POLITICAL. BOOK A BEST SELLER IN CHILE
SANTIAGO, Chile -- A book by a Trotskyist author about Chilean politics has become a best seller here, The first edition of Luis Vitale's Esencia y Apariencia de la Democracia Cristiana LEssenoe and Appearance of Christian Democracy],# which was: released Deoén-~ ber 20, sold out in less than three months, The special interest in the book is due to its timeliness. Campaigning is intensive now for the presidential elections September 4 and the leading candidates are the Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei and Salvador Allende, who is backed by the Frente Revolucionario de. Accién Popular, a combination. of the Socialist and Communist parties.and some smaller groupings.
A study of the social origin and political function of the Christian Democratic movement in general, with more detailed analysis of its role in Chilean politics, the book is a most useful exposure of Christian Democratic demagogy. It was subjected to sharp attack by bourgeois journalists and radio commentators, Allende and the Allendist Committees rallied to its defense,
The daily Ultima Hora, a leftist newspaper, said this about the book in its January 7 edit tion: "Chilean political literature has been strengthened by a new study, . . Its author, Luis Vitale, has
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written with verve a documented and-pungent criticism of the worldwide Christian Democratic movement, but it is especially against the Christian Democratic party of Chile, ... lLuis Vitale'ts book is of great timeliness, The author is a controversial figure, At the mom ent he is under sentence by the Appeals Court under accusation of having distributed tleaflets that seek to overthrow the system,! He is a Trotskyist and for many years has published a political periodi-. cal, .. . The prologue is by the Socialist leader, deputy, sociologist and ex-Minister Clodomiro Almeyda,"
El Clarfin, the daily newspaper of biggest circulation in Chile, said February 8 in its feature column "Recommended Book for Your Week End": "For Luis Vitale, socialism has no common past with Christian Democracy. . . fre cannot be] associated with a party... that defends capitalist private property. .. . Luis Vitale cannot | be considered as merely antiolerical, as a tpriest-killer'. ..- Vitale is -- something quite different -- absorbed by the dramatic human heritage of perennial search for a better destiny. .Vitale does not argue. He sinks himself in history. He comes up steeped and at. times blinded by facts which -- at least for him -- have the texture of concrete or steel. Because of this, he goes to such. lengths as to declare that tthe current position of the Christian Democratic parties is based on the criticism of the liberal bourgeois regime, formulated by the Catholic church in the nineteenth century; on the social recommendations: of contemporary Encyclicals ; on the organization of Catholic trade-union and political. groups in the first decades of the twentieth century; on the modern Catholic thinking elaborated by neo-Thomism; and. . . in the relations of the Catholic church with imperialism, . .' In the particular case of Chile, tthe position of the Christian Democracy in relation to imperialism is not, as it might be put in a gross way, that of an unconditional servant; . it reflects the interests of a bourgeoisie in a semicolonial country, which at the present imperialist stage is incapable of freeing itself from the foreign monopoly, Thus it plays only the role of.a junior |. partner. As such, the bourgeois seotor represented by the Christian . Democracy seeks better prices for raw materials, a steady market and ample credits,t From this it follows, Vitale contends, that the Christian Democracy gains the appearance of a 'verbalism in favor of the workers, But the essence is its defense of the capitalist system,!"
Other reviews have appeared in magazines like Vea and on radio programs like Herndndez Parker's "Tribuna Polftica,
Most of the Allendist Committees have held discussions. on the book, It is serving as a handbook for the Allendist cadres in their . encounters with Christian Democrats and the author himself has been sought by many Allendist Committees for speaking engagements and courses on the differences between the Allendist movement and the Christian Democracy.
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ECONOMIC DIPPICULTIES IN ITALY
By Livio Maitan
ROME «= For several months, the optimism which was the fashion among Italian ruling circles in discussing the economic situation has been replaced by pronounced skepticism and more recently by open pessimism, Such a shift is somewhat surprising, particularly if it is recalled that when the Moro government was formed (November 1963), the economic pundits were still using fairly bright colors, condemn~ ing the prophets of bad times, Has there really been a sharp turn in: recent months, or is the pessimistic note now being exaggerated?
First of all, let us recall certain essential data, which were correctly underlined in the economic debates of last fall (for oexaoe) by the economic brain trust connected with the Socialist party . - (a) Eoonomic growth has not stopped. What is happening, rather, is a slowing down of the rate of expansion. Even with regard to agriculture, despite the adverse weather in the first months of last year, the over-all results -- still not available -- do not seem to give evidence of a setback, It can be ruled out, in general, that symptoms of overproduction, of a recession, face’ us.
' (b) > Potentialities are. such, in general, that industry's present productive plant may face even an ‘increase in’ “demand later One
(ec) If it is true that uneasiness: is justified in the invest= ~ ment seotor, still this is due to a showing down and not to a real reversal of trends. It cannot be said generally that financial resources are really lacking.
(a) ‘On the international economic scene tensions have been visible within the Common Market as well as between the Common Market and other countries (the United States in the first place), but we are not on the eve of a reversal in trends which could affeot the Italian economy at the same time as other countries of western Europe,
What then are the current economic difficulties?
First, there has been a rather marked rise in prices, especially in a series of services and nondurable consumers goods. Secondly, repeated declines on the stock market and growing difficulties for businesses in need of adjusting funds through issuing securities, etc., are evidence of a crisis in the money market, Things are also rather tight with regard to bank credit, the banks having placed considerable restrictions on loans for several months, Thirdly, the government budget indicates a mounting deficit, And, last but not least, the trade balance and the balance of payments have become quite unfavorable due to the fact that the rate of growth of imports has increased more than the rate of exports,
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No one denies the existence of these tendencies or their scope and their interaction, -But the analyses diverge immediately when it comes to. the causes and still more the remedies,
The attorneys for the employers in reality make no attempt at originality, They have an explanation always at hand: wages have © gone up too much, kicking off a rise in prices and inflationary tendencies and inereasing the odds: against