In this arpillera, we see a group of women in the streets, resolute and defiant, banging their pots with sticks. They are publicly denouncing the impoverishment they are forced to endure as a result of the economic policies of the Pinochet regime. This type of protest is called 'Cacerolazo', named after the empty stew pots protesters used.
Before Cacerolazo was used to denounce the Pinochet regime, it was used by conservative and usually upper middle class women in the 'March of the Empty Pots' in 1971. They opposed democratic socialist President Salvador Allende who they blamed food shortages caused by US imposed sanctions.
The pots symbolised both a lack of food and depoliticised ideal of domestic womanhood. This feminine image made space for women to take political action despite the constraints of womanhood in this time. By the 1980s, under the neoliberal economic policies ushered in under Pinochet, food had only become scarcer, and this time it was poor women who raised their pots in frustration.
When appropriated by working class women, Cacerolazo presented a safe way to speak out against the regime and the unavailability of food. During the strict curfews and harsh repression, pots and pans could be covertly banged at night, from the safety of home and under the cover of darkness. The noise was impossible for either the public or the authorities to ignore, without the protesters needing to expose themselves to danger or identification.
Marjorie Agosín details the impact of the economic and political policies of the Pinochet regime when she states: “They produced the conditions for economic growth on the backs of the underprivileged…poor women … were the main victims …Thousands of them became the only providers in their homes, as their husbands, fathers and sons disappeared …..” (Agosín, 2008)
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