page_title: Occupation of Lima
section_title: "Liberation" of Chinese workers, disorder and looting
hierarchical_section_title: Occupation of Lima / "Liberation" of Chinese workers, disorder and looting
caption_attribution_description: Entrada del ejército chileno a Lima. 17 de enero de 1881, durante la Guerra del Pacífico
context_page_description: The occupation of Lima by the Chilean Army in 1881-1883 was an event in the land campaign phase of the War of the Pacific.
  Lima was defended by the remnants of the Peruvian army and crowds of civilians in the lines of San Juan and Miraflores. As the invading army advanced, the towns of Chorrillos and Barranco were occupied on January 13 of the same year while the town of Miraflores was captured on the 16 of January, after the Battle of Miraflores; finally the city of Lima was occupied on January 17, 1881 until October 23, 1883 when Miguel Iglesias regained control of the Peruvian government.
context_section_description: As the war progressed in Chile's advantage, the Chilean Army liberated thousands of Chinese coolies who had agreed to come to work in the Peruvian "haciendas", escaping from the harsh conditions in their own homeland and seeking a better future in Peru.
  Liberated Chinese served as helpers with the Chilean army and even formed a regiment under the command of Patricio Lynch, whom the Chinese named 'the red prince' since he spoke Cantonese, which he had learned during his campaigns in China as officer in the British Navy, and the Chinese were prone to trusting a man who could speak to them in their own language and whom they felt a connection with.
  Many Chinese saw the Chilean army as "liberators", in a very controversial decision by which they are mostly deemed as traitors by many of their own countrymen in Peru; in Pacasmayo 600 to 800 Chinese forced labourers looted the sugar estates and this scene was repeated in the Chicama, Lambayeque and Cañete Valleys. The Chinese also fought alongside the Chileans in the battles of San Juan-Chorrillos and Miraflores, and there was also rioting and looting by non-Chinese workers in the coastal cities. As Heraclio Bonilla has observed; oligarchs soon came to fear the popular clashes more than the Chileans, and this was an important reason why they sued for peace. [Source: "From chattel slaves to wage slaves: dynamics of labour bargaining in the Americas", by Mary Turner.]
  Prior to the occupation of Lima there were fires and sackings by inebriated Chilean soldiers in the towns of Chorrillos, Barranco and Miraflores, and even killings among themselves; as quoted by both Peruvian historians like Jorge Basadre and Chilean historians like Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna.
caption: Chilean Regiment "1° de Línea" entering Lima.
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