Housing Policy and Callempas
Beginning with President Eduardo Frei in 1964, one of the government’s
most pressing duties was to provide housing for the thousands of Santiaguinos
who had migrated to the city only to find that no housing was available.
The Chilean government has worked steadily to minimize the problem
of campamento settlements. Informal settlements of self built
housing are found throughout Latin America. They tend to be unhealthy
and lack many of the amenities that modern society enjoys, such as
running water and electricity. Santiago has far fewer of these settlements
than most cities of comparable size in Latin America, thanks largely to the
efforts of three governments.
Eduardo Frei campaigned on the promise of building thousands of single family homes for those dwelling in substandard housing. He organized Operacion Sitia, in which plots of land were to be divided into lots. Through government subsidies, the poor were to be able to purchase these lots and build houses to suit their needs upon them. The government was charged with delivering city services to the lots. Response to the program was swift and enthusiastic. Soon, however, plot owners became disillusioned when the program failed to live up to its promises. The program became popularly known as Operation Chalk, because nothing besides the outlining of the lots in chalk was ever accomplished. At the same time, the government was building large single family homes and selling them at a large subsidy. Unfortunately, these houses were too large and expensive for the average callempa resident to afford, no matter how large the subsidy. Angered by the Frei government’s unfulfilled promises, invasions of public and private land began. Large groups of people would move in on open spaces within the city and settle illegally. As part of his reelection bid, Frei legalized these communities. However, his efforts to appease the masses came too late and Salvador Allende was elected in 1970.
The Allende government was hostile to self help housing and reluctant to continue Operacion Sitia. However, due to its wide implementation, the program continued, but was scaled back considerably. Efforts were made to provide high quality, finished housing for every resident, but it was soon clear that this goal was impossible to meet, even with decreases in house size. The Allende government was not able to meet its building goals. Unlike the European Communist block, Chilean government officials seemed bent on providing detached housing for the poor, rather than the large apartment buildings popular in Europe. The military coup cut Allende’s efforts short. His planned housing programs were thrown in the dustbin by the new dictatorship.
The Pinochet government had very different ideas about the campamento settlements. As soon as new settlements were spotted, they were bulldozed and removed. Pinochet also set about relocating many of the older settlements from the NE sections of Santiago to the NW and southern sections of the city. The relocated settlements were located much further from the inner city core, making it difficult for people to find and retain work. These policies led to increased poverty among callempas. However, Pinochet was more successful at building sheer numbers of dwellings than either of his predecessors. The size of houses was scaled back, this time dramatically. Sanitary units, which contained cooking and bathroom facilities, were introduced allowing residents to have clean, safe living areas without the high cost of a full house. Simple one bedroom houses were also made available. These were seen as starter homes, which could be added onto later, as more money became available. Although the Pinochet government repealed many of the former president’s decrees regarding nationalization, the government continued to heavily subsidize housing.