Newsgroups: alt.skinheads,alt.politics.white-power,alt.politics.nationalism.white,soc.culture.chile
Subject: ADL: Skinhead International; Chile
Summary: The ADL's "Skinhead International: A Worldwide Survey
         of Neo-Nazi Skinheads"
Followup-To: alt.skinheads

Archive/File: pub/orgs/american/adl/skinhead-international/skins-chile
Last-Modified: 1995/08/27

                            Chile

In Chile the Skinhead and neo-Nazi worlds blur and intersect,
due to the existence of: (a) a sizable Hitlerite youth
movement which is not necessarily marked by musical
proclivities or shaved heads, and (b) _Cabezas Rapadas_ -
Skinheads - some of whom are neo-Nazis, and others
ultra-nationalists given to street violence.

There are, however, obvious general tendencies which have led
to interaction among the groupings. In the British skinzine
_Last Chance_, Chilean Skinhead Hans Kwasigroch has written
that many Skins are "non-politcal," although the rise of a
deeply ideological neo-Nazi youth movement, "Esoterica," has
led to "an awakening" in which most Skins can identify with
the Nazis "in the same cause, the love of our country."

One of the leaders of the Nazis, a writer and former diplomat
named Miguel Serrano, speaks ambiguously on the question of
violence. "For now, we cannot take to the streets and fight,"
he says. "This is the time to defend our ideals, myths, and
legends." As for the Skinheads: "I would tell them not to
employ violence, simply because it is unnecessary. But if we
keep bringing in Koreans, Taiwanese and Jews, violence will
probably result." But Serrano has defended Skinhead assaults
against homosexuals and drug addicts as "stupendous!" and has
chided the Catholic Church for not doing more about such
persons. "The Skinheads," says Serrano, "represent the most
profound and important values of the Chilean people."

                  Core of Two Hundred

Over the past two years the Skins' numbers have grown in
Chile's two major metropolitan areas, Santiago (particularly
in its suburbs of Maipu and Puente Alto) and Valparaiso. The
movement is estimated to comprise a core of 200 militants
throughout the country.

Chile's Skinheads are said to be quite certain that a
totalitarian system will one day be imposed upon the whole
world, and that all people will see that it is best for them.
The idea is articulated in their songs, which carry much the
same fulsome thoughts as Skin music everywhere.

The most successful of the Chilean Skins bands, Rockan Oi,
features a song dedicated to Hitler ("Someone Like You Will
Never Be Forgotten"), which proclaims, in part: "He created a
nation ... he only wanted to rid his country of worms."

Among Rockan Oi's other titles are: "KKK," "Camarada Rudolf
Hess," and "One in a Million" (a reference to Nazi leader
Serrano). Rockan Oi has played in theaters and at university
campuses. As elsewhere, it is through their music at such
gatherings that the Skins reach impressionable youngsters. The
Santiago newspaper Mercurio has noted a serious influence of
Skinhead "culture" on campus life, naming several
universities: Chile, Central, Diego Portales, and Gabriela
Mistral.

                  "Kick a Few People"

There is, of course, a rowdy side to the story. The Skinhead
quoted from the British skinzine earlier wrote: "We go out to
have a laugh and perhaps kick a few people who are not nice to
us. We go to pubs or heavy metal concerts and every Friday and
Saturday we end up really drunk."

Chilean Professor Erwin Robertson, an historian who is an
unabashed admirer of Hitler, has found the Skinheads "an
interesting phenomenon because they are middle-class youths,
spontaneously organized, who have taken an attitude of
rebellion."

                          Work Cited

Anti-Defamation League. The Skinhead International: A Worldwide
Survey of Neo-Nazi Skinheads. New York: Anti-Defamation League,
1995. Anti-Defamation League, 823 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY
10017.

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