ABSTRACT
The founding father of the Partido Comunista de Chile, Luis Emilio Recabarren, believed in a government controlled by workers' unions rather than political parties. In 1912, Recabarren founded the Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores (PST) in Iquique. Recabarren had been elected to parliament in 1916 but was not allowed to take his seat because of his political ideas. In the PST's Fourth Congress in January 1922 in Rancagua, it decided to officially affiliate itself with the Third International and change its name to Partido Comunista de Chile. It was several years until Moscow formally accepted the Partido Comunista De Chile (PCC) into full membership in the Third International, although the PCC had already accepted Lenin's "21 points" necessary for membership. Military dictator Carlos Ibanez del Campo was the first Chilean president to outlaw the PCC, which he did in 1927. He also attempted to crush the unions and repress the opposition.
