For a long time there have been rumors about the possibility of war between Peru and Chile. This is especially the case now, because 1979 is the centennial of the War of the Pacific between these two countries, which Peru lost.
The war in 1879 broke out because of the imperialist interests in the nitrate deposits in the area where the Peruvian, Bolivian, and Chilean frontiers met. At that time, Peru did not border on Chile but on Bolivia, which had a coastal strip.
The Chilean government was the one that best served the foreign interests, in this case English. It was for this reason that the imperialists engineered the war between Peru, Chile, and Bolivia, in which Chile conquered parts of Bolivia and Peru along the barren but nitrate-rich coast.
We know that this was no victory for the Chilean people, since they were only exploited in those mines. The only ones who got rich from this were the English and other foreign companies. And the Chilean workers were not only exploited but even massacred when they fought for better working conditions. All this is described in Chilean folk music, such as the Cantata Santo María de Iquique.
At the time of the War of the Pacific, just as now, it was the imperialist interests that dominated. Neither the people of Peru, nor Chile, nor Bolivia got anything from the war. The people were the losers, and the winners were the big multinational companies.
Right now, there is no dispute over nitrate deposits, but there may be another question having to do with the political balance of power in the southern hemisphere. Peru would look on a strong Chile with a certain fear.
I do not know in detail what interests would be served by a war, but one of them is crystal clear. Both the Peruvian and Chilean governments are threatened by the working class and broad masses in their countries Thie ie a recult of tha foar their countries. This is a result of the fear and hunger with which the Chilean people have to live, and the hunger that is increasing in Peru as well. It is obvious that the military is using rumors of war and war propaganda to keep the masses quiet, to hold them back, and to try to unite the oppressed and oppressors in Peru against a common enemy-the oppressed and oppressors in Chile.
This is an attempt by the governments of both countries to gain support from their people. We cannot support this conspiracy in any way. They also want to use their propaganda to creat the atmosphere for repressing the most militant layers, such as the trade-union and political leaders. They are calling for "social peace,"
saying that the workers should no longer fight the bosses because in wartime that amounts to treason.
So it is quite clear that the war propaganda, and the war itself, if it comes to
HUGO BLANCO
that, will be used to repress the masses and their representatives, who will be called traitors.
Finally, we should declare that we are completely opposed to a war, since it is the working people, the exploited, who will have to pay the price. Those who are killed in wars, or who die as a result of their ravages, are the poor. And the only ones who win are the rulers and the big multinational companies, including the war in. dustries.
We are opposed to a war. We revolutionists in Peru and the revolutionists in Chile. We know that it is imperialism that we must fight, especially U.S. imperialism, which oppresses us. The way to defend our nation, to defend our sovereignty, is by fighting against this imperialism that has made us its semicolonies. There is no other way to defend our countries except to defend them against the imperialists, who take away our national resources and in a way also occupy our country.
The most important representatives of these imperialists are undoubtedly the respective governments in Peru and Chile. And I think that we Peruvians have to fight against the military government, which is the representative of imperialism and the real betrayer of our national sovereignty. The Chilean revolutionists must fight against the Pinochet dictatorship, which also serves U.S. imperialism, selling out Chilean sovereignty to U.S. imperialism. That is the way we see this issue.
I do not have a lot of details about the war danger, but regardless of the details, we are against such a war in principle, because we are for fraternal relations between the Peruvian and Chilean peoples in the struggle against imperialism, especially U.S. imperialism, and for the sovereignty of our people. And this way of looking at things would not change even if we learned more details about the question.