Santiago
MAY 15 - The government declared Santiago Province an "emergency zone" on May 5. The reason it gave for this was the "seriousness of the events of the past forty-eight hours."
After the murder of the Communist worker José Ricardo Ahumada on April 27, the revolutionary left partially broke with the passivity that the Popular Unity leadership urged in the face of the provocative bluster of the fascist bands. Clashes occurred between leftist and rightist groups. The most serious clash took place May 4 in downtown Santiago. It left Mario Aguilar dead and four persons wounded -all members of Patria y Libertad [Fatherland and Freedom], the strongest fascist group in Chile. One of the wounded was Ernesto Miller, who holds a top post in that organization.
Another important event that Patria y Libertad was behind was the "resurrection" of Roberto Thieme, the secretary general of the organization. Thieme had been pronounced dead approximately two months earlier; his "death" was handled in the proper way, with a mass for the dead, speeches, and all the appropriate ceremonies. Now he has turned up in Mendoza, Argentina, along wi a Juan Sessa, another leader of Patria y Libertad. They were arrested after they clandestinely landed a plane there May 2. It appears that since his "decease," Thieme has been busy transporting weapons from Argentina to the big landholders in southern Chile. The Argentine government granted both fascists asylum on May 8.
Subsequently, some Patria y Libertad weapons dumps and a contraband trade were discovered near the Argentine border.
There is no question that these ostensible reasons for declaring Santiago an emergency zone are important. But it is no less certain that behind the move were other serious reasons that were not mentioned.
A protest rally of four Santiago municipalities (Providencia, Nuñoa, La Reina, and Las Condes) had been called for May 5. It is true that all four are led by the right wing and that they contain rich neighborhoods, but the reason for the mobilization was the problem of food shortages, which is the main problem in Chile these days. This demonstration could have developed into the first link in a chain of mobilizations around the question of food distribution. And although the demand being raised by the four municipalities was freedom of trade, the subsequent demonstrations that it might have kicked off would probably have raised the demand for direct distribution of goods, bypassing the merchants altogether.
The demonstration was canceled after the area was declared an emergency zone, but this does not eliminate the fact that the problem of the distribution of goods continues to be the big time bomb that becomes more explosive the longer it takes to blow up.
As a result of the high cost of living and the wretched distribution of goods, the problem of wages also takes on an increasing importance.
A "readjustment law" for workers in state companies is presently under discussion. The executive branch is proposing that only the wages of the lowest-paid workers be raised and that the readjustment be financed through direct taxes being levied against those who have the most money. The parliament, which is in the hands of the opposition, says that the readjustment should not be limited only to the lowest categories, but the demagogy of its position stands out clearly owing to its refusal to approve any way of financing the proposal.
Besides giving its support to the government in this interminable discussion, the working class is beginning to indicate its concern over its economic situation in more expeditious ways.
Direct struggles around economic demands have been begun by public works employees, truck drivers in collective transport, and miners.
The extension of the emergency zone to O'Higgins Province on May 10, in fact, was the product of a strike begun twenty-seven days earlier by the workers in El Teniente mine, which employs around 13,000 workers. The purpose of the strike is to defend the sliding scale of wages already won by the workers, which the government now wants to do away with. This strike was supported by a forty-eighthour strike by the workers in Chuquicamata mine; they are discussing the possibility of launching an indefinite strike. In addition to this, a nationwide strike in the copper mining industry appears probable.
The government and the news media that support it are attempting to minimize the problem by pointing out that "the majority of the workers have gone back to work" and that it involves "only a strike by white-collar workers." In addition, they are trying to grotesquely distort the character of the movement by depicting the workers as vulgar pawns of the right wing that have been carried away by their "economism."
The right wing is also trying to make hay out of the problem by giving it publicity and by giving verbal 668
backing to the strikers. The president of the Senate, for instance, went to the zone, and the leader of the rightist organization of secondary-school students made a speech to the miners in which he voiced "solidarity" with them.
The government attempted to intimidate the workers with 500 carabineers and two tanks, but the miners offered resistance and blocked access roads to the mine. When it was over, thirty people had been wounded. At that point, both sides adopted a more restrained attitude, but the strike is continuing.
In view of the dizzying rise in the cost of living, it is possible that these conflicts among layers of workers that are not fully under the control of Popular Unity might be the beginning of a wage struggle on such a broadened scale that it would not enjoy the demagogic support of the right wing.
The public works employees already showed clearly that the struggle against the government for wage increases does not amount to playing into the hands of the right wing. The government came off very badly when it made this insinuation in the case of these workers; actually, it gave the workers a chance to demonstrate their antirightist determination, in contrast to the timidity of the Popular Unity.
In turn, the government's antipopular attitude will become clearer to the workers each time and will have the effect of making them less reluctant to struggle against it.