The Espacio Katarcis, squatted in 2019, was evicted on May 12, 2026. Jimena Améstic (El Arrebato) talks to Claudia involved in Katarcis.
“Above the sorrow and anger, we had the solidarity of all the people”
The community space located in the building of the former Arcis University was closed this Tuesday after a court order in favor of the company Tecnored. Cultural workshops were given in the space, and shortly before they were expelled, a solidarity dining room, a radio and an editorial space had been set up, activities that brought together more than 200 people weekly in the Almendral neighborhood.
Members of the initiative spoke with El Arrebato, and assured that despite the fact that “the community is saddened”, the “desire to sustain and continue” with the project persists.
Valparaíso lost again. This Tuesday, May 12, the special forces of the Carabineros evicted the Espacio Katarcis, a self-managed center that had been squatted in 2019. In the middle of the street were the implements of a space that in August would celebrate seven years delivering culture to the Almendral neighborhood.
More than 200 people attended weekly the building of the former Arcis University, at he corner of Avenida Francia with Baquedano Street, where more than 25 sports, music and arts workshops were held; all open to the community. In the most complex days of the Covid-19 pandemic, the place served as a soup kitchen, forging support networks with a series of groups in the city.
According to Amanda, who since 2021 has taught a tribal belly dance workshop and was part of the assembly of the space actively collaborating, the eviction “was a big blow to community organization, cultural management and political activation in Valparaíso (…) The situation is dire, it is really a great loss. It was a violent, irregular eviction, and the truth is that the community is saddened, but with a great desire to sustain and continue.”
The legal procedure
Likewise, in conversation with El Arrebato, Claudia Urrea, a member of the Katarcis internal assembly, said that in 2023, Tecnored, the company that owns the building, initiated a legal procedure requesting the restitution of the property. The Chilean electricity company is part of the State Grid Chile Holding group, linked to the Chinese state-owned State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), considered the largest electric utility company in the world.
The conflict resulted in a complex judicial procedure, where a specific person was singled out instead of targeting the Espacio Katarcis organization as a legal entity, resulting in a procedural approach focused on an individual rather than the collective that managed the space.
Claudia said that finally in February of this year the justice system gave way to the lawsuit, which would be carried out with the official eviction carried out this Tuesday by the police.
“Precisely what we saw on Tuesday was the end of the judicial action, concretizing the eviction. Special forces and a group of Tecnored arrived, as well as workers and a locksmith who burst the metal plate. And well, we were present at the moment when the neighbors told us that the police were outside. We acted as quickly as possible to be present at the scene,” she said.
-During the eviction, the neighbors took to the streets to support them. How did this collaboration come about within the Almendral neighborhood?
When we occupied the place, we managed to open the space with a community kitchen, so that made it much easier for us to make ourselves visible and, therefore, connect with the people of the neighborhood. But, already in the pandemic, where we could not continue to open the space for health reasons, we mobilized to the technical high school that is on Avenida Francia and linked up with other groups.
That was a super enriching instance for us, to connect with more organizations in the neighborhood, but also with neighbors individually. In the midst of the pandemic, we set up a common pot with many neighbors on Avenida Francia.
– That is, it was a space in the neighborhood for the neighborhood itself.
Katarcis hosted one of the most important workshops, the cognitive stimulation workshop, where neighbors of the place, many older adults, participated. So, we also connected very well with people, because they used the place permanently.
– I imagine that in almost seven years the work they did was considerable and significant.
Katarcis hosted around 25 workshops on a weekly basis. They were very diverse, there were sports, music, arts and education. But in addition, we had workshops that were permanent, those that had their own room. You could find bicycle mechanics, electronic repair, the library, the community radio, the design and tattoo workshop, a publishing space and the kitchen itself, which in recent times had also been established as a workshop in itself. In addition to the activities of the community dining room.
What happened on Tuesday was a super low blow, but it was something we were expecting. We were constantly downloading the information to the Katarcis community. They were all informed that the police could arrive at any moment. Anyway, we were hoping that they would notify us of a date. However, that did not happen.
– How did the people who participated and knew Katarcis’ work react?
We were shocked, because we knew about the eviction, but one always clings to the hope that it will take as long as possible and not arrive. But it finally came and we acted as quickly as possible. And above the sorrow and anger, we had the solidarity of all the people and groups.
– That is, a network of solidarity with the work they were doing was expanded.
Yes, absolutely. And this network of solidarity is not something new; It was built these last seven years and strengthened over time. And that was fully reflected. Many people came to extend their solidarity, to take things out and move things. Katarcis used to be a university, so it was a very large space. Of the 25 workshops, all had implements. That was also something super gratifying that these spaces opened the doors for us to be able to relocate things.
We were able to get everything out, we were given enough time, we left everything piled up on the street. But there were still a lot of things left behind, because we had to make a filter of the most important things.
– “If you had to estimate a number of people who have passed through Katarcis, with whom they have established networks and whom they have helped in different ways, what would it be?”
Phew… I can’t think of a figure that I can really represent. But to give you an overview, in our days, in activities, concerts or book fairs, more than 200 people came. So, multiply that by these seven years. And it is that we were a point of union congresses, meetings of residents at the national level; it was a meeting point and organization not only locally, but nationally, where people and groups from different regions were part of Katarcis in different instances. Whether in solidarity days, or self-training.
Valparaíso and adandonment
– And in that sense, in what way do you think the eviction of Katarcis adds to the context of Valparaíso, taking into account that data and various organizations have shown for decades an abandonment of the city at all levels?
We wanted to take this situation of Katarcis from the focus of the problematization of abandoned spaces in Valparaíso and how public institutions, above all, do not legitimize this type of spaces that are recovered by the community, and abandon them. They abandon groups, autonomous and self-managed organizations for the sole reason that they do not maintain collaboration with public institutions.
It is an extremely complex problem, because we see that the private sector continues to abandon spaces, without being interested in the quality of life of people, especially in the neighborhoods, and does not take responsibility. And for its part, the State, the public system does not require the private sector to take responsibility for the buildings and they end up becoming unsafe points in all their dimensions. Not only from crime, but also from collapse, fires and dirt.
-You told me that there are other spaces in Valparaíso in danger of being evicted.
More and more places are being evicted, such as the Espacio Maestranza in Barón, which is in trouble with the EFE company; El Hormiguero, which has a legal process with Walmart, as well as Sitio Eriazo.
They are different spaces that have been recovered by the communities, but that do not have any substantial support from the institutions; it is only the communities that generate this uprising of spaces, that recover these points of the city. Finally, it is a relationship of power rather than of functionality to the space itself, it is simply private property for private property’s sake.
Espacio Katarcis
Avenida Francia con Baquedano, Valparaíso, Chile
https://radar.squat.net/en/espacio-katarcis
Valparaíso Anarchist Bookfair, held once a year at the Espacio Katarcis: https://radar.squat.net/es/feria-libro-anarquista-valparaiso
Groups (squats, libraries, collectives) in Chile: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/CL
Events in Chile: https://radar.squat.net/en/events/country/CL
Anarchist bookfairs: https://radar.squat.net/en/anarchist-bookfairs
[Based on the interview made by Jimena Améstic published by El Arrebato on May 14, 2026]
