Inti-Illimani

Inti-Illimani is a musical group from Chile, formed in 1967. They are perhaps the best internationally known members of the nueva canción movement. Their name means 'Sun of the Illimani' in Aymara.

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Inti-Illimani is a musical group from Chile, formed in 1967. They are perhaps the best internationally known members of the nueva canción movement. Their name means 'Sun of the Illimani' in Aymara.

The group was formed by students at Universidad Técnica del Estado at Santiago, Chile in 1967. In 1973 as they were on tour abroad, Pinochet came to power. Having heard of the numerous extra-judicial killings of many fellow artists by Chile's army, they took up residence in Italy. They continued their efforts supporting Chilean democracy internationally; samizdat copies of their work continued to be widely distributed in Chile. In September 1988, days after they were no longer banned from Chile, they began touring Chile again. They helped organize the voting down of the referendum that would have re-elected Pinochet. Recently, they were actually supported by Chile as representatives of Chilean culture.