Prensa y construcción del imaginario desarrollista en la frontera norte chilena: el Puerto Libre de Arica, 1953-1958

This article analyzes the discourses published in the newspaper La Gaceta de Arica between 1953 and 1958, aiming to understand how this regional media outlet represented the Free Port experience and contributed to the construction of a local development narrative. Methodologically, content analysis is employed to identify dominant themes, recurring vocabulary, and representational strategies, complemented by a hermeneutic-interpretive perspective attending to recurrent metaphors, symbols, and narratives. Results reveal three differentiated moments: a foundational discourse characterized by enthusiasm (1953), a consolidation phase marked by emerging tensions (1954-1955), and a period of resignification preparing the transition toward the Junta de Adelanto (1957-1958). It is concluded that the regional press operated as a symbolic mediator, transforming economic policy into a discourse of moral and civic reconstruction that shaped an Arican identity linked to the imaginary of the modern frontier.