Caliche sangriento (i.e. Bloody Nitrate) is a Chilean movie of 1969 and the first one directed by Helvio Soto. The plot takes place in 1879 through 1880 during the War of the Pacific, when Chile, Bolivia and Peru fought over control of the sodium nitrate deposits in the Atacama desert. The film decries the cruelty and absurdity of war and the disunity among the peoples of Latin America. The style of the movie has been compared to that of Western and Spaghetti Western movies.