Puerto Montt, Chile

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Puerto Montt

Puerto Montt is a port city in southern Chile, located by the Reloncaví Sound, and is the capital of the Llanquihue Province (yan-key-wey) and the Los Lagos Region, at 41°28′S 72°56′W. The city has an approximate 175.938 inhabitants, within an area of 1.673 km².

[edit] History

The city of Puerto Montt in 1895

Originally, this location was covered by a thick forest and received the name of Melipulli (Meh-lee-poo-yi), meaning four hills. This place was selected as an entrance to the Lake Llanquihue, after its proximity to the open sea was discovered. In the summer of 1851, an expedition arrived from Chiloe to start the clearing of the area, and the building of houses for the new inhabitants. The city itself was founded on February 12, 1853 after a government-sponsored immigration from Germany, that began in 1848, populated the region and integrated it politically to the rest of the country. The city was named after Manuel Montt, Chilean president between 1851 and 1861, who set in motion the German immigration.

On 4 March 1969, approximately ninety landless families decided to settle on otherwise unoccupied farmland, without any title, right, or payment of rent, belonging to an absentee landlord. The families received advise from the Socialist member of parliament Luis Espinoza, in response to never being granted any land by the local authority which was needed to build their houses. Five days later the local Chief of Carabiniers Rolando Rodríguez Marbán reassured the squatters that they would not be disturbed and could proceed with their home building. However, new orders received from the Ministry of the Interior the day after will lead to a change of plans: In the midnight of 9th March, Espinoza was charged with breaking the law, arrested and moved to the city of Valdivia. At dawn, two-hundred fifty carabiniers launched an assault on the unarmed families, following direct orders from the Minister of the Interior, Edmundo Pérez Zujovic. The final result was all newly-built houses burnt to the ground and eleven squatters shot dead.

The massacre of Puerto Montt and the public outcry that followed on were major factors contributing to the fall of Eduardo Frei's government, to be succeeded by Salvador Allende's Unidad Popular in next year's elections. The events were described by singer-songwriter Victor Jara in his song Preguntas por Puerto Montt.

[edit] Economy

The city's economy is now based upon agriculture, forestry, fishing, and salmon aquaculture in the surrounding islands and fjords. It is the fastest growing city in southern Chile, mainly because of the explosive growth of salmon culture. Puerto Montt is also the gateway to Chiloé Island and the many other smaller islands in Chile's inland sea.

Puerto Montt has one airport, El Tepual, where three airlines have regular flights from Santiago, Punta Arenas, Balmaceda, Concepción, Temuco and Bariloche (Argentina). The airlines that operate in this airport are Lan Chile (the largest one in the country), Sky airlines and Aerolíneas del Sur. The flight to Santiago lasts two hours.

Puerto Montt has the southernmost train station in the country.