CHILEAN ELECTIONS?
The presidential election scheduled in Chile for next September 4 continues to be a topic of much speculation throughout Latin America, Will the conservative government of Arturo Alessandri succeed in elec~ ting as successor its choice, the "anti-Communist" Pero Durdn? Will the more moderate Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei make it? Or will the "Popular Front" candidate Salvador Allende win in a landslide, as some hope he will?
The election trends point to the left. In 1958, for instance, Alessandrits Frente Democragtico [conservatives, Liberals and Radicals] polled 950,000 votes; the "Popular Front" FRAP ’ £Frente Revolucionario de Accién Popular], 600,000; and the Christian Democrats, 450,000.
In the 1963 municipal elections the results were as follows: Frente Democrgftico, 730,000; FRAP,. 700,000; Christian Democrats, 570,000. woe
These results greatly encouraged the FRAP and its backers, inas~ much as in 1958, due to Chile's. electoral system, Allende came within 29,000 votes of. "winning.
In an interview published in the Mexican review Siempre, January 16, Allende indicated great confidence about his perspectives, Some of the questions and answers are of interest because of the information offered about. the FRAP and. ‘its program. Here are some excerpts:
~ =~ "Would you explain for Mexican readers what the FRAP is? What is its composition?" oo,
A. -- "The FRAP is formed, fundamentally, of six parties, two of them Marxist and four non-Marxist."
Qs e+ "What are the Marxist parties?"
A. -- "The Socialist party, to which I belong, and the Communist party." . Co,
Q -~- "Is this strictly an electoral alliance?"
A. -~ "No. The FRAP is not a transitory grouping of parties but a will for power and a revolutionary consciousness in march, t has a national organic structure and a.common program, which does not "prevent
each party from | proselytism on its account, ,
Q. =~ "How did it come to be set up?"
A. -~ "The FRAP is a movement that was born as a necessity and a legitimate social fact, a product of the political deceit of Gonzdlez Videla,* who turned his back on the people and demonstrated that they had no possibility whatever with the radicals, Thus Socialist-Communist unity was born, which continued to increase, ending by uniting the Democrats with the Socialists. Besides, there are not only political parties in the FRAP,"
Q. -- “Other organizations have joined?"
A. -- "Yes, various. Among them, the Instituto Popular, bo which independents belong} the Baluarte del Pueblo, an organization of
xGabriel. Gonzflez Videla was the Popular Front candidate in 1946, Before the election he promised the Communist party three ministries. Five months after the victory, Gonzdlez pulled a double+-cross, He ban~ ned the Communist party, broke diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, herded members of the Communist ‘party into concentretion camps and even unseated Senator Pablo Neruda, one of the greatest living poets of the Spanish language,
a8 ma.
retired soldiers; the Frente Gfvico Militar, formed by chiefs and officers of the Armed Forces. ... In addition, other sectors are constantly joining..." .
. Asked about the program of the FRAP, Allende said that it called for the nationalization of the copper industry and that the program could be summarized in three words: "Anti-imperialist, anti~oligarchical, and antifeudal," |
On agrarian reform, Allende said: "Naturally, without paying for the land, because that would make it impossible, With regard to the forms of property, that depends on geographical, climatic, social face tors, etc. In any case, according to the circumstances in each zone af the. country, individual parcels, co-operatives and state farms must exist side by side."
On the Cuban Revolution, Allende responded: "We have been and are friends of Cuba and its Revolution. We have been the most stubborn . denouncers of the outrages and the imperialist aggression, And because we are partisans of Cuba and because we understand what it would signify for imperialism to have a peaceful defeat in the south. This battle is not only our electoral battle; it is the battle of the peoples that is occurring in Chile."
Q. -- "This signifies the diversity of roads... "
A,.-~ "Not only that. It's not only that the peaceful road is open in Chile, but that the differences between the peoples give rise to different processes in many things. I have explained it tomy © crowd with a phrase: the Cuban Revolution was made with a taste for sugar and rum; the Chilean will be made with a taste for red wine and meat pie,’
Victor Rico Galdn, the Mexican correspondent who interviewed Allende, did not appear to share Allende's confidence that the “peace ful road is open in Chile.
"Allonde referred recently to his intention to make a revolution 'sin paredént [without the wall of the firing squad]," Rico said in an opening observation, “and in genera il the FRAP tries to demonstrate in every wey that its candida ate is not a bad boy iike Fidel Castro, that there is nothing to fear from him and that he will establish socialism, not surgically -~ Allende is a doctor «- but with the same case with which you take an aspirin.
"Meanwhile," the correspondent continues, “this democratic and peaceful country has one of the best organized police forces in Latin . America, It is impressive to see the discipline, the armaments and the skill of the Chilean carabineros, who are everywhere. In the art of breaking up demonstrations and mutinies they have no rival, They even send instructors to other Latin-American countries, among them Venezuela, Every public meeting, whether Accién Catélica *Ccatholic: Action] or the Hijas de Marfa [Daughters of Mary], brings out an impressive force of carabineros, who do nothing but carry out maneuvers in silence,
Those with evil thoughts believe that the carabineros. are training for something, . . for example to. prevent the FRAP from taking power in case of an electoral victory,'
To this it should be added that there is another great political force in Chile which those engaged in the electoral game scarcely. take into account. This is the seventy per cent of the citizens who are barred by literacy requirements from going to the ballot box,