation's patriotic values" and sought to refer to the informal squatting as "settlements," since the term "shantytown" seemed ideologically encumbered (Pérez 2022, 109).
The Shantytown as a Residual Reality Although implemented during the dictatorship, the housing policy was based on the allocation of housing subsidies and was effectively used by the transitional governments to reduce the housing deficit-from 53% to 37% between 1990 and 2000-and thus preventing the resurgence of tomas . In effect, the housing movement that had been a feature of political activity in neighborhoods and towns virtually disappeared. Those families without housing, who resided mostly in the homes of relatives, sought to win the right to housing, no longer through DIY construction, but through their participation in state housing programs. They organized silently in "Family Member" committees, the transition settlers thus lost the prominence they had achieved in previous decades. For their part, those who continued to live unlaw- fully hoped to be integrated into the housing programs that looked to "close" shantytowns in order to obtain social housing. In this sce- nario of housing solutions with reduced public activism and massification, the shantytown was thought of as a residual reality that, as a transitory settlement, could be absorbed by an efficient housing policy. In fact, 20,509 families lived in these settlements in 2007, a figure much lower than the 66,408 that did so in 1996. However, the current housing crisis has called into question the premises underpinning current housing policies. Along with the deficit, the number of families residing in shantytowns has increased considerably in recent years, a phenomenon that has become more complex with the arrival of new actors.
con instituciones de la sociedad civil (partidos, Iglesia Católica, etc.), lograrían formalizarse como poblaciones. La Victoria (1957), Herminda de la Victoria (1967) y Primero de Mayo (1969), solo por mencionar algunos campamentos, son ejemplo de aquello. El campamento como encarnación del poder popular Las experiencias recién descritas nos permiten situarnos en un segundo periodo en la histori- zación del campamento, el que coincide con la progresiva politización del país, la radicalización del movimiento por la vivienda y la llegada del Gobierno de la Unidad Popular. Particularmente, entre 1970 y 1973, los campamentos empiezan a operar como base territorial para partidos políticos de centro y, en especial, de izquierda. Ello trajo consigo un aumento explosivo de las ocupaciones de terreno –de 23 en 1969 a casi 350 en 1971 (Murphy 2015)–, así como la emer- gencia de campamentos altamente organizados cuyos nombres solían referir a personajes y consignas de izquierda (Che Guevara, Ho Chi Minh, Camilo Torres, Venceremos, etc.). Tal es el caso de Nueva La Habana, campamento ubicado en la comuna de La Florida donde, bajo el liderazgo del Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria, los pobladores desarrollaron innovadoras formas de poder popular (Pérez 2022). En este contexto, los campamentos deja- ron de ser imaginados como una representación ecológica de la marginalidad urbana, pasando a encarnar las capacidades organizativas de los pobladores. Consciente de ello, la dicta- dura militar no solo aniquiló el movimiento de pobladores y erradicó miles de familias desde campamentos ubicados en el cono de alta renta. Además, reemplazó sus nombres por frases que, en palabras de un funcionario de gobierno, restaurarían “los valores patrios de la nación” y procuró referir a los asentamientos informales como “poblaciones”, ya que el tér- mino “campamento” parecía ideológicamente cargado (Pérez 2022, 109). El campamento como realidad residual Aunque implementada en la dictadura, la política de vivienda basada en la asignación de subsidios habitacionales fue eficazmente utilizada por los gobiernos de la transición para reducir el déficit habitacional –de 53% a 37% entre 1990 y 2000– y, con ello, evitar la reaparición de las tomas de terreno. En efecto, el movimiento por la vivienda que había caracterizado la actividad política en barrios y poblaciones prácticamente desapareció. Aquellas familias sin vivienda, resi- diendo mayormente como allegados en casas de familiares, buscaban conquistar el derecho a la vivienda, ya no a través de la autoconstrucción, sino mediante su participación en los programas de vivienda del Estado. Organizadas silenciosa- mente en comités de allegados, los pobladores de la transición perdieron así el protagonismo que habían alcanzado en las décadas anteriores. Por su parte, quienes continuaban viviendo irre- gularmente, esperaban integrarse a los progra- mas de vivienda que buscaban “cerrar” campa- mentos con el fin de obtener una vivienda social.
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AOA / n°46
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