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Founded in 1924 by the
Lautaro Nitrate Company Ltd., Chacabuco soon fell into ruin as the nitrate mining boom in Chile came to an abrupt halt at the end of the 1930s. Synthetic nitrate had been invented in Germany at the turn of the 20th century and by the 1930s and 40s had severely crippled northern
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By the 1990s, Chacabuco was in need of extensive restoration and several international organizations began the restoration of parts of
Chacabuco. In 1991, a former political prisoner of Chacabuco, Roberto Saldívar, returned to Chacabuco in order to live in the abandoned town and guard it against
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vandalism and pillaging. He lived there almost completely alone until
January 2006. Pedro Barreda replaced Roberto when he left as caretaker of Chacabuco. Currently living in Chacabuco alone, Pedro considers himself to be Roberto's apprentice and remains dedicated to the cause Roberto started.
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Chile's nitrate industry. What had accounted for virtually 50% of Chile's Gross
National Product fell to almost zero within a few decades. A total of 170 nitrate towns were shut down throughout Chile's Atacama Desert, only one remains open today,
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turned it into a concentration camp until the end of 1974. As a concentration camp, it held up to 1,800 prisoners many of whom were doctors, lawyers, artists, writers, professors and workers from all over Chile.
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declared
Chacabuco a Historic Monument of Chile, at which point restoration began. But in 1973, after the military coup,
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53:. Unlike most of the other ghost towns in the Atacama Desert, Chacabuco became a concentration camp during the
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155:"From nitrate town to internment camp: the cultural biography of Chacabuco, northern Chile"
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regime in 1973. To this day, it remains surrounded by approximately 98 lost
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or "saltpeter" towns ("oficinas salitreras" in
Spanish) in the
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49:. Other nitrate towns of the Atacama Desert include
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List of
Saltpeter works in Tarapacá and Antofagasta
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51:Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works
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132:. Moon Travel Guides. Archived from
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37:is one of the many abandoned
252:Ghost towns in South America
130:"Ghost Towns of the Atacama"
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247:Mines in Antofagasta Region
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78:Concentration camp history
21:Chacabuco (disambiguation)
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190:Album Desierto: Chacabuco
237:Saltpeter works in Chile
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213:23.14722°S 69.61667°W
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218:-23.14722; -69.61667
65:Nitrate town history
19:For other uses, see
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82:In 1971, president
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30:Ruins of Chacabuco
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84:Salvador Allende
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242:Atacama Desert
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16:Abandoned town
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173:the original
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138:. Retrieved
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45:of northern
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169:"Chacabuco"
72:María Elena
231:Categories
204:69°37′00″W
201:23°08′50″S
140:2012-10-14
116:References
59:landmines
35:Chacabuco
104:See also
88:Pinochet
55:Pinochet
39:nitrate
47:Chile
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