Summary

This article deals with the theme of solidarity with the Chilean exile in Italy from the years 1973-1977. Many of the leaders of the current Concertación have insisted on the influence that Eurocommunism, Gramscism, and the “compromesso storico” had during the renovation of the left. Along this line the author highlights how the Italian communists had a specific political interest for the cause of the exiled, which resulted in the effort to influence the contents and the meanings of the solidarity and not only with material help. The focus adopted looks to relate the theme of renewal with the processes of transformation that lived within leftist Europeans from the seventies and especially, with the symbolic role that they attributed to the Chilean cause.