Inti Illimani Music Group

The exile of Chilean folk group Inti-Illimani came suddenly. The group was on a European tour in 1973 when Chile's Socialist government of Salvador Allende was toppled in a bloody military coup. Inti-Illimani--which had been associated with the left-wing-oriented nueva cancion (new song) movement--was forbidden to return to Santiago. Permission to return home came just as suddenly only last year, at the unexpected invitation of the same military government that had banished them.

The exile of Chilean folk group Inti-Illimani came suddenly. The group was on a European tour in 1973 when Chile's Socialist government of Salvador Allende was toppled in a bloody military coup. Inti-Illimani--which had been associated with the left-wing-oriented nueva cancion (new song) movement--was forbidden to return to Santiago. Permission to return home came just as suddenly only last year, at the unexpected invitation of the same military government that had banished them.