Everything about Puerto Montt totally explained
Puerto Montt is a port city and commune in southern
Chile, located at the northern end of the
Reloncaví Sound in the
Llanquihue Province,
Los Lagos Region. Pop. 153,118 (city only, 2002 census), city area 39.58 km².
History
Originally, the site was covered by a thick forest and was called Melipulli (Means
Four hills in
Mapudungun). It was selected as an entrance to
Lake Llanquihue when its proximity to the open sea was discovered. In the summer of 1851, an expedition arrived from Chiloé to begin the clearing of the area and the building of houses for the new inhabitants. The city itself was founded on
February 12,
1853, after government-sponsored immigration from
Germany that began in 1848 populated the region and integrated it politically to the rest of the country. It was named after
Manuel Montt,
President of Chile between 1851 and 1861, who set in motion the German immigration.
On
March 4,
1969, approximately 90 landless squatters decided to settle on otherwise unoccupied farmland — without any title, right, or payment of rent — belonging to an absentee landlord. The squatters received advice from
Socialist member of parliament Luis Espinoza due to the local authority never granting them any land they wanted to build houses. Five days later, local
Police Chief Rolando Rodríguez Marbán reassured the squatters that they wouldn't be disturbed and could proceed with their home construction. However, new orders received from the ministry of the interior the following day led to a change of plans: At midnight on March 9, Espinoza was charged with breaking the law, arrested, and moved to the city of
Valdivia. At dawn, 250 policemen launched an assault on the squatters, following direct orders from Interior Minister Edmundo Pérez Zujovic. The final result was that all newly-built homes were burned to the ground and 11 squatters were shot dead.
The massacre of Puerto Montt and the public outcry that followed were major factors contributing to the fall of
Eduardo Frei's government, which was succeeded by
Salvador Allende's
Unidad Popular in the next year's elections. The events were described by singer-songwriter
Víctor Jara in his song
Preguntas por Puerto Montt.
Economy
The city's economy is now based upon agriculture, forestry, fishing, and
salmon aquaculture in the surrounding islands and fjords. It is the fastest-growing city in southern Chile, mainly because of the explosive growth of salmon culture. Puerto Montt is also the gateway to
Chiloé Island and the many other smaller islands in Chile's inland sea.
Puerto Montt has one
airport,
El Tepual, where three airlines have regular flights from
Santiago,
Punta Arenas,
Balmaceda,
Concepción,
Temuco, and
Bariloche (
Argentina). The airlines operating at the airport are
Lan Chile (the country's largest), Sky Airlines, and Air Comet Chile. The flight to Santiago takes two hours.
Gallery
Image:Puerto-montt 500.jpg|The city of Puerto Montt in 1895
Image:Puertomontt2006.jpg|Coastal stroll of Puerto Montt
Image:Angelmo Puerto Montt1.JPG|Angelmo, Puerto Montt
Further Information
Get more info on 'Puerto Montt'.
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