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

Many people and organizations pled for them to invervene to restore order, maintain security, repair the economy, and create the conditions for a return to democratíc rule. It is estimated that as many as 85 or 90 percent of the population approved their intervention. Most of the Chileans I interviewed said that if the September coup had not occurred, the country would have experienced a violent coup organized by Marxist extremists or have slid quickly into civil war. The great reluctance of the military to act was matched by their inexperience in the political realm. They acted on very short notice. Their plannings was Inadequate. And they apparently underestimated the extent of armed resistance they would tace. Hence, many mistakes were made on September 11 and in the weeks thereafter. Some of them were tragic. There was excess violence by some members of the Armed Forces. Many detai– nees were abused and some were tortured. This is not the place for detail, much of which in any event is not verifiable. But it is the place to put certain events of the coup and its aftermath in perspective. To attempt to understand the causes of reprehensible behavior is not to excuse or condone i1. One man tortured is one too many. On September 11, the military commanders asked Allende to resign and gave him several opportunities for safe conduct to a waiting aircraft to carry him, his family, and close polítical collaborators to safety in a country of his choice. He refused and committed suicide. The mifitary demand for surrender met resistance in some government buildings, factories. political headquarters, and other places and fighting followed. Some arrests were also resisted. As a result, from 2,000 to 5,000 persons were killed in the coup and its aftermath, including a reported 96 by summary execution. In accordance with a Constitutional provision, the Junta declared a "state of siege" to deal with the internal security emergency. The Congress was dismissed and Marxist political parties were declared illegal just as they were in 1946. The Christian Oemocratic and other non-Marxist partíes were suspended. Under the "state of siege", the government legally assumed certain extraordinary powers, including the authority to arrest suspects without making a formal charge against them. Military courts were gíven jurisdictíon over all alleged iIlegal activity related to nationaT security. The civi Iian courts continued to deal with ordinary criminal cases. One may agree or disagree that the emergency created by ttie Allende regime justified the intervention ofthe míljtary and the imposition of a "state of siege". Butthis is the de facto situation and jt is not likely to change in the next year or two. . The practical and moral questions to ask about the existing regime are these: 1) Has it abused its powers? 2) How well is it facing its pressing domestic problems? 3) Is it preparing for the restoration of competitive politics? 4) Ooes it pursue a responsible foreign policy? 1. High government officials freely acknowledge there have been abuses against suspects, including some torture by over-zealous interrogators. But they point to extenua– ting circumstances, including sniping against police and soldiers and an emotional climate of cfass hatred generated by the Marxist militants. One also might:add the total inexperience of the military in arresting and interrogating suspects and the fact that in a time of great chaos and stress a kind of latent sadism expresses itself in certain individuals suddenly thrust into a position of authority. It should be noted that students of Latín American police and prison practices say there is a steady minimum of such abuse in all countries and that it is bound to rise in a time of turbulence and contusiono Perhaps more important, I found no evidence that the top military authorities ever ordered or approved the abuse ofsuspects, though a case might be made that they did not act as early or as vigorously as they might have to eliminate i1. Such abuse was condemned early this year and at least five Chileans were arrested, prosecuted, and punished for mistreatment of suspects, one to 15 years in prison. Further, according to the testimony of many Chilean and foreign observers, serious abuse was virtually eliminated by late April of 1974. Hence, the findings of Americans who visited Chile before that time, including the 277