In 1970 Salvador Allende became president of Chile. As he moved his country further and further towards socialism, the grumbling of the military, businessmen and traditional parties became louder and louder. By early 1972 there was open rumours of a coup or a civil war, and the Socialists and Communists began to make preparations for this eventual struggle. Santiago is ringed by factories in a so called industrial district. Since much of the Socialist and Communists efforts had been made in indoctrinating and organizing the factory workers and the poor who generally lived in the neighbourhoods surrounding the factories, this is where they pinned their hopes. It was thought that if the workers were sufficiently armed and organized that they could hole up in their factories and neighbourhoods and form a fortified ring around Santiago that would prevent anti-government forces from either entering or exiting the city.

Some weapons were brought in and stored in secret caches in the factories, and a number of home-made weapons were also manufactured. These includes sub-machine-guns, grenade launchers and explosives. A number of guerrillas from other Latin American countries were allowed to live in Chile and were often given jobs at the factories in the industrial belt. It was their job to help train and prepare the workers for the upcoming conflict.

Among these foreign guerrillas were a large number from Brazil. 81 Brazilian guerrillas had come to Chile in January 1971 in exchange for the Swiss Ambassador to Brazil who was kidnapped by Brazilian guerrillas. Most of these had been immediately assigned positions of responsibility within the Chilean movement to create a Socialist state. At least one Brazilian guerrilla was assigned as a political organiser in the state run refrigerator factory of MADEMSA. This factory survived the coup, and the military government and is still making refrigerators today.

At MADEMSA the Brazilian guerrilla, among other things directed the workers to prepare for the coming struggle by converting 24 fork lifts into armoured vehicles. These small armoured vehicles, with tall open-topped superstructures were equipped with a combination of hoses, nozzles and pumps which were designed to spew corrosive chemicals at the enemy.

On September 11, 1973 the military had finally lost patience with the Allende regime and launched a coup. They caught the Socialists and Communists unprepared. However, some fighting did occur. An anonymous participant in the military operation to take control of the MADEMSA factory said that there was combat at the factory and that some of the little armoured fork lifts did go into action, although how effective they were is debatable since resistance at the factory only lasted a few hours at most. Details of their use is not known.

Insurgent Armor in Latin America

Insurgent Armor: Introduction
Insurgent Armor: Costa Rica 1948
Insurgent Armor: Cuba 1958
Insurgent Armor: Dominican Republic 1965
Insurgent Armor: Chile 1973
Insurgent Armor: Nicaragua 1978-1979
Insurgent Armor: El Salvador 1981-1989
Insurgent Armor: Colombia 1993-1998