POLITICAL CRISIS IN CHILE
A stinging electoral defeat March 15 precipitated an acute political crisis for Chile's governing capitalist-lendlord coalition.
The reversal came in the province of Curico, 125 miles south of Santiago, Senator Julio Duran Neumann, candidate of the coalition Democratic Front in the presidential elections next September 4, was beaten in a spectacular upset that disclosed the likely pattern on a
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nation-wide scale. Salvador Allende, the candidate of the FRAP [Frente Revolucionario de Accién Popular], who is backed by the Socialist and_Communist parties and the wide majority of workers, was the victor, [For background on Allende see World Outlook February 7.]
Allende won 40% of the votes, The government coalition lost 11,000 votes in comparison with the previous poll, finishing second with 32%. Eduardo Frei, presidential candidate of the Christian Democrats, came third, His vote climbed from 21% to 28%.
Duran read the results as excluding the possibility of his winning next September and he resigned March 16 as a candidate, leaving the coalition with the formidable task of finding a palatable substitute, ; .
This was only the beginning. On the same day Raul Rettig, ohnairnan of the Radical party, and Francisco Bulies of the Conservatives, resigned their posts, It was expected that Sergio Sepulveda, chairman of the Liberals, would follow suit. ‘This would open the possibility for the coalition to completely reorganize its strategy for the election, Most likely the political bosses are considering uniting behind the candidacy of Frei in a desperate effort to block the Allende bandwagon,
The crisis, however, did not stop here. On March 21 the Execoutive Committee of the Radical party announced that it was breaking from the Democratic Front. It asked all its members now in the cabinet of President Alessandri to hand in their resignations.
Right-wing political circles in Chile considered the electoral defeat to be a "veritable catastrophe." In Manhattan, the crisis made for glum comment, The powerful New York Times declared editorially [international edition March 21-25] that Duran's resignation "is
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SPECIAL
In next week!s issue we plan to include an index covering
the first quarter of this yearts World Outlook by country and
subject.
i While working on this index we added up the number of ? pages included in our first 26 issues; that is, from Septem- : ber 27 to March 20, The figure was 737 pages. For 37,50 : French francs, we believe that's a real bargain,
By the way, if you happen to be among those who have re-
ceived a notice that it's time to renew, may we give you a last
reminder? The index coming up should make the issues in your
file even more useful, Tansnsarconovennsnsdisacrevestoeneravontacen gteaparentnegnttenssnenentysenevenscen teen spentiges dasetuanednennssoesennng cent: serprnsnscetsedeernanessoncaronenepapentosersuenetsceserserssonansrenoetedesensvestonertertendunnrseversssenssensdu Tenn rssusdteusorventanaayaryarsosnegsancepenenesnenenennecagnesentientestsierateasseeee ses rf
freighted wii th a potentially profound meaning for the immediate future of that country,"
In the opinion of the Times, either Frei or Allende “would bring drastic social and economic reforms , more statism and a more independent, nationalistic foreign policy. Of the two, the Times, of course, prefers Frei. If Allende should "get a plurality —= a ma jor= ity is "most unlikely -- Latin America would for the first time in its history be seeing a genuine Left-winger elected to national office by a strictly democratic process," .
The Times is well aware that "Chile is traversing a national crisis" in which the “excluded masses" are seeking “to enter the economic, political and social milieux who make up the traditional ruling classes,"
The editorial ends by defining the key issue as seen from the. vantage point of New York: “There are about .a billion dollars of private United States investments in the copper, nitrate and iron industries, which is a big stake, But the elimination of Senator Julio Duran from the presidential race gives: Washington something new to worry about," ‘
DR. ALEXANDER