Poza la Piedra, Colliguay

It is believed that the immediate origin of Colliguay occurred after the defeat of the Spanish royalist army in the Battle of Maipú, where this host found refuge in the place, in view of their search and post-conflict execution by the patriot army.1 Thus, the very isolation conditions of the valley allowed its first permanent settlement. The previous identification of this characteristic allowed the Spaniards of that time to survive, leaving a remnant translated into descent to the present day.1 This previous identification began from the colony, for two reasons from previous experiences: The discovery, by the Spanish colonizers, of sources of gold in the watershed between the Marga-Marga and the Puangue, and the consequent exploitation of the El Álamo and San Lorenzo de Colliguay mines, which were of vital importance until the 18th century.2 It was a relevant intermediate site between Santiago, capital of the Captaincy of Chile, and Valparaíso, the then main port. In the 1950s, the town became known for the discovery of a plot against then-President Gabriel González Videla, which became known as the Colliguay Plot. The act consisted of simulating the kidnapping of two union leaders, Edgardo Maass and Domiciano Soto, to hold the government responsible for an alleged illegal detention, which would provoke a general strike. After the 1973 Coup d'état, and between October 1973 and May 1974, the Chilean Navy administered the Concentration Camp for Political Prisoners called indistinctly "Melinka", "Isla Riesco" or "Operative X", located in the interior of the "Fundo Lliu Liliu", property of the oligarchic family Matte Larraín, located at coordinates SOUTH 33 "08.259 and WEST 071" 12.259