Chile: the balanced view : a recopilation of articles about the Allende years and after

toward Allende. The other, represented by Tomic and most of the Young Christian Demo– crats (JDC), wanted to explore ways of cooperating with the Unidad Popular.(75) Thus, the divisions that had wrenched the party throughout Frei's Presidency were still present. Given the above diametrically opposed positions and the party's desire to maintain a semblance of unity at least until afterthe March, 1971 Municipal elections, debate on which position to assume and elections for new party officers were postponed untn April. It was hoped that the election outcome would enable the party to decide what its polítical attitude toward the Unidad Popular ought to be.(76) Tomic's third place finish in 1970 had led much of the party to the conclusion that his strategy tbward formihg a broad-based coalition with the Left could only lead to further defeats. In the March, 1971 Municipal racesthe major campaign slogans on the Christian Democrats were "Chileno, you are not alone", and "Even though there are Marxists in power, you can trust in the Christian Democratic party" -a position clearly designed to win anti-Marxist votes. Nine parties plus independents ran in the municipal races. Although the Christian Democrats received more votes (25.7 percent) than any other party, the combined totals of those'parties supporting the Unidad Popular amounted to almost 49.percent. This election was turning point within the Christian Qemocrátic party since it convinced most of the leadershi.p that only by uniting forces with their conservative counterparts (.i.e. Nationals and Radical Democrats) could the Unidad Popular be blocked from consolidating its power and imposing a dictatorship upon Chile. The National party had fallen into disarray following Allende's election and Alessan– dri's retirement from active politicallife. Without this strongly personalistic figure the party won only 18 percentofthe vote in the Municipal elections and was reduced totaking a back seat to the Christian Democrats in both headlines and influence. Thus, after the March elections, the need for both unity and a strongly personalistic figure around whom to rally support againstlhe Unidad Popular also became immediately apparent to the Right. Frei was the logical choice. He was the most powerfully personalistic figure within the Christian Democrats and, after Alessandri, perhaps in all of Chile. At the same time, the size of the Christian Democratic following and the personalism of Frei would make the party the dominant partner In any alliance with the Right, thus a~oiding the necessity of compror:ni– sing any 6f the Christian Democratic ideological principies. Finally, many people both within and outside of the party who blamed the 1970 and 1971 Marxist victories on Tomic and the left-wing of the Christian Democrats, sawa chance to defeat once and for al! the radicals within the party with unity behind Freí. Although the Christian Democrats officially denied that any such right-wing drilt was taking place, the reality of it was obvious. After the National party, Christian Democrats, and Radical Democrats joined in supporting a common candidate for a vacant seat in the Chamber of Deputies in July, 1971, what was left of the left-wing within the Christian Democratic party departed to form Izquierda Cristiana. With the majority ofTomic's support gone to form two new parties (MAPU and IzquierdaCristiana), he was left to whither on the branches of the party hierarchy as the Christian Democrats solidified around a solidly anti-Unidad Popular position with Frei at the helm.(77) By May, 1972, only 18 months after Allende's election, the Christian Democratic newspaper, La Prensa, was running headlines like "The Government is Trying to Establish a Totalitarian State."(78) And Tomic himself admitted to me during our first meeting in September. 1972 that he no longer had any real power to influence the political course of his own party. Ironically, as Frei once again gathered the pieces of the Christian Democratic party in opposition to Allende, the latter was experiencing the same sort of anti-exe¿~tive in-fighting in his own Unidad Popularthat nad so recently worked such a destructive course within the Christian Democrats. (75)lbid., November 9, 1970, p. 3. (76)La Segunda, December 14,1970, p. 4. (77)Allhough Tomic continued lo be included in party councils. il was clear from Ihe righl-ward dril! oflhe par!y Ihal he was virtually wilhoul ínfluence. (7B)La Prensa. May, 1972. p. 1. 196