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

the substitution of imports 'at almost any cosl. As, at the same ti me, the Government w¡shed to protect the level of the cost of living of the lower income brackets, a policy of lowered prices for essentials products was maintained, In the long run, all this led to a distribution of resources tending to the production of high priced goods for the middle and higher income classes, and neglecting the produc– tion of food and other essential goods, the manufacture of which with low taríffs and reduced prices was not attractive, Tl1ls process came to a head with the last régime when, in 1973, the food production decre?sed to such limits that the amount of importation requíred such a quantity of hard currency that it was ímpossible to carry out development in the country, , Therefore, the basíc objective ís the formula for an elfícient use of resources which, coupled with a substancial increase in the rate of savings and investments, will allow a sustained growth of the' economy, A document has been prepared separately which contains the characteristic of thís program which wíll increase annual exports by more than 1,500 mili ion dolla'rs (80 % ofthe actual figure) from now to 1980, This-program can only be fulfilled if, besides an intense elfort interna!. savings, Chile receives a large amount of private foreign investment, which the country has already announced it will receive with interest in activities and under CQnditions whích do not compromise its independence, We think this is compatible with the problems of the financial and technologícal concentrauons whích the rapid development of the industrialized world has produced, since the Government of Chile is convinced that ít is possible to find formulas which conciliate the role and the ínterest ofthe developing countries, who are in theirturn the main purveyors of non-renewable resources, with the position of the developed countries who have the market and are the possessors of knowledge, technology and financial resources, Since a world in which a group of nations can do without another group is unthinkable of, we 'are sure that it is possible to find forms of association between the resources of separate nations, without involving a dependence that may influence the sovereignty of nations in their right to forge their own destinies, ' V. CIDLE'S NEEDS If the quantity of pay engagemen!s, stemming from the foreign debt, which Chile must face in the near future, is added to the situation of grievious deterioration, and to the need for economic reconstruction, one comes to the simple conclusion tha! only definite internatio– nal aid can make the program the Government has planned succeed, within its set terms and without demanding ímpossible sacrifices of the populace, When stating this need for help, we wish to make clear that the coordínated programs, of short and med ium length terms, involve a considerable self-elfort, and which, through the social programs and the tax régime, will be shared byalL In spite of the programs for nutrition, housing, education, and health, which ensure the future of our children and youth, and the modernising of the structure of enterprises so that their workers get a more equal treatment and ímprove their possibilities, it is easy to grasp tha! a rapid economic growth is necessary that would lighten the pressures put on the poorest people, who sulfer the consequence of the restrictions in consumption, Also, it cannot be forgotten that, although the actual internationaJ oil crisis has affected all non-productive countries, ín Chíle's case the blow must be added on to the crisis which culminated in 1973, and, by raising internal prices so as to limit as much as possible the consumption of ímporteq fuels, the country is already contributing to the solutíon o: this problem with a quota of internal efforts. Although the recovery of the production has been outstanding during lhe lasl four months, it can only get so far, because there had been practically no productive invest- 211