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

ments durign the last three years, so that, in some cases, for example, in electricity, where there have been extremely urgent problems. Al! this puts ourcountry into such a position that international aid is vital, and should be shown in different ways. In the first place, we need help to renegotiate our immediate obligations lo the foreign debt, in terms. that are compatible to the crisis we have lived through, the needs of reconstruction, and the agreement to our development programs, social and economical. After that. new resources are urgentiy needed, not only to balance the balance qf payments in 1974, butto contributetolhefinancing oflhe medium and lon(lterm investment programs to be carriedout. The amount and the time for the foreign aid which ourcountry needs may be deduced from the documents which contain the pertinent figures, and may be analysed in detall by the work groups who will study il. On this occasion, Chile ls not pleading an ordinary case, since the usual example of a report on a developing economy with more or less favourable alternatives has not been ours, but that of a country which reached a state of crisis so deep, of such serious damage in its basic economic structures, thay only a really big effort of international aid may help it to torge ahead, as the CIAP's report says "the succes of the planned economic policies is deeply related to the speed, size and quality of foreign financial aid the country may receive" It seems to me thatthis is the proper occasion forthese meetings to snow their real use, and I am sure that the solemnity and objectivity with which a forum such as this will understand and evaluate our country's problems, will lead to a conclusion that will fully fulfill the pleas for aid that Chile makes. The decision taken today, unanimously, by the directorate of the international Monetary Fund, to grant a stand-by loan to Chile equal to 95 million dollars, is an auspicious beginning to that conclusion. 212