Soldiers Fire on Striking Nitrate Workers in Iquique

On December 21, 1907, Chilean army units opened fire on thousands of striking nitrate miners and their families sheltered at the Domingo Santa María School in the northern port city of Iquique. The saltpeter industry in the arid Tarapacá Province had expanded rapidly after Chile gained control of the territory following the War of the Pacific. Life in the desert mining settlements, known as oficinas, was isolated and strictly controlled. Mine owners operated company towns where laborers were paid in company tokens rather than legal currency, bought goods exclusively from owner-operated stores, and faced dangerous industrial environments with little state oversight.

Widespread frustration over these conditions culminated in a strike that began around December 9 and 10, 1907, across the pampa. The strikers demanded better pay, an end to payment in scrip, and the freedom to spend their wages outside company stores. Seeking government intervention, thousands of miners traveled across the desert to Iquique. Accompanied by their families and joined by workers from other regional industries, thousands of demonstrators converged on the provincial capital, taking shelter in Manuel Montt Plaza and the nearby Santa María School.