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

industrial output began to drop in absolute terms (i.e., not merely in terms of the rate of \increase}-a drop that continued every month Ihereafter unti I the September 1973 coup.( 13) Agricultural production (excluding livestock) also commenced to decline. and miner~il production registered precipitous drops. although copper production rose by 1.3 percent for 1972 owing to the fact that a number of new mines came into operation. (On other elements of the worsening economic situation. see Table 2.) Chile's economic problems were paralleled in the political arena. Several additional ministers were impeached. including the Minister of Interior, who was charged with abet– ting the illegal importalion of arms from Cuba in March. (The Allende government claimed that suspect shipments from Cuba -"bultos cubanos"- were "works of art". but after the September 1973 coup. the government White Book published an inventory of over 2,000 pounds of arms sent from Cuba in 13 crales which customs had been forbidden to inspect)(14) The judiciary joined in the conflict, protesting the failure of the Ministry of Justice lo carry out court orders. while progovernment demonstrators denounced the viejos de mierda -"filthy old men"- in Ihe Supreme Court. As it became apparenl that there was no real possibility of resolving their differences, the two sides lurned to the armed forces as impartial arbiters. and Ihe'national holidays in mid-September 1972 were marked by rival efforts of the Congress and the President to ingralíate themselves with the military. (13)The Allende government blamed Ihe drop in produclion on Ihe Octobe! 1972 strike. bul Ihis ignóred Ihe faél Ihal production dec I ines began before OClober. .' (14)Secretaría General del Gobierno. Libro Blanco (While Book). Santiago. 1973, pp. 103-08. 28