On this day, 26 August 2017, the famous Chilean “riot dog”, Negro Matapacos (“Black Cop-Killer”), died of old age. A stray dog from the streets of Santiago, he began joining student demonstrations in 2010. The following year, one of the biggest social movements since the fall of the military dictatorship began, fighting for free education and against neoliberal reforms to the education system. Negro Matapacos was then seen regularly at every demonstration, defying tear gas and water cannons and always barking at or attacking only the riot police, and never any students or rioters. He subsequently continued to appear sporadically at future demonstrations, and hung out on university campuses, becoming beloved to student and radical movements as a symbol of resistance to violent authority. His last days were spent resting with people who took him in, with a crowdfunded veterinarian. After his death, his legacy lives on in songs, street murals, an award-winning documentary and in the memories of all those who knew him. He was a good boy.
We have produced posters and other items commemorating his life, illustrated by @lizyerby, to help fund our work: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/all/negro-matapacos https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1793404554178020/?type=3