Citizenship and municipal administration in border territories in conflict. The experience of the Neighborhood Councils in Tacna and Arica (1915-1918)

Abstract

This article analyzes the legal problem that arose at the beginning of the 20th century in the province of Tacna, after the implementation of a reform that established the Neighborhood Councils as a municipal institution in the cities of Tacna, Arica and Tarata. The conflict revealed fragilities and absence of consensus on the policy of Chileanization of these territories located on the border region between Chile and Peru. Likewise, it generated a series of disputes over local political power between neighbors. Since there were no democratic elections like in the rest of the country, their political struggles were transferred to these local administration institutions. These political confrontations were seen as a threat to the interests of the Chilean government, in years marked by an attempt by the executive to obtain a victory in the face of an eventual plebiscite.