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

I!y reduced and Ihe I¡nes al food slores have been eliminaled. But the prices are slill high and are a hardship to Ihe poor. Industrial productivity is being gradually restored and the workers are being gíven a greater stake in the fruits ot productíon. The government ís releasíng some of the small enterprises nationalized by Allende to the compelition of the market, but has no intention of denationalizing the copper índustry. The economic product has been more widely distributed ín Chile than in many other Latín American countries, and the government appears determined to keep it that way. It is also generally commited to the welfare measures of íts predecessor regimes. The Junta ís actívely.promotíng land reform and urban housing projects. Concern for ínternal security is a maior government preoccupalion. Though lawand order has been effeclively restored Ihroughout the counlry, there is the potentíal threat posed by underground guerrillas, small in number, and hidden arms caches which are found from time to time. B6th former President Frei and Cardinal Silva have publicly acknowledge the continuing seriousness of this problem. , Manyofthe foreign subversive groups havefled Chile along with some oftheir Chilean comrades. From safe havens abroad, they are still plotting to renew the Marxist revolut,ion that failed. With help of Marxist governments and private sympathizers, they are carryi ng on, an unprincipled propaganda campaign to romanticize the Allende regime and vilify the present government. One of these many propaganda efforts throughout the United States was the National Legislative Conference on Chile and People's Lobby, scheduled July 14-15, 1974, in Wash ington. It was part ofthe American Commun i$1 Party's lobbying effort to pressure the U.S. Government to eliminale al! mililary and economic aid to the present government of Chile.(8) 3. The regime regards its lask of reconstruéting Ihe nalion as temporary, butthis may mean from Iwo lo five years. II says Ihe country is nol yet ready lo return lo competitive polities, insisting thal Chilean society has been fractured by conlending politlcal ideolo– gíes and demagogic politieians. The people, say Ihe Junta spokesmen, need a rest from polities, poi ilical demonslrations, and the politicization of the school systems from ki nder– garten lo University. Nevertheless, the Junla eslablished a Conslitutional Commission whir:h is already al work preparing a draft Fundamental Law for eventual return lo demoeralie and civilían government. ' 4. The Junta appears lo be pursuing a responsible foreign policy. In sharp contrast to its immediate predecessor, it has met its inlernational debt oblígations and has agreed to compensate Ihe nationalized foreign copper companies. These aets plus sober domestic economic measures have resulted in the reestablishmenl of Chile's ereditworthiness abroad. These achievements were accomplishedin less Ihan ayear. Agaín, in sharp conlrasl lo Ihe Allende regime, Ihe Junta has cooperated actively wilh Washington and olher governments in attempling to put a stop to the illicil drug traffic between Chile and the United States, which by the lasl year of the Allendeperiod had risen to $ 309,048,000 worth of seized cocaine. Seven days afterthe September 11 coup, the new government in response' to a U.S. request extradited known Chilean smugglers into the hands of American authorilies ana they are now all in U.S. jails awaiting trial.(9) For this "swift and unprecedenled" eooperation, the Deputy Secretary of Ihe Ministry of the Interior was given a citalion by {he Uniled States. Bysuch behavlour, Ihe government has demons– traled that il can keep its international commitmenls. The present governmenl, like ils pre-Allende predeeessors of Ihe las! five deeades or more, has pursued a non-aggressive foreign poliey. II has no known designs on ils neighbors. And its military posture, present and projected, is d~signed to deter external attack, partieularly from Peru. Cohsequently, Chile is a force for regi~nal stability. (8)The proposed schedule and list 01 participants olthe National Legislative Conlerence on Chile are lound in the Congressional Record, July 11, 1974, pp. ·E4632-33. (9)See Chicago Tribune, July 18, 1974, 279