February 21, 2025

When you travel around the world not all ports are going to be busy. Some are going to be more laid-back places to hang out before you head toward somewhere else. So it is with Puerto Montt, Chile.

Puerto Montt, Chile reminded me very much of Airlie Beach, Queensland. Nobody really stays long in Airlie Beach; everyone is on their way to dive at The Great Barrier Reef. But the anticipation and expectancy of a place on the move creates its own type of excitement. In Puerto Montt many are on their way to the many national parks that surround the area especially Alerce Andino National Park. This type of environment creates, to steal a phrase from the 1960’s, a type of “vagabond vibe” that compels one’s own sense of wanderlust.

There is, however, a significant Chilian history that draws people to Puerto Montt no different than individuals are drawn to the events of Woodstock in the United States.

At the start of 1969, approximately 90 landless people received poor advice from a member of the Chilian Parliament, Luis Espinoza. The families were never granted land needed to build their homes. On March 4, 1969, the families settled on empty, unoccupied farmland owned by an absentee landlord. The families sought squatters’ rights. Approximately four to five days after moving onto the land, the local Police Chief Rolando Rodríguez Marban assured the squatters that they would not be disturbed and could proceed with their home construction. Unfortunately, the Ministry of the Interior changed their orders, which led to tragic results.

On midnight on March 9, Espinoza was charged with breaking the law, arrested, and moved to the city of Valdivia, where he was held. Following direct orders from the Minister of Interior Edmundo Perez Zujovic, 250 armed policemen launched an assault on the squatting families at dawn. Many squatters were shot dead, including a 9-month child. The newly built homes were decimated. The massacre is poignantly memorialized by singer-songwriter Victor Jara’s song Preguntas por Puerto Montt, still often played in restaurants/bars in Puerto Montt.

The arrival in Puerto Montt is non assuming with a simple coastline. Like many cities in South America there is a cross upon arrival.  It was erected in honor of Pope John Paul II for his intervention in a border conflict between Chile and Argentina.

In Puerto Montt there are many street people who I purposely always try to make eye contact with and offer a smile. The universal language of “thumbs up” usually gets a response.

There were many backpackers and those using various types of transportation to get to their next location.

I was reminded how my younger brother Brian and I both drove across the country, at different times, in vans. I for the summer in an old 1967 Dodge Van with the engine positioned between the driver and passenger seats. The engine cover got so hot you could fry eggs on it! My brother, the budding architect, spent months designing his van to meet his exacting specifications. He took a year off from the University of Miami to the chagrin of our parents to among other pursuits study the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. He spent time at the world-famous Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s desert laboratory, where he and his apprentices lived, worked, and pushed the boundaries of architectural innovation. I always say “Travel while you’re young and able. Don’t worry about the money, just make it happen”. If I remember correctly my brother laid carpet, picked fruits/vegetables and took backbreaking day jobs that nobody else wanted, but he made it happen! I honestly believe that experience shaped the aesthetic of his design/build career.

It was nice to be reminded of those days.

Thanks for traveling with us.