The people united will never be defeated.

December 13, 2019 8:52 PM

El Pueblo Unido was written by Sergio Ortega and Quilapayún as for Salvador Allende's government. The song went on to become an anthem of resistance for Chileans in exile and opressed people the world over (wiki) . Today, 7 weeks into what is being called a new Chilean Awakening, Inti Illimani sang the song in front of half a million people in la Plaza de la Dignidad (ex Plaza Italia) in downtown Santiago.

It starts like this:

De pie cantar [luchar], que vamos a triunfar
Avanzan ya banderas de unidad
Y tú vendrás marchando junto a mi
Y así verás tu canto y tu bandera
Florecer. La luz de un rojo amanecer
Anuncia ya la vida que vendrá…

Standing sing [fight], we will succeed
Unity flags are already advancing
And you will come marching next to me
And so you will see your song and your flag
flourish. The light of a red dawn
Announce the life that will come…


Full lyrics in Spanish & English

posted by signal (4 comments total)

I love it, and I’m sure it’s a double
posted by growabrain at 10:49 PM on December 13, 2019

Fuck that’s beautiful.

For those who are unaware, Inti-Illimani is a Chilean folk music group formed in the 60s who are massively influential in Latin America. After the (US backed) Chilean coup in 1973 that led to the assassination of many of their fellow artists, they spent fifteen years living in exile. They’ve spend their whole career performing and speaking out against injustice around the world.
posted by joedan at 12:23 AM on December 14, 2019 [10 favorites]

Could they ever have imagined this? That in nearly 50 years so much will change, and so little... and they will still be there, still singing this song.
posted by hat_eater at 2:29 PM on December 14, 2019 [2 favorites]

The template of this became part of the global protest vocabulary. The mother of all chants (self link)
posted by stonepharisee at 5:58 AM on December 15, 2019