Dalla demolizione del passato marxista al nuevo Chile. Propaganda e “guerra psicologica” nel primo anno di goberno della dittadura di Augusto Pinochet

The dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet did not rule exclusively through physical violence. On the “internal front” the population was “conquered” also through a manipulation that was relentless and that was conducted through all available means. At an early stage, the regime’s propaganda and “psychological warfare” concerned the “breakdowns” produced by the Allende government and the anti-Marxism in general. At the same time, the reference to values such as the unity of the nation, morality, the need to restore traditional virtues and symbols, as well as the attempt to compact the population around the national objectives of the Junta prevailed. All this took place within the framework of a specific and original version of the “National security doctrine”, which began operating from the very beginning of the dictatorship. In the middle of 1974 the need for a change of direction in the communication strategy began to emerge, and it responded to both internal and external reasons.