Allende and Popular Unity: The Road to Democratic Socialism (Marx and Marxisms) 1032755741, 9781032755748

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Allende and Popular Unity

This book is a fascinating collection of carefully handpicked key texts and speeches from Chile’s 1,000 Days of Revolution, previously unpublished in English. Twenty-three texts embodying the activity of Unidad Popular and Salvador Allende’s government in the early 1970s are structured around five thematic sections, which tell the story of the common challenges for progressive political organizations and social movements today. The themes of participatory democracy and sovereignty, economy and social rights, women and gender equality, indigenous people, and worker-class syndicalism and political organization guide the reader through the multidimensional and global vision of Popular Unity’s socialist project. Ideal for students, scholars, and general readers, this book introduces an extraordinary period in Chile’s history to a new generation of readers interested in the resurgence of democratic socialism around the world. Paula Vidal Molina is an associate professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of Chile. Her research interests include state politics and policy, public policy, and Chilean Marxism history. Ximena U. Odekerken is a doctoral student at the National University of San Martin, Argentina. Her research interests include political history and the history of the Left in Chile.

Marx and Marxisms: New Horizons Edited by Marcello Musto

The peer-reviewed series Marx and Marxisms: New Horizons will comprise rigorous scholarly books, accessible to general readers, offering innovative and critical works in the field of Marx studies and Marxism. The series will publish monographs, edited collections, and translations of volumes already issued in other languages, by both prestigious and emerging international experts, in the fields of political theory, history of political thought, sociology, political philosophy, and heterodox economics. The books in this series will provide original investigations within the Marxist tradition, push the boundaries of accepted interpretations and existing literatures, bring different concepts and thinkers into new relationships, and inspire significant conversations for today. They will come from a wide range of academic disciplines, subject matters, political perspectives, cultural backgrounds, and geographical areas, producing an eclectic and informative collection that will appeal to a diverse and international audience. The Revolution is the Emergency Break Essays on Walter Benjamin Michael Löwy Allende and Popular Unity The Road to Democratic Socialism Paula Vidal Molina and Ximena U. Odekerken The New Reformism and the Revival of Karl Kautsky The Renegade’s Revenge Douglas Greene

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Allende and Popular Unity The Road to Democratic Socialism Paula Vidal Molina and Ximena U. Odekerken

First published 2024 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2024 Paula Vidal Molina and Ximena U. Odekerken The right of Paula Vidal Molina and Ximena U. Odekerken to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. ISBN: 978-1-032-75574-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-78405-2 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-48770-8 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003487708 Typeset in Times by Apex CoVantage, LLC

Contents

Notes about the sources Introduction

ix 1

A history review 2 The Chilean road to socialism from the historiographical debate 4 Relevance 7 1

Participatory democracy and sovereignty on the road to socialism Inauguration speech as newly elected president in Estadio Nacional (November 5, 1970). Salvador Allende. Extracts 10 Inauguration of popular discussion sessions in University of Chile’s Law School (January 11, 1971). Salvador Allende. Extracts 18 Neighborhood courts 21 Every worker must be a dynamic factor in production 22 The awareness of a path taken 23 Chilean road to socialism and current state apparatus (March 18, 1972). Salvador Allende. Extracts 24 Speech on the occasion of the nationalization of the Gran Minería del Cobre (Great Copper Mining Industry), Rancagua (July 11, 1971). Salvador Allende. Extracts 27 America’s dialogue: Salvador Allende-Fidel Castro (December 1971) 36 Notes 44

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Contents

2

Economy and social rights

46

Popular Unity Government Basic Program (December 17, 1969), Popular Unity. Extracts 46 The program 50 A new institutional order: the people’s state 52 Building a new economy 54 Social tasks 57 Culture and education 59 Income distribution and development options (September 1970). Pedro Vuskovic. Extracts 61 The roots of the phenomenon 62 A new development strategy 64 Agricultural policies in the transition to socialism. The Chilean case (May 17, 1971). Jacques Chonchol. Extracts 66 Rapid change in land tenure systems 67 Change in the systems of economic interrelation between agriculture and the rest of the economy 68 Reorientation of the production process 69 Industrialization of rural areas 71 Rural worker participation in the process of change 71 Rapid overcoming of traditional disregard and segregation of the Mapuche population and the Near North’s communal tenure population 72 Statement by the President of the Republic, comrade Salvador Allende Gossens, delivered in the Central Auditorium of the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities of the University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara (December 2, 1972) 73 Notes 85 3

Women and gender equality The Chilean woman (1972). Amanda Puz. Extracts 86 Her big problem: Machismo 89 Her social struggles 91 The emancipation of the Chilean woman (1972). Virginia Vidal. Extracts 94 . . . Machismo 94 A bit of history 95 The landowner’s wife 95 And the proletarian woman? 96

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Work: the first step 96 Participation in production 97 . . . The legal situation of women 98 Matrimonial regime 98 All children are equal 99 True equality between spouses 99 . . . Full emancipation 100 Speech on International Women’s Day, Antofagasta (March 8, 1972). Salvador Allende. Extracts 101 . . . Women in national history 101 What women must be given 103 The revolution looks at the human person 104 Interview with the international press at the United Nations (December 4, 1972). Salvador Allende. Extracts 104 Speech in “The Present-Day Woman in Latin America” seminar at the Gabriela Mistral building, Santiago (October 27, 1972). Salvador Allende 105 Notes 108 4

Indigenous people Cautín agreement between the presidential candidate Salvador Allende and the Mapuche people. Campaign event in Ñielol, Temuco (April 12, 1964) 109 Agreement for the development of the Araucanian community 110 Cautin, April 1964 110 Signed between presidential candidate Dr. Salvador Allende and the Araucanian people, through the leaders of the Allendista provincial command 110 Title I. Religion 110 Title II. Education 111 Title III. Land ownership 112 Title IV. Housing and health 112 Title V. Economic resources for the development of the Araucanian community 113 Title VI. Directorate of Indigenous Affairs 113 Complete reorganization 114 The Araucanians 114

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Contents Speech in Plaza de la Constitución, Santiago (December 21, 1970). Salvador Allende. Extracts 115 . . . Mapuche nation 115 Extracts Integration of the Mapuche people into Chilean Society. (1972). Hernán San Martín 116 Revolution is justice: Araucanian participation in the current transformation process of Chile 117 Report by the Agriculture and Colonization Committee before the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Santiago (September 14, 1971). Extracts 120 Speech on the occasion of the enactment of the Indigenous Law (September 15, 1972). Salvador Allende. Extracts 124 Notes 130

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Unionism and working class organization

131

Speech on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of the CUT, Central Única de Trabajadores de Chile (Single Workers’ Center of Chile), and inauguration of the second Union School of the CUT, Concepción (February 14, 1971). Salvador Allende. Extracts 132 Labor Day speech (May 1, 1972). Salvador Allende. Extracts 142 Worker participation 142 Basic norms for worker participation in socially owned and mixed-ownership companies (May, 1971). Presidency of the Republic and the CUT of Chile 147 Introduction 147 Statement by the President of the Republic, comrade Salvador Allende Gossens, during his visit to the socially owned industry, former Yarur (November 4, 1972). Extracts 157 Notes 164 References Index

166 169

Notes about the sources

The texts included in this anthology were originally published in Spanish and have been selected from the following documents: 1.1. Salvador Allende, Discurso en el Estadio Nacional con motivo de la toma de posesión del Gobierno (5 noviembre de 1970). Textos de Salvador Allende 1970. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www.socialismo-chileno.org/PS/sag/Discursos/1970/discursos1970.htm 1.2. Salvador Allende, Inauguración de las Jornadas de Discusión Popular en la Escuela de Derecho de la Universidad de Chile (11 de enero de 1971). Textos de Salvador Allende 1971. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www.socialismo-chileno.org/PS/sag/Discursos/1971/ discursos1971.htm 1.3. Salvador Allende, La Vía Chilena al Socialismo y el aparato del estado actual (18 de marzo de 1972). Textos de Salvador Allende 1972. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www.socialismo-chileno. org/PS/sag/Discursos/1972/discursos1972.htm 1.4. Salvador Allende, Discurso con motivo de la nacionalización de la Gran Minería del Cobre, Rancagua (11 de julio de 1971). Textos de Salvador Allende 1971. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www.socialismo-chileno.org/PS/sag/Discursos/1971/discursos1971.htm 1.5. El diálogo de América: Salvador Allende-Fidel Castro (diciembre de 1971). Textos de Salvador Allende 1971. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www.socialismo-chileno.org/PS/sag/Discursos/1971/ discursos1971.htm

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Notes about the sources

2.1. Programa Básico de Gobierno de la Unidad Popular (17 de diciembre de 1969). No edition data. Public domain document. Available on: www. bicentenariochile.cl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1 9:progama-basico-de-gobierno-de-la-unidad-popular&catid=12:gobiernode-allende-y-el-quiebre-institucional&Itemid=9 2.2. Pedro Vuskovic, Distribución del ingreso y opciones de desarrollo (septiembre de 1970). Cuadernos de la Realidad Nacional, Nº5, 1970, pp. 41–60. Centre of Studies on National Reality (CEREN, Centro de Estudios de la Realidad Nacional)—Catholic University of Chile. Public domain document. 2.3. Jacques Chonchol, La política agrícola en la transición al socialismo. El caso chileno (17 de mayo 1971). Conferencia dictada en PLANDES. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, Chronological Archive Section, 1971. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www. socialismo-chileno.org/PS/apsjb/1971/Chonchol170571/Chonchol170571. html#page=1 2.4. Salvador Allende, Palabras del presidente de la república, compañero Salvador Allende Gossens, pronunciadas en el Auditorio central del Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades de la Universidad de Guadalajara. Guadalajara, (2 de diciembre de 1972). Textos de Salvador Allende 1972. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www.socialismochileno.org/PS/sag/Discursos/1972/discursos1972.htm 3.1. Amanda Puz, La mujer chilena (1972). La mujer chilena, Editorial Quimantú, “Nosotros los chilenos” collection, Santiago, 1972. Public domain document. 3.2. Virginia Vidal, La emancipación de la mujer chilena (1972). La emancipación de la mujer, Editorial Quimantú, “Nosotros los chilenos” collection, Santiago, 1972. Public domain document. 3.3. Salvador Allende, Discurso con motivo del Día Internacional de la Mujer, Antofagasta (8 de marzo de 1972). Textos de Salvador Allende 1972. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www.socialismo-chileno. org/PS/sag/Discursos/1972/discursos1972.htm 3.4. Salvador Allende, Entrevista con la prensa internacional en la Organización de Naciones Unidas (4 de diciembre de 1972). Textos de Salvador Allende 1972. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www.socialismo-chileno.org/PS/sag/Discursos/1972/discursos1972.htm 3.5. Salvador Allende, Discurso en el seminario “La mujer de hoy en América Latina” en el edificio Gabriela Mistral, Santiago (27 de octubre de 1972). Textos de Salvador Allende 1972. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016. Reprint authorized by the

Notes about the sources

4.1.

4.2.

4.3. 4.4.

4.5.

5.1.

5.2.

5.3.

xi

editor. Available on www.socialismo-chileno.org/PS/sag/Discursos/1972/ discursos1972.htm Pacto de Cautín entre el candidato presidencial Salvador Allende y el pueblo mapuche (12 de abril de 1964). Acto de campaña en Ñielol, Temuco. “El Siglo” newspaper, Santiago, April 12, 1964. Available in the National Library of Chile. Public domain document. Salvador Allende, Discurso en la Plaza de la Constitución de Santiago (21 de diciembre de 1970). Textos de Salvador Allende 1970. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www.socialismo-chileno.org/PS/ sag/Discursos/1970/discursos1970.htm Hernán San Martín, Integración del pueblo mapuche a la sociedad chilena (1972). Los Araucanos, Santiago, Editorial Quimantú, “Nosotros los chilenos” collection, 1972. Public domain document. Informe de la Comisión de Agricultura y Colonización ante la Cámara de Diputados de Chile (14 de septiembre de 1971). Chamber of Deputies, regular legislative session Nº35. Library of National Congress of Chile. Public domain document. Available on: www.bcn.cl/historiapolitica/ corporaciones/periodo_detalle?inicio=1969-05-21&fin=1973-0520&periodo=1925-1973&cam=Diputados Salvador Allende, Discurso con motivo de la promulgación de la Ley Indígena (15 de septiembre de 1972). Textos de Salvador Allende 1972. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www.socialismo-chileno.org/PS/sag/ Discursos/1972/discursos1972.htm Salvador Allende, Discurso con motivo del XIX aniversario de la Central Única de Trabajadores e inauguración de la segunda escuela sindical de la “CUT” Concepción, (14 de febrero de 1971). Textos de Salvador Allende 1971. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www.socialismo-chileno.org/PS/sag/Discursos/1971/discursos1971.htm Salvador Allende, Discurso con motivo del Día del Trabajo (1° de mayo de 1972). Textos de Salvador Allende 1972. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016, pp. 65–68. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www.socialismo-chileno.org/PS/ sag/Discursos/1972/discursos1972.htm Presidencia de la República, Central Única de Trabajadores de Chile (mayo de 1971). Normas básicas de participación de los trabajadores en las empresas de las áreas social y mixta. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on https://docplayer.es/28813288-Mayo-de-1971introduccion.html

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5.4. Palabras del presidente de la república, compañero Salvador Allende Gossens, en la visita que hiciera a la industria del Área Social ex-Yarur, (4 de noviembre de 1972). Textos de Salvador Allende 1972. Published by Biblioteca Clodomiro Almeyda, Socialist Party of Chile, in 2016. Reprint authorized by the editor. Available on www.socialismo-chileno.org/PS/ sag/Discursos/1972/discursos1972.htm

Introduction

In the memory of the global Left, Chile’s experience with Popular Unity (UP, or Unidad Popular) lives on as one of the many attempts—undoubtedly the most important of the 20th century—to carry out structural transformations in favor of the oppressed through a form of revolution that was, at the time, unprecedented. The so-called Chilean path to socialism expressed a process that, beginning with Salvador’s ascent to the presidency in 1970, was carried out from the bourgeois institutionality. As such, it was beleaguered and ultimately interrupted by the relentless siege and boycotts of the United States and the Chilean bourgeois and right wing. In general terms, the UP government expresses a long process of the accumulation of forces and political alliances between socialists and communists. The various candidacies of Allende for the presidency of the Republic were effectively born of a grand coalition between various parties. This was the case in 1952 with the National People’s Front (FRENAP, or Frente Nacional del Pueblo), as it was in 1958 and 1964 with the Popular Action Front (FRAP, or Frente de Acción Popular), and finally in 1969 with Popular Unity. These were referents not only for the backbone of the Marxist Left for most of the 20th century but also articulated and contributed to the organization of the working class. The triumph of Allende allowed these classes to maintain and deepen the democratic victories of previous years and to set the socialist transformations in motion from the State. For various left-wing organizations, the figure of Allende, as a protagonist of collective memory, is a byword for heroism. A politician, a doctor, and a champion of socialism, he had understood the causes of the injustices that his people experienced since his early youth. Allende embraced both activism in the Socialist Party and the socio-political struggles of the oppressed. He died defending the people’s government during the military coup on 11 September 1973. Despite the attempts of the dictatorship to erase all memory of him, the first revindicating works appeared towards the end of the 1970s. Since then, his biography has been the object of interest for countless books, articles, and documentaries, expressing his enormous impact and historic value. All over the world, there are DOI: 10.4324/9781003487708-1

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thousands of streets, squares, monuments, and sites that bear his name. In this sense, the universal verdict on Allende is categorical: against the grain of the proclamation of “the end of history” concerning the struggle between ideologies, his figure and life’s work remain fully in force. For many years, most of those who referred to the Popular Unity experience emphasized both its achievements and shortcomings in light of the defeat, which meant not only the overthrow of the government but also the establishment of a new model of development, neoliberalism. In recent decades, an enormous quantity of Chilean historiographical studies has flourished, rehabilitating its more creative dimension in terms of the will and enthusiasm of the time to build a different society. In fact, the awareness of their making history marked the impetus on the part of the protagonists of this process—that is, the working class and the popular sectors. The formation of Popular Unity under a program of transformative reforms thus brought together a project that motivated real people to work and fight for the revolution. How much this government achieved in three years thus does not cease to amaze. Among many transformations, the end put to latifundia by the Agrarian Reform, which allowed for the setting of the foundations of agricultural modernization, is particularly noteworthy. The nationalization of copper and natural wealth, on the other hand, meant the creation of the principal sources of income for the country. Thus, “the salary of Chile” came into being, in the words of Allende himself. The nationalization of private banking and the organization of the social sector of the economy also contributed to the progress towards the transformation of the economic structure. The increase in the construction of housing, the delivery of half a liter of milk to minors under 15 years of age, and the democratic access to culture were measures which, among others, responded to the most heartfelt needs of the population. A history review Towards the 1970s, everything indicated that Latin America was on the verge of change. From the Cuban Revolution onwards, this perception among the Left was feeding expectations of a revolution that would lead to national liberation, above all from the yoke that the presence and intervention of the United States in these countries signified. Under circumstances in which the developmental model of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC) was showing clear signs of exhaustion and different experiences of “real socialism” were being developed, such expectations sharpened the contradictions of the Left. The issue of the route to socialism in each country certainly dominated the debates of these organizations. While the Soviet Union and the international Communist movement ratified the so-called pacific route as a principal strategy,

Introduction 3 from the 1960s onwards, organizations willing to go on the offensive proliferated. For these sectors, opting for arms was their diagnosis of the triumph of the guerilla in Cuba: the failure of revolution in stages or by pacific means. They thus proposed that the only way of achieving their socialist and popular goals, which had been overlooked by the traditional Marxist parties, was by destroying the bourgeois institutionality using insurrectionist methods. This debate found fertile ground in Chile. Through a process of strategic convergence that translated into the formation of various coalitions of center-left parties from 1936 onwards with the Popular Front (Frente Popular), the results of the presidential elections in 1958 demonstrated the electoral potential of the Popular Action Front (FRAP), formed just two years earlier. On that occasion, Allende obtained the second-highest number of votes, beaten by the right-winger Arturo Alessandri Rodríguez. This same occurred in the elections of 1964 when he lost to Eduardo Frei Montalva, the candidate of the Christian Democrats (Democracia Cristiana, or DC). In 1961 and 1966, this momentum also saw the election of a significant parliamentary bench. Nonetheless, despite its significant entry into institutional politics, the FRAP was able to do little in the face of the rising cost of living, the formation of urban poverty zones, the excessive concentration of land in the latifundia, the hold of the North American trusts over copper exploitation, or the brutal repression of workers’ demonstrations and popular protest. In this context, Allende’s results in 1964 felt like a major defeat. Dissent within the FRAP soon became apparent, above all within the Communist and Socialist parties (PC and PS, respectively). For their part, anarchists, Trotskyists, and other disgruntled sectors of the Radical Party—based on the alternative diagnosis of Chilean society proposed by the Communist-Socialist coalition— called for armed struggle and founded the Revolutionary Left Movement (Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria, or MIR) in 1965. On the part of the FRAP, this process of radicalization also manifested within the FRAP two years later: following over a decade of internal crisis, the PS determined that armed struggle was a strategic option that could not be ruled out, albeit not the exclusion of the electoral and parliamentary route. This radicalization process was not limited to left-wing political parties; during the 1960s, violence and direct action were part of the strategies of struggle employed by the workers’ movement. Despite this reorientation, the refoundation of the FRAP as Popular Unity (UP) in 1969 meant maintaining the political strategy of struggle within the bourgeois institutional system, with Allende as its head. The UP was made up of the PC, PS, el Popular Unitary Action Movement (Movimiento de Acción Popular Unitaria, or MAPU), the Social Democrat Radical Party (Partido Radical Social Demócrata), and Independent Popular Action (Acción Popular Independiente). This marked the culmination of the progress of the convergence of programs that gave rise to the Chilean road to socialism.

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The triumph of the UP in the elections of 1970 proved that the strategy that they followed was the correct one, even though Allende’s proportion of the votes (36.2%) relative to that of Alessandri (34.9%) did not constitute an outright majority. However, the relative majority obtained obliged the National Congress to hand the electoral victory to Allende following the agreement between the UP and the DC regarding the Statutes of Democratic Guarantees. The victories and advances of the program are known and include agrarian reform, health rights, housing and infrastructure, culture, nutrition, education, as well as the nationalization of wealth and minerals, the economy, and other sectors of society which came to an end with the military coup and its ensuing violations of human rights, disappeared detainees, political executions, and exiles. In the absence of a particular eagerness to delve into any of the explanations offered by a vast bibliography of the failure and overthrow of the Popular Unity government, along with the fall of the constitutional order that had been built from 1925 onwards, one cannot overlook the influence on its overthrow of factors such as the exhaustion of the model of developmentalism and modernization promoted by capitalism itself since 1940, as well as the North American imperial interventionism in Chile aligned with the military leadership’s betrayal of the constitutional regime and supported by Chile’s right-wingers and dominant classes. Nonetheless, it is likewise necessary to ascertain the errors or failures in the implementation of the UP project, which goes beyond the political and ideological differences between a “gradualist” sector and a “disruptive” one, or those regarding the distance between the reality of grassroots class struggle and institutional debates. The Chilean road to socialism from the historiographical debate The interest in Popular Unity and the figure of Salvador Allende beyond Chile’s borders came about early on due to the controversy among the global Left over the idea of a revolution from within the bourgeois institutionality, and their coming to power effectively reoriented many of the debates within the intellectual circles of the time regarding the transition to socialism, transforming the socalled Popular Chile Popular into a true sounding board. Following the coup d’état, the need to understand the overthrow of the UP began primarily with those who had experienced and participated in its process. Over time, the literature that was apologist of the Allende government was replaced by an analysis of the nature of the Chilean road to socialism and the strategic weaknesses of the UP. Research thus appeared that, seeking to focus on the political debate of the time, aimed to demonstrate both its revolutionary and reformist aspects. Among these works that were written in exile, worthy of note are the books of the political scientist Joan E. Garcés (1976), who was an

Introduction 5 advisor to Allende himself, the journalist Robinson Rojas (1974), and the Brazilian economist and ex-member of the MIR Ruy Mauro Marini (1976). The interest in the UP, both as actors and as a period, inspired its academic study by researchers early on. One of the first dossiers that focused on the Chilean tragedy was the North American magazine Latin American Perspectives, published in the summer of 1974 entitled “Chile: Blood on the Peaceful Road.” With it, a whole field of academic research was opened—especially in Chile, the United States, and Europe—that today boasts a broad constellation of studies written in Spanish, English, Portuguese, and French. In Chile, the analysis of the Allende government for many years predominated a perspective that favored conflicts between political parties and their actions within the institutional apparatus (Garretón & Moulian, 1983; Almeyda, 1987; Mires, 1989; Jocelyn-Holt, 1998; Valenzuela, 1989; Corvalán Márquez, 2000; Aggio, 2002; Arrate & Rojas, 2003). A common view was thus built that the disloyal and illegitimate actions of the right, the inability to reach agreements with the DC, the emptying of the political center, the contradictions in the direction of the UP, and their not knowing how to govern were the causes of the crisis of 1973 and the coup. Even so, the assessment of Allende’s three-year rule is a negative one for the formal political actors and, on a political level, for any attempt to carry out a revolution “from above.” During the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, this assessment contributed to the proliferation of studies that, in offering a different perspective on the 19th and 20th centuries in Chile, adhered to the current of social history and revindicated the autonomy of the social movements. The historiography on the UP thus went about compiling the voices and experiences of “those below.” Almost two decades after the generalization of this perspective, the North American historian Peter Winn warned of the perspectives “from above” of those who studied the Chilean revolution. In his book Weavers of Revolution (1986), later published in Spanish (2004), he sought to highlight the role of the workers’ movement in the process, beginning with the experiences of the employees of Yarur. As is known, the expropriation of this textile factory and its nationalization symbolized the policy implemented by the UP. Based on the testimonies of its protagonists, Winn related the seizure of the factory and its subsequent state intervention, both of which were driven by the workers themselves, to the spirit of the Chilean road to socialism. In this vein, representative studies of the history of the UP and the Allende government “from below” gradually began to appear. Among other such works, particularly noteworthy are those of the historians Julio Pinto, Heidi Tinsman, and Franck Gaudichaud. Through different fields reflected in monographic studies coordinated by Pinto, in the sourcebooks Cuando hicimos historia (When We Made History, 2005) and Fiesta y drama (Celebration and Drama, 2014) the Allende government was

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analyzed from the three dimensions that the Chilean sociologist Tomás Moulian posited to understand the experience, namely “celebration, drama and defeat.” Through various facets, encompassing not only social actors and emblematic politicians of the time (peasants, citizens, and left-wing organizations) but also the lesser explored (educational system, Armed Forces, etc.), these aspects expressed the realization of these people, above all the most humble and marginalized, of their making of history in liminal times. In Partners in Conflict (2002), Tinsman studied the agrarian reform, highlighting the role that women played in the process. Based on the cross-referencing of testimonies, photography, magazines, archives, and other official sources, he posited that the agrarian reform contributed to the transformation of labor relations and, with it, ended up generating conditions that were more favorable for the active social and political participation of women. Despite the opening up of new spaces for female leadership, the historian concludes that the agrarian reform equally safeguarded male authority by consecrating men as the main intermediaries and recipients of lands. On his part, in Poder Popular y Cordones Industriales (Popular Power and Industrial Belts, 2004) and Chile 1970–1973 (2016), Gaudichaud not only analyzed the events that drove the most radicalized sectors of the working class to create an embryo of “popular power” but also, through his own testimonies, examined the processes of self-organization and politicization based on the experiences of the so-called industrial belts (organs of popular power and workplace democracy) and the relationship with political parties and the Allende government. This historian thus proposed that the UP project drove a process of self-organization that did not include the Left and that became a “constituent popular power.” In the last decade, the revitalization of political history in Chile has translated into a new flourishing of studies of political parties. In this field, the Left and, in general, formal political actors have been approached from perspectives that have allowed a more complex comprehension of the UP and its government. Without detailing the entirety of this production, we can highlight the books El alba de una revolución (The Dawn of a Revolution, Casals, 2010), El Gobierno de Allende y la Guerra Fría Interamericana (Allende’s Chile and the Inter-American Cold War, Harmer, 2011, 2013), La revolución inconclusa (The Inconcluded Revolution, Fermandois, 2013), Forjando la vía chilena al socialismo (Forging the Chilean Road to Socialism, Álvarez, 2020), and, more recently, Historia de la Unidad Popular (History of Popular Unity, Magasich, 2020a, 2020b, 2023a, 2023b, four volumes). These works have not only contributed to the reconstruction of the Chilean road to socialism from its most emblematic protagonists (the Left) but have also enriched the historical analyses by incorporating dimensions, relationships, and actors that had not been previously considered.

Introduction 7 The momentum of this impulse posed the need to overcome the interpretation that views the three-year rule of the UP as a contradiction between two different revolutions. In her book El protagonismo popular chileno (Chilean Popular Protagonism, 2018), the Brazilian political scientist Márcia Cury reminds us that the reappropriation of the socialist project by the workers did not occur univocally but within the framework of a more general agreement between the parties of the Left, intellectuals, and professionals regarding their needs and maturity. Accepting this invitation to partake, the present anthology seeks to offer the reader the possibility of revisiting, from primary sources, the direction that the UP sought to imprint on the state on the paving of a route to socialism. Relevance The fiftieth anniversary of this historic triumph was accompanied by a series of commemorations both in Chile and abroad in 2023. Talks, seminars, journalistic reports, opinion columns in international newspapers, academic articles, and books were just some of the means through which the festivities experienced by the Chilean people were recalled and commemorated. In the face of multiple visits to our recent past, it is fitting to ask what the relevance of Popular Unity is. Amid the structural crisis of capitalism and the dependency of Latin American economies, and in these times of deep social, economic, and political inequality, can we only value this project as a memory and object of curiosity in a museum? What can it tell us now? Since October 2019, we have observed in academic work on the UP how the questions of relevance and continuity are present in the analysis of the popular uprising in Chile. Indeed, there is a considerable group of authors who relate it to different aspects of the UP government (Rodríguez, 2020; Alfaro, 2021; Bruey, 2021; Frens-String, 2021a; Frens-String, Harmer, & Schlotterbeck, 2021; Green, 2021), such as the resistance to neoliberal capitalism in Chile (Rodríguez, 2020) and the economic transformations of the Allende government (Frens-String, 2021b). Approaching the matter from the perspective of recent history, comparisons have also been drawn between the political participation of women in the 1970s and the Feminist May of 2018 (Alfaro, 2021). Other works examine the culture of protest and the persistence of the past in its methods (Bruey, 2021), in addition to the historical context of the protests of recent years (Frens-String et al., 2021). The writings of Hammouri (2020), on their part, bring the speech of President Allende at the General Assembly of the United Nations in December 1972 to the present. The author reflects on the observable repetitions over time and space, which permanently become more complex. Hammouri particularly highlights the emblematic elements of the UP project such as the nationalization of natural resources. Finally, the work of Green (2021) on the political legacy of the UP in the social uprising of 2019 is worthy of note.

8

Introduction

In the face of the need to understand the present from our recent history, we believe it is necessary to return to the sources. From its texts, this book recovers the legacy of the UP as a way to contribute to the people’s quest to build a better society centered on the emancipation of human beings, their people, and their communities. Since the global crisis of the 2000s, we have been witnesses to increasing discontent that brought with it a cycle of protests and social struggles in different countries. Today, the people continue to demand changes to improve their living conditions along with the care of the planet, albeit disregarding partisan organizations. The criticism of political parties for being removed from the needs of the people is certainly a challenge for the Left. In this sense, these forces have found themselves obliged to reflect on the role of states and governments in the implementation of changes in favor of dignified living. In this effort, the UP as a government is of particular interest: the speeches, texts, and stories of its actors—and Allende in particular—reveal the importance of political parties in the definition and achievement of such an agenda. Today, we do not have a compilation translated into English of the primary sources that approach the views of the different actors who gave their lives for the Popular Unity project. With the availability of such texts, readers will be able to make their own interpretations based on the visions and stakes that Allende, the UP, and its government proposed following a revolution “from above downwards.” Nonetheless, the relevance of this book is not limited to offering the reader the possibility of complementing its historiographical reading. Revisiting those voices of the recent past serves as an inspiration and opportunity for learning for our times, as many of the ideas contained in these texts are being realized or still constitute a pending challenge. To establish this connection between the present and the past is the definitive objective of this book. In summary, the reader holds in their hands an anthology of the texts and speeches of Salvador Allende and Popular Unity made between 1969 and 1973. These have been selected according to some guiding criteria: participative democracy and sovereignty on the road to socialism, economy and social rights, women and gender equality, indigenous peoples, trade unionism, and the organization of the working class. Participative democracy and sovereignty are pillars of the reflection that inspire transformations in times of liberal and weak democracies, associated with the question of the economy and the pending fulfillment of social rights (health, employment, and education) for all on a world level. These changes and realizations go hand in hand with women’s rights, as of yet insufficiently consolidated in our societies in which gender equality remains a promise. The same can be seen with the demands of the indigenous people, who have been invisibilized for centuries as a result of colonialism. Finally, the protagonistic place of social actors who make history is a thread common to Popular Unity and Allende in particular. To highlight the power of the organization of

Introduction 9 the working class and the trade unions, it is necessary today to face the transformations in the workplace that deepen the exploitation of employees and the degradation of social life. Clearly, these guiding criteria are not exhaustive of the enormous quantity of material from the era, which constitutes the basis for future works. Organized along these five themes, the texts compiled are faithful copies of parts of the originals so that the reader can access some of the ideas presented. All were obtained from the books in which the speeches of Salvador Allende are collected, be they resting in the libraries of the Socialist Party and the National Congress of Chile or the official documents of Popular Unity and the related authorities and experts on this coalition, which are kept in the National Library of Chile. We thus hope that this anthology helps to revitalize the collective memory in favor of the construction of new social projects. This book was supported by “Academic Productivity Support Program, PROA001/2022 VID; University of Chile”. Paula Vidal Molina Ximena U. Odekerken

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Participatory democracy and sovereignty on the road to socialism

Four speeches by Salvador Allende and a text of an interview carried out with Salvador Allende and Fidel Castro, while Fidel was in Chile, have been selected. The first four speeches were made in different contexts, in different years, and to different audiences: to the whole country after the victory of the UP (1970), at the university (1971), to the militants of his own Socialist Party (1972) and, finally, to the copper workers, which allow us to understand his vision as the leader of a coalition of left-wing parties in the government, on participatory democracy and the path to socialism. The victory of the UP allowed people to be part of the government with the task of implementing a revolutionary program for Chile at that time, which set out to progress towards socialism, focusing on democracy, the organized participation of people—which goes beyond expanding bourgeois electoral participation, incorporating them at various levels of the government structure and at the level of social bases such as neighborhoods and workplaces—and the improvement of the population’s living conditions on the road to socialism, which requires for sources of wealth to belong to the workers and people at large. It also addresses the Chilean path towards socialism, under a People’s Government that leads to changes without confrontations or deaths. The path that unites and distinguishes the Chilean and Cuban processes is addressed in the interview that Augusto Olivares conducts with both leaders. Various aspects can be observed in the inauguration speech in Estadio Nacional (November 5, 1970), in the one made for the inauguration of popular discussion sessions in University of Chile’s Law School (January 11, 1971), in the speech of the Chilean road to socialism and current state apparatus (March 18, 1972), in the speech on the occasion of the nationalization of the Great Copper Mining Industry, Rancagua (July 11, 1971), and in America’s dialogue: Salvador Allende-Fidel Castro (December 1971). Inauguration speech as newly elected president in Estadio Nacional (November 5, 1970). Salvador Allende. Extracts The people said: “We will win,” and we won. DOI: 10.4324/9781003487708-2

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We are here today, comrades, to commemorate the beginning of our triumph. But someone else also wins today. Lautaro and Caupolicán1 are here, twinned at a distance with Cuauhtémoc and Túpac Amaru. Here with us today, O’Higgins2 wins, who gave us political independence, celebrating the step towards economic independence. Here with us today, Manuel Rodríguez3 wins, a victim of those who put their class selfishness before the progress of the community. Here with us today, Balmaceda wins, a combatant in the patriotic task of recovering our wealth from foreign capital. Here with us today, Recabarren4 also wins with the organized workers after years of sacrifice. Here with us today, the victims of the José María Caro neighborhood finally win; here with us, the dead of El Salvador and Puerto Montt win, whose tragedy testifies why and to what end we have come to power.5 Victory belongs to the workers. It belongs to suffering people, who endured for a century and a half, under the name of independence, the exploitation of a ruling class incapable of ensuring progress, and in fact, disregarding it. The truth, we all know, is that the backwardness, the ignorance, the hunger of our people, and of all the nations of the Third World, exist and persist because it is lucrative for a privileged few. But the day has finally come to say enough is enough. No more economic exploitation! No more social inequality! No more political oppression! Today, inspired by the heroes of our country, we gather here to commemorate our victory, the victory of Chile; and also to signal the beginning of liberation. The people, finally within the government, take on the direction of national destinies. But what Chile did we inherit? Excuse me, comrades, that on this festive afternoon and before the delegations of so many countries that honor us with their presence, I refer to such painful issues. It is our obligation and our right to denounce secular suffering, as Velasco Alvarado, President of Peru, said: “One of the great tasks of the revolution is to pull down the fence of deceit that has made us all live with our backs turned against reality.” It is time to admit that we underdeveloped nations have failed in history. We were colonies in the agrarian-mercantile civilization. We are just neocolonial nations in the urban-industrial civilization. And in the new civilization that is emerging, our dependence threatens to continue. Out nations have been exploited. Nations that do not exist for themselves, but to contribute to the prosperity of others. And what is the cause of our lack of progress? Who is responsible for the underdevelopment in which we are submerged? After many distortions and deceptions, the people have understood. We know well, from our own experience, that the real causes of our backwardness are in the system. In this dependent capitalist system, which, internally, puts the needy majorities up against rich minorities; and on an international level, puts powerful people up against the poor; and the majority pay for the prosperity of the few. We inherited a society lacerated by social inequalities. A society divided into antagonistic classes of exploiters and exploited. A society in which violence is incorporated into the institutions themselves, and which condemns men to insatiable greed, to the most inhuman forms of cruelty and independence in the face of the suffering of others. Our inheritance

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Participatory democracy and sovereignty on the road to socialism

is a society sacrificed by unemployment, a scourge that throws growing masses of citizens into forced unemployment and marginalization; masses that are not a phenomenon of overpopulation, as some say, but the multitudes that testify, with their tragic fate, the inability of the regime to ensure everyone the basic right to work. Our inheritance is an economy wounded by inflation, which month after month is cutting the miserable wages of workers and—when they reach the last years of their lives—reducing the income of a life of deprivation to almost nothing. From this wound the working people of Chile bleed. It will be difficult to heal, but we are sure we can achieve it, because the government’s economic policy will be dictated from now on by popular interests. Our heritage is a dependent society, whose fundamental sources of wealth were alienated by the internal allies of large international companies. Economic, technological, cultural, and political dependence. Our heritage is a society whose deepest aspirations for autonomous development have been thwarted. A divided society, in which most families are denied the fundamental rights to work, education, health, leisure, and even the very hope for a better future. Against all these forms of existence, Chilean people have risen up. Our victory was made possible by the conviction, finally achieved, that only a truly revolutionary government could face the power of the ruling classes and, at the same time, mobilize all Chileans to build the Republic of working people. This is the great task that history assigns to us. To undertake it, I summon you today, workers of Chile. Only united shoulder to shoulder, all of us who love this country, those of us who believe in it, will be able to put an end to underdevelopment and build a new society. We are living in a historic moment: the great transformation of Chile’s political institutions. The moment in which parties and movements that speak for the most neglected social sectors rise to power, by the will of the majority. If we stop to meditate for a moment and look back on our history, we Chileans are proud of having managed to impose ourselves through politics, triumphing over violence. This is a noble tradition. It is an imperishable conquest. Indeed, throughout our permanent fight for liberation, the slow and hard fight for equality and justice, we have always preferred to resolve social conflicts using persuasion and political action. We Chileans reject, in the depths of our consciences, fratricidal struggles. But without ever giving up on claiming the rights of the people. Our shield says it: “By reason or force.” But reason comes first. This civic peace, this continuity of the political process, is not the fortuitous consequence of chance. It is the result of our socioeconomic structure, of a peculiar relation of the social forces that our country has been building in accordance with the reality of our development. Already in our first steps as a sovereign country, the decision of the men of Chile and the ability of its leaders allowed us to avoid civil wars. (. . .) Respect for others, tolerance towards others, is one of the most significant cultural assets we possess. And, when antagonisms and contradictions between classes arise within this institutional continuity and the fundamental political norms, this happens in an essentially political way.

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Our people have never broken this historical line. The few institutional ruptures were always determined by the ruling classes. It was always the powerful who unleashed violence, the ones who shed the blood of Chileans, interrupting the normal evolution of the country. Just as when Balmaceda, aware of his duties and defender of national interests, acted with the dignity and patriotism that posterity has recognized. The persecutions against unions, students, intellectuals, and labor parties are the violent response of those who defend privileges. However, the uninterrupted combat of the organized popular classes has managed to progressively impose the recognition of civil, social, public, and individual liberties. This particular evolution of the institutions in our structural context is what has made possible the emergence of this historical moment in which people assume the political direction of the country. The masses, in their struggle to overcome the capitalist system that exploits them, reach the presidency of the Republic integrated, merged in the UP, and in what constitutes the most relevant manifestation in our history: the validity and respect of democratic values, recognition of the will of the majority. Without renouncing their revolutionary goals, the popular forces have been able to adjust their actions to the concrete reality of the Chilean structures, contemplating setbacks and successes, not as definitive defeats or victories, but as milestones on the hard and long path towards emancipation. Unprecedented in the world, Chile has just provided extraordinary proof of political development, making it possible for an anti-capitalist movement to assume power by the free exercise of citizen rights. It assumes it to guide the country towards a new, more humane society, in which the ultimate goals are the rationalization of economic activity, the progressive socialization of the means of production, and the overcoming of the class division. From the theoreticaldoctrinal point of view, as socialists that we are, we are well aware of the forces and agents of historical change. And, personally, I know very well, to quote Engels: The peaceful evolution of the old society towards the new one can be conceived in the countries where popular representation concentrates all the power, where according to the Constitution, you can do whatever you want, once you have the majority of the nation backing you up. And this is our Chile. Here, at last, Engels’s prediction is fulfilled. However, it is important to remember that, in the 60 days that have followed the September 4 elections, the democratic vigor of our country has been subjected to the toughest test it has ever undergone. After a dramatic succession of events, our main trait has once again prevailed: the confrontation of differences through political means. The Christian Democratic Party is aware of this historic moment and its obligations to the country, which deserves to be highlighted. Chile begins its march towards socialism without having suffered the tragic experience of

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Participatory democracy and sovereignty on the road to socialism

a fratricidal war. And this fact, in all its greatness, conditions the path that this government will follow in its transformative work. The popular will legitimizes us in our task. My government will respond to this trust by making the democratic tradition of our people real and concrete. But in these 60 decisive days that we have just experienced, Chile and the entire world have unequivocally witnessed the confessed attempts to fraudulently violate the spirit of our Constitution, to mock the will of the people, to attack the country’s economy, and, above all, in cowardly acts of desperation, to provoke a bloody, violent clash between our fellow citizens. I am personally convinced that the heroic sacrifice of a soldier, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, General René Schneider, has been the unforeseeable event that has saved our country from civil war. Allow me, on this solemn occasion, to pay tribute in his name to the Armed Forces and the Police Forces, faithful to constitutional norms and the mandate of the law. This incredible episode, which history will record as a latent civil war, which barely lasted a day, once again demonstrated the criminal insanity of those who are desperate. They are the representatives, the mercenaries of the minorities that, since the colony, have been overwhelmingly responsible for having exploited our people for their selfish benefit and having handed over our riches to foreigners. It is these minorities that, in their excessive eagerness to perpetuate their privileges, did not waver in 1891 and have not hesitated in 1970 in making the nation face a tragic dilemma. They failed in their unpatriotic schemes! They failed in the face of the solidity of the democratic institutions, in the face of the conviction of the popular will, determined to confront them and disarm them, to ensure the tranquility, confidence, and peace of the nation, from now on under the responsibility of popular power! But what is popular power? Popular power means that we will put an end to the pillars which support the minorities that have always condemned our country to underdevelopment. We will put an end to monopolies, which hand over control of the economy to a few dozen families. We will put an end to a tax system placed at the service of profit, and which has always taxed the poor more than the rich, that has concentrated national savings in the hands of bankers and their appetite for enrichment. We are going to nationalize credit to put it at the service of national and popular prosperity. We will put an end to large estates, which continue to condemn thousands of rural workers to submission, to misery, preventing the country from obtaining all the food we need from our lands. A genuine Agrarian Reform will make this possible. We will put an end to the growing process of denationalization of our industries and sources of work, which subjects us to foreign exploitation. We will recover for Chile its fundamental wealth. We are going to return to our people the great mines of copper, coal, iron, and saltpeter. Achieving it is in our hands, in the hands of those who earn their living from their work and who are today at the center of power. The rest of the world will be able to be a spectator of the changes that take place in our country, but Chileans cannot settle for that alone, because we

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must be protagonists in the transformation of society. It is important for each of us to embrace the common responsibility. It is an essential task of the People’s Government, that is, of each one of us, I repeat, to create a fair state, capable of providing as many opportunities as possible to all of us who live in our territory. I know that this word, state, instills a certain apprehension. It has been widely abused, and, in many cases, it is used to discredit a fair social system. Do not be afraid of the word state, because you are within the state; in the People’s Government, everyone is here. Together we must perfect it, to make it efficient, modern, and revolutionary. But it must be understood that I have said fair, and this is precisely what I want to emphasize. Much has been said about popular participation. It is time for it to become effective. Every inhabitant of Chile, of every age, has a task to accomplish. In it, personal interest will be combined with the generous behavior of collective work. There is not enough money in any state in the world to meet all aspirations of its components, if they do not first realize that along with rights come duties and that success is worth more when it is the result of one’s own effort. The culmination of the development of people’s consciousness will be spontaneous, volunteer work, a proposal which young people have already put forward. No wonder they write on the walls of Paris: “The revolution is made first in people, and then in things.” Particularly, on this solemn occasion, I want to speak to young people: I, as a rebellious student of the past, will not criticize their impatience, but I have the obligation to call them to calm reflection. You are at the beautiful age in which physical and mental vigor make practically any undertaking possible. That is why you have the duty to propel our progress. Turn longing into more work. Turn hope into more effort. Turn impulse into concrete reality. Thousands and thousands of young people claimed a place in the social fight. They already have it. The time has come for all young people to join in. To those who are still marginalized from this process, I say: come, there is a place for everyone in the construction of the new society. Escapism, decadence, futility, and drugs are the last resort of young people who live in countries that are notoriously opulent yet lacking in moral strength. That is not our case. Follow the best examples. Those who leave everything to build a better future. What will be our path, our Chilean path of action to triumph over underdevelopment? Our path will be the one built throughout our experience, the one consecrated by people in the elections, and the one indicated in the UP Program: the path to socialism in democracy, pluralism, and freedom. Chile meets the fundamental conditions that, used with caution and flexibility, will allow us to build a new society, based on the new economy. The UP endorses this motto not as a slogan, but as its natural path. Chile, unique as it is, has the necessary social and political institutions to materialize the transition from backwardness and dependency to development and autonomy, by means of socialism. The UP is constitutively the prime example of this reality. Let no one be deceived. Marxist theorists have never claimed, nor does history show, that a single party is a necessity in the transitional process towards socialism. They

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Participatory democracy and sovereignty on the road to socialism

are social circumstances; they are internal and international political vicissitudes that can lead to this situation. Civil war, when it is imposed on people as the only path towards emancipation, condemns them to political rigidity. Foreign intervention, eager to maintain its domination at any price, makes the exercise of power authoritarian. Poverty and general backwardness hinder the dynamism of political institutions and the strengthening of popular organizations. If these factors do not take place in Chile, our country, based on its traditions, will use and create the mechanisms that, within the pluralism supported by the great majorities, make possible the radical transformation of our political system. This is the great legacy of our history. And it is also the most generous promise for our future. It is up to us to make this come true someday. (. . .) The popular triumph proved how the conscience of a sector of our citizenship has matured. We require that awareness to develop even further. It must appear in thousands and thousands of Chileans who, although were not previously with us, are now part of the process, determined to join the great task of building a new nation with a new morality. This new morality, together with the patrimony and the revolutionary direction, will preside over the acts of the men in government. First, I must warn that our administration will be marked by absolute responsibility, to such an extent that, far from feeling like prisoners of controlling organisms, we will ask people to operate as a steady conscience to correct errors and to denounce those who abuse inside or outside the government. To each one of my compatriots who has a task on their shoulders, I tell you that I am making Fidel Castro’s phrase my own: “You can put your feet in this government, but never your hands.” I will be unyielding in guarding the morality of the regime. Our Government Program, endorsed by the people, is very explicit when claiming that the more popular, the more real will be our democracy, the more the people themselves run it, the more human freedom will be strengthened. People come to control the Executive Power in a presidential regime for the progressive construction of socialism, through conscious and organized struggle in free parties and unions. Our way, our path, is that of freedom. Freedom for the expansion of the productive forces, breaking the chains that until now have stifled our development. Freedom so that each citizen, in accordance with their conscience and their beliefs, contributes to the collective task. Freedom so that Chileans who live from their effort can obtain control and social ownership of their workplaces. Simón Bolívar intuited for our country: “If any republic remains for a long time in America, I am inclined to think that it will be the Chilean one. The spirit of liberty has never been extinguished there.” Our Chilean path will also be that of equality. Equality to progressively overcome the division between Chileans who exploit and Chileans who are exploited. Equality so that everyone participates in the common wealth according to their work and in a way that satisfies their needs. Equality to reduce the enormous differences in remuneration for the same work activities. Equality is essential to give each man the dignity and

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respect that he should demand. Within these guidelines, faithful to these principles, we will move towards building a new system. The new economy that we will build has the objective of rescuing Chile’s resources for Chilean people. Just as monopolies will be expropriated because the country’s best interest requires it, for that same reason we will ensure full guarantees for small and mediumsized companies that will count on the full collaboration of the state for the proper development of their activities. The People’s Government has already prepared the bills that will allow compliance with the program. Workers, laborers, employees, technicians, professionals, and intellectuals will take the helm of the economic direction of the country, as well as the political direction. For the first time in our history, four laborers are part of the government as Ministers of State. Only by advancing along this path of essential transformations, in the economic system and in the political system, do we get closer every day to the ideal that guides our action. To create a new society in which men can satisfy their material and spiritual needs, without it entailing the exploitation of other men. To create a new society that guarantees each family, each man or woman, each young person, and each child: rights, safety, freedom, and hope. May it instill in everyone a deep feeling that they are being called upon to build a new homeland, which will also be the construction of more beautiful, more prosperous, more dignified, and freer lives for themselves. To create a new society capable of continuous progress in material, technical, and scientific matters. And also capable of assuring its intellectuals and artists the conditions to express a true cultural renaissance in their works. To create a new society capable of coexisting with all people: of coexisting with the advanced nations, whose experience can be very useful in our efforts to improve ourselves. To create, finally, a new society capable of coexisting with dependent nations from all latitudes, to whom we want to turn our fraternal solidarity. Our international policy is based today, as it was yesterday, on respect for freely assumed international commitments, self-determination, and non-intervention. We will collaborate resolutely to strengthen peace, for the coexistence of states. Each nation has the right to develop freely, following the path they have chosen. But, unfortunately, we know full well that, as Indira Gandhi clearly denounced at the United Nations: “The right of nations to choose their own form of government is accepted only on paper.” Indira Gandhi says that “actually, there is considerable interference in the internal affairs of many countries. The powerful make us feel their influence in many ways.” Chile, which respects selfdetermination and practices non-intervention, can legitimately demand other governments to act the same way towards us. The people of Chile recognize themselves to be sole owners of their own destiny. And the government of the UP, without the slightest hesitation, will ensure this right. (. . .) Representatives of governments, nations, and institutions: this massive act is a fraternal and emotional tribute to you. I am a man from Latin America who blends in with the other inhabitants of the continent, regarding problems, desires, and common

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concerns. For this reason, at this time, I offer my greetings as ruler to our Latin American brothers, hoping that one day the mandate of our forefathers will be fulfilled, and we will have a single, great, continental voice. Here, gathered with us, are also representatives of worker organizations, from all parts of the world, and intellectuals and artists of universal projection, who wanted to show solidarity with the people of Chile and celebrate with them a victory that, being ours, is felt as their own by all men who fight for freedom and dignity. To all who are here, ambassadors, artists, workers, intellectuals, and soldiers, Chile extends the hand of its friendship. Allow me, distinguished guests, to tell you that you are witnesses to the political maturity that Chile is showing. To you, who have seen with your own eyes the misery in which many of our compatriots live. To you, who have visited our ostracized populations—the shanty towns—and have been able to observe how life can be degraded to a subhuman level in a fertile land full of potential wealth, you will have recalled Lincoln’s reflection: “This country cannot be half slave and half free.” To you, who have heard how the UP will carry out the program supported by our people. To you, I make a request: take back to your homeland the image of what Chile currently is, and the certain hope of what Chile shall be in the future. Make it known that here history is on a new path. That here an entire nation managed to take in their hands the direction of their destiny to walk the democratic path towards socialism. This Chile that is beginning to renew itself, this Chile in spring and in celebration, feels as one of its deepest aspirations the desire for every man in the world to see us as their brother. Inauguration of popular discussion sessions in University of Chile’s Law School (January 11, 1971). Salvador Allende. Extracts I am grateful for the presence of civil and military authorities, that of the rectors, who come to testify what I have been able to experience and feel when I have been in the universities: the concept—so clear and profound—of the reformed university, committed to the great problems of Chile and its people. A university open to all concerns; a university capable of embodying the new mentality, that of a professional dedicated to community service, with the responsibility of knowing what the community and people expect of him. A university forged with superior meaning. A dynamic university in the great process of elaborating a new way of thinking. A university sowing the possibility of a new man, once a new society facilitates this superior and magnificent task. It is my responsibility to talk with you this afternoon about the participation of our nation, about the decisions of the people in the great common and collective task that we have. Hence, I want to start by telling you that, in my opinion, there are two notions of participation: the traditional one, which we have lived through in the bourgeois-democratic regime and which is essentially expressed in the political participation of workers in certain functions; and the

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real and concrete participation that we believe workers should have, not only in the political field, but also in the socioeconomic field. When I say “participation of workers, of the people,” I am referring to those who live fundamentally from their effort, from their work—be they rural workers, laborers, employees, technicians, professionals, artists, writers, journalists—I mean the workers in the system that has governed life in Chile until now and that is characteristic of most developing countries. Workers have had an occasional participation in the political sphere, fundamentally in electoral stages. In other words, to express on voting day their desire to influence—with the limitations that suffrage has in most countries—in the election of the authorities that are to implement the government. I say with the limitations that the exercise of suffrage has, because even in our homeland—in my opinion the country in which bourgeois democracy has reached its highest levels—there are limitations. We face and have faced limitations that luckily have been largely overcome. For example, now the electoral roll has been expanded, making it possible for young people from the age of 18 to vote. In addition, the law now establishes that illiterates will be able to vote, recognizing that being illiterate is not a voluntary fact; on the contrary, it is a fact due to the nature of the system and social injustice, which does not allow, does not give hundreds of thousands of compatriots the chance to even go to a classroom, go to school, and learn to read and write. This unfair fact placed the illiterate on the margins of civic life. Today, these people will have the right to vote, and, therefore, will be considered citizens, just like those who went to school. I must emphasize that these initiatives were raised years ago and, by the way, were raised by sectors of the left. I am pleased to point out that, many years ago, I had to present the reform of the Elections Law, to establish the single vote guaranteed by the state and the Bill to give the right to vote to illiterates. In the same way, although it is not a law of the Republic, I will present a Bill to give the right to vote to the troops and non-commissioned officers of the Armed Forces and Carabineros, and also a Bill for those Chileans who are abroad to have the right to vote. In our case, it is even more important, because in the austral southern zone, every year, a significant percentage of young people and adults leave the country because they do not have a job in our homeland and, therefore, are stateless from the point of view of civil rights, which is not their own fault, but due to the regime and the system preventing them from obtaining employment or work. I hope that in the exercise of the government we correct these situations, and we will further expand the electoral franchise, in order to consolidate an authentic democracy. And those who have said that there will be no more elections in this country will be proved wrong: there will be elections and many more people with a clear civic conscience will vote. This view of most people only occasionally participating in these limited, although extraordinarily important acts such as the one I have indicated, has caused a crisis in most countries. Certainly, in socialist countries, and even in the

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countries of industrial capitalism. In other words, a way is sought so that majorities are more authentically represented. This is certainly difficult to imagine in a capitalist regime, in the countries of industrial capitalism, because indisputably, although it is true that the social conquests allow broader worker participation, it is also true, and we know it very well, that in those countries power is an expression of a minority, and this minority defends its privileges. Therefore, economic and social participation does not exist with the breadth, responsibility, and depth that workers should have. Hence, in the specific case of Chile, we have fought and managed to replace the minority with the majority in government service; we are interpreters of that majority, which reflects their desires and longing for profound changes in the political, economic, and social life of Chile. Thus, we point out the massive participation of organized workers in two aspects: in the workplace, which means economic participation; and in the control of the political centers, that is to say political participation itself. Only in this way do we believe that we can advance from a formal democracy to a concrete democracy, on the basis that the majority must participate in the exercise of the government and at all levels as a consequence of this majority being in the government. That is why we fight to establish a popular, democratic, national, and revolutionary government in our country. We are honest when we say that this government has adhered to the path of socialism, because we have repeatedly pointed out that socialism is not imposed by decree. It is an economic and social process, which will indisputably develop, depending precisely on the maturity, political capacity, effort, and sacrifice of that majority. I said it in the election, and I have reiterated it later: the responsibility of those who voted for the UP did not end on September 4. No, on the contrary, their responsibility has increased. The woman who voted for us must understand that we seek not only the vote to obtain the victory from the point of view of suffrage, but also a conscience, a will, a decision to make an effort, to improve and to work. Each man and each woman of the UP, in the activity they carry out, must be aware that the task that we have proposed can only be achieved on the basis of organized, disciplined, conscious people, capable of sacrifice for the material, intellectual, and moral benefit of our country. That is why in this initial stage, we have demonstrated with facts how workers must participate in the exercise of the government and in the control of decisionmaking centers in the political field, in the economic field, and in the social field. Let us see, for example, some of the achievements in progress. In the political field, we all know that it is the popular parties and movements that make up the UP that are represented in the ministries. That, without making distinctions and for the first time, it is our pleasure to say that in the ministries there are four laborers who were formerly saltpeter, steel, coal, and construction workers. Not only do they have a clear political definition, but they are also colleagues who have lived real life, the effort and sacrifice of the worker in the tasks that I have listed. But, in addition, the workers, employees, laborers, and rural workers

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are represented by colleagues in their activities at different levels of the public administration and also in institutions dependent on the government, such as the Councils of the Provident Funds and others. From the economic point of view, we have given shape to the Economic and Social Council, which will finally come into effect tomorrow. We want to hear the opinion of the broadest sectors, which will be represented in the council, along with the laborers, rural workers, employees, and also the sectors in nonmonopoly companies and in the landowners’ agricultural activity. In this way, we do not refuse dialogue with all sectors, since we have also been quite clear in pointing out that no one can ever imagine that socialism, in its entirety, is going to be implemented in Chile with a wave of a magic wand. We have also pointed out quite specifically that from the economic point of view we consider that socially owned companies, mixed-ownership companies, and private companies are all necessary. Therefore, when we point out that these sectors will be represented in the National Economy Council, we are also complying with the point of view of an honest proposal that we made to the nation. In the case of companies where the state had a decision or influence, or has it now because we have expanded our role and our action as government—as is the case of the Compañía de Acero del Pacífico—by acquiring the shares that were in the hands of individuals, the workers have direct representation in the Council, on the Board of Directors, as they also have it in the companies that we have expropriated or nationalized. This is the case of Bellavista Tomé and El Carbón. I can tell you that a brilliant engineer from Concepción and university professor, comrade Livi, has been appointed president of the Lota-Schwager Coal Company. And the general manager of that company is a comrade who, until the day we nationalized it, worked in the mine shaft as a driller: today he is manager of the Lota-Schwager Company. We think that a good company must be completely state-owned. And I must emphasize that the performance and production of Purina—which has been intervened—have increased significantly since it was intervened and since the workers started participating in the management, that is, laborers, employees, and technicians of that company. Neighborhood courts

Likewise, we will have to send the Bill for the Neighborhood Courts to be discussed in the National Congress. You have all witnessed an entire campaign that aims to change its name; They are the “People’s Courts”! They are going to annihilate us! No more magistrates! That is their formula to establish the law they want to impose! False, absolutely false. The Neighborhood Courts have been drawn up by prestigious lawyers and by magistrates of the Judiciary at their latest convention. What is important is precisely making justice more dynamic, more active for the popular sectors. Those who could never hope for

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it, who could not seek justice. In Chile, the judges themselves have recognized this, and I repeat their words so that I cannot be accused of criticizing a state power: justice “is expensive and slow.” What is important is to give residents the responsibility for sanctioning small offenses. That is, only faults. Those that are committed daily in towns, that are related to lawsuits, that are related to people who get drunk, and so many other offenses. In this type of court, one of the members is appointed just like the sub-delegate is appointed today, and the other two are democratically appointed by the community. But it is not a matter of choosing two people by means of a direct election, but rather, choosing 30 people or more, then those who are going to act as jurors are drawn from that list. Simultaneously, substitutes are appointed for those who could not perform their duties. These are the so-called Neighborhood Courts, which, moreover, exist in numerous capitalist countries, and in different forms, and, incidentally, in all socialist countries. They are the justices of the peace that exist in England and elsewhere. However, this initiative, which is precisely intended to create greater responsibility, to make communities understand that when a man leaves his home— which is a factor in family breakdown—when a man does not respect his partner, when a man makes a spectacle due to his laziness, due to his moral misery, that man can be punished by his own colleagues according to the offense. I am not talking about the crimes that our codes contemplate. Hence, when we create the Neighborhood Courts, we are confident that, having been drafted by judges, by ministers, and by officials of all political stances, it will necessarily become law of the Republic. I believe we will develop a superior sense of community that will know how to choose those who, in its name, will administer justice in the small events of daily existence. This is an initiative that shows the faith we have in people. Every worker must be a dynamic factor in production

We have to insist that we are not only fighting for greater participation, but to imbue this participation with creative and conscious meaning; because, we reiterate, we will never accept for workers to be considered a passive factor in the great process of the common task. On the contrary, a worker is the engine, he is the dynamo, he is the great strength that we count on to make possible the changes that our country requires. Hence, we have to understand that unemployment is a consubstantial feature of the capitalist regime and system. Today, we ourselves are faced with a tragically true fact: unemployment has increased in December in Santiago, compared to January of last year. And we do not deny it, because we take on the responsibility of applying a fast and drastic solution. But comrades, we must understand that, if on the one hand, we have been able to tackle the rise in the cost of living in the month of December, we have not been able to prevent unemployment from increasing in that same month. This is

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due to this anarchic process that we are still witnessing. Some employer sectors have hesitations, and doubts. Some employer sectors do not want to accept the reality they face, some employer sectors do not understand what—sometimes— some government officials have not been able to explain. For example, as I have already mentioned, we have to explain to landowners that in the case of the inventory expropriation, we will have to pay or bear their obligations and in no case will we exploit them, which would not be fair or humane. In the same way, we have stated that the Agrarian Reform Law faces a great void. What happens to a man whose land is expropriated, and it turns out that he is 50 or more years old, has no social security and no knowledge other than how to work the land? He will need to work and, therefore, we must also find a way to make use of him; obviously, with a different conscience; for him to possess land not only for his individual benefit, but also for the benefit of the community. And we can and should take advantage of his knowledge. In the same way, we can provide social security for that sector that has always been an employer sector, where tomorrow a man may find himself unable to earn a living or rest during his final years. Not because that man did not want to, but because of a social system that previously did not care about him because he was a boss, and that today, in the face of social advances, can become exploited, a being without destiny. All these are facts that people have to understand so that they can help in the process of change, based on reality and not based on utopias. Broadening people’s consciousness becomes more important when what we do in Chile is done through legal means, through the legality of a bourgeois democratic regime. It will be different when we enact new laws—the laws of the people—when we have the instruments to be able to do so, or when we get our ideas accepted in the National Congress. The awareness of a path taken

We have made a commitment to proceed in this way and we have to fulfill this commitment. This implies a double obligation and greater responsibility. This also implies that people learn and become aware that the path we have traced is different from the path that other nations have traced, that it is an authentically Chilean path, using Chilean methods, for the reality of Chile, for our Chile. Finally, I want to point out the need to mobilize popular efforts with a vigilant attitude. A vigilant attitude for the fulfillment of the program, a vigilant attitude against those who still dream of preventing us from carrying out our program, because their interests, which are those of a minority, are hurt. This afternoon I did not want to make a political intervention, but I want to point out that the usual anxieties of those who have believed themselves to be the owners of this country have not completely subsided; they are there and they will continue to exist. History teaches us that they can only be defeated by conscious, united, and vigilant people, who understand their historical task

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and who fulfill it, without going too far, but with great conviction. And this conviction of the people is transmitted to the government, which will have the necessary impact thanks to the great support of the revolutionary consciousness that arises from the mobilized and conscious Chilean masses. That is why I like to repeat that phrase of the French student who said that the revolution was carried out first in people and then in things. And this, brought to the conscience of each one of you, means we have an obligation to understand what we are, what it means to be a government, if there are still comrades who think that they are not part of the government and, therefore, act as if they were fighting it; when they are also the government, the pivot of the great column of the workers’ government. Hence, it is necessary, more than ever, to understand this, what we are, what we want, where we are going, and what paths we are taking to get there. Chilean road to socialism and current state apparatus (March 18, 1972). Salvador Allende. Extracts Our party has assumed the responsibility of government, which requires us to contemplate the problems in a new way, different from when we were opposition. We cannot be satisfied with generic statements and propositions, with broad outlines, but rather, we have the obligation to be much more precise and concrete in our approaches, in our positive propositions and in our criticisms. We cannot limit ourselves to showing the great goals to be achieved, but we must also clearly show the path to be followed, the successive stages that are presented, and the mechanisms used to approach the programmatic objectives. The party must clearly indicate to its militants and followers not only where it is headed, but also how it intends to do so, through what means it intends to act. This can be achieved if, as the Political Report rightly says, the party is capable of “discovering the concrete and specific forms that the general laws of the revolutionary transition from capitalism to socialism are adopting in this concrete process.” The state apparatus occupies a central place in revolutionary struggle, as an instrument used by the dominant social class to impose its interests on the whole of society. The Chilean workers have fought for its conquest, and are at this moment directing the center of gravity of our state, the Executive Power. Directing it with revolutionary inspiration and with the openly declared will to transform the capitalist structures to open the way to socialism. Hence, the Chilean state now finds itself in a particularly mixed situation, since it represents a political objective to be achieved and, at the same time, a means of action that workers use—through the government—to carry out the structural changes that allow them to control the rest of the state apparatus. The path that the Chilean Revolution has ahead is not one of destruction nor of violent obliteration of the state apparatus. The path that Chilean people have

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opened, themselves, through several generations of struggle, leads them now to take advantage of the conditions created by our history to replace the current institutional regime, based on capitalism, with a different one, adapted to the new social reality of Chile. Indeed, it is a matter of transforming the bureaucratic apparatus, the state apparatus as a whole, and the Constitution itself, in its conception of class and, also, in its individually considered institutional manifestations. We have said it for many years, it is written in the UP Government Program, and we are carrying it out. The theoretical issue that this raises rests on an assumption expressed in the Political Report: that of whether or not the current institutionality can deny itself, destroy itself, and open the way for a new institutional regime. To answer this question, we must take into account two factors. First, whether or not the institutional regime is open to change. Second, what social forces are behind the institutional regime, giving it its strength. Both factors are related, since only if popular forces can participate in the state apparatus can the institutional framework be flexible enough to tolerate structural transformations without automatically crumbling. It is conceivable that this theoretical matter, so fundamental, raised doubts as to its answer a year and a half ago. But we cannot accept that it still be the object of an inverted interpretation today. On September 4, 1970, the Chilean institutional regime was subjected to a decisive test: that of demonstrating to what extent it was open to the representatives of the social forces opposed to the capitalist system obtaining control of the government. The bourgeoisie did everything it could at that moment to destroy the continuity of an institutional regime that, by itself, was no longer an insurmountable barrier for revolutionary movements. . . . Institutions are not an abstract entity. Institutionality responds to the social force that gives it life. And what is happening before our eyes is that the power of the people, the proletariat, the rural workers, the middle classes, is displacing the monopolistic and landowning bourgeoisie from its hegemonic place. The conscience and unity of Chilean people is cornering the privileged minority allied with imperialist capital. The current institutional framework responds to the social force that gives it life, not to metaphysical abstractions. Now that organized workers are in La Moneda,6 the government responds to their interests and not to those of the monopolists and imperialists. Tomorrow, if the workers’ representatives deserve the support of the people and the latter entrusts them with the majority in Congress, Congress will legislate for the benefit of the great majorities of Chile, and not for the interests of the minority, to transform the institutional regime and adapt it to the needs of a society that is moving towards socialism. The denial of the current Chilean institutional regime cannot be conceived as the product of the voluntarist action of a daring minority, but rather as the result

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of the conscious and organized action of the great masses who perceive the need for transformations and create the mechanisms that make them possible. This necessarily requires sustained and constant action throughout years of creative and innovative effort. No one can hope to change a social and economic regime overnight, from one month to the next. The institutional form of a state can be changed in a few days, yes. But the economic structure cannot. A structure is something extremely complex, whose internal network is not altered by the substitution of some symbols for others, of some supra-structural formal elements for others. It is the development of the entire process of change that leads to a new socioeconomic regime. The UP Program and, consequently, the government, is in full accordance with the report when it states that the total transformation of the current system requires a qualitative leap. Indeed, and precisely this dimension is what will provide our politics with revolutionary significance. But it is not legitimate to confuse the result of the process with the means and mechanisms by which the changes in the current regime are applied in order to overcome the capitalist social regime. In other words, there are no leaps into the void. The leap into the void comes at a cost. Yes, it means bankruptcy, collapse, and destruction of the current constitutionality. But also subjecting the country—and, mainly, people—to the loss of lives and means of production. It means destroying sources of life, work, and well-being that our people need to build a better future. It represents introducing an additional factor of uncertainty regarding the fate of the revolutionary struggle in the short and medium term. The proletariat knows the correlation of forces inside and outside of Chile. No one can rule out that the bourgeoisie, in its increasing antagonism against the institutional regime, will try to stoke the conditions of a violent rupture. Organized workers must be aware of this, willing to assume the role that corresponds to them. But this does not mean we can deny the evidence showing that the current institutional regime is undergoing strategic transformations in the system of production that vulnerate imperialist and monopoly capital, while strengthening the power of workers. Neither the UP Program nor the government seek the risks of leaping into the void. But this does not mean that the qualitative changes that the development and consolidation of the revolutionary process require should not be carried out as quickly as possible. The militants of the Socialist Party must be aware that, contrary to what the Political Report states, the shortest path towards the qualitative transformations of the current political system does not necessarily entail the bankruptcy and destruction of the current constitutionality. This is a profound mistake. The institutional regime rests on the freely expressed political will of Chilean citizens. Sixteen months ago, the demonstration of the will of Chilean people allowed organized workers to conquer the government. It is an imperative task for the popular forces to convince, through revolutionary action,

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example, and efficiency, the vast majority of the people, of the meaning and raison d’être of the revolution. Speech on the occasion of the nationalization of the Gran Minería del Cobre (Great Copper Mining Industry), Rancagua (July 11, 1971). Salvador Allende. Extracts Chilean people. People of Rancagua: Today is the day of national dignity, and it is also the day of solidarity. It is the day of dignity because Chile breaks with the past. It stands with faith in the future and begins the definitive path of its economic independence, which means its full political independence. For this reason, there is nothing more significant than having chosen Rancagua, the Plaza de los Héroes, as the site to address the country as president. Here, yesterday and the past are felt, the heroism of those who fought and sacrificed their lives to provide us with meaning and content as a nation. Here is the image of O’Higgins and here we can tell the father of the country that we are his legitimate heirs, and that it was the people who won this battle for independence and national dignity. It is the day of solidarity, because Chile has been punished by the forces of nature. Recently, storms, relentless rains, the cold, and the weight of the snow hit houses and industries; part of the facilities and the agricultural works have been destroyed. And now a few hours ago, minutes, so to speak, three provinces, Valparaíso, Aconcagua, in the department of Petorca and Coquimbo, in Illapel, have been violently shaken by an earthquake that has meant pain, misery, and suffering for hundreds and thousands of our compatriots. On this day, which should have been full of joy, thousands and thousands of Chileans are living through long hours of sorrow and anguish, with 82 dead, 182 seriously injured, 80 less seriously injured, and 185 slightly injured, which is the trail of sorrow left by the earthquake. However, there is something else that cannot be compared with the lives of people and the men and women who might end up disabled, and the many who, although not very seriously injured, will not be able to return to their homes and to the production forces for many days; these provinces have been hit in the countryside, in the industry, in fundamental public services. For example, in the case of Valparaíso, the fundamental textile industries, and a growing number of small and medium-sized industries, will not be able to continue working immediately. This means the threat of unemployment and concern for many households. That is why this day, which is the day of dignity, has to be the day of solidarity, and those provinces and those men and women of Chile who were hit by wind, rain, and snow must be brave like the rest of our comrades, like the rest of the citizens, and get up and help the provinces hit by the earthquake. Thus, Chile will demonstrate its integrity and the will of the people. I highlight how extraordinary this act is. How the people of Rancagua have come together, how

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rural workers, employees, professionals, technicians, women, and young people are here. How I can see from this platform the helmets of the miners who, in the words of their leaders, bring with them a commitment to history and their awareness of being exemplary workers who produce and deliver more copper for the benefit of the country. (. . .) Comrades from the homeland: I want to make a report more than a speech as such. It is essential for everyone to gauge, remember, learn, so that they can fulfill the commitment and the challenge to which we are committed. This historic moment could not have happened if people had not achieved victory on September 4. Today culminates a long struggle of the popular forces to recover copper for Chile as its essential resource, but at the same time, and it bears repeating, we want to put an end to large estates, and make mining resources—not only copper—ours. To nationalize the banks and nationalize the strategic industrial companies that are monopolistic or essential for Chile. That is why each man and each woman must understand that we want to place the economy at the service of Chileans, and that the essential goods of production must be in the socially owned area of the economy, in order to take advantage of their surpluses and improve the material conditions, people’s existence, and open new spiritual horizons. That is why today, when we say that Chile will own the copper, we must add that, unfortunately, we will not be able to take advantage of the copper surplus and we will have to invest a large part of the profits, if not all of them, in defending copper and making it reach the production rates that are essential for Chile. And that will be due to the conditions in which we received the mines, as I will point out in due course. I want to insist that, because the people are the government, we can say today that copper will belong to Chileans. Because the minority groups that governed the country, the old and stale oligarchies were always committed to foreign capital and many of their members defended foreign interests, postponing the sacred national interests. We want it to be understood, then, that there have been two different mindsets in recent decades. The first, typically capitalist, is to hand over the management of copper, with no restrictions, to private companies. For this reason, unfortunately, we must also remember that, when these riches were handed over, Chileans were denied the ability to manage them. Our man was disparaged, and we were handed over to foreign tutelage. This not only allowed incredible amounts of money to leave the country, immense wealth to strengthen foreign economies, but this same dependency imposed upon us not only, I repeat, the outflow of economic resources, but, at the same time, limited our possibilities for technical preparation. We live with technical management of our most fundamental resource being imposed on us from the outside, limiting the chances our professionals have to access the high command of science and technology, a situation that, by the way, placed Chileans in an inferior position when compared to foreigners. Suffice it to recall the responsibility of those who have managed the country, pointing out, for example, that this country—rich in mining deposits and lacking a complete cadastre of our resources—does not

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have a centralized and national organization that concentrates geologists, nor was the Copper Research Institute created. In other words, we remained submissive, without understanding and looking to the future and without envisioning how important it is to prepare Chileans to assume the responsibility of making their mines productive, especially now, when the mines belong to Chileans and Chile. And long years went by without the slightest control, only the rulers satisfied with receiving a percentage of the profits. Long years went by, slowly; due to the action of people and their vanguard parties, conscience was forged and forced the public powers to understand that the irresponsible way in which the most important exploitation for the country—copper—had been carried out could not continue. And I must remind you that as a result of the popular sectors having presented a project, a project that carried my signature to create the Copper Corporation first and the Basic Mineral Corporation later, at a difficult time for Chile when we had accumulated a great stock, Codelco7 was born, that is the Copper Corporation, which became an organization that did not even allow Chileans to look at its broad lines, without being able to intervene in the management of the companies, which was the case of copper. However, in the consciousness of the popular masses, in the conception of the vanguard parties and in the struggle of the workers, the incorruptible will to continue advancing was imprinted. The electoral battle of 1964 took place with two main ideas being put forward: there were those who supported the so-called Chileanization of copper and those who supported the nationalization of copper. The public documents raised the difference between the two ideas, and it was up to me in 1964 to go all over Chile to tell the common man why we were fighting for nationalization, as it is now up to me as president of the people to make it come true. We have always said that Chileanization, which could be considered by some as a step forward, was incomplete, that the so-called agreements were detrimental to the interest of the country and benefitted the companies. I want to share some figures: Anaconda was given promissory notes for 175 million dollars in exchange for 51% of the shares. At that time, the book value of that company was 181 million dollars. In other words, acquiring 51% of the shares meant we practically paid for the entire company. In the case of El Teniente, as comrade Moraga said, 80 million dollars were paid to Braden even though the book value was less than that figure. In addition, our government endorsed a loan for 125 million dollars, including interest. There is no commitment in relation to 49% of the shares of Braden, which, after the plans for expansion, could have allowed for the value of those shares to reach a high price if Chile had wanted to buy them. It should also be noted that the administration ended up in the hands of Americans, despite the fact they only owned 49%. An agreement was reached with Anaconda that gave Chile the option to acquire 49% of the outstanding shares. But the price would depend on the profits obtained in the two years prior to this purchase, which presumably, according to calculations, would also mean that a very large sum would be paid for this 49%.

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As a consequence of what I am proposing, in order to increase production and profitability in the coming years, companies have carried out a piece-rate exploitation of minerals, utterly inconvenient for national interests and at the expense of future exploitation. Before I begin to explain the policy of the People’s Government, I would like to briefly touch on what has happened until now, what has happened in the exploitation of copper by private companies in foreign hands. I just want to remind you that the initial investments were between 50 and 80 million dollars. I want to inform you that from 1930 to 1970 the profits of the companies reached 1,576 million dollars and that the unreturned values, that is those that remained outside of Chile, reached 2,673 million dollars in this period. Meanwhile, between 1930 and 1970, net investments were made for a value of 647 million dollars. But this net investment was made on credit and today the companies owe 700 million dollars to the government itself; close to 100 million in dividends, 71 million to CODELCO, and 31 million dollars to national and international commerce. Contrast these figures with the profits obtained, which I am also going to make known. But I want you to understand that the so-called investment plans have meant debts, and by that I mean copper commitments with international institutions for the so-called investment plan. For example, the El Teniente Mining Company has debts of 239 million dollars, which including credits amounts to 321 million dollars. The Andean Mining Company has debts of 132 million dollars, which including credits amounts to 159 million dollars. That is, 132 million were invested and 159 million are owed. Chuquicamata’s investment plan represents 147 million, and 132 million are owed. In total, I repeat, the investment plan has meant 622 million dollars, and the debts amount to 704 million. However, faced with this, which will weigh on the commitments we have to fulfill, because the government of the people will know how to respect Chile’s international commitments—and we do not want in any way to stop fulfilling them, although, unfortunately, we have to point out that these are large figures that weigh on the present and the future of our country—the People’s Government will comply with Chile’s credits to demonstrate that the government assumes full responsibility for these arrangements. However, why should this debt be considered when companies saw profits like the ones I am going to point out. La Braden, between 1960 and 1964, obtained 62 million dollars in profit and, between 1965 and 1970, 156 million. El Salvador, from 1960 to 1964, 9.9 million dollars and, from 1965 to 1970, 71 million dollars; Chuquicamata, from 1960 to 1964, 141 million dollars and, from 1965 to 1970, 325 million dollars. Total figure: from 1960 to 1964, adding El Teniente, El Salvador, and Chuquicamata, 213 million dollars; from 1965 to 1970, adding the profits of the 3 companies that I have named, 552 million dollars. But let’s look at the annual averages: in the case of El Teniente, from 1960 to 1964, when the companies were total owners of the shares, they obtained profits of 12 million, and, from 1965 to 1970, owning only 49% of the shares, they obtained profits of 26 million. In other words, the company’s profits have

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doubled now they own only 49% of the shares. In the case of El Salvador, from 1960 to 1968, owning 100% of the shares, they obtained an annual average profit of 5.1 million dollars, and, from 1969 to 1970, owning just 49% of the shares, profits of 12 million. And in the case of Chuquicamata, from 1960 to 1968, owning 100% of the shares, their average profits were 45.5 million dollars, and, from 1969 to 1970, having only 49% of the shares, the profits were 82.5 million dollars. That is why we criticize the copper agreements, we criticize Chileanization, and we criticize the nationalization that was agreed upon, and that is why we always said, and we confirm it now, that we were in favor of comprehensive nationalization, so that huge sums do not leave the country, so that Chile does not continue to be a begging country that asks with its outstretched hand for a few million dollars while sky-high figures that are going to strengthen the great international copper empires leave our borders. We do not want to be a developing country that exports capital; we do not want to continue selling cheap and buying expensive. This is why there is a UP Program, which is an essentially patriotic program, placed at the service of Chile and Chileans. And that is why I am here, as president of the people, to relentlessly carry out that program. I want to repeat that companies took out, between 1965 and 1970, 552 million dollars. Of this amount, not a penny remained in the expansion programs, which are owed in full. For this reason, having made this superficial balance of yesterday and today, one can think that the position of the People’s Government is clear, that your position is clear, comrades, who constitute the government. Logically, we differ from those with unbelievable criteria who tolerated and accepted the unrestricted management of private companies for years and years. And we also differ from Christian Democracy in its criteria regarding the agreements, the agreed nationalization, and Chileanization. Chile is going to nationalize copper by virtue of a sovereign act, a sovereign act that is even enshrined in the United Nations Declaration, which establishes that countries have the right to nationalize their essential resources. That is why I want to point out once again this very long and permanently waged initial battle of the popular parties. The first two copper nationalization projects bear the signature of Salvador Ocampo, previously a communist senator, currently living in Mexico, and of that admirable old man who was President of the Communist Party and my personal friend, Elías Lafertte. And the other project for the nationalization of copper bears my signature and was presented on behalf of the socialist parliamentarians. In other words, this battle has been long, but it should be noted that the conscience of the people has allowed the vast majority of Chileans today to be one with Chile and its future, and that they feel this day is theirs. The National Congress, by approving the idea of modifying the Constitution so that we can nationalize copper, has heard the clamor, the power, and the force people have fought and will fight with in order to recover the resources of Chile that are currently in the hands of foreign capital. News has now arrived from the workers of El Salvador and people must be informed. Yesterday, Saturday,

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the workers of El Salvador broke all production records in the history of the mine. They produced 52,000 tons, which is double the normal production, 15,000 tons more than the highest figure in 1966. I salute from here with patriotic pride the copper workers of El Salvador who on this day deliver this figure that reflects their revolutionary consciousness and their will as Chileans. I said that the first measure was constitutional reform. The second is to establish in what state we would receive the mines, to assess them. Before going into details, I want to recall the following background information so that you can see the magnitude of what copper means for Chile. We have the largest reserves in the world. A little more than a quarter of the planet’s reserves. However, our production has been declining internationally. Today it constitutes only 13% of the world production. Twenty years ago, it was 20%. When detailing the conditions in which we received the mines, I am going to refer only to those two great giants that are Chuquicamata and El Teniente. Chuquicamata, the world’s largest open-pit mine, which is a prematurely aged giant, and El Teniente, the world’s largest underground copper mine and which is a deformed giant, comrades. We have inherited the irrational form of exploitation of foreign private companies, which were fundamentally interested in obtaining the maximum profits in the short term without considering the national interest and the future of the mines. That is why the representative of the supervisors, comrade Rodríguez, has done well here in pointing out that technicians, although they did not reach a high level of knowledge regarding mine management—the geological plans and the details of the development plans being imposed from outside— often criticized how this exploitation was carried out. That is why, taking into account the transcendental importance of what Chile and the world know about the condition of the mines and in what state we are going to receive them, we have requested a report from such an important organization as the French Mining Society, which has more than 2,000 technicians and indisputable national and international prestige. In addition to hiring these French technicians, who are service advisors in their own country and others, Chile also has a study carried out by colleagues from the socialist countries and primarily a delegation of technicians sent by the Soviet Union at my request. Therefore, Chile should be aware that the reality and the assessment of the state of the mines we receive is based on the essential report of an internationally prestigious organization as well as the opinion of socialist technicians who are just as reliable and that have spoken the same language as the French. The French report that I summarize for you says: in Chuquicamata the deposit was exploited considering only immediate profits. For example, in recent years the company has been intensively extracting copper ore without removing the rubble, which makes it very difficult to continue working. And removing the rubble, according to calculations, would cost more than 20 million dollars. There are only enough reserves of material prepared for extraction to last a few months. Quickly removing the ballast has increased our production cost. The French report also states: the current

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maintenance facilities for the mining equipment do not correspond to the size of the company and are in poor condition. To leave the mine in conditions of rational exploitation it is necessary to invest more than 30 million dollars. Listen well, we who are accused of having thrown out the foreign technicians when we repeatedly told those who we considered had technical ability to stay; we told them that we would never deny the knowledge of any man, whatever country he was born in, or whatever his ideas were, as long as he agreed to be a technician and respected the orientation that Chile wanted to give to the exploitation of the mines. Think about it: in 15 years in Chuquicamata, we have had 13 general superintendents; for the Chuquicamata concentrate, in the last three years, six superintendents; that is to say that the exodus, the departure of technicians, has been taking place for many years, because the technicians who work the mines in Chile are part of a large international consortium and for them there were economic prospects with other countries. That is why we have had to denounce this situation, and let it be known that our attitude has not been and will never be to stop taking advantage of a man’s technical capacity, whatever his political position and whatever the country he was born in. The French report says: all the plants are in an alarming state, because the appropriate measures were not taken in time; listen up young comrades. For example, the molybdenum plant is in ruins, and the production cells of the main plant are no better. The French say it, the Soviets confirm it. The report continues verbatim on page 5, referring to our compatriots: “The current leaders are at a point where they are facing all these problems at the same time; a situation they inherited.” That is to say, our technicians, without vast experience, have had to make an effort and have been able to maintain production levels and this effort and dedication of Chileans is recognized in the French and Soviet reports themselves. That is why we point this out to those who have no faith in our people and in the skills of our men. We know that this is a difficult situation, and so far, as we have indicated, the technicians, the employees, the supervisors, the copper laborers have been able to rise to the challenge, and the best example is here, in the production of El Salvador that I have just shared with you. The French report says: the oxide treatment installation, which dates from the beginning of the century—look, that plant is older than me—is now completely obsolete, that is it is no longer technically useful. The French add: in such conditions, having to continuously combat difficulties of all kinds, both due to the work equipment being obsolete and to the refractory nature of the minerals from La Exótica, one must congratulate the current managers, who have managed, in spite of everything, to ensure a certain level of production. Regarding the foundries, the French report says: the reverberatory furnaces are poorly implemented in relation to the converters. There is no physical-chemical control system that allows rational management of the melting units. They add: the hygiene and safety problems of workers are poorly addressed. There is no preventative maintenance. It warns, points out, and condemns: the gases from the converters are not being used, losing more

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than 1,000 tons of sulfuric acid per day. Recovering the acid would not only be economically profitable, but would also improve the sanitation of the tasks. That is to say, 1,000 tons of sulfuric acid are lost daily, much like the gold, silver, tungsten, and rhenium that were carried in the bars have not been extracted. Unfortunately, according to expectations, there will be no sharp rises in the price of copper. We must consider that, due to North American mines being on strike, copper has now risen to 52 cents. I want to point out that without a doubt the price of copper has also remained high due to the conflict in Vietnam, but Chileans, in our conscience, prefer for copper prices to fall, but also that they stop attacking a small and dignified nation that is fighting for its independence. We are revolutionary enough to understand that you can lower the price of copper, and we can tolerate it, as long as Vietnam achieves peace and the people of Vietnam have the right to live their own lives. Comrades, I now wish to outline the tasks for the future. Finally, and for the first time in our history, Chile is going to have a national mining policy. There will no longer be foreign companies, outsiders, owners of the great copper mines. From the artisan miners to the state-owned large-scale mining companies, everyone will have to advance together towards a national policy, a plan that would make the most of these resources with a deep Chilean, national and patriotic sense, until the great industrial mining complex of copper is created. We have to increase refining, we have to take advantage of the byproducts that are or were being left behind in bars of copper: gold, silver, rhenium, tungsten, and sulfuric acid. We must create this great modern industry, produce manufactured products for domestic consumption and export. I want to give you just one example: right now, in the department of Chañaral there is a river called the Salado River. The tailings from Potrerillos are dumped there. For years, private individuals have extracted copper from those tailings, and, according to figures we have, two firms removed close to 8 million dollars a year as a result of the copper left in the tailings of the Salado River, which also harmed the agriculture of the region. Now there is a true California of copper, and some unemployed comrades, but also public employees, professionals, employees, and employed laborers, are panning the river in the most primitive way to obtain the copper. How many years, how much wealth has been given to individuals and how the mirage of a private mentality leads some Chileans to try to obtain for themselves that wealth that does not belong to them. And this government will give work to the unemployed, but this government is not going to accept this, and the two concessions that turned two firms into multi-millionaires have already expired, and this government will tell the people who are still there to go back to their jobs because that copper must be for the whole of Chile and above all used to improve the conditions of the workers of Chañaral. Other than the economic importance that I have pointed out, we must also meditate on our political importance. With the step that we are going to take, we end dependency, economic dependency. That means political independence.

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We will be the owners of our own future, truly sovereign of our destiny. What will be done regarding copper depends on us, on our capacity, on our effort, on our sacrificial dedication to ensure that copper is sown in Chile for the progress of the country. It will be the people who will have to understand, and they do understand, that this is a great national challenge, that not only the mine workers but also the entire country has to respond to it. So we have to respond understanding that this, I repeat, is something that we must face and it is also a technical challenge. We have to create our own technology, suited to our reality, taking advantage of the experience of other people, whatever their latitude in the world. We have to create a mining-metallurgical research center. We have to create a national geology service. We have to take advantage of the capacity of technicians and engineers that exist in ENDESA, in the CAP, in ENAMI and in CORFO,8 in the university or universities, and make them a better team so that they can share their knowledge for this essential task of ours. We have not been able to develop the skills of our people, limited under foreign tutelage imposed on us by development and exploitation plans from outside. We must also understand that this is a challenge to our capacity, not only concerning the production of the red metal, but also its commercialization. We have to break dependency in this sense and create our own marketing, but consider that copper sales mean an annual volume of more than 1,100 million dollars. Chileans will take care of that together with our compatriots in the world market, and luckily we have reached an understanding with Zambia, with the Congo, and with Peru: CIPEC9 has been formed on an international scale and is destined to defend the interests of small producing countries such as ours. It is therefore a challenge to the whole organizational capacity of Chile and Chileans, fundamentally copper workers, that is laborers, employees, and technicians. We have to overcome the huge problems we have inherited, the irrational work practices that are just as harmful as technical deficiencies. The labor relations in the workplaces themselves must be resolved with revolutionary changes that only a workers’ government can put in place. The division between company management and workers must be broken. The presence of the workers in their own management will demonstrate how we trust in their capacity and how we hand over this responsibility to them. We want the Production Committees to multiply, so that the drive and effort of workers can be seen, and at the same time their problem-solving skills. Comrades, this is walking in the direction of state enterprises, making the common effort the essential effort that allows us to overcome deficiencies and difficulties; this means starting to manage the large companies that Chile now has in order to put them not at the service of the copper man, but at the service of all Chileans. We have said it, and we know that we have made ourselves clear: the copper workers will not be owners of the mines for their exclusive benefit, they are owners of the mines insofar as the mines belong to the people, and copper workers are part of the people, and copper workers have to understand, they know it and they are going to experience it, that their effort will make it possible

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for the lives of Chilean children and women to change, that their effort and the copper will further the progress of the country, and by sweating at the bottom of the mine they are doing it for a different Chile, for a new society, for the path that we open towards socialism. Fellow miners, hard workers of the red metal: once again I must remind you that copper is Chile’s salary, just as the earth is its bread. Chile’s bread will be guaranteed by rural workers with their revolutionary awareness. The future of the country, the salary of Chile, is in your hands. To work more; to produce more; to defend the revolution from the political point of view with the UP and defend the revolution with the production that will strengthen the People’s Government. America’s dialogue: Salvador Allende-Fidel Castro (December 1971) Augusto Olivares: For a long time, the men of the world have longed for the opportunity to see the Prime Minister of Cuba, Comandante Fidel Castro, and the President of Chile, Dr. Salvador Allende, face to face. It is interesting that Latin America has produced this phenomenon that is currently drawing the attention of the entire world. Since Commander Fidel Castro arrived in Chile, many journalists have been thinking about how to witness a conversation between these two world political figures and this is the moment and this is the opportunity to have them close and face to face in an open dialogue on issues that concern the whole of humanity. President Allende, the expression “the Chilean way” is referred to not only in Chile but throughout the world. How could you define this political concept that has been called “the Chilean way”? Salvador Allende: People who fight for their emancipation logically have to adapt the tactics and strategy that allow them to transform their own reality. Chile, due to its characteristics, due to its history, is a country where bourgeois institutionality has fully functioned and where, within this bourgeois legality and with sacrifice, people have made progress and achieved success, have become aware, have understood that it is not within the capitalist regime and reformism where Chile will be able to achieve the dimension of an economically independent country, capable of reaching higher levels of life and existence. Augusto Olivares: Commander Castro, regarding what President Allende is proposing, there is ongoing interest in a deeper understanding of how the working class is incorporated and

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how the working class becomes a protagonist in the Cuban Revolution. Fidel Castro: We have dealt with this problem, this issue. The guerrilla armed struggle that a small group of men started is akin to a small engine that allowed the great engine of history to start, which is the masses. The labor movement in Cuba, during the last governments, both the corrupt government of Fría and the tyrannical government of Batista, was controlled by official leaders, eventually they had taken the unions by storm, assassinating communist leaders and honest labor leaders. That situation, when the revolution triumphed, was very special, there was no official workers’ leadership but there was total support from the working class for the revolutionary movement, which is a movement that was created with laborers, militants. Our guerrilla soldiers were men from the rural area, workers and laborers and some intellectuals, or people that could be called intellectuals because of their origin or because they studied at the university, it was us. Some of us, not all. Augusto Olivares: President, the working class, according to your answers, becomes the leading element in this process. Could you tell us a little about the Chilean tradition, the tradition of social struggle and the style of the country? Salvador Allende: Well, to answer Augusto Olivares’s question, I want to tell you, Fidel, that logically, due to the very characteristics of the regime in Chile, the Chilean working class had the possibility to organize itself. The Chilean labor movement was born in areas controlled by imperialism. Hence, it always had an anti-imperialist conscience, in the saltpeter mines, Luis Recabarren was the organizer, the counselor, the leader of the working class and the struggles of the Chilean proletariat in the unions that led many times, as in most countries, to violent repression. However, this was overcome and, in 1939, the labor movement was unified in the CUT; but before, the rural workers and the laborers had formed their class parties. Thus, the Communist Party is the oldest in Latin America, one of the oldest in the world and, by the way, relative to the population, one of the most powerful. In the same way, the Socialist Party, a class party, a mass party which, sometimes having differing views on international matters, has maintained with the Communist Party not only a dialogue

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but an understanding, facing together the essential problems of Chile. Hence, since 1951, the Communist Party and the Socialist Party had begun to walk the path of a class project, determined to make possible a vast and broad movement that would allow structural changes in Chilean life. And that is why today we can say that by and large, given working class unity in the unions and the support of the Socialist and Communist parties, it is sectors of the small and medium bourgeoisie, such as the Radical Party, the Popular Unitary Action Movement, and the Christian Left, that have shaped this process, which is a determining factor in the process of change within Chile. This, Fidel, is a rough outline of what has happened in Chile: the fighting, organized presence of workers in the political field and in the union field. Augusto Olivares: Throughout history, the causes that motivate the struggle of nations have been varied. How could you define, Commander, what motivates the struggle of Cuban people? Fidel Castro: Let’s say at least, according to our understanding, that the great engine of history has been the struggles of the oppressed masses against the oppressors. And that has been perfectly studied and has been known since classes existed in human society. In our country there was a double motivation: it was a country subjected to and humiliated by imperialism and, furthermore, there was a great mass of rural workers without land, a great mass of exploited workers, in conditions of appalling misery, a total lack of medical assistance for the poor sectors of the population, a deficient educational system and a very high percentage of illiterates, a lack of perspectives for the youth, hundreds of thousands of unemployed. In other words, it was a desperate social situation, we could say our nation’s greatest motivation was to fight for their lives. Augusto Olivares: President Allende, the Chilean political experience is closely followed throughout the world. It is an experience that faces obstacles. How could you define those obstacles? Salvador Allende: Do you realize, Fidel? Three minutes to define the obstacles of a revolution that has to be carried out within bourgeois democracy and the legal channels of that democracy! However, you know perfectly well that we have made progress. Obstacles . . . that stem from what? In the first place, from an oligarchy with a lot of experience, intelligent, that defends its interests very well and that is backed up by

Participatory democracy and sovereignty on the road to socialism

Fidel Castro: Salvador Allende: Augusto Olivares: Salvador Allende: Fidel Castro:

Salvador Allende:

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imperialism, within an institutional framework where Congress has weight and powers, and where the government does not have a majority. That is why the difficulties we face are quite serious and mean that the Chilean revolutionary process, within the framework of this legality, encounters obstacles that hinder the fulfillment of the UP Program at every moment of every day. You understand, Augusto Olivares, that the difficulties in our case are also related to . . . what? Freedom of the press that is much more than mere freedom of the press. It is licentiousness of the press. It deforms, lies, slanders, misrepresents. Their media outlets are powerful, journalists linked to foreign interests and great national interests. No. Not only do they not recognize but they distort, I repeat, our initiatives. All this, while we respect the conquests that people have achieved and which the opposition to the People’s Government logically uses and misuses. For this reason, and you have also said it and recognized it, we face many difficulties. The difficulties they face are admirable! Yes, you see. President, can the process continue despite the obstacles? And progress is being made. I have already said it: copper is ours, iron is ours, saltpeter is ours, steel is ours; that is, we have conquered basic resources for the people. Well, I have the impression that this resistance resorts to the classic methods, although more developed. Methods that we describe as fascist and that therefore try to expand, with demagogy, if possible, towards the most backward sectors of the humble classes, and to grow in the middle classes. And then we will have to see whether those interests passively resign themselves to the structural changes that the UP and Chilean people want to carry out. And it is to be expected, if we are going to theoretically analyze this issue, that they resist, strongly resist and even put up violent resistance, so this is a factor that cannot be written off at all in the current Chilean situation, in my opinion, which is the opinion of a visitor, who comes from a country under different conditions. It is like a journey from one world to another. You have said it and I think it is very fair; revolutionaries have never generated violence. The sectors hit by the revolution have been the ones that generate the violence in the counterrevolution.

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Fidel Castro: Salvador Allende: Augusto Olivares:

Fidel Castro:

Salvador Allende: Fidel Castro:

Augusto Olivares: Fidel Castro:

Augusto Olivares: Fidel Castro:

Augusto Olivares: Fidel Castro: Salvador Allende: Augusto Olivares: Fidel Castro:

They maintained the systems by violence, that is how they defend them, by means of violence. That’s right. Commander, both you and President Allende have referred to the obstacles encountered by the Chilean revolutionary process. Could you talk about the obstacles that the Cuban revolutionary process has encountered? Look, our struggle began in the midst of a tyrannical and bloody regime, which maintained power through brutal repression, without any of the political circumstances being similar to the situation in Chile. Totally different. Then a revolutionary war develops, the government is obtained through a victorious war by the people. There were fights, of course, there was resistance, but our obstacle was of an external order, because logically, we immediately confronted imperialist interests. So, imperialism was the fundamental opposition, a formidable opposition to our country, which also used internal factors: the classes, the landowners, the most reactionary elements; it immediately began to organize them and structure them for a struggle that at one point was ideological but that for many years was violent. Comrade Fidel, did imperialism control the land there too? Imperialism controlled the land. Our copper is sugarcane. And sugarcane was grown on the best land, and the best sugarcane land belonged to the United Fruit Company and numerous other US companies, so our Agrarian Reform Act immediately made us run up against imperialist interests. I asked you that question because it is different: here they controlled the mines, there they controlled the land. Exactly. The difference was that we did not face those obstacles that the president spoke of. What we faced was a very frontal struggle by imperialism that has lasted these 13 years. Coinciding, President, with the visit of the Prime Minister, Fidel Castro, there has been a rise in sectors that are averse to his government. What a fine way of calling it! Averse sectors. Do you realize Fidel? I think it is objective, Commander, so I have to ask a question. And do you think it is objective to call the antithesis of this process with such finesse?

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Augusto Olivares: For this reason, that is precisely what I wanted to ask. President, what would happen in Chile if the counterrevolution arose? Salvador Allende: First of all, I think it is fair to point out, Augusto Olivares, that the process has intensified with the presence of Fidel. It is logical. Fidel Castro: So I’m to blame. Salvador Allende: No, but they know what the presence of Cuba and the presence of Fidel Castro in Chile mean. They are aware that it is vitalizing the Latin American revolutionary process. They have evidence that the unity of our nations is an indisputable factor that strengthens the will and the decision of people to break dependency. Furthermore, it is indisputably contributing to ending the intentional isolation of Cuba. That is why it has escalated. Furthermore, because they are also deeply hurt, Fidel, by the success you have had, the fact that miners, rural workers, soldiers, laborers, priests, have dialogued with you, the great mass demonstrations. Of course, logically, those demonstrations have shown warmth and affection towards you and the Cuban Revolution, but also, deep down, they have been of support for the government, because it is the People’s Government that has made your presence here possible, right? Fidel Castro: It is true. But I’ll tell you one thing: the hand of imperialism is behind all of this, without a doubt. I tell you that we have enough experience to know how it acts. And there has been an increase in these attitudes, certain tactics, and the way in which they have been carried out precisely during this visit, when a large part of the world has its eyes fixed on the result of our dialogue, the meeting between our nations and our processes. So, they have tried to divert attention towards certain types of problems. I have no doubt whatsoever, not the slightest doubt, that the hand of imperialism is behind all this. Salvador Allende: The people are in the government, if they were to achieve what they are not going to achieve, to overthrow this government, it would fall into chaos, violence, fratricidal struggle. Fidel Castro: And into fascism. Salvador Allende: Imperialism, which has been and is behind all processes that try to stop revolution, modifying or defeating it, will not be able to land in Chile. It will not intervene materially in Chile. But it looks for other paths, encouraging reactionary

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groups, incubating fascist groups, using demagogy and mobilizing groups with less social awareness. But I am sure and absolutely certain of the relentless and strong response of the people, and personally: I am fulfilling a task. I am not here to satisfy a personal vanity. I have been a fighter all my life. I have dedicated my effort and my skills to make the road to socialism possible. And to fulfill the mandate that the people have appointed me with. I will comply relentlessly. I will fulfill the program that we have promised to the political conscience of Chile. And those who have always unleashed social violence, if they unleash political violence, if fascism tries to use the means it has always employed to destroy those who tried to make the revolution, they will meet our response and my relentless decision. I will be President of the Republic until I finish my term. They will have to shoot me, like I said yesterday, to stop me from acting. I do not defend something personal. I defend the people of Chile in their just desire to make the transformations that will allow them to live in dignity, with a newly-defined national path, and make Chile an independent country, master of its own destiny. I think it is a clear position. Fidel Castro: I really admire that declaration of yours very much. And that will be a banner for people. Because when leaders are willing to die, people are willing to die and to do whatever is necessary. And that has been a very essential factor in every revolutionary political process. Augusto Olivares: Commander, both President Allende and you have constantly spoken about imperialism as the main enemy of the revolutionary processes in both countries. The survival of the Cuban process 90 miles from the United States is almost inexplicable. How can you define the characteristics of that process? Fidel Castro: They have used political weapons, military weapons, economic weapons, but we have managed to develop a very united nation, in which there is no divisive factor, there are no elements of division, we have created great equality, great unity. In our town, men and women are willing to fight; in our country, men and women are ready to fight to death. And imperialism knows that and that is why it respects us. And I don’t think that it now has the slightest possibility of crushing the revolution. And in any case, it would have to crush the country. And regarding that possibility, we have a phrase

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from Antonio Maceo, who was one of our most courageous fighters for independence: “Whoever tries to seize Cuba will collect the dust from its blood-drenched soil, if they do not perish in the fight.” Augusto Olivares: President Allende and Commander Castro: you have met on many occasions in Cuba, but this is the first time—and Chile is the stage of your meeting—as rulers. The attention of the whole world has focused on these conversations that you have had, on the visit of Comandante Castro. Latin America, in particular, has been paying attention. What do you think, President, of this meeting of yours as rulers of two nations that are in a revolutionary process in the face of an exploited Latin America? Salvador Allende: The truth is that we have to consider that Cuba and Chile constitute the forefront of a process that has to reach the rest of the Latin American nations and, I would add, the rest of the exploited nations. But Latin America cannot continue to be just the continent of hope. You have to imagine what the gap means, the distance that separates our countries, economically dependent and politically subjugated, from the countries of industrial capitalism and the socialist countries. Latin America cannot continue to represent the brutal difference between a minority that owns power and wealth and the great masses at the margin of culture, health, housing, food, leisure, rest. We have said it many times and it would be enough to cite just one figure: in Latin America there are more than 20 million human beings who live outside the knowledge of currency as a means of exchange, in Latin America there are 140 million semi-literate and illiterate people, in Latin America 19 million homes are needed, 53% of Latin Americans eat poorly, in Latin America there are 17 million unemployed and there are also more than 60 million people who have only occasional jobs. Therefore, the capitalist regime has demonstrated its inefficiency, the exploitation of man by man as a characteristic of this has caused a crisis. Latin America has the opportunity to be present at the moment when the world creaks; it creaks economically, it creaks morally, it creaks politically. Thus, the reserves of this continent will have to express themselves when people can intervene, when people reach government, when they have destroyed the old oligarchies complicit with imperialism and when there is indisputably a Latin American voice, the voice of a continental nation, just as the heroes

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Fidel Castro:

of our independence dreamed of. Out on the streets, in line with the characteristics of each country, this will is already emerging, it is already indisputably present, not only on this continent but on other continents. We have said it many times: those who have fallen and are still falling in Vietnam are not only doing it for their homeland, they are also doing it for the insurgents and the exploited people of the world. Those who fell in Cuba marked a path of effort and sacrifice to make current-day Cuba a possibility, the first free territory in Latin America. Those who fell years ago in Chile today constitute the seeds of this revolutionary process. The exploited nations of the world are aware of their right to life and that is why the confrontation goes beyond our borders and will take place in a universal sense. But someday, Latin America’s voice will be that of a nation that until now has been subjected, so that tomorrow it will be the voice of a free continent. We believe that this continent has in its womb a creature called Revolution, which is on its way and which inexorably, by biological law, by social law, by the law of history, must be born. And it will be born one way or another. The delivery will be institutional, in a hospital or at home. It will be distinguished doctors or the midwife who picks up the child. But somehow, it will be born.

Notes 1. Toquis (Mapuche militant leaders) who played a prominent role in the Mapuche resistance against Spanish expansion in Chile. 2. Bernardo O’Higgins (1778–1842). Chilean military and politician who played an important role in the Chilean independence process. Between 1817 and 1823, he served as Supreme Director, the first and most important republican position after independence. 3. Manuel Javier Rodríguez y Erdoíza (1785–1818). Soldier and lawyer who played an important role during the Chilean independence process. 4. Luis Emilio Recabarren Serrano (1876–1924). Typographer, politician, and Marxist intellectual. He was one of the main leaders of Chilean socialism and, later, communism. He founded the Workers’ Socialist Party in 1912 and the Chilean Communist Party in 1922. He was a deputy in Congress for two periods, in 1906–1909 and 1921–1924. 5. It refers to three massacres committed by the repressive forces of the Chilean State against worker and popular forces, both of which took place during the 1960s. 6. Seat of the President of Chile. 7. Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (National Copper Corporation of Chile), a company created in 1971 by Allende’s government to complete the process of nationalization of the copper industry.

Participatory democracy and sovereignty on the road to socialism

45

8. CORFO (Corporation for the Promotion of Production) was founded in 1939, initially to create industries and subsequently to promote the industrialization of the country. ENDESA (National Electricity Company S.A.) State company was created in 1943 in order to implement an electrification plan in Chile, which included the generation, transportation, and distribution of electrical energy. CAP (Pacific Steel Company) was founded in 1946 to promote and develop Chilean industry by means of the production and processing of steel. ENAMI (National Mining Company) was created in 1960 to support the promotion and development of small and medium-scale mining producers in Chile. 9. Intergovernmental Council of Copper Exporting Countries, founded in 1967 to coordinate the policies of member countries (Chile, Zaire, Zambia, and Peru) to optimize income from copper exploitation.

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Four documents by different authors have been selected, each of which provides an account of the agenda and challenges in economic and social matters that the UP government faced. The first document is the UP Program (1969), which was prepared by the coalition of constituent parties and presented their diagnosis of Chile and the tasks to be implemented, particularly in order to improve the social conditions of the population. The second document was written prior to the triumph of the UP government by economist Pedro Vuskovic (1970), who was Minister of Economy during the first years of the government, providing an analysis of the problems of the Chilean economy and some guidelines for its development and for meeting the needs of the country. The third document by Jacques Chonchol (1971), Minister of Agriculture during the government, shows the government’s measures and difficulties in moving from a peripheral country towards socialism, assuming the need to increase production and industrialization, to deepen rural worker participation, and for restitution of lands to the Mapuche people. This chapter closes with Salvador Allende’s speech, made at the University of Guadalajara at the end of 1972, which provides a general characterization of Latin American countries, the injustices suffered by nations, the challenges that lie ahead for governments that focus on emancipation, and the role that young people have in these revolutionary processes. Popular Unity Government Basic Program (December 17, 1969), Popular Unity. Extracts The parties and movements that make up the UP Committee, without prejudice to each maintaining their own philosophy and political profiles, fully agree on their characterization of the national reality laid out hereinbelow and on the programmatic proposals that will be the basis of our common action and that we hand to our nation for its consideration. 1. Chile is undergoing a deep crisis that has manifested in economic and social stagnation, generalized poverty, and postponements of all kinds suffered by DOI: 10.4324/9781003487708-3

Economy and social rights 47 laborers, rural workers, and other exploited sectors, in the increasing difficulties faced by employees, professionals, and small and medium-sized businessmen, and in the minimal opportunities available to women and youth. The problems in Chile can be solved. Our country boasts great wealth in copper and other minerals, great hydroelectric potential, vast expanses of forests, a long coastline rich in marine species, more than enough agricultural land, etc. Furthermore, it also enjoys the willingness of Chileans to work and advance along with their technical and professional skills. What is it, then, that has failed? What has failed in Chile is a system that does not correspond to the needs of our time. Chile is a capitalist country, dependent on imperialism and dominated by sectors of the bourgeoisie that are structurally linked to foreign capital; they cannot solve the fundamental problems of the country which derive precisely from their class privileges, which they will never voluntarily renounce. Furthermore, as a consequence of the development of global capitalism itself, the surrender of the national monopolist bourgeoisie to imperialism is increasing progressively, and their dependence, on their roles as junior partners of foreign capital, is increasingly marked. For a few, selling a piece of Chile every day is a great business. Deciding for others is what they do every day. On the other hand, for the vast majority, selling their effort, their intelligence, and their work on a daily basis is a terrible business, and deciding on their own destiny is a right which, to a large extent, they are still deprived of. 2. In Chile, the “reformist” and “developmentalist” recipes promoted by the Alliance for Progress and endorsed by the Frei1 government have not managed to make any significant changes. Fundamentally, it has been a new government of the bourgeoisie at the service of national and foreign capitalism, whose feeble attempts at social change floundered underwhelmingly amid economic stagnation, shortages, and violent repression of the people. It has thus been proven once again that reformism is incapable of solving the problems of the people. 3. The development of monopolistic capitalism denies the expansion of democracy and exacerbates anti-popular violence. The increase in people’s struggles, as reformism fails, hardens the position of the most reactionary sectors of the ruling classes who, ultimately, have no other means than force. The brutal forms of violence of the current state—such as the actions of the Grupo Móvil,2 the beating of rural workers and students, and the killings of poorer Chileans and miners—are inseparable from other no less brutal forms of violence that affect all Chileans. This is because violence is for some to own luxury homes while a significant part of the population lives in unhealthy homes and others do not even

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have a place to live in; violence is for some to throw away food while others have nothing to eat. 4. The imperialist exploitation of backward economies is carried out in many ways: through investments in mining (copper, iron, etc.), and in the industrial, banking, and commercial sectors; through technological control that forces us to pay huge sums for equipment, licenses, and patents; through the US loans under extortionate conditions that force us to spend in the United States and with the additional obligation of transporting the purchased products in the US ships, etc. For example, from 1952 to the present, North Americans have invested 7.473 billion dollars in Latin America and extracted 16 billion dollars. Imperialism has wrested from Chile its large resources accumulated throughout its history and equivalent to twice the capital present in our country. The North American monopolies, with the complicity of the bourgeois governments, have managed to seize almost all of our copper, iron, and saltpeter. They control foreign trade and dictate economic policies through the International Monetary Fund and other organizations. They dominate important industrial and service branches; they enjoy statutes of privilege, while they impose monetary devaluation, reduce wages and salaries, and distort agricultural activity through agricultural surpluses. They also intervene in education, culture, and the media. Using military and political agreements, they seek to penetrate the armed forces. The ruling classes, complicit in this situation and incapable of fending for themselves, have intensified Chile’s agreements with foreigners in the last 10 years. They said that loans and commitments to international bankers could produce further economic development; however, all they have achieved is that Chile today holds the record of being one of the most indebted countries on Earth in proportion to its population. 5. Chile governs and legislates in favor of a few, namely the big capitalists and their henchmen, the companies that dominate our economy, and the landowners whose power remains largely intact. The owners of capital are interested in constantly making more money and not in satisfying the needs of the Chilean people. If producing and importing expensive cars, for example, is good business, valuable resources from our economy are diverted to that item, without taking into account that only a tiny percentage of Chileans are in a position to acquire them and that there are, of course, much more urgent needs to be addressed in this same area such as improving public transportation, providing machinery for agriculture, etc. The group of businessmen that controls the economy, the press and other means of communication, and the political system which threatens the state to favor them costs all Chileans dearly.

Economy and social rights 49 For them to feign to continue “working,” since only they can choose whether to work or not, it would be necessary to: • Assist them in a myriad of ways. Big businessmen squeeze the state under the threat that there will be no private investment if the aid and guarantees they ask for are not granted. • Allow them to produce what they want with the money of all Chileans, instead of producing what the vast majority of the country needs. • Allow them to take the profits they make to their bank accounts abroad. • Allow them to dismiss laborers if they ask for better wages. • Allow them to manipulate the distribution of food, i.e., to hoard it to cause scarcity and thus raise prices in order to continue enriching themselves at the expense of people. Meanwhile, a significant part of those who actually produce is experiencing a difficult situation: • Half a million families lack homes and as many, or more, live in appalling conditions in terms of sewerage, drinking water, electricity, and sanitation. • The needs of the population in terms of education and health are insufficiently addressed. • More than half of the inhabitants of Chile receive insufficient remuneration to cover their minimum living needs. Every family experiences unemployment and unstable work in some capacity. For innumerable young people, the possibility of employment is very difficult and uncertain. Imperialist capital and a privileged group that does not exceed 10% of the population monopolize half of the national income. This means that, of every 100 escudos that Chileans produce, 50 end up in the pockets of 10 oligarchs and the other 50 must be distributed among 90 Chileans from the lower and middle classes. 6. The rise in the cost of living wreaks havoc in the homes of Chileans and especially for the housewives. In the last 10 years, according to official data, the cost of living has risen by almost a thousand percent. This means that, every day, a part of their wage or salary is stolen from Chileans who live from their work. The same is true of retirees and pensioners, independent workers, craftsmen, and small producers, whose meager income is cut daily by inflation. The results are clear for all to see. The facts show that inflation in Chile is due to root causes related to the capitalist structure of our society and not to wage increases as successive governments have tried to make people believe in order to justify maintaining the system and cutting workers’ income. The big capitalist, on the other hand, is defined by inflation and—more importantly—benefits from it. His properties and capital increase in value, his construction contracts with the Treasury

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are readjusted, and the prices of his products rise, always ahead of the rise in wages. 7. A significant number of Chileans are poorly fed. According to official statistics, half of the children under fifteen years of age are malnourished. Malnutrition affects their growth and limits their ability to learn or educate themselves. This shows that the economy, in general, and the agricultural system, in particular, are incapable of feeding Chileans, despite the fact that Chile could currently support a population of thirty million people, which is triple the current population. On the contrary, we must import hundreds of thousands of dollars in food of agricultural origin every year. Large estates are the main culprits of the food problems of all Chileans and are responsible for the situation of backwardness and misery that characterizes the Chilean countryside. The rates of infant and adult mortality, illiteracy, homelessness, and unsanitary conditions are markedly higher in rural areas than in cities. These problems have not been resolved by the insufficient Agrarian Reform of the Christian Democratic government. Only the social struggle of rural workers, supported by all people, can solve them. The current development of their struggles for land and the elimination of the large estates open new perspectives for Chile’s popular movement. 8. The growth of our economy is minimal. On average, in the last decades, we have barely grown 2% per year per person; and since 1967 we have not grown. Rather, we have regressed according to the figures of the government itself (ODEPLAN). This means that, in 1966, each Chilean had a greater amount of goods than they have today. This explains why the majority is dissatisfied and seeks an alternative for our country. 9. The only truly popular alternative, and thus the fundamental task, that the People’s Government has before it is to put an end to imperialist domination, monopolies, and the landowning oligarchy, and to begin the construction of socialism in Chile. The program

The revolutionary transformations that the country needs can only be carried out if the Chilean people take power into their hands and actually exercise it in an effective manner. The people of Chile have won, through a long process of social struggle, certain freedoms and democratic guarantees, and, for these to be maintained, people must remain vigilant and fight relentlessly. However, power itself is alien to them. The popular and revolutionary forces have not come together to fight for the mere replacement of one President of the Republic with another, nor to

Economy and social rights 51 replace one party with others in the government, but to carry out the fundamental changes that the national situation demands on the basis of the transfer of power from the previously dominant groups to rural workers, to workers in general, and to the progressive sectors of the middle classes of the city and the countryside. The popular triumph will thus open the way to the most democratic political regime in the history of the country. In terms of political structure, the People’s Government has the double task of not only preserving, improving, and deepening the democratic rights and achievements of workers but also transforming the current institutions to establish a new state where workers and people hold power. The People’s Government will guarantee the exercise of democratic rights and will respect the individual and social rights of all people. Freedom of conscience, of speech, of the press, and of assembly, the inviolability of the home, and the rights of unionization and organization will be effectively administered without the restrictions that the dominant classes currently use to limit them. For this to be effective, the unions and social organizations of laborers, employees, rural workers, residents, housewives, students, professionals, intellectuals, artisans, small and medium businessmen, and other sectors of workers will be called upon to intervene in their respective areas regarding the decisions of the branches of power. For example, the administration of pension and social security institutions will be carried out by their contributors, and their Boards of Directors will be elected democratically by secret ballot. Regarding public sector companies, their Boards of Directors and their production committees must be directly represented by their laborers and employees. Neighborhood Councils and other residents’ organizations will have mechanisms that allow them to oversee and intervene in multiple aspects of the operation of the housing agencies corresponding to their jurisdiction and level. However, what we are talking about goes beyond these examples; a new mentality is required for people to actually and effectively intervene in state organisms. Likewise, the People’s Government will guarantee workers’ right to employment and to strike, as well as the universal right to education and culture, fully respecting all ideas and religious beliefs and ensuring their freedom of worship. All democratic rights and guarantees will be extended, giving social organizations the real means to exercise them and creating the mechanisms that allow them to act at the different levels of the state apparatus. The People’s Government will essentially base its strength and authority on the support provided by organized people. This is our concept of a strong government, completely different to that of oligarchy and imperialism, which identify authority with coercion exercised against people. The People’s Government will be a multiparty one. It will be made up of all parties, movements, and revolutionary currents; it will thus be a truly democratic, representative, and cohesive executive power.

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The People’s Government will respect the rights of the opposition that are exercised within the legal framework. The People’s Government will immediately initiate a real administrative decentralization, combined with democratic and efficient planning that eliminates bureaucratic centralism and replaces it with the coordination of all state agencies. The structure of the municipalities will be modernized, recognizing the authority that corresponds to them according to the coordination plans of the entire state. They will mostly be transformed into the local bodies of the new political organization, endowing them with financing and adequate attributions, so that they can take care of the problems of local interest for their communes and their inhabitants in coordination with the Neighborhood Councils. The Provincial Assemblies should enter office for this same purpose. The police must be reorganized so that they can no longer be used as an institution of repression against people but instead fulfill the objective of defending the population from anti-social actions. Police procedures will be humanized in order to effectively guarantee full respect for the dignity and physical integrity of human beings. The prison regime, which constitutes one of the worst scourges of the current system, must be completely transformed, allowing those who have committed crimes to reform and recover. A new institutional order: the people’s state

Through a process of democratization at all levels and an organized mobilization of the masses, the new structure of power will be built from the bottom up. A new political constitution will institutionalize the massive incorporation of people into state power. A single state organization will be created, structured at the national, regional, and local levels, with the People’s Assembly as the highest body of power. The People’s Assembly will be the single chamber that will express popular sovereignty on a national scale. In it, the different currents of opinion will come together and manifest themselves. This system will make it possible to root out the vices from which Chile has suffered, both dictatorial presidentialism and corrupt parliamentarianism. Specific norms will determine and coordinate the powers and responsibilities of the President of the Republic, ministers, the People’s Assembly, regional and local bodies, and political parties to ensure legislative operation, government efficiency, and, above all, respect for the will of the majority. In order to establish proper harmony between the powers that emanate from the popular will and for this to be expressed in a coherent way, all elections will be carried out in a joint process within the same period of time.

Economy and social rights 53 The generation of any body of popular representation must be carried out by universal, secret, and direct suffrage, by men and women over 18 years of age, civil and military, and literate and illiterate. The members of the People’s Assembly and all bodies of popular representation will be subject to the control of the voters, through consultation mechanisms that may revoke their mandates. A rigorous system of incompatibilities will be established that leads to the termination of the mandate or loss of office when a deputy or an official with high responsibilities works as an administrator of private interests. The instruments of the economic and social policy of the state will constitute a national planning system, will be executive in nature, and its mission will be to direct, coordinate, and rationalize the action of the state. The plans with which it operates must be approved by the People’s Assembly. The worker organizations will intervene in the planning system in a fundamental manner. The regional and local bodies of power of the People’s State will exercise authority in their corresponding geographical radius and will have economic, political, and social faculties. They may also submit initiatives and criticize higher bodies. However, the exercise of the powers of regional and local bodies must be adjusted to the frameworks established by national laws and by general economic and social development plans. At each of the levels of the People’s State, social organizations with specific attributions will be integrated. They will share responsibilities and develop initiatives in their respective radius of action, and examine and solve problems in their area of responsibility. These attributions will not entail any limitation to the full independence and autonomy of the organizations. From the very day on which it assumes command, the People’s Government will open channels so that the influence of workers and people can be expressed, through social organizations, in decision-making and in overseeing the operation of the state administration. These will be decisive steps to put an end to the bureaucratic centralism that characterizes the current administration system. The organization and administration of justice must be based on the principle of autonomy, enshrined in the Constitution, and on real economic independence. We envision the existence of a Supreme Court, whose components are appointed by the People’s Assembly with no other limitation than that arising from the natural suitability of its members. This court will freely generate the internal, unipersonal, or collegiate powers of the judicial system. We understand that the new organization and administration of justice will come to the aid of the whole population. It will also be expeditious and less burdensome.

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For the People’s Government, a new understanding of the magistracy will replace the current, individualistic, and bourgeois one. The People’s State will pay preferential attention to the preservation of national sovereignty, which it conceives as a duty of all people. The People’s State will remain vigilant in the face of threats to the territorial integrity and independence of the country encouraged by imperialism and by oligarchic sectors that are enthroned in neighboring countries and that, together with repressing their nations, encourage expansionists and vendettas. It will define a modern, patriotic, and popular conception of the country’s sovereignty based on the following criteria: a) Reinforcement of the national character of all branches of the Armed Forces. In this sense, I reject any use of them to force people into participating in actions that interest foreign powers. b) Technical training, open to all modern military science, is a positive contribution to Chile, national independence, and peace and friendship between nations. c) Integration and contribution of the Armed Forces in various aspects of social life. The People’s State will be concerned with enabling the contribution of the Armed Forces to the economic development of the country, notwithstanding their main task in the defense of sovereignty. On these bases, it is necessary to ensure that the Armed Forces receive the necessary material and technical means and a fair and democratic system of remuneration, promotions, and retirement pensions that ensure economic stability for commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, and troops during their stay in the ranks and once they retire, and the effective possibility of everyone being promoted based solely on their personal conditions. Building a new economy

The united popular forces seek, as the central objective of their policy, to replace the current economic structure, ending the power of monopolistic national and foreign capital and the large estates in order to begin the construction of socialism. In the new economy, planning will play a very important role. Its central bodies will be at the highest administrative level, and its decisions, made democratically, will be of an executive nature. The transformation of our economy begins with a policy aimed at establishing a dominant state area, made up of the companies currently owned by the state plus the companies that are to be expropriated. As an initial measure, basic resources and industries such as large-scale copper mining, iron, saltpeter, and

Economy and social rights 55 others that are in the hands of foreign capital and internal monopolies will be nationalized. Thus, the following will be integrated into the sector of nationalized activities: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

The large-scale copper mining industry, saltpeter, iodine, iron, and coal The country’s financial system, especially private banking and insurance Foreign trade Large companies and distribution monopolies Strategic industrial monopolies In general, activities that condition the economic and social development of the country, such as the production and distribution of electrical energy; rail, air, and sea transport; communications; the production, refining, and distribution of petroleum and its derivatives, including liquefied gas; steel; cement; petrochemicals and heavy chemicals; cellulose; and paper

All these expropriations will always be carried out whilst fully protecting the interests of the small shareholders. This area includes those sectors of industry, mining, agriculture, and services in which ownership of the means of production remains in effect. These companies will be the majority in number. Thus, for example, in 1967, of the 30,500 industries (including the craft industry), only about 150 monopolistically controlled all the markets, concentrating state aid and bank credit and exploiting the rest of the country’s industrial entrepreneurs, selling raw materials at high prices and buying their products at cheap ones. The companies that make up this sector will benefit from the general planning of the national economy. The state will ensure the necessary financial and technical assistance for companies in this area, so that they can fulfill the important role that they play in the national economy, taking into account the number of people who work in them, as well as the volume of production that they generate. In addition, the systems of patents, customs duties, contributions, and taxes for these companies will be simplified and an adequate and fair commercialization of their products will be ensured. These companies must guarantee the rights of laborers and employees to fair wages and working conditions. Respect for these rights will be safeguarded by the state and the workers of the respective company. This sector will be of mixed ownership because it will be made up of companies that combine state and individual capital. Loans or credits granted by development agencies to companies in this area may be as contributions in order for the state to be a partner and not a creditor. The same will be true of cases in which said companies obtain credits with the endorsement or warrant of the state or its institutions. The Agrarian Reform is conceived as a simultaneous and complementary process to the general transformations to be promoted in the social, political,

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and economic structure of the country; its implementation is thus inseparable from the rest of the general policy. Existing experience in this matter and the gaps or inconsistencies that arise from it lead to reformulating the policy of distribution and organization of land ownership based on the following guidelines: 1. Acceleration of the Agrarian Reform process, expropriating properties that exceed the maximum capacity established according to the conditions of the different areas such as fruit, wine, and forestry, without the owner having a preferential right to choose the particular area. The expropriation may include all or part of the assets of expropriated properties (machinery, tools, animals, etc.). 2. The immediate incorporation into agricultural cultivation of state-owned land that is abandoned and poorly exploited. 3. The expropriated lands will preferably be organized into cooperative forms of ownership. The rural workers will avail of title deeds that prove their ownership of the house and the land assigned to them and the corresponding rights in the indivisible property of the cooperative. When advisable, individual lands will be assigned to rural workers, promoting the organization of work and marketing on the basis of mutual cooperation. Lands will also be set aside to create state agricultural enterprises with modern technology. 4. If suitable, lands will be assigned to small rural workers, tenants, sharecroppers, and agricultural employees trained for agricultural work. 5. Reorganization of small farmstead property through progressively cooperative forms of agricultural work. 6. Make the advantages and services of the cooperatives operating in the geographical area available to small and medium-scale rural workers. 7. Defense of the integrity and expansion of the Mapuches and other indigenous peoples, securing the democratic leadership of indigenous communities, which are threatened by usurpation, and ensuring that they have sufficient lands and appropriate technical assistance and access to credit. The economic policy of the state will be carried out through the national system of economic planning and the mechanisms of control, guidance, production credit, technical assistance, tax policy, and foreign trade, as well as through the management of the sector of the economy controlled by the state. Its objectives shall be: 1. To solve the immediate problems of the vast majority. For this, the country’s productive capacity will be switched from superfluous and expensive items intended to satisfy high-income sectors to the production of cheap, quality items for popular consumption.

Economy and social rights 57 2. To guarantee employment to all Chileans of working age with an adequate level of remuneration. This will mean designing a policy that generates high employment by adequately using the country’s resources and adapting technology to the demands of national development. 3. To free Chile from subordination to foreign capital. This entails the expropriation of imperialist capital, carrying out a policy of increasing self-financing of our activities, establishing the conditions in which foreign capital that is not expropriated operates, and achieving greater independence in technology, external transportation, etc. 4. To ensure rapid and decentralized economic growth that develops productive forces to the maximum, seeking optimal use of available human, natural, financial, and technical resources in order to increase work productivity and satisfy both the demands of the independent development of the economy and the needs and aspirations of the working population compatible with a dignified and humane life. 5. To execute a foreign trade policy made to develop and diversify, to achieve increasing technological and financial independence, and to avoid scandalous devaluations of our currency. 6. To take all measures conducive to monetary stability. The fight against inflation will basically be determined by the structural changes already stated. Measures must also be taken to adjust the flow of currency to the real needs of the market, to control and redistribute credit, and to prevent usury in money trading, as well as to streamline distribution and trade, to stabilize prices, and to prevent the structure of demand coming from high incomes from encouraging a rise in prices. Ensuring the fulfillment of these objectives lies in organized people controlling political and economic power expressed in the state area of the economy and in its general planning. It is this popular power that will ensure the fulfillment of the aforementioned tasks. Social tasks

The social aspirations of Chileans are legitimate and can be satisfied. They want, for example: decent housing without readjustments that exhaust their income; schools and universities for their children; sufficient wages; for the rises in price to end once and for all; stable work; timely medical attention; public lighting, sewerage, drinking water, paved streets, and sidewalks; fair and operative social security without privileges nor the need for special food allowances; telephones, police, kindergartens, and sports courts; and tourism and popular resorts. The satisfaction of these collective desires of the people—which truly constitute rights that society must recognize—will be a main concern of the People’s Government.

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Economy and social rights The basic points of this government action will be:

a) Definition of a remuneration policy, undertaking the immediate creation of the organizations that, with the participation of workers, will determine figures that effectively constitute living wages and minimum wages in various areas of the country. As long as inflation persists, automatic readjustments will be established by law, in accordance with the rise in the cost of living. These will operate every six months or every time the cost of living exceeds a level of 5%. In all state agencies, and above all in positions of trust in the Executive, high salaries will be limited to a figure compatible with the situation of our country. Within a term that will be technically defined, a system of salaries and minimum wages of equal levels for equal jobs will be established, regardless of the company where these jobs are carried out. This policy will begin in the state area and gradually extend to the entire economy, irrespective of the differences in productivity levels of the companies involved. In the same way, all discrimination between men and women or by age in terms of wages and salaries will be eliminated. b) To unify, improve, and extend the social security system, maintaining all legitimate advances, eliminating abusive privileges as well as inefficiency and bureaucracy, improving and expediting the service provided to interested parties, extending the pension system to sectors that still do not benefit from it, and handing over to contributors the administration of the Pension Funds, which will work within the planning rules. c) To ensure preventive and curative medical and dental care for all Chileans, financed by the state, employers, and welfare institutions. The population will be incorporated into the task of protecting public health. Medicine, on the basis of strict cost control in laboratories and rationalization of production, will be supplied in sufficient quantity and at a low price. d) Sufficient funds will be allocated in order to carry out a comprehensive housing construction plan. The industrialization of construction will be developed, controlling prices and limiting the profits of private or mixedownership companies that operate in this area. In an emergency, lands will be assigned to families who need it, providing them with technical and material aid to build their homes. One of the housing policy objectives of the People’s Government will be for each family to become the owner-occupiers. The system of adjustable dividends will be eliminated. The monthly installments and rents that must be paid by the purchasers of homes and tenants respectively will not exceed, as a general rule, 10% of the family income. The remodeling of cities and neighborhoods will be carried out, making sure not to send low-income groups to the outskirts, ensuring the interests

Economy and social rights 59 of the inhabitants of the remodeled sector as well as small businessmen who work there, and ensuring occupants their future location. e) The full civil capacity of married women and the equal legal status of all children born within wedlock or outside will be established, as well as adequate divorce legislation with dissolution of the ties and full protection of the rights of women and children. f ) The legal division between laborers and employees will be abolished, establishing for both the common quality of workers and extending the right to unionize to all those who currently do not enjoy it. Culture and education

The social process that starts with the triumph of the people will gradually shape a new culture, which considers humans to be of the upmost value, expresses the desire for national affirmation and independence, and shapes a critical vision of reality. The profound transformations that will be undertaken require socially conscientious and supportive people, educated in the exercise and defense of their political power, scientifically and technically apt to develop the economy of transition to socialism, and open to the creation and enjoyment of the most varied manifestations of art and intellect. If today most intellectuals and artists struggle against the cultural deformations that are distinctive of capitalist society and try to bring the fruit of their creation to the workers and link themselves to their historical destiny, in the new society they will be placed at the forefront to advance their actions. Because the new culture will not be created by decree, it will emerge from the fight for fraternity against individualism, for the valorization of human work against its contempt, for national values against cultural colonization, and for the access of the popular masses to art, literature, and the media as opposed to their commercialization. The new state will seek the incorporation of the masses into intellectual and artistic activities, both through a radically transformed educational system and through the establishment of a national system of popular culture. An extensive network of Local Popular Culture Centers will promote the organization of the masses to exercise their right to culture. The popular culture system will stimulate artistic and literary creation and will increase the means by which artists and writers can reach an audience infinitely wider than the current one. The action of the new government will be oriented towards the provision of the broadest and best educational opportunities. The fulfillment of these objectives will be influenced by the general improvement of workers’ living conditions and the proposals regarding educators’ responsibilities, according to their level. In addition, a National Scholarship Plan

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will be established that is extensive enough to ensure that all children in Chile, especially the children of the working class and rural workers, begin and continue their schooling. On the other hand, the new state will develop an extraordinary plan for the construction of schools, supported by national and local resources mobilized by the basic branches of power. The luxury buildings required to enable new schools and boarding schools will be expropriated. By these means, at least one unified school (elementary and secondary) will be created in every rural commune, in every neighborhood, and in every informal settlement of the cities in Chile. In order to meet the development needs of preschool age and to enable the incorporation of women into productive work, the system of nursery schools and kindergartens will be rapidly expanded, prioritizing the sectors of our society that are most in need. As a result of this same policy, working class and rural workers’ children will benefit from being more capable of entering and remaining in the formal education system. Building a new teaching model requires the application of methods that emphasize the active and critical participation of students in the teaching process, instead of the passive and receptive role that they currently assume. In order to rapidly put an end to the cultural and educational deficits inherited from the current system, a broad popular mobilization will be carried out aimed at eliminating illiteracy in the short term, and improving the educational levels of the adult population. Adult education will be organized mainly according to work centers, until general, technological, and social education for workers becomes permanently operational. The transformations of the educational system will not be the work of technologists alone, but a task studied, discussed, decided, and executed by organizations of teachers, workers, students, parents, and guardians, both within the general framework of national planning and within a school system of unity, continuity, correlation, and diversification of teaching. In the Executive Direction of the educational apparatus, there will be effective representation of the already mentioned social organizations, integrated into Local, Regional, and National Education Councils. In order to make educational planning and the single, national, and democratic school a reality, the new state will take responsibility for private establishments, starting with those schools that select their students on the basis of social class, national origin, or religious belief. This will be done by integrating the staff and other means of private education into the educational system. Physical education and the practice of all sports, from the basic levels of the educational system and in all social organizations for young people and adults, will be a constant and methodical concern of the People’s Government. The UP government will provide broad support to the university reform process and will resolutely promote its development. The democratic culmination

Economy and social rights 61 of this process will translate into important contributions from the universities to Chilean revolutionary development. Furthermore, the reorientation of the academic functions of teaching, research, and extension based on national problems will be encouraged by the actions of the People’s Government. The state will allocate enough resources to universities to ensure the fulfillment of their functions and their effective nationalization and democratization. Consequently, the university governance systems will be the responsibility of their respective communities. As class privileges are eliminated in the educational system as a whole, it will be possible for workers’ children to enter university and it will also allow adults, either through special scholarships or through simultaneous study and work systems, to enter higher level courses. These means of communication (radio, publishers, television, press, and cinema) are essential to aid the formation of a new culture and a new man. For this reason, they must be educational and freed from their commercial nature, adopting measures so that social organizations have access to these means and eliminating the harmful presence of monopolies. The national system of popular culture will be especially concerned with the development of the film industry and the preparation of special programs for mass media. Income distribution and development options (September 1970). Pedro Vuskovic. Extracts On the other hand, the comparisons between Latin American countries, as well as the analysis of the evolution within the country itself over a significant period, reveal the absence of defined relationships between the level of development or the rate of economic growth and the degree of concentration in the distribution of income. In other words, currently, Latin American economic systems do not allow for growth to lead more or less spontaneously to an improvement in the distribution of income. On the contrary, under conditions of spontaneous operation of the system, the “concentrating” forces seem to be more powerful than the positive effects of certain changes in the sectoral structure of the economy. Much of this can be explained by characteristics inherent to the “capitalist regime,” but the much higher degree of regressivity in comparison with the industrialized capitalist economies suggests that, in the case of Latin American economies, additional factors are at work, which tend to impede changes in the distribution of income at much higher levels of concentration, and even accentuate regressivity. An interpretative hypothesis will be outlined later. Another important manifestation of the phenomenon of simultaneous concentration and exclusion is found in the characteristics of the dissemination of technical progress. It is well known that the incorporation of technical progress in economies like ours has not had the characteristics of a generalized process, which could reach the

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different sectors and branches of economic activity with variable yet nonetheless significant intensity. Instead, technical assimilation has focused on certain activities, be it the production of goods, services, or even agriculture, while important segments of the economy have been left out of the process of modernization. Thus, a noticeable heterogeneity has been generated in the economic structures, with clearly differentiated strata, both quantitatively and qualitatively, from the point of view of their productivity. A group of these strata constitutes what could be described as a “modern” sector, which includes economic units that operate with relatively efficient forms of organization, increasing productivity, and relatively high levels of technology and capital endowment per person employed. At the other extreme, there remains a sector that could be described as “primitive,” made up of economic units that work at very low levels of productivity, almost without using any type of mechanization, with an insignificant capital density and in which the technology in use is extraordinarily outdated. Between both extremes is an “intermediate” stratum, distinguishable from the previous one by its levels of productivity and its degree of integration into the national market, and which tends to progressively distance itself from the patterns and characteristics of the modern sector. In the particular case of Chile, the relationships are not very different: around 18% of the labor force is employed in the modern sector, where 54% of the total product is generated, while almost a quarter of the labor force is used in “primitive” activities which generate less than 4% of the product. Of course, the two aspects that have been indicated—income concentration and the incorporation of technical progress—are not independent of each other. They influence one another and are, at the same time, cause and effect in a set of relationships that characterize the current pattern of development, which includes other central problems such as the slow growth rate, the low savings rates and capital formation, the insufficiency of the economy to ensure productive employment opportunities due to the increase in the working-age population, the pronounced differences in internal regional development, the trend towards external imbalance, and the factors that push towards a growing foreignization of the national economy. The roots of the phenomenon

The two aspects that have been highlighted have deep roots, which are situated in the peculiarities of the historical formation of Latin American economies. a) In the first place, it is well known that the land tenure regime contributed to a strong concentration of agricultural income very early on. The legacy of colonialism, the subsequent dispossession of rural workers of their land, and the push towards the formation of large estates due to the period of strong growth of agricultural exports, among other factors, determined a strong

Economy and social rights 63 concentration of agricultural property. The large estate as the dominant characteristic of the land tenure regime led to the appropriation of a high share of agricultural income by a relatively small number of owners, and at the same time contributed to maintaining productivity in the agricultural sector low. Subsequent industrialization had little influence, at least in its early stages, on changing these basic features, especially when combined with the effects of the crisis of the early 1930s on the agricultural sector. The latter meant for the agricultural sector a sharp fall in its internal and external markets, and a prolonged pause of its relative prices. The large landowners were able to compensate for its consequences through the deterioration of the real income of agricultural workers, be it wages or the decrease in the various forms of non-monetary compensation, as well as their influence over general economic policy to obtain various means of compensation (credits, tax preferences, and public financing of infrastructure works), accentuating the regressivity of income distribution generated in this sector. The efforts to increase industrialization that were undertaken after the crisis tended to consolidate an unfavorable situation for relative agricultural prices and involved a transfer of surpluses from agriculture to new manufacturing activities, weakening the possibilities of capitalization and modernization of the agricultural sector. Thus, the difference in productivity between agricultural and non-agricultural activities widened rapidly, creating characteristics of the sectoral distribution of income that cannot but be reflected in the general distribution: in Chile, product per person employed in agriculture is equivalent to less than a fifth of product generated per person employed at the production level of the manufacturing industry. This general outlook does not exclude the development of segments with high technology and relatively high productivity, which are supported mainly by public investment in irrigation works, communication routes, credits, and technical assistance and also extending towards the agricultural sector the phenomenon of “structural heterogeneity” which is observed in the economy at large. However, the process is far from characterizing the sector as a whole and, of course, it reaches a very low proportion of the rural population. b) Primary production of an extractive nature, which also developed during export growth, had totally different characteristics, which, from the point of view that interests us here, resulted in similar effects. The essential fact is that it was fostered or rapidly absorbed by foreign companies, a determining factor both in the destination of the income it generated, in its technical characteristics, and its relationships in the national economy as a whole. c) The concentrating forces that are manifest in the expansion of the primary sectors could not be offset by the type of industrial development that began to intensify later. On the contrary, the manner in which this process took place resulted in new factors of concentration, showing substantial differences compared to the development of the advanced, capitalist countries.

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In industrialized countries, the characteristics of the creation and incorporation of technical advancements met the immediate demands of the system of their time and were introduced fairly simultaneously into the entire productive apparatus, despite temporary delays or explainable differences in capital density and productivity. . . . Our case is different. The types of foreign relations and the character of external dependency under which our development takes place assume the automatic transfer of those technologies to new industrial initiatives, with the twofold consequence being that they do not always adapt to our own conditions, especially considering the relative availability of labor and capital resources, and the fact that they can only be absorbed in certain segments of the productive apparatus. Hence, technical assimilation in countries like ours has never been a generalized process that is projected to some extent on all sectors of activity and in which all strata of the labor force participate. From the traditional export “enclave” to the addition of new industrial production units, the incorporation of technical progress has, in general, represented a kind of circumscribed and limited modernization, which gradually shapes that “modern” sector was initially alluded to, increasingly distancing itself from the rest of the economy in terms of the productivity it achieves and the income it is capable of generating. This process, occurring at the level of technology, finds a parallel expression at the institutional level and in the concentration of capital. The industrialized countries experienced a stage of active competition between a myriad of production units, which was progressively replaced by monopolistic and oligopolistic forms that emerged as a consequence of the development of the productive forces, and from productivity levels that were already relatively high and widespread in the whole system. Amongst us, the process is different. Monopolies or oligopolies are present from the first steps of industrialization, superimposed on very backward productive conditions. As Alberto Martínez notes in his analysis of Chilean industrial development, these forms of competition came to dominate the process very early on, and not so much because of a disproportion between the size of the market and the “efficient” scale of the plants. The latter, as well as other mechanisms for the elimination of competitors, turns out to be conditions that facilitate the permanence of concentrated structures but are not decisive regarding the concentration of capital; on the contrary, the concentration of capital turns out to be a prerequisite for the incorporation of modern productive techniques. This explains why industrialization, despite its effects on the structure of employment, rural-urban migration, etc., has not always turned out to be a positive factor from the point of view of income distribution, and, in some cases, has even worsened income distribution. A new development strategy

The alternative is therefore limited to a substantial change in the growth scheme, or the definition of a new development strategy, with all that this entails in

Economy and social rights 65 terms of favorable factors and obstacles, as well as political requirements and consequences. In essence, this strategy could be characterized as an effort to bring about drastic changes in the concentration of property and the distribution of income; to reorient the productive effort towards the basic needs of the population, not allocating new resources to the production of luxury goods and even reconverting, where possible, existing productive capacity towards other purposes; to raise the productivity of the most backward sectors of the system, through an allocation of resources that tends to attenuate the sectoral and regional disparities of modernization and efficiency; and to adjust to a very selective policy of new developments, mainly oriented towards the production of capital goods, raw materials, or certain export products. In a scheme of this nature, it is envisioned that the circular relationships described in previous pages would help to reinforce positive effects. The structure of productive capacity would gradually have to adapt its sectoral composition and type of activity to a composition based on demand—reflecting a more equitable distribution of income—in which the sectors that until today have been described as “vegetative” become more dynamic. The latter are generally characterized by lower capital requirements and greater labor absorption capacity; consequently, the rapid rise in the rate of savings and capital formation ceases to be an essential requirement to accelerate the global rate of growth, which is also strengthened by the fact that, in these branches of production, the Chilean economy registers large capacity margins which are already established but not fully utilized. It is in these same activities where the “non-modern” strata of the system predominate. Consequently, channeling a much larger share of resources towards them in particular means an improvement in the strata where most of the active population is located, and more especially where the lowest income brackets are formed. The nature of the sectors that would gain greater dynamism and the highest rate of global economic growth would allow pockets of unemployment and underemployment to be reabsorbed, which in turn would lay the true foundations for a progressive redistribution of income. Put that way, it seems a rather simplified vision of the matter, to the extent that a series of complementary aspects are not described, and foreseeable obstacles and difficulties are not made explicit. For example, we must identify where the greatest efforts should be concentrated, which does not mean advocating that nothing be done in such important areas as foreign trade and Latin American integration. This is the case of the rate of capital accumulation: in the medium term, it will be essential to increase it to maintain a rapid growth rate, while the problems are located more around the use of already available production capacities instead of adding new capacity in the short term. It is also true of the external sector in the long term. Chile needs—especially due to the size of its economy—a boost in specialization to allow it to integrate effectively into the world economy; however,

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there is a relatively favorable situation in the external sector that is enough to support the strengthening of the internal economy as a whole in the short term. An intermediate period during which attention directed towards increasing production and productivity of the most backward sectors predominates would create positive basic conditions in order to address them more vigorously at a later stage: indeed, it will be easier to increase the capital accumulation rate in the context of rapid growth aimed at overcoming the deficits in supplies of essential consumption of the population, and it will be easier to develop export lines with greater homogeneity of the national economic system. More than one obstacle derives from the degree of distortion that has already been reached and it will not be easy to correct. A very clear example of this can be found in the structure of consumption and the composition of demand. By simply taking into account the trends that derive from the “spontaneous behavior” of consumers in recent times, it would not be particularly obvious that a progressive redistribution of income would automatically lead to a reduction in the pressure for non-essential or luxury consumer goods and to an increase in the demand for basic goods and services. It is notable, for example, how in some strata of the population there has been a change in the distribution of the family budget, replacing part of the spending on food—maintaining or lowering it to insufficient levels—with installments that finance the private car. Based on consumption aspiration “perversions” such as this, redistributive models that somehow help to correct and reorient them are of increasing importance. All this presupposes economic management that is quite different from that of previous experience, both in its orientations and the choice of relevant economic policies. In addition, there is the essential question, among many other important aspects, of the political viability of a strategy of this nature, which in turn depends on the degrees of contradiction and solidarity between different strata of the working population located in different parts of the productive apparatus. In this regard, significant changes have probably taken place in recent years, and continue to take place, tending to diminish the importance of the contradictions between sectors of wage earners and self-employed workers, instead accentuating bonds of solidarity. Agricultural policies in the transition to socialism. The Chilean case (May 17, 1971). Jacques Chonchol. Extracts The general policy of the government in agrarian matters, in this process of transformation of Chilean society from an underdeveloped capitalist economy to a socialist economy, is based on six fundamental objectives: 1) A prompt change in the land tenure system that has been in force in Chile until now and that to a great extent continues to be in place.

Economy and social rights 67 2) A change in the system of economic interrelationships between agriculture and the rest of the economy, which to us seems to be the fundamental complement to the changes in the land tenure system having some positive effects from the point of view of the rural worker population. 3) A reorientation of the productive process that has traditionally taken place in the country, in order to make the most of the economic advantages of Chilean agriculture and achieve satisfactory income and employment. 4) The industrialization of rural areas. 5) Very active rural worker participation in the entire process of change and in the configuration of the new political, economic, and social system. 6) The rapid overcoming of the situation of traditional disregard and segregation that certain significant groups of the rural population have experienced at all social levels in this country. This basically refers to the indigenous Mapuche population and other groups such as those of communal tenure in the Near North. It seems to me that it is around these six points that the process of agrarian change is based on. Starting from a given specific reality, the current government is trying to aim for a general economic development and a social development that is specifically a socialist, agrarian development. Rapid change in land tenure systems

We are faced with legislation that, although allowing for the speeding up of an Agrarian Reform process, has a series of drawbacks in the face of two options: to modify the law before doing anything or begin to act under the current law, which despite its defects, in any case, allows it to operate with a certain intensity. Knowing Chilean legislative traditions and how long any bill takes, even more so for a project of this nature, it was decided to proceed under the current legislation before beginning to discuss modifications to the law, which at some given moment we are going to propose. We will try to put an end to large estates (that is, all properties of more than eighty hectares of basic irrigation) in a period of two to two and a half years. No distinction will be made regarding the fact that a property is well, badly, or regularly worked. In this sense, the definition is very clear: all properties larger than eighty hectares are going to be expropriated. Nonetheless, this undoubtedly requires a series of financial and human resources, not so much due to the cost of the expropriation itself, but rather because these properties must be put to work and it is necessary to make a series of important investments. The decision was made in this first year to expropriate 1,000 of these properties. It is precisely at this time that the takeover of the properties is speeding up significantly. To date, in addition to having expropriated 650 properties, possession has been taken of more than 100 properties that had been expropriated before

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this government took office, and, of the 650 properties accepted, more than 400 are already in the hands of rural workers. Regarding the allocation of land, the government has defined very clearly and on repeated occasions that, except for the house and the garden, there will be no individual plot or allocation of land; instead, the lands of production will be assigned entirely in the form of a cooperative. However, in certain specific cases such as some we have already encountered, there will be no allocation of land in the form of a cooperative; these will instead remain in the hands of the state. Our most significant cases at the moment are the Panguipulli forest complex, where CORA3 has expropriated 21 forest estates of 260,000 hectares that constitute the most important natural forest reserve in Chile to have been transferred. . . . A large complex is going to be set up on this reserve, including a pulp mill and another series of forest industries. There is also the case of the livestock farms of Tierra del Fuego, with 560 hectares expropriated on December 31 and which are going to be maintained as a cattle company in the hands of the state. . . . We wish to gradually overcome the mentality that many rural workers have when they think that the limits of the Agrarian Reform do not extend beyond the old estate. There is no doubt that the limits of properties were set by a series of varied historical circumstances: inheritance, purchase, and acquisition, which did not necessarily follow any economic rationale. Very often, farms are too small to really rotate and properly plan production systems. That is why it is being proposed in various parts—and this has already been accepted by many groups of rural workers— that the cooperative part of the settlements will not be limited to a single piece of land, but will rather be extended to a certain number of neighboring properties to constitute what has been called a Regional Farmer Enterprise. This will make it possible to really plan productive development and complementary activities for agriculture in a more extensive way and, at the same time, create job opportunities for a greater number of people. Change in the systems of economic interrelation between agriculture and the rest of the economy

As countries or nations increase their income, changes in the structure of demand cause agriculture to lose relative importance, and this is inevitable. Nonetheless, what does seem important to us is that we should try to improve the relative income of the agricultural sector in relation to the non-agricultural sector. Several immediate measures have been taken. a) The first measure was the pricing policy that was adopted for this year, within the context of an anti-inflationary policy in which the intermediate sectors, industrialists, and agricultural entrepreneurs had to absorb a part of their increased costs at the expense of profits.

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b)

c) d)

e)

f)

Preferential treatment was given to agriculture in this sense, establishing that the prices of the main agricultural products such as wheat and milk were to be readjusted in a significant way, without passing them on to the consumer. Simultaneously, the costs of supplies were frozen except in the case of two items: salaries that undoubtedly have had to be readjusted in accordance with the general remuneration policy, and the seeds that rose by the same percentage as the products. Within this context, the interest rate has been lowered. For the rural worker cooperatives and for the reformed units, the State Bank will set interest rates at 12% instead of 18%. Then, there is perhaps one of the most characteristic aspects of the Chilean system that differentiates it from other socialist models: the problem that, if we want to change the nature of agriculture, for some years we are going to have to invest more capital than this sector is capable of generating by itself. In many socialist models, in many underdeveloped countries that have moved towards socialism, the model has, through compulsory purchases by the state or through other mechanisms, extracted a surplus from the agricultural sector that enables financing of industrial development and other activities. In our case, it will be necessary to contribute capital from other sources for a number of years if our wish is, as the current government desires, not only to carry out an accelerated Agrarian Reform but also to change the nature of agriculture, moving towards a more intensive type. In this country, there continues to be a very large disproportion between the value represented by the land and the value of investments of any kind that are incorporated into it or the capital that is used to work it. In other words, here is perhaps one of the most difficult economic problems that we have to face in order to change the nature of agriculture. A fundamental complement to all these policies to improve the interrelationships of agriculture and the rest of the economy is the opening of complete purchasing powers for production. . . . We believe that, contrary to what has happened in other places, the purchasing powers of the state are the ones that assure the rural workers in this country an income that is actually in accordance with the prices set and not as they have always been viewed in other countries: as a kind of extortion of rural workers. Finally, there is the progressive control by the state of the main imported supplies required for agriculture.

Reorientation of the production process

This is a policy that does not apply this year. This year, the production program seeks to attempt to produce as much as possible in the country, either for internal

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production or for export. This is for a very simple reason: the income redistribution policy that the government is implementing will bring about an extraordinarily sharp increase in the demand for agricultural products. . . . However, we believe that, in the medium and long term, it is fundamental to make a significant change to the entire system of the country’s product structure. In this sense, we think that it is absolutely vital to avail of different regional strategies since the same one cannot be applied to the entire country. The problem of drought is, in our opinion, already a permanent fact; it is not sporadic. Anyone who observes the reality of this area is going to recognize how dramatic a situation it is; we cannot take it on by means of a constitutional 2% or other traditional mechanisms of the same type. This requires a development strategy for that area: the Near North (the provinces of Atacama and Coquimbo, specifically). If not, what happened in the Far North will happen here, whereby relying first on saltpeter and now on copper, there have been very important sectors of the population that must be maintained artificially with a series of subsidies to industries and that cannot be given adequate development. It seems to us that this area requires a development strategy that is not purely agricultural. Among the errors to have occurred in our country is to consider that, in the agricultural provinces, there are no other solutions apart from agricultural alternatives. A development approach must be sought for this entire area that fundamentally takes into account the issue of water, which is even being wasted in the most unfortunate way. What are the main flaws in the Chilean case? In agricultural production for the industry, the yield and quality of raw materials are generally lower than in developed countries. Compared to the United States, Australia, Italy, and Argentina, we have the lowest yields per fruit unit, because there is no production for industrialization, an aspect that is of fundamental importance. There is market insecurity as a consequence of the inadequate marketing system currently in place; agricultural experimentation specifically oriented towards industrialization is lacking. In industrial matters, there is a technical and operational deficiency that prevents us from understanding the possibilities of the international market; the raw materials are of irregular quality and variable cost, and there is the limited capacity of the internal market, among other negative aspects. In terms of foreign trade, we all know that our country has always lived defensively because the mentality here has been that, if there is anything left over, it is exported, and, if there is nothing left over, we export garbage or nothing at all. Any country that wants to be an exporter simply has to act the other way around; it has to export the best even when it has to sacrifice at a given moment the internal consumption of its population, even when it has to replace that consumption with other types of imports. Nonetheless, you must ensure the quality and the right type of export.

Economy and social rights 71 But there is nothing to be gained by increasing plantations if we have not solved the problem of the foreign market, and there is nothing to be gained by worrying about foreign trade and plantations if we are not capable of addressing the industrial problem. In all countries, whether socialist or capitalist, in which an aggressive attitude has been maintained, these three aspects are integrated. The idea is to define as precisely as possible for each of these four large areas a development strategy, not only agricultural, of course, but global, which would allow agriculture to operate and its characteristics to undergo real changes. Because I want to say that our country, which has 75 million hectares, 5 million arable hectares, and 1.2 million irrigated hectares, could yield much more. Since we do not have many alternatives for increasing our land resources, the only development alternative that would ensure income for the agricultural sector, whatever it may be, and ensure employment in a reasonable manner, is intensive, specialized agriculture closely linked to industrial development in the same agricultural areas and not concentrating industries in urban regions, as has been the case until now. Industrialization of rural areas

The industrialization of rural areas seems essential in order to complement direct employment in agricultural work. We believe that the food industry, conceived on a large scale rather than a small scale, is a solution. Rural worker participation in the process of change

We believe that this entire process cannot be carried out without the very dynamic and active participation of rural workers. We also believe that we face a huge, extremely serious, and important political problem in relation to them. All states are bureaucratic, whether socialist or capitalist, except where people have the possibility of very direct control. In all systems, there is a tendency to superimpose a bureaucracy that interprets and decides for people, who are turned into passive subjects of the entire process. We believe that it is fundamental to move progressively towards a change in the nature of the state, and a more important change than the Constitutional Reform or dealing with the problem of the two chambers (if there should be one or two chambers); it is that organized people must be able to participate, lead, and decide. If not, in accordance with Parkinson’s law, bureaucratic inertia will inevitably generate a kind of layer to be superimposed on the workers and people. That is why what is most important for us is what the People’s Government has done in establishing the Rural Worker Councils, in a very imperfect way for now, in each commune, with organized and unorganized rural workers.

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We must also get officials used to not deciding policies alone, but rather doing so through discussion, analysis, and the control of the rural worker community. To the extent that this happens, with a system that undoubtedly requires political reforms, executive responsibilities from the state should gradually be transferred to the rural worker base through a political development of rural worker bases. Such political development integrates people in such a way that it is men, subjects of development, who do more and more of the decision-making, and thus this might help us face bureaucracy. I think that bureaucracy will inevitably appear if any other approach is employed, regardless of the political system, if workers are not integrated, and if they do not participate in an active and responsible way in the political system of discussion, decision-making, and execution at the different levels of the country. Rapid overcoming of traditional disregard and segregation of the Mapuche population and the Near North’s communal tenure population

This problem has been very topical in recent months, and I think it is the worst scandal that has taken place in the country. Here, under the mentality that we are the Englishmen of South America and that we do not have indigenous problems, we have hidden a real and important problem: the Mapuche issue. These indigenous people have been discriminated against at all social levels: at the top, at the bottom, and in the middle. They represent, whether some like it or not, 600,000 or 700,000 people who, in a population of 9 million inhabitants, are practically 5% or 6% of the country. Their lands, the same lands that the Chilean state recognized as belonging to the Mapuches following the pacification of La Araucanía,4 have been stolen in an institutionalized manner. These lands are mainly in the area of Cautín and Malleco. Foreign settlers were given 500 hectares. After defeating the Mapuches, the Chilean state placed them in reservations where they were given an average of 6 hectares per family at that time; these reservations began to appear in 1890 and continued to do so until the 1920s. The indigenous legislation was supposedly a way to protect them because they were considered a minority, but it turns out that deep down it was a way to deceive indigenous groups and was intended, as is the case of many special laws, to suppress them or make them disappear. The Chilean press has not said that the Chilean state’s own legislation robbed indigenous people of their possibility to own land, because in these 40 or 50 years, the lands that were given to them were eventually wrested from them by someone else. I believe that if a more serious social problem has not arisen here, it is because the Araucanians truly are saints because they have constantly faced the threat of repression. Now that our government says it will no longer use repression

Economy and social rights 73 against them, the Mapuches dare to recover their land. I want to say that most times, when the Mapuches move their boundary fences, they do not go beyond what was assigned to them according to the titles given to them in Balmaceda’s time. It is their land and it has been stolen from them, and to everyone who is not aware of the problem, I would tell them to go to the indigenous community and talk to the people to truly see the nature of the problem. The government has decided to thoroughly redress this legalized theft and, by administrative means, it has already been possible to recover 30,000 usurped hectares. We have prepared special legislation that has not been easy to elaborate on because the idea persists that by creating special laws, discrimination is maintained. This cannot be resolved through special legislation alone. It entails complete economic and social activities to be able to face the problem. However, we have no doubt that the restitution of occupied lands is one of our obligations—I would say moral, economic, and social—as a state towards that sector of Chile, which until now has been the most exploited. The other group that is also in a rather dramatic situation (not so much for the same reason, although there are also some encroachments, but because of the drought) is the communities of the Near North. Today they consist of about 10,000 families of around 70,000 to 80,000 people who somehow manage to survive. They have only been able to merely subsist because mining prices have been very low. Many of these people go to work in the small-scale mining industry in the Near North to earn an income while retirees, who receive a pension, and the elderly and children, remain in the communities; the rest can only barely survive due to the problem of drought. Undoubtedly, the strategy required to solve the economic problem of this group is closely related to the larger problem of strategic development for the area. Statement by the President of the Republic, comrade Salvador Allende Gossens, delivered in the Central Auditorium of the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities of the University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara (December 2, 1972) DEAR PRESIDENT AND FRIEND LUIS ECHEVERRIA, MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF MEXICO AND CHILE, AND UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY, A TERM IN WHICH I INCLUDE AND SALUTE ALL THOSE THAT WORK IN EDUCATION, FROM THE RECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY TO THE MOST MODEST OF STUDENT COMRADES: How difficult it is for me to be able to express what I have experienced and felt in these brief but long hours I have shared with the Mexican people and with their government.

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How can we convey what we, members of the delegation of our homeland, have generously received as a kind contribution to our country, which is currently engaged in an excruciating struggle? I, more than others, know perfectly well that this attitude of the people of Mexico stems from their own history. Furthermore, we have already reminisced how Chile was present together with Juárez, the man of Mexican independence projected throughout the continent, and how we understand perfectly well that in addition to this common root, previously shared when we faced the conquerors, Mexico is the first country in Latin America that, in 1938, nationalized oil, through the acts of a distinguished man of this land and of Latin America, General and President Lázaro Cárdenas. For this reason, you, who have experienced treacherous attacks, must have felt the deep call of the homeland in a superior national sense. That is why you, who suffered for a long time from the onslaught of the interested parties hurt by nationalization, more than other countries of this continent understand what Chile is going through, which is the same experience that you underwent in 1938 and in later years. That is why Mexico’s solidarity is born from its own experience and is projected in a fraternal manner towards Chile, which today is following the same liberating path as yours. I want to express my gratitude for the words of engineer Ignacio Mora Luna, extending my thanks to the professors at the University of Guadalajara, likewise, those of Enrique Romero González, thanks extended to the university authorities, and those of comrade Guillermo Gómez Reyes, President of the Student Federation of this university. President Echeverría was right when he pointed out that on this trip it was convenient for me to get to know the provinces and choose Jalisco, and, when he talked to me about Guadalajara and its university, I thanked him; and now, of course, I thank him even more. Because if we have received the warm affection of Mexican people, their women and their men, what can be more meaningful than being together with the youth and feeling how it beats rapidly, with a clear revolutionary and anti-imperialist consciousness? Since I arrived at this university, I have fully understood its spirit, in the banners greeting my presence here, just as a simple messenger of my people. This is not a traditional university; it is not—and that is enough compared to many universities of our continent—a university that has carried out the reform; I believe that this is a university committed to people, to changes, to the struggle for economic independence, and for the full sovereignty of our nations. And because I was once a university student—many years ago, by the way— because I went through university not only in search of a degree, because I was a student leader, and because I was expelled from university, I can speak to university students from a distance of years. But I know that you are aware that there is no quarrel between generations; there are old, young people and young, old people, and I place myself in the latter of these.

Economy and social rights 75 There are old, young people who do not understand that being a university student, for example, is an extraordinary privilege in the vast majority of the countries of our continent. Those old youngsters believe that universities have become a necessity to prepare technologists and that they should be satisfied with acquiring a professional degree. It provides them with a social rank and a chance at social climbing. Wow, how dramatically dangerous! It gives them an instrument that allows them to earn a living on income conditions higher than most other fellow citizens. And these old young men, if they are architects, for example, do not ask themselves how many houses are needed in our countries, and sometimes not even in their own country. There are students who, with strictly liberal criteria, make their profession an honest way to earn a living, albeit fundamentally based on their own interests. There are many doctors—and I am a doctor—who do not understand, or do not want to understand, that health is purchased, and that there are thousands and thousands of men and women in Latin America who cannot buy health. They do not want to understand, for example, that the greater the poverty, the greater the illness, and, the greater the illness, the greater the poverty, and that, therefore although they comply by caring for the patient who demands their knowledge on the basis of fees, they do not consider that there are thousands of people who cannot go to their offices, and there are few who fight for the state agencies to be structured in such a way to provide universal health coverage. In the same way, there are teachers who are not concerned about the hundreds and thousands of children and young people who cannot enter schools, and Latin America is in a dire situation, a painful reality as proven by its figures. Almost all of our nations have been politically independent for more than a century, and what is the data that marks our dependence and our exploitation? Although they are potentially rich, our countries are mostly poor. In Latin America, a continent of more than 220 million inhabitants, there are 100 million illiterates and semi-literates. On this continent, there are more than 30 million unemployed, and the figure rises to over 60 million, taking into account those who have occasional jobs. On our continent, according to some, 53% of the population—and according to others, 57%—is undernourished. Latin America is in need of more than 28 million homes. In these circumstances, it is worth asking: What is the destiny of youth? Because this continent is a young continent; 51% of the Latin American population is under 37 years of age, and that is why I can say—I wish I were wrong!— that no government, including mine and all the previous ones of my country, has been able to solve the great deficits of the great masses of our continent, in relation to lack of work, food, housing, health, and that is without mentioning leisure and rest! Within this framework, which has enclosed and imprisoned our countries for a century and a half, it is to be expected that the masses, who have endured pain

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and suffering, desire to achieve the living standards and levels of existence and culture that they have been denied due to inhumane and anti-social conditions. If this is the case today, what will happen if things do not change by the time we reach 360 or 600 million inhabitants? In a continent where the demographic explosion is destined to compensate for high infant mortality, this is how people defend themselves; but despite this, the population of our countries is growing vigorously, and technological progress in the field of medicine has improved, and also, by improving living conditions, our life expectancy has increased. However, it is certainly much lower than in countries of industrial capitalism and socialist countries. But if no government on this continent (there are few democratic ones, there are more pseudo-democratic, some are also dictatorial), if no government has been able to overcome the large deficits, recognizing indeed that governments and especially democratic governments have made indisputably praiseworthy efforts to listen to the voices, the protests, the desires of people themselves and to advance in their thwarted attempt to make it possible for these deficits to no longer weigh on our existence. And why is this? Because most of us are mono-producing countries: we are the countries of cocoa, bananas, coffee, tin, oil, or copper. We are countries that produce raw materials and import manufactured items; we sell at low prices and buy at high ones. When we buy expensive, we are paying for the high income of the technologist, the employee, and the worker in industrialized countries. In addition, in the vast majority of cases, as the fundamental wealth is in the hands of foreign capital, markets are ignored; prices are not subject to intervention, nor are production levels. We have experienced this with regard to copper, and, you, with oil. We are countries where big financial capital seeks and wrests resources, with the often guilty complacency of people who do not want to understand their patriotic duty. Why? What is imperialism, young comrades? It is the concentration of capital in industrialized countries that, reaching the strength of financial capital, abandons the economic metropolises and invests in our countries, so that the capital that obtains very low profits in its metropolis, makes large profits in our lands. In addition, the negotiations are often between the companies here and the companies that own them, which are beyond our borders. So, our countries do not make the most of the surpluses of our production, and this continent is already aware—not through social agitators with a political surname, like the one I have as a socialist, but through the figures of ECLAC, an organization of the United Nations—that in the last decade—I cannot exactly say whether from 1950 to 1960 or from 1956 to 1966—Latin America exported much more capital than that entered it.

Economy and social rights 77 In this way, a common reality has been brought about in the vast majority of our nations: we are potentially rich countries, yet we live as poor countries. In order to continue living, we borrow. But at the same time, we are countries that export capital, a typical paradox of the capitalist regime. Therefore, it is essential to understand that within this structure, when internationally powerful countries live and strengthen their economies, the price is our poverty; when financially strong countries get their strength from our raw materials; when the reality of markets and prices leads the people of this and other continents to go into debt; when the debt of Third World countries reaches the unbelievable figure of 95 billion dollars; when my country—a democratic country, with very solid institutions, with a Congress that has been in operation for 160 years, with Armed Forces like those of Mexico, respectful of the law and the will of the people, a country that is the second largest producer of copper in the world and which has the largest open-pit mine and underground copper mine on the planet, which has the largest copper reserves on earth—has been forced into an external debt that, per capita, is only exceeded by that of Israel, a country that can be considered at war; when this year, Chile had to pay off a debt of 420 million dollars, interests included, which is equivalent to more than 30% of the income budget; when all this happens, one can conclude that it is impossible for this to continue and for this reality to be sustained. If we add to this that powerful countries set the marketing standards, control freight, impose insurance, and provide associated credit that means having to invest a high percentage of the loans in those same countries; if we also suffer the consequences that arise, and pay for the results when the most powerful countries, or the most powerful capitalist country, deems it necessary to devalue its currency, and, if the money market in industrialized countries trembles, the consequences are much stronger, much harsher, and weigh more heavily on our people. The price of raw materials often goes down, but the price of manufactured goods, and even food, goes up. When the price of food rises, we find that there are customs barriers that prevent some countries that can export agricultural products from reaching consumption centers in industrial countries. The case of my country is revealing: we produce, between the large-scale copper mining that was previously in the hands of foreign capital and the small and medium mining activities, close to 750,000 tons of copper. Between Zambia, Peru, Zaire, and Chile, signatories of what is called CIPEC, between these four countries, 70% of the copper that is traded in the world is produced: more than 3 million tons. But the price of copper is set on the London Stock Exchange and only 200,000 tons are traded. For example, three years ago, Chile had an average yearly price per pound of copper of more than 62 cents. And for every penny that the price per pound of copper goes up or down, there is an increase or decrease of 18 million dollars in Chile’s income, more or less.

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In 1971, the price of copper—in the last year of President Frei’s government— was 59 cents. This year, it will probably not reach more than 47.4 cents. But in real terms, after the devaluation of the dollar, this average will be at most 45 cents. And our cost of production, even though they are mines with a high percentage of mineral wealth and they are close to the sea, is around 45 cents per pound in some cases. And, of course, the cost is higher in small and mediumsized mining, due to inferior techniques. I have given this example because it is very clear. We, who have a foreign exchange budget higher than many Latin American countries, who have an extension of land that could feed—and should feed—20 or 25 million inhabitants, have always had to import, so to speak—meat, wheat, fat, butter, oil: 200 million dollars a year! And since we are in the People’s Government, we have to import more food, because we are aware that, even importing 200 million dollars a year as previous governments did, 48% of the Chilean population ate less than they should. And here in this “house of brothers,” I, as a doctor who has been a professor of Social Medicine and President of the Medical College of Chile for 5 years, can share a figure that does not embarrass me, but that does hurt me: in my homeland, because there are statistics and we do not sweep them under the rug, there are 600,000 children whose mental development is below normal levels. If by chance a child in the first eight months of their life does not receive the necessary protein for their body and brain development; if that child does not receive that protein, it will develop differently from the child who received it, and who logically is almost always the child of a minority sector, of an economically powerful sector. If that child who did not receive enough protein gets it after eight months, they can recover and normalize their body development; but their brain cannot develop normally. For this reason, often teachers in the course of their great work—I always consider teachers and doctors to be professionals with great responsibility—see that a child does not assimilate, does not understand, does not learn, and does not retain; and it is not because that child does not want to learn or study: it is because they fall into conditions of lesser worth, and that is the consequence of a regime and a social system; because unfortunately, even the development of intelligence is marked by the ingestion of food, fundamentally during the first eight months of life. And how many proletarian mothers are there who cannot breastfeed their children, when we doctors know that a mother’s milk is the best food, and they cannot do so because they live in marginal populations, because their partners are unemployed and because they are malnourished; as mothers, their lives are being punished, and what is more unfair is that the lives of their own children are also being punished. For this reason, of course, progressive governments, like ours, are advancing in initiatives that have content, but that is indisputably a palliative. For example, in my country there is the prenatal family allowance; it is paid to the woman who

Economy and social rights 79 is expecting a baby from the third month of pregnancy onwards; it becomes real from the fifth month, when it can be verified that she is indeed expecting a baby. This has two objectives: to provide the mother with an income so that she can eat better, and, in the final stage, to buy something for what we could call the layette: the mantelet, the child’s diapers. And, on the other hand, receiving this allowance, which is in addition to wages, requires a medical check-up and thus forces the mother to have one. And in that case, if the mother is sick and is treated promptly, the child is born healthy. And they are also given the most basic notions about childcare. And we also have the Family Allowance that is paid from the moment the child is born until they finish studying if they get to study. But we have not been able, for example, to level the Family Allowance, because a Congress that does not represent the majority of workers establishes, as always, discriminatory laws, and there were different allowances for bank employees, public employees, individuals, Armed Forces, workers, and rural workers in my country. We had the right idea: an equal Family Allowance for everyone. And we were generous in doing so. But to think that the Family Allowance should be higher for the sectors that have higher incomes is an inconsistency and a brutal injustice. We have managed to level the Family Allowance of workers, rural workers, Armed Forces, and public employees, but the Family Allowance of private employees, and a sector of them, is still far away. It is progress, but not enough because, although it is true that we provide better conditions for defending the biological balance by ensuring the child is better fed—thanks too to the Family Allowance—it is also true that the state of university education—and I use healthcare as an example—leads us to the conclusion that we lack professionals to care for the whole population. In Chile there are 4,600 doctors; there should be 8,000. In Chile, then, we are short of 3,000 doctors. In Chile, we are short of more than 6,000 dentists. In no Latin American country—and I say this with absolute certainty—is there a public state service that provides dental care with a social focus. They are limited in most countries—if they even have such services—to the initial, previous, basic, and simple stage of extraction. And if there is something that I have witnessed with the pain of a man and the conscience of a doctor, during my visits to the towns, it is the working comrades, the proletarian mothers, shouting our battle cries with hope, and I realized, sadly, that their mouths lack most teeth. And children also suffer from this. For them, and based only on these simple examples, we have to understand that, when we talk about a committed university, we are not only talking about a university that understands that in order to put an end to this brutal reality that has weighed on us for more than a century and a half, we require professionals committed to social change to bring about structural economic changes. We need professionals who do not feel like superior beings because their parents had enough money for them to enroll in a university.

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We need professionals with a social conscience who understand that their fight, if they are architects, is to build houses that the population needs. We need professionals who, if they are doctors, raise their voices to demand that medicine reach the poor neighborhoods and, fundamentally, the rural worker sectors. We need professionals who do not seek to get rich in public positions, in the capitals of our countries, but professionals who go to, and submerge themselves in, the provinces. That is why I speak like this, here at the University of Guadalajara, which is a university at the forefront of innovation. And I am certain that your patriotic obligation is to work in the provinces, which are fundamentally linked to economic, mining, industrial, and agricultural activities. The obligation of those who studied here is to not forget that they are in a state university that is paid for by taxpayers, the vast majority of whom are workers, and to not forget that, unfortunately, in this university, as in the universities of my homeland, the presence of children of rural workers and laborers, in general, is still low. Being young, at this time, implies a great responsibility. Being young in the world, or in Chile; being young in Latin America; above all, in this continent which, as I have said, is marked by an average age that indicates that we are a young continent. The youth have to assume their historical responsibility. You have to understand that there is no generational fight, that there is a social confrontation, which is very different, and that those of us who are over 60 years old—and I am a little over 60; do not give away my secret—can be at the same barricade of that confrontation next to young people of 18 or 20. There is no quarrel between generations, and that is important for me to say. Youth must understand their obligation to be young and, if they are students, realize that there are other young people who, like them, are of the same age but are not students. And if they are university students, all the more reason: look at the young rural worker and the young laborer, and use a language of youth, not just a university language for university students. But he who is a student has more obligations, because he has a greater chance to understand economic and social phenomena and the realities of the world. He has the obligation to be a dynamic factor in the process of change, but without losing sight of reality. Revolution does not take place at university, and this must be understood; revolution is carried out by the great masses; revolution is brought about by the people; revolution is brought about, essentially, by the workers. And I share the thought that has been expressed here—and President Echeverría has pointed it out many times—and that I have also said in my homeland. In Chile, we fight for changes within the framework of bourgeois democracy, with far greater difficulties, in a country where the state powers are independent; in our case, the Judiciary, Parliament, and Executive. The workers who elected me are in the government; we control a part of the Executive Branch, but we are a

Economy and social rights 81 minority in Congress. The Judiciary is autonomous, and the Civil Code of my country is 100 years old. And if I don’t criticize the Judiciary in my country, even less will I do it here. But unquestionably, one must understand that those laws represented another era and another reality; they were not laws made by the workers who are in the government. They were made by the sectors of the bourgeoisie that held the Executive, the economic power, and that were the majority in the National Congress. However, the reality of Chile, its history and idiosyncrasies, its characteristics, and the strength of its institutional framework, led us political leaders to understand that in Chile we had no other path than the path of electoral struggle—and we won via that path—a path that many did not agree on, fundamentally as a consequence of the mindset generated in this continent after the Cuban Revolution, a mindset that assimilated, somewhat mistakenly, the tactics divulged— depending upon the interpretation of the authors, which can be found in many places—and that now has somewhat left the ideas of focalism, of the guerrilla struggle, or of the Popular Army behind. My experience is worth a lot. I am a friend of Cuba. I have been a friend of Fidel Castro for 10 years; I was a friend of Commander Ernesto Che Guevara. He gave me the second copy of his book Guerra de Guerrillas (the first one he gave to Fidel). I was in Cuba when it was released; in the dedication that he wrote for me he says the following: “To Salvador Allende, who is trying to obtain the same by other means.” If Commander Guevara signed such a dedication, it is because he was a man with a broad spirit who understood that each nation has its own reality, that there is no recipe for making revolutions. On top of that, the theoreticians of Marxism—and I admit that I am only an apprentice, but I do not deny that I am a Marxist—also clearly trace paths that can be followed in each society, in each country. Thus, it is useful that youth, and especially the university youth, who cannot go through the university blind to the problems of their people, understand that doctrinal teaching cannot be made from doctrinal babble; that the dense thinking of the theoreticians of the sociological or economic currents requires serious study; that if it is true that there is no revolutionary action without revolutionary theory, there can be no voluntary application, nor interpretation of the theory according to what the youth or young person wants; that it is necessary to look at what happens within the country itself and beyond its borders and understand that there are circumstances that must be analyzed. When some groups in my country beyond the UP, where there are young comrades in whose revolutionary loyalty I believe but in whose conception of reality I do not believe, when they claim, for example, that my country should follow the same route as other countries that have achieved socialism, I have asked them this question out loud: Why has the People’s Republic of China, a powerful

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country, an extraordinarily powerful country, had to tolerate the reality that Taiwan is in the hands of Chiang Kai Shek? Does the People’s Republic of China not have powerful enough warlike elements, so to speak, to take back Taiwan in two minutes? And why haven’t they? Because there are superior questions of political responsibility; because proceeding like this would place the People’s Republic of China on the path of a regression that could damage the revolutionary process, and perhaps cause a world conflict. Who can doubt the will for action, the decisiveness, or the revolutionary consciousness of Fidel Castro? And why hasn’t Guantanamo Bay been taken? Because he can’t and shouldn’t. He shouldn’t! Because he would expose his revolution and his homeland to brutal retaliation. So, one sometimes meets young people who have read the Communist Manifesto, or have carried it under their arms for a long time, and they believe that they have assimilated it and give lectures. And they demand attitudes and criticize men who, at least, lead a conscious life. Being young and not being a revolutionary is a contradiction, a biological one, even; but making progress in the paths of life, and remaining a revolutionary, in a bourgeois society, is difficult. A personal example: I was a college speaker for a group called “Avance.” It was the most vigorous group on the left. One day it was suggested that the “Avance” group sign a manifesto—I’m talking about the year 1931—to create the Soviets of Laborers, Rural Workers, Soldiers, and Students in Chile. And I said that it was crazy, that it was impossible, that it was infinitely clumsy, and that I didn’t want, as a student, to sign something that tomorrow, as a professional, I wasn’t going to accept. There were 400 of us university students in the “Avance” group; 395 voted for my expulsion. But of those 400, only two of us remain in the social struggle. The rest have bank deposits, some abroad. They had large estates (we expropriated them); they had bank shares (we nationalized the banks). The same thing happened to those of the monopolies. Only two of us have stayed. They fired me for being a “reactionary,” but the workers of my country call me “Comrade President”! That is why dogmatism and sectarianism must be fought; the ideological struggle must be taken to higher levels, and that is indeed important: dialogue and discussion, but discussion to clarify, not to impose certain positions. Furthermore, the university student who has a doctrinarian and political position must, fundamentally, not forget that the revolution needs technologists and professionals. Lenin already said it—I have increased the figure to have a greater impact on my homeland—Lenin said that a professional, a technologist, was worth 10 communists; I say that they are worth 50 communists and 80 socialists. I am a socialist. It hurts my colleagues a lot that I say that; but why do I say it? Because I have experienced politicization in the university, taken to such extremes that

Economy and social rights 83 the student forgets his fundamental responsibility; but in a society where technology and science reach the levels that contemporary society has attained, how can revolutionaries not be required to have skills and training? Therefore, the political leaders at the university will have more moral authority if they are also good university students. I have never accepted a young comrade who justifies his failure because he has to do political work; he has to find the time to carry out the political tasks, but, first, there is mandatory work he has to do as a university student. Being a university agitator and a bad student is easier. Being a revolutionary leader and a good student is more difficult. But the university teacher respects the good student and will have to respect his ideas, whatever they may be. That is why contemporary youth, and especially the youth of Latin America, have an obligation, pledged to history, to their people, and to the past of their homeland. Youth cannot be sectarian; youth must understand, and we in Chile have taken a transcendental step: the political base of my government is made up of Marxists, laymen, and Christians, and we respect Christian thought; it interprets the word of Christ, who drove the merchants out of the temple. Of course, we have the experience of the church linked to the powerful countries of capitalism, which, in the past centuries and in the first decades of this one, has not acted in favor of humble people as the teacher from Galilee proposed; but if times have changed through honest thought, through honest action, we Marxists can agree on programmatic stages much as laymen can, and we have done so in our country—and we are doing well—and we are united by the same attitude and the same language with regard to people’s essential problems. Because a laborer without a job, no matter if he is a Marxist or not, or a Christian or not, or if he has no political ideology, is a man who has the right to work—and we must give it to him—that is why sectarianism, dogmatism, and bureaucratism freeze revolutions. And that is a process that involves raising awareness, which is very profound and must begin with youth; but the youth are facing problems that are not only economic, problems that unfortunately appear with greater destructive violence in the contemporary world. Escapism, drug addiction, alcoholism . . . how many young people in our young countries have fallen for marijuana, which is cheaper than cocaine and more easily accessible? But how many young people have done so in industrialized countries? The percentage here is much higher, not only due to population density but also due to economic means. What is this, what does it mean, and why do the youth end up like that? Are they frustrated? How is it possible that young men do not see that their existence must have a destiny that is very different from escaping their responsibilities? How is a young man not going to look, in the case of Mexico, at Hidalgo or Juárez, at Zapata or Villa, or at Lázaro Cárdenas? How can we not understand that these men were also young, but that they made their lives a constant fight and a permanent struggle?

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How can youth not know that their own future is confined by economic reality, determined by dependent countries? Because if there is something that should worry us, and also those who govern, it is not to continue turning in learned yet unemployed people to our society. How many thousands of young people who graduate from polytechnic institutes or universities cannot find work? I recently read a study by an important international organization, which indicates that, for Latin America, close to 6 million new jobs—I believe—were needed at the end of this decade, in a continent where unemployment reaches the levels that I have indicated. Young people have to understand, then, that they are faced with these facts and that they must contribute to modifying material conditions so that there are no educated people without a job, professionals with architectural degrees that are not building houses, or doctors that are not caring for the sick because the sick cannot pay them, when all that is missing are doctors that defend human capital, which is the most valuable thing in our countries. This is why, I repeat—and to finish my speech—apologizing to you for its excessiveness, that I am a man who went through university and yet I have learned much more from the university of life: I have learned from the proletariat mother in the slums; I have learned from the rural worker who, without actually speaking to me, conveyed the exploitation of his father, his grandfather, or his great-great-grandfather, which has been going on for more than a hundred years; I have learned from the worker that in the industry he is a number or was a number and that he meant nothing as a human being; and I have learned from the dense crowds that have had the patience to wait. But injustice cannot continue, closing the possibilities of the future to the small countries of this and other continents. For us, borders must be abolished and solidarity must be expressed with respect for self-determination and nonintervention, understanding that there may be different philosophical conceptions and forms of government, but that there is a mandate that arises from our own reality that forces us—in the case of this continent—to unite and look beyond Latin America, to understand what it is to be born in Africa where there are still millions and millions of human beings who lead a life much worse than that of the most neglected and disregarded beings of our continent. It must be understood that the struggle means solidarity on a world scale and that, in the face of imperialist insolence, there is only room for an aggressive response from the exploited countries. The moment has come to fully realize that those who fall in battle elsewhere in order to make their homelands independent countries, as is the case in Vietnam, fall for us with their heroic gesture. That is why, without saying that youth will be the revolutionary cause and the essential factor of revolutions, I think that young people, because they are young, because their ideas are more transparent, and because they have not fallen for the vices that years of bourgeois coexistence entail, have to understand they

Economy and social rights 85 must be both students and workers; young people must go to the company, to the industry, or to the land. You must do volunteer work because it is a good thing that medical students know the weight of a bale that a rural worker sometimes has to carry over long distances; because it is a good thing that someone who is going to be an engineer gets to experience firsthand the heat of the machine, where the worker sometimes, in an inhospitable atmosphere, spends long years of his dark existence. Young people must study and must work, because voluntary work links, ties, and brings people closer, making the person who is going to be a professional attune to the one who inherited the calloused hands of those who, for generations, worked the land. Thank you, President, and friends, for giving me the opportunity to strengthen my own convictions and my faith in youth through your friendly disposition. Thank you for understanding the drama of my homeland, which is, as Pablo Neruda said, a silent Vietnam; there are no occupying troops, nor powerful planes clouding the clear skies of my land, but we are economically blocked, we have no credit, we cannot buy spare parts, we have no way to buy food, and we lack medicine, and, to defeat those who benefit from this, people must understand who their friends are and who their enemies are. I know, from what I have lived, that Mexico has been and will be—for which I thank you—a friend to my country. Notes 1. Eduardo Frei Montalva (1911–1982), a Chilean lawyer and politician, was one of the main leaders of the Christian Democratic Party and was President of Chile between 1964 and 1970. 2. The Grupo Móvil (Mobile Group) was a unit of Chilean law enforcement (Carabineros) that was created in 1963 to repress urban demonstrations. 3. The Agrarian Reform Corporation (CORA), a Chilean state company, was created in 1962, during the government of Jorge Alessandri, with the objective of subdividing land, a process known as the Agrarian Reform. Garrido, José (1988). Historia de la reforma Agraria en Chile. Editorial Universitaria. Santiago, Chile. 4. “The pacification of Araucanía” is a euphemism to refer to the military occupation of Araucanía, former Mapuche territory, to be incorporated into the Chilean state.

3

Women and gender equality

Below, five documents have been selected that, together, illustrate the importance that the UP placed on the challenges posed by the fight for gender equality and, in particular, to improve the situation of Chilean women. The first corresponds to a set of extracts from two books published by the state publishing house Quimantú. The first is La Mujer Chilena (1972), by journalist Amanda Puz, who became deputy director of the then transgressive magazine Paula. The other is La Emancipación de la Mujer (1972) by writer Virginia Vidal, who, being a journalist for the communist newspaper El Siglo, was linked to various cultural initiatives of Allende’s government. In both texts, a panoramic overview of the main problems of women in Chile is provided and, consequently, of the terms in which the UP understood female emancipation at that time. The remaining documents are speeches and statements by Salvador Allende, which delve into the interrelation between socialism and gender, both from a national and a Latin American perspective. In particular, the recognition of the place that women should have in the Chilean Revolution and in the struggles for national liberation in Latin America is highlighted. The Chilean woman (1972). Amanda Puz. Extracts The Chilean woman is hard and strong, sometimes soft and tender. To combat adversity, she becomes as hard as stone. The gentle hills of the countryside sweetened her lap, making her a mother above all things, and she is intimate and family loving because the rain taught her that next to the fire and around the dining room table, the bonds she wishes to be eternal are strengthened, with her man, with her children, with her country, with everything she loves. Her geography is like the land where she was born, variable, paradoxical. She is dry and fertile, aggressive and sweet, wild and prudent, but always generous. Nature has so much to do with it. Depending on where the Chilean woman opens her eyes, depending on whether the rain or the sun has caressed her face since she was a child, it forges a different woman. The aridity of the north gives DOI: 10.4324/9781003487708-4

Women and gender equality 87 her strength and fierceness and makes her a fighter. Towards the south, as the landscape softens and the land is more fertile, she loses her aggressiveness. Fertility stills, numbs the fighting instinct. That is why the southerner and the rural worker lack the inherent mettle of the northerner. Where it costs tears to sprout a seed, a more energetic woman must inevitably grow. The benignity of the soil, on the other hand, pacifies her. The rural worker from the south is more fatalistic, more resigned; she withstands the rain as well as the injustice. She is passive, not harsh, she incorporates injustice—as something that she is already used to—into her daily life. Although her nature endows her with traits that differentiate her from one region to another, there is a way of being that is characteristic of Chilean women throughout the country. In the saltpeter plains, in the city, in the mine, as a fisherman’s wife, living among the hills and far from civilization, enduring droughts or harsh weather, we always find the Chilean woman clinging to the roots of her land. She entrenches herself in the place where she lives because she loves things that are solid, perennial, things that endure. She lacks the adventurous and nomadic spirit of the man who comes and goes, who one day excavates the mines and the next casts the nets. She is sedentary and is even fond of the stones where she has to give birth, breastfeed and watch her children grow. In the north she lives as a captive of the desert, loving it furiously, and in her earth-colored face her eyes shine with joy when she speaks of her love of the land and its incomparable virtues. In the south she carries the same burning love, this time for the rain and for the forest. She is a dreamer and realistic at the same time. She likes to dream, to feed on fantasies, she always has faith, makes vows, trusts in destiny, in luck and in all kinds of fates, but—as strange as it may seem—she does not take her feet off the ground. She trusts that God—or whoever it may be—will provide, but she does not leave it up to him alone. She puts her hands, her heart and her intelligence to work so that her dreams can come true. She is capable of lighting a candle to the Virgen del Carmen so that her wish of having her own house will come true, but she does not forget to do all the necessary paperwork to achieve it. She is generous, she shares everything she has. She is so generous that by giving herself to her children and her house, she forgets herself. Her generosity goes beyond the limits of her nuclear family. It is very common to see that in a home with four or five children, there are three others that the woman raises as if they were her own, that belong to a friend who cannot take care of them or who abandoned them. She opens the doors of the house to whoever knocks, be it a niece or a cousin who may not even be a cousin. She welcomes them without asking too many questions and sometimes incorporates them into the family forever. She is resigned, she adapts to everything. But it is not a type of resignation that deprives her of the desire to fight. She is a warrior when she has to face a misfortune, a problem, a catastrophe. She plucks up courage and never lays down to die. She is capable both of coping with marital abandonment by becoming

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the head of the household overnight and of helping her man to build a house to live in. Twelve years ago, some saltpeter works were shut down and the company trucks took the families of the workers to Antofagasta, Iquique, Coquimbo, leaving them in vacant lots. Everything they owned: pots, children, cats, were scattered on the barren hill, but the women did not become part of the landscape; they became architects, builders and masons to construct their new homes. (. . .) Adversity brings to the surface the best qualities of the Chilean woman. She may not know how to live happily when everything is lavished upon her and there is nothing to lament; but if a catastrophe or drama were to take place! The Chilean woman rises from the ruins and is the bravest, the strongest, the best. When problems are small, she becomes a mess and life gets complicated, but in the case of a major conflict there is nothing that can bring her down. That must also be why she so enjoys dramas; Mexican movies, songs that talk about unhappy love, romantic novels, other people’s sadness, serials, crime dramas, talking about illnesses, the soap opera Simplemente María, true life stories from women’s magazines. When she delves into her intellectual preferences, an almost morbid obsession with everything that makes her cry and suffer comes to light, as if throughout history she had not suffered enough! Sometimes her personal drama is more pathetic than the one experienced by the heroine of the radio drama, but that does not count for her. However, she is cheerful. Her tears flow easily and just as quickly and spontaneously does her laughter appear. The northerner has a more sophisticated humor, she does not laugh just for the sake of laughing. The woman from the south also laughs easily, but she is more naive. Anywhere in Chile where a group of women get together to talk, either to take a break from the day or to escape the routine at home, joy is contagious. Without reaching black humor, she habitually laughs at herself; she makes fun of her own hardships, and the story of the husband who went after another is often told as if it were the best joke in the world. She smiles in the face of adversity and she does not stop for long to lament if something bad happens to her. She is conciliatory. She is always looking for harmony, in the family, in her marriage, in the political sphere. She does not like violence, she is constantly appeasing others, she never adds fuel to the fire. Many of the characteristics of the Chilean woman change according to the socioeconomic stratum to which she belongs. Although there are common traits between a poorer resident or a worker and a wealthy housewife or a professional, the problems they experience are different, as well as their attitude towards life. It is easier to assess what a modest woman thinks than one from the middle or upper class. The woman of the small village, the simple woman, did not

Women and gender equality 89 experience the happiness of receiving an education, but she is less corrupted. She is not ashamed of her sorrows or her joys. She shares them with others. She shows her intimacy and talks about her love life, the way she delivers herself to her man, her dramas, her story that is often a rosary of bitter experiences. Accustomed to living a disordered life, she also shares her feelings. The woman who does not experience the daily drama of barely having enough to eat is an introvert; although she is not very knowledgeable, she feels ashamed to show her true colors. It is more difficult to assess what she really thinks, she is not so honest with herself or with others. She is more calculating. She is rarely spontaneous. She is a prisoner of a series of taboos and prejudices that the environment in which she operates has imposed on her. She is more selfish. This prevents her from organizing herself and realizing that she is an incomplete being because she lacks the opportunities that men have had since childhood and the mechanisms that would help her join the workforce and free herself from a domestic servitude that often frustrates her. In the middle class there are few Centers for Mothers and a lack of organizations that would allow them to plan their role in the community. She is not acquainted with the neighborhood. Oftentimes she does not even know her neighbor. On the other hand, the hard and difficult environment in which the proletarian woman develops in a selfless way teaches her to share with her companions the little she has. (. . .) Her big problem: Machismo

Machismo has its roots well established in Chile, as in the rest of Latin America. Women have suffered a lot due to the machismo of Chilean men. This phenomenon of considering men as king and lord for the mere fact they are men, relegating women to the background, has generated all sorts of calamities in the household. It is in the most modest classes that machismo is most deeply rooted. Although women—especially the most prepared, the professionals—have made a lot of progress in their fight, machismo is still very prevalent, especially in the countryside. The woman in the countryside lives completely subjected to her man. The whole year revolves around him. He is “HE.” She does nothing without “considering his opinion.” “What will HE say?” “Maybe HE won’t like that.” “I’m going to ask HIM first.” She both loves and fears her husband. He dominates her. He is the macho. Almost every man who lives in the countryside beats his wife. Machismo is evident in many situations. In the government of Eduardo Frei, women were not allowed to participate in the settlements. The owner was the farmer. His wife, although she also worked, was only “the wife of.” There were cases of someone dying without leaving a son and the rest of the countryfolk did not let the widow take over the property. “It’s very hard for one to rebel,” says Teresa L., from the René Schneider shanty town in Santiago, “but once you rebel for the first time, there’s no one

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that can stop you.” She is a beautiful young woman, very beautiful. Her husband made her life miserable. She told her story, like thousands of others: He was jealous, he beat me and the kids, I even ended up in hospital. The children did not like him and they ran away from him because he hit them. What’s worse, he used to do it when he was sober, because one can forgive a drunk person because they don’t know what they’re doing. Until one day, like crazy, I grabbed one of my kids and went off to throw myself in front of a car on the highway. I didn’t want to live anymore. But he chased me and asked for my forgiveness. “Get the kids ready”—he told me— “and we’ll go wherever you want.” Since then he has been another man, he takes me everywhere, we are happy, although I am always afraid, I mistrust him, I don’t think such beauty can be true. In a Center for Mothers in the north of Chile, all the members were aware that something had happened to Laly because, after begging her husband for three unsuccessful years to let her go to the meetings, she finally attended one. She was completely dressed in black and very sad, but a subtle flame of liberation shone in her eyes. Yes, something had happened to her. Her husband had died. But there is no need for drastic measures. Without women throwing themselves on a highway and without the need to become widows, machismo can diminish. In all groups, women have been changing and, although much more slowly, men have also changed. In Arica, enthusiastic about the work that the women were doing in the Center for Mothers in a poor neighborhood, a group of husbands formed a Center for Fathers that, although it cannot be legally recognized, is actively making progress. They take care of the education of their children and promote sports. To defeat machismo, a woman must first become aware that this is what she really wants. She complains a lot about machismo, but to a large extent she contributes to promoting it. She toils away in the kitchen even though she has the means to pay for someone to help her, because her husband tells her that “I can’t get used to eating what someone other than you prepares for me.” She is flattered, but at the same time she complains because she also wants to fulfill herself outside the house, away from the dishwasher and the kitchen, and have a little more time to dedicate to herself. The woman raises macho children. Even today. Chilean children are educated by their mothers to be machos through and through. The Chilean mother forces the little girl from a young age to take on responsibilities, to help around the house, while she lets the little boy play in the street. The boy plays outside with the slingshot and the rifle, brandishing his first weapons to dominate the world, while inside the home, the girl is learning to be more responsible, more selfsacrificing, to give her all, but also to bear the load. She is becoming the woman

Women and gender equality 91 who will later give everything for her man and children, forgetting herself as a human being. The woman wants to free herself, not in the style of the North American or European feminists who almost end up denying men, but in matters that are fundamental to her. Until now, she has been the victim of a socioeconomic system that had also trapped her man, and of a whole tangle of cultural taboos that fortunately are already disappearing. One of the causes of the physical and emotional degradation of the Chilean woman, and which has largely prevented her from joining the workforce earlier, has been the excessive number of children she has. The ones that God commanded. With the introduction and popularization of contraceptive methods in Chile, women have been freed from a great burden. They are following this concept of family planning. The men are more reluctant. For them it is an important manifestation of their machismo. The more children a man has, the more of a man he is. That is why in the countryside, where machismo is stronger, families are more numerous. The worker also has a hard time accepting that his wife uses some kind of contraception. But the woman is so convinced it is something that suits her, that she even deceives her husband. She inserts an intrauterine device, but does not tell him. She has to resort to this because there is great ignorance among men regarding contraceptives. Many think that women now have more freedom to be unfaithful. Some husbands, when they have to travel for a few days and leave their wives alone, take the birth control pills with them, so their wives cannot betray them, and they bring them back so they can continue using them once they are home. The middle-class woman immediately adhered to these birth control programs and she now plans her family with the approval of the man. Four years ago, a writer said that young Chilean women were as “savvy” as their mothers, and incited them to rebel against their men with imagination, annihilate them if necessary so that they could stop fulfilling the millenary role of a shoulder to cry on for their macho husbands. It seems that women are truly living this process. They do not lack imagination. (. . .) Her social struggles

The Chilean woman has participated very little in the social struggle, in political action, in community work. Confined to the domestic sphere, barely glimpsing the labor world through her husband, she has remained more or less distanced from political or cultural movements. She is isolated, living second-hand. She would only leave her drowsy state and help with common tasks when a catastrophe or a serious problem afflicted her country or her neighborhood. She joined in to alleviate the disastrous effects of an earthquake, to obtain electricity or sewerage for the population.

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In recent years there has been a great change. Women are no longer the inhibited beings, lacking instruction, that were not even acquainted with the sidewalks of their houses. They are now aware that their domestic universe can be expanded immeasurably, they are thinking more about developing their wit and their capacity, they are aware that now they can fulfill two additional roles on top of the ones they already had: those of citizen and person. They have an unrelenting desire to make progress in their neighborhood first, then their country. Very responsible, a tireless worker and imaginative, the Chilean woman showcases her talents when she undertakes community work. The Center for Mothers has served as a school for women. In order to attend their weekly meetings and with the initial objective of escaping from the domestic routine; seeing other faces and hearing other voices, they left their house and thus began their concern for what was happening outside. Today’s Centers for Mothers have little or nothing to do with those that were born two decades ago, when Catholic ladies gave the member a cover she could unravel in exchange for her going to mass. Her current work does not depend on a lady of good will who teaches her things, but instead is autonomous and pursues the goal of fully integrating herself into the community. With the current government, the Centers for Mothers are motivated by the desire to make women work alongside men in the homeless, security and health committees, as well as in the Neighborhood Councils. A wonderful example of what women can do when they are organized took place last year when women from five neighborhoods in Antofagasta (Norte, Trocadero, Golf, Las Rocas, and Punta Brava), together with the unions and the Neighborhood Councils, dealt with the serious health problem they were suffering, by cleaning up garbage, excreta, pigs, rodents, insects, and contaminated water, in order to put an end to infantile diarrhea that wreaked havoc among children. The women of these populations were organized and instructed on how to teach the inhabitants the way to ensure food hygiene, to make septic tanks, to somewhat alleviate the disastrous effects of arsenic, which in fact has been poisoning people in Antofagasta for a whole decade, particularly children. For many years they drank arsenic water, which caused serious illnesses of all kinds, especially to the respiratory tract. Many children died, especially in poor sectors, because they were poorly fed and had never had milk. The women volunteers in these health groups taught mothers to be wary of these disorders, how to prevent them, to use the milk from the National Plan. They taught them through talks, visiting them house to house, teaching them in a practical way, showing films. After this wellorganized action, there was a significant decrease in childhood diarrhea. There are women who take charge in the social struggle. The woman running things, the leader, the one who immediately stands out in the Center for Mothers and in the Neighborhood Councils, organizing the others and encouraging them to do an effective job, seems to possess a special quality; she is generally an already mature woman and displays an extraordinary drive in her activities,

Women and gender equality 93 she gives herself completely. She leads a hard life. For example, Rosa Huisa, president of a Center for Mothers in Arica. I met her in a hospital, sick, but she had a knack for getting permission to go to the Center for Mothers. With frizzy hair and a thick voice, she sounded more like a black jazz singer. She is about 50 years old, and she has been a leader for 16. During that time, she has dedicated herself entirely to improving things in her neighborhood. She is a laundress and after meetings and political rallies she arrives at dawn to wash other people’s clothes, because otherwise she has nothing to live on. She lacks all preparation, other than what she has learned throughout her life. She barely spent three years at school: “You had to help the veterans.” At the age of seven, she was already working as a domestic worker. She recounted: “I used to go to school barefoot. At 17, when I had my First Communion, I learned about shoes.” She was cheerful, jovial, a good athlete. She organized murgas1 and practiced shot putting, running, and high jumping. This woman has been a pioneer in a country where women never had the opportunity to act freely in a community job. She has sometimes had to pay dearly for her audacity to leave the herd. Rosa lost three husbands for this reason. She threw the three of them out of the house because they wanted a traditional wife and she never accepted it: I have had bad luck with men, maybe I’m just unlucky. I have always liked work, even if it is hard, and I used to work my butt off, whereas my partners came home inebriated and demanding clean clothes and food. . . . So that’s why I got angry . . . I kicked them out of the house! She not only had to sacrifice her sentimental life, but also her maternal role many times. She neglected the house, she neglected her children: “I know that I have cared more for those outside than for those inside my own house, and my children have reproached me; but what can I do about it?” This type of woman shows up in modest sectors, where such a hard existence suddenly produces these true apostles who sacrifice their personal lives for a great cause. Now that the Chilean woman has spoken up and is participating more and more, she also has to overcome some defects that are the result of her being excluded from social action for so long. Since she has never integrated before, she is only now beginning to learn. She is a fighter in the way she carries out her proposed plans, and she is also a fighter in the other sense of the word. Gossip, quarrels, and fights with other women often make community work difficult. But she will get over it in time; for the moment she has what is important: an unbounded industriousness. At the same time, she is fighting in the privacy of her home, to overcome the man’s resistance to her integration. It is amazing how fast the process can be. Until very recently, she used to ask the man for permission to do everything,

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now she just lets him know. She only tries to avoid conflicts to keep the peace at home, but when the man gets too stubborn, she just does what seems fair to her. The man is learning to respect the Centers for Mothers; he no longer considers them only places where his wife goes to gossip. This battle—perhaps the most important—is not easy for her, because only if she educates men will she be able to fulfill her new roles free of distress. Convincing him brings about more than one headache, more than one moment of anguish, even a beating in sectors where machismo is more rampant. “The machine or me,” a northern worker would say to his wife who had just acquired a sewing machine through the Center for Mothers. Most men tell the women who go to the Centers: “Go to the meeting, as long as you don’t neglect the house.” She has also become politically independent; she often joins a political party, even if her husband is against it. The problems worsen because the party absorbs her and the man feels bad. But once a decision has been made, the woman does not back down. A councilwoman recounted how she was almost on the verge of breaking up her marriage because of her political action: The meetings require me to spend a lot of time outside and my husband, who is not a member of any party, confronted me one day: “The house or the party”, he told me. I replied: “You met me when I was a political activist and you accepted me as I was. At this point in my life, I cannot throw everything away. I choose the political party!” He left the house but came back the next day. It really scared me. For the Chilean woman, a fascinating world has opened. To the extent that she knows how to wisely balance her age-old roles of mother and wife with the new ones of citizen and worker, she will be a happy woman and capable of making people happy. Today, she sacrifices herself because she is a pioneer; tomorrow she will have to sacrifice herself perhaps even more, but eventually she will be rewarded when she herself or her daughters become fully developed beings. A world of commitments awaits her that she still does not completely foresee, but that she has the duty to fulfill with the same greatness she has fulfilled past commitments. The emancipation of the Chilean woman (1972). Virginia Vidal. Extracts . . . Machismo

María began to converse with other women about a topic that has come up in various talks at the Center for Mothers: machismo. They all feel it, they suffer it, but they would like to know the causes of this attitude that humiliates women.

Women and gender equality 95 Chile, like all other countries in Latin America, is the result of the incorporation of the American continent into the other nations of the world. This was a result of discovery and conquest. Here in Chile a woman stood out among the conquerors: Inés de Suárez.2 She was the lover of Pedro de Valdivia3 and fought like a man to dominate indigenous people. Her performance was exceptional among Spanish women. A bit of history

If the Spanish woman was dominated, what was the situation of the Mapuche woman like? She was an active member within the family group, her performance in agricultural work was important, so leaving home to accompany her husband meant an economic loss. That is why the boyfriend had to give the girl’s father a previously agreed amount of cattle before taking her away. The active role of the Mapuche woman in her society sheds light on something else: filiation was through the maternal line and the children belonged to the mother’s family. Dissolving the marriage was also simple. If the woman went back to her parents’ house, her family returned what they had received in exchange for her. If she left with another man, he gave the ex-husband an agreed amount of property. In other words, the Mapuche woman retained her dignity in societies where private land ownership did not exist. Polygamy existed among the Mapuches. If the father died, the eldest son was left with all the wives, except his own mother. It was a nation without kings, princes, or lords. A chief was only chosen in case of war. The Spaniards did not subdue the Mapuches, but the conquest process gradually formed a new group of people that would give rise to the Chilean nation. The prisoners and mixed-race children of Mapuches and Spaniards were the first to suffer the encomienda system that would turn them into servants. A clear example of this system is Marina Gaete,4 legitimate wife of Pedro de Valdivia, who did not participate much in the life of her husband but inherited his property. Marina’s will shows that she leased several groups of dozens of Indians to other landowners to work for them. For this lease the colonist with encomienda rights received a very high income. This encomienda system prevailed for a long time, despite the king’s strict prohibition. This encomienda system is the cradle of big estates. The tenants, descendants of the first mestizos, will be neither slaves nor free men. They will be forced to remain in the estates due to direct or indirect pressure from the bosses. The landowner’s wife

After the conquest, ownership of the land was concentrated in a few hands, passing from one generation to another through the eldest son: this is the right of primogeniture. Although the laws of 1852 and 1857 abolished the right of

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primogeniture, the custom did not disappear and exerted a powerful influence on Chilean life. The landowner’s wife historically played a passive role. An American, Dr. Jorge MacBride, the first scientist who seriously studied land ownership in Chile, presented in 1935 a very realistic picture of the patron’s wife. He says that, while the tenants were eating their biscuits and their portion of toasted flour, he was invited to the house of the wealthy landowner for teatime. He found himself at a table full of fruit, cheese, cake, confiture. “The lady, the gentle wife of the landowner, presided, while the family of eight children between 5 and 20 years old were seated in their respective places. A French governess completed the group. Several servants assisted the lady or took care of the younger children.” That passive woman, raising children, well protected and cared for, played an important role in the landowner’s career. MacBride says: “She was connected to her husband’s family and her inheritance made him the owner of a second estate, not too far from the first.” And the proletarian woman?

The wife of the laborer or rural worker always suffered a double oppression: that imposed by the system of her class, the exploitation suffered by her father, her husband or cohabitant, and the oppression derived from a political, social, and legal system that dominated her, subjecting her to men. That oppression still exists and can only be changed by the growth of the class struggle, through revolutionary transformations. The female laborers are discriminated against at work. And they are discriminated against by their male colleagues who do not encourage them to participate in the union struggle. Concrete examples of machismo are the husband’s refusal for his wife to participate in mass organizations; “the daily allowance” that the man of the house gives to the woman without telling her how much he earns; the attitude of a great majority of Chileans who have a loved one other than their own wife; the reluctance of the system to enact a Divorce Law that protects the woman and her children; men’s attitude regarding the care of the children, which is considered an exclusive task of the woman. In the Center for Mothers of Camp Siete Canchas (on the corner of Amapolas and Coventry), at the end of 1971, the residents themselves presented a play that depicts a man that comes home late without taking into consideration his wife, prohibiting her from attending the meeting of the Center for Mothers “because there she only gossips” and she does not cooperate at home. Work: the first step

María and her friends ask themselves: How are we going to end this? There is only one answer: the inclusion of women in production. This is not the solution

Women and gender equality 97 to all problems a woman faces, but it is the first step in freeing herself from household slavery, from economic dependence that ties her to her husband, partner, or father. It is the first step for her to be able to participate in the economic and social life. Inclusion in production is the first condition for independence. This independence will allow her, among other things, to be the friend and companion of the man she shares her life with, to feel solidarity towards that man and the children she has with him. Feeling more supportive of other women. To be more aware of the organization. It is the first step towards emancipation. The fight for female emancipation is not unbridled freedom; it is a responsibility. But there can be no female emancipation without revolution, nor can there be a revolution without the simultaneous struggle against the enemies of female emancipation, who are the same enemies of the worker, of the exploited sectors of society. The fight for female emancipation excludes all paternalism and, above all, takes into account the inclusion of women in work, in production. That is, it shows the woman a goal that is no longer that of just marriage, motherhood, and home. Participation in production

What is the current reality of female participation in production? According to the 1967 census, of the population over 12 years old, 1.64% of women were university students whereas 3.44% of men were. Of these college graduates, less than half of the women were working in the field they studied at university. In contrast, three quarters of the men worked in their corresponding fields. That same year, 5.82% of men and 4.44% of women had attained technicalprofessional education. In secondary education there were 26.87% men and 27.57% women. That year there were 9.52% illiterate men and 11.45% illiterate women. In 1969 the female population of working age amounted to 3,314,500 women, but the country’s total labor force (employed or unemployed looking for work) amounted to 2,885,600 people. The total number of working women was 722,800. From 1952 to 1959 the inclusion of women in the labor force has remained stable, with a tendency to decrease. This explains why the 1970 census indicated that only 681,000 women were working. In other words, in the last 20 years there has not been any policy that favors the incorporation of women into production. Put even more simply: women have been prevented from taking the first step towards their liberation. Of the 681,000 women working, 50.60% are married and 30.10% are single. The total of these women constitutes 24.5% of the active population of the

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country. There are 97,000 workers, 127,000 public administration employees, 53,000 merchants and self-employed workers, 240,000 domestic employees. The rest work in laundry services, hairdressing salons, restaurants, cafes, or as vendors. Less than 8% are in the professional and technical category. The female workers work mainly in metallurgy, textiles, leather and footwear, chemistry and pharmacy, canning and food industries. It is important to focus on the number of domestic employees: 240,000, more than a third of the total number of women who work in Chile. . . . The legal situation of women

“The fundamental problem of legal inequality for women lies in the conjugal partnership system established in the Civil Code. Since marriage is a contract, it is the husband who is responsible for managing that institution.” The person who thinks so is a jurist, Davor Harasic, from the Department of Studies for the coordination of all Ministry of Justice projects related to the family. The modification of article 102 of the Civil Code will dignify women, because marriage cannot have the sole purpose of “living together, procreating and helping each other.” The woman renounces her dignity when she agrees to “obey her husband” in exchange for protection. Such a commitment makes her more of a servant of the land than a citizen of a democracy. That is why article 131 of the Civil Code must also be modified. Marriage in a changing society acquires new projections. The human couple can be fulfilled not only by their own children, but also other children, and other human beings. A law that does not establish mutual consent as grounds for divorce and that puts an end to the legal immorality that is the annulment process will dignify women. In 1970, almost seven marriages a day were annulled: 2,300 annulment decrees were issued; even though annulment is an expensive procedure and requires a high financial outlay. Other than this, annulment does not protect the rights of the woman and her children. Matrimonial regime

The UP government does not consider a married woman a minor before the law, an incapable person who, without the authorization of the husband, cannot buy or sell matrimonial assets even if she has bought them with her own salary, nor incur debts, even if it is credit obtained in a commercial establishment. Nor could she travel abroad without that authorization. There is a project “sleeping” in Parliament which would give full rights to married women. This project replaces the current matrimonial regime with a “profit sharing” regime. This means that each of the spouses keeps their assets, be they real estate or furniture, in such a way that both have full rights. But if

Women and gender equality 99 the marriage ends, the assets of both are combined and divided. This favors the woman, because she, in general, does not initially bring goods to the marriage, but during the marriage contributes towards obtaining them. All children are equal

According to legal scholar Davor Harasic, it is not enough to give women full capacity rights. We must review all Family Law and take care of a very important matter: filiation, to erase any difference between children born within or outside of wedlock. In so doing, the differences established by the Civil Code in relation to children will be eliminated. It is also necessary to reform the system of investigation of paternity and allow the Legal Medical Institute to use more modern methods to produce expert reports. In addition, judges must be given greater power to take the paternity test into consideration. This will greatly favor the single mother, the most neglected and disparaged by today’s society. Another important reform that is currently being promoted will give full rights to all eighteen-year-old Chileans without them losing their right to family allowances and social security guarantees if they are students. Currently, an eighteenyear-old boy or girl can vote, drive a car, but cannot get married or travel without the consent of their parents, nor buy a house. This reform aims to put an end to marital authority and parental authority. In other words, for the first time the rights of women and young people will be taken into account and this opens the path to equality between family members. True equality between spouses

The creation of Family Courts is also being studied so that all problems resulting from family relationships can be analyzed by competent specialists: a social worker, a lawyer, a psychologist, a sociologist. Regarding the Penal Code, there are two laws that women hope will be promulgated as soon as possible: abortion, so that pregnant women who do not wish to have a child can be treated in a hospital without risking their lives; the other is the abolition of the provision that considers a woman who has sexual relations with a man who is not her husband a criminal. The Penal Code considers these relationships a crime that must be punished by law. However, it is not considered a crime if it is the man who has sexual relations with a woman who is not his wife. Reforming the Penal Code and establishing equality between spouses is urgent. All these transformations of our current laws will help to dignify women, but, as jurist Davor Harasic says: “Women’s emancipation does not result from a legal process. The only thing that the law can do is to not obstruct emancipation.” We must also respect the rights of women who are not mothers.

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Without neglecting the rights of the mother, we must address the demands of all women. Not all of them are mothers. Nor do all of them want to be mothers. There are those who want to dedicate themselves entirely to a profession, to a creative activity, to scientific research, to their trade. There are women who want to be with a man in order to love him and project both into a life rich in experiences, in acquiring knowledge, in creative activities, without having children. There are single women, without children, who are satisfied with the role they play in social and economic life, but due to machismo and the exaltation of motherhood, others look at them with contempt and suspicion, giving them the demeaning nickname of “spinsters.” . . . Full emancipation

María, Juana, Elsa, all women who live in neglect, suddenly ask themselves: Is there no way out of our situation? Will we always be enslaved to our home? Will we always be subjugated by our husbands? Is it our destiny to live worrying about the future of our children? Must our intelligence and skills only serve to solve domestic problems? Is it true that our only goal is to be seductive, nice, pleasant in order to retain men? Such prospects overwhelm them, and they do not accept such a fate. Even fewer accept it for their daughters. María suddenly looks at her daughter. She is getting ready to do volunteer work. The girl is indignant when her mother warns her against the dangers of pregnancy: “Mom! We are responsible. We are going to work, to do something useful, to help, to teach by example, and we also know about the pill.” María feels a bit ashamed. She is not old, but she sees a gulf between her own youth and her daughter’s. That makes her happy. Life can be changed. Her daughter argues on an equal footing with her boyfriend and with her fellow students. She does not know how to cook a plate of food, or prepare a good cup of tea well, but she is a member of a group of popular dances and songs, she also worked with a shovel and pick to transform the town’s garbage dump into a children’s playground. María is starting to understand that female emancipation is not sexual licentiousness, but the responsibility with which a woman assumes her commitment to society, to be involved in it, whether or not she marries. Female emancipation is educating children to be conscious, free, and responsible people within the society they are a part of. Women’s emancipation is the active participation of women in the fight for safe and hygienic housing for all, in the fight against alcoholism, crime, malnutrition, disease, poverty, and everything that degrades human beings and destroys their dignity.

Women and gender equality 101 Female emancipation is the eradication of illiteracy, it is health, it is respect, it is solidarity. Simply put, the possibility of being a person. María looks at a map of Chile and sees a country with an immense ocean, full of fish, shellfish, and algae; a mountain range that contains rich minerals; fertile valleys, natural grasslands in the extreme south, where cattle are raised. This elongated country boasts a myriad of climates that allows it to produce all kinds of fruit, from mangoes and pineapples to raspberries and currants, olives, grapes, oranges and lemons, avocados, artichokes, asparagus, even potatoes and sugar beets. And goats, pigs, chicken, cattle, and sheep. Such a huge, rich country! Trout in southern rivers and lakes; lobsters in Juan Fernández, and Chiloé. María now understands how important it is for copper to belong to Chileans and not to foreign companies. This rich country finally belongs to Chileans. But it takes a lot of work to take advantage of all its assets and to distribute them rationally. We have to build roads, new industries, schools, hospitals. That is a huge task. It cannot be fulfilled by only some Chileans. Not even half of the Chilean population. The participation of the other half is needed, that is, women. The fulfillment of that task is socialism. As a goal, not imposed by decree. It is electrification, roads, industries, education for all, houses for all, adequate food for all, a definitive end to poverty, healthy and creative enjoyment of leisure and an end to dependence on foreign powers. Socialism puts an end to women slaving away to ensure food and safety for a small family group, because society has already guaranteed food, wellbeing, culture, and safety for each man, each woman, each child, each elderly person. Socialism does not have a start date, but Chile has already begun the process and it is the duty of every citizen to ensure that its foundations are solid, that no earthquake or storm will move them. Speech on International Women’s Day, Antofagasta (March 8, 1972). Salvador Allende. Extracts . . . Women in national history

Today, as President of Chile, I point out to the people of Chile that we are in debt to so many women, heroines, mothers, or partners, who wrote pages that history preserves in all their greatness. Fresia, Tegualda, and Guacolda are the warm manifestation of the indigenous women who suffered together with their men,5 defending their land against the presence of the Spanish conqueror. Javiera Carrera6 and Paula Jaraquemada7 represent women at the time of the struggle for independence. The feminine and heroic value of Cornelia Olivares8 is also relevant, a modest woman, a simple woman of the people, who received

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the highest award from the Father of the Nation for her heroism in the fight for our independence. And there is a woman who, not being a mother, was the mother of thousands and thousands of Chilean children. She who immortalized in her struggle the drama of our childhood; she, who reached the highest levels of universal distinction. I am referring to the immortal poet who received the Nobel Prize, who made the name of Chile circulate vertiginously throughout the world. I am talking about Gabriela Mistral.9 As a citizen who looks beyond his borders, I would like to point out three important women: one who represents the value of scientific creation, that is Madame Curie; the second, a woman who fights to put an end to her community’s plight in the face of racial segregation, Angela Davis. I also want to call to mind the heroine of a small and heroic nation, South Vietnam, whose feats in the fight for the independence of her people history will not forget.10 And finally, now that technology and science are capable of dominating nature—man reaches outer space for the first time—I want to point out how much we admire Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. This demonstrates that women have the same capacity as men, that we must provide them with the opportunities they require to become aware of their greatness, both on earth and in the air. I would like to inform you that today, March 8, Chilean women, through a Committee made up fundamentally of women of the UP, who are not going to fight only for the women who are active in the parties and movements of the UP, but for all the women of our land, have shared with the public the bases of an appeal and the essential points that, in the opinion of the members of the National Commission, must be analyzed and discussed. Wherever women are included and carry out activities, they must discuss, analyze, and delve into the essential points contained in this appeal so that it be widely known and so that in a national convention on May 1 next year—where we want every women to be represented—we can sign a commitment in which Chilean women and the government I preside contribute to conquering women’s rights in the economic, social, political, and cultural fields. What we want, and I declare it on this international day, is for the People’s Government to fully enshrine equal rights for women, which have been postponed for so many years, and so many times denied, ignored, or neglected. The government I preside over has agreed to declare this year the “Year of the Chilean Mother” and the “Year of the Child.” It is easy to synthesize in a few words the inequality that women face in contemporary society. It would be much easier—but time does not allow me—to point out the inequality that was even more brutal in societies prior to the capitalist system. In any case, all of you women of Antofagasta, women of Chile who are listening to me through these stations, know perfectly well that these inequalities exist in the law, in the expectations of education, culture, work, and sports. You

Women and gender equality 103 know perfectly well that there is a moral code for men that is different from the moral code for women. You are aware that, only 20 years ago, women in Chile conquered their full civic rights.11 I have the privilege of having been one of the signatories that gave women the right to be elected and choose their representatives, participating through suffrage in the elections for parliamentarians and President of the Republic. We all know that even now, married women are often still dependent upon men; they lack the legal fullness to function as such, as women. We are also aware of the inequality that exists when it comes to similar jobs; women are paid less than men for similar work. We all know perfectly well the brutal drama that marks the existence of thousands of girls who, due to their socioeconomic circumstances, the tragedy of their lives, ignorance, and lack of culture in this society, have to sell what a woman would never want to sell: caresses, to fake love. We all know, and I wrote it as Pedro Aguirre Cerda’s12 Minister of Public Health, what percentage of girls, especially lower class, become prostitutes for reasons of social prestige, hunger, and poverty, and as a doctor and politician who has no fear of calling things by their name—as long as it is respectful of those who suffer—I have pointed out that the cause of the high mortality that exists in our country, the second highest cause of mortality in women, is abortion. There are hundreds and thousands of young women who resort to this procedure for fear of having their reputation ruined, of work possibilities being denied to them; and there are hundreds of women who have to rip their child out of their womb due to economic reasons, because society punishes single mothers. You know the legal differences between the love child and the legitimate child. What women must be given

We want topics such as the following to be considered in the legal sphere: full legal capacity of women, equal opportunities in work and culture, massive authorization of nurseries and kindergartens, protection of single mothers and the abandoned mother, maternity research, and Divorce Law that prioritizes the protection of children. Likewise, we must protect women who are married to aggressive drunkards. This [discrimination] is incompatible with human dignity, the well-being of the family and society; it prevents their participation on equal terms with men in the social, political, economic, and cultural life of their countries, and is an obstacle to the full development of women’s potential in the service of their countries and humanity. For us, the complete development of a country, the wellbeing of humanity and the desire for peace require the utmost participation of women, as well as men, in all fields. Now that an old system is breaking down in our country, now that we walk within constitutional and legal channels in favor of the profound transformation

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of Chilean society, we want Chile to be an economically independent country, decent and sovereign. I reiterate, when we speak of revolution as a creative expression—which does not include violence—when we speak of revolution as moral improvement, to achieve a different way of life, when we speak of revolution as an expression of generosity, of sacrifice and dedication, when we speak of revolution as a manifestation of creativity in technology, science, and art, we demand that the warm and combative presence of women be included in the Chilean revolutionary process. The revolution looks at the human person

When we talk about revolution, we look fundamentally at human beings and the rights that they should have. When we talk about revolution, knowing the distance and the difference between men and women, we place emphasis on the fact that revolution must include women, who should be able to contribute to this process without fear. Who better than a woman can understand what she and her family need. Who better than a woman can know that we truly want her life to change and that we have sought, for example, in the Ministry of the Family—although not yet approved by Congress—the possibility of integrating her into the core of the basic existence of society, into the material and spiritual realms. How good it is to ask Chilean women to join us, so they can obtain a different way of life, which is their right. How good it is to tell Chilean women that the revolutionary path that is being developed in this country is the path of respect for individual and social rights, the path of respect for people’s convictions. In this country there is no political persecution; the broadest freedom of expression is allowed. In this country there will always be the broadest freedom to elect and be elected, and, as Chileans, we are proud of maintaining the tradition of respect for conscience and different beliefs. All this will be maintained and greatly increased in this government, the government of the people, of the workers and which demands the invaluable presence of women. Interview with the international press at the United Nations (December 4, 1972). Salvador Allende. Extracts President Allende: Good afternoon. It is a great pleasure for me to greet you, ladies and gentlemen of the press. And I am at your disposal so that you can ask me any questions you deem appropriate. Journalist: Women are very important in the new socialist process. How is the government taking measures to include them more actively into the new process? President Allende: Thank you for your question. I wish I had more time; I will try, because I find it very important, to synthesize—which is difficult for me— my thoughts and reality. I believe that revolution without the presence of women

Women and gender equality 105 can neither take hold nor develop. Therefore, for us, the presence of women is essential in the process that our country is going through. What is more, in the capitalist regime, compared to men, women undoubtedly endure inferior conditions, and it becomes more evident in countries like ours. Legal inferiority, inferiority in terms of remuneration; women do not earn the same as men for the same job; they earn less; women do not have full capacity from the legal point of view. Furthermore, women suffer the consequences of unfair morality, they suffer, and their children suffer. Among our countries, I can give the example of Chile, which is a country that has a very serious institutional tradition, where women have reached levels that they have not reached elsewhere. While mentioning this, I would like to give journalists some background information so they can understand our situation. The Chilean Congress has operated for 160 uninterrupted years. In the whole world, only the United States and England have Congresses of longer standing than ours; however, in Chile, women are inferior before the law; we have sent a Bill to make women equal to men. From the moment we are born—and this is painful—the laws of our countries enshrine differences between children. For example, there are natural children, legitimate and illegitimate children. How is it the child’s fault? In addition— no one, I suppose, would find it inappropriate for me to say so—women have fewer possibilities of work and education in our countries. They have never, at least technically, scientifically, been told about life’s problems and they suffer the consequences of social scourges. So, this leads to prostitution and abortion, problems that can be treated here in a respectful manner, but in reality, are so widespread that they hit many countries very hard. Of course, people do not mention these topics, but we will. And I can talk about them because I am a doctor; I have been President of the Medical School of my country for five years, and I have been a professor of social medicine. The single mother, for example, is an issue; unable to find a job; marginalized from life; the target of unfair morality. The irresponsibility of the man who brings a child into existence in our countries also showcases unfair morality. For this reason, our preoccupation with women is essential and the woman in a revolutionary process is the one who has the most to gain. If there is something that interests us, it is precisely to teach the men of our country the respect they owe to their wives, to women, and it would be enough for them to think of their mothers to respect all women. Speech in “The Present-Day Woman in Latin America” seminar at the Gabriela Mistral building, Santiago (October 27, 1972). Salvador Allende I express, on behalf of the people and the government of Chile, my appreciation for your noble and generous attitude, comrades and friends, women from all continents who have come to our homeland in difficult times, to give us, with the warm tenderness of women, fraternal support from different lands, from

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different races, from different climates, and this conveys history’s message that nothing will stop the people’s struggle for freedom, and that this struggle does not belong to a single country or nation; it belongs to all countries and nations who yearn for their homelands to be economically independent, free, sovereign, and dignified. And Latin America knows perfectly well that our women participated in the victorious struggle for independence. We men know perfectly well the individual attitude of heroic women, who proudly raised their protest, who did it verbally and in writing, who gave their lives to enable our nations to reach the level of political independence that was necessary. Naming them one by one would be a difficult task and, furthermore, by improvising I could commit the injustice of omitting some names enshrined in the grateful memory of Latin American women and men. I do want to emphasize that, at that time, the women who assumed such an attitude demonstrated exceptional courage; a patriotic conscience of important and profound content. Woman were—as it is logical to imagine—much more oppressed than the women of our time, even though we acknowledge that women still face the limitations of an unjust social regime in many countries throughout the world. However, women at an individual level knew how to become part of history by their example and their action, and in doing so, included all women, who, even if they did not act in the withdrawn silence of their homes or their fields, felt the same yearning, the same desire, the same conviction that our homelands would achieve the right to be free, independent, and sovereign. Therefore, it is not surprising that, as social processes make progress in the world, as forms of human coexistence evolve, as societies acquire different content, women have—logically—had the right and the need to fight, so that they can achieve equal conditions and rights as men. But they are no longer the lonely, heroic women who represent thousands of women; women are becoming aware, are forming their groups, are constituting great human masses, and together with men make up nations and it is the nations who are writing history and indicating the new destiny and the new society they long for. It is no longer individual men and women who can change the existence of millions of human beings; it is the people, it is the great and ignored human masses that slowly, through hard work, become aware of their rights and choose men and women and let them know the task they must fulfill, as the vanguard of the great process that is a result of the mobilization of dense and opaque crowds that have the clarity and the decision to achieve a different existence. That is why, indisputably, this seminar called “The Present-Day Woman in Latin America” has such wide and important reach. Latin America, prodigal continent, of great natural resources, where millions and millions of human beings live while still being denied basic and essential rights, potentially rich nations, impoverished by the encroachment of foreign capital that together with national

Women and gender equality 107 oligarchies have placed power and wealth at the service of minorities and at the service of powerful imperialist capital. Latin American history clearly exposes the despair and misfortune that we have suffered in common for centuries. And technology and science makes the inequality that exists between the progress of the countries of industrial capitalism, the progress of socialist countries, and our reality, more evident and more noticeable. On this continent—and when I say this I am excluding Cuba for having a socialist regime different from that of the rest of the countries—no government, including ours, in the past or present, democratic, pseudo-democratic, military, dictatorial, has managed to overcome the great deficits that speak of lack of culture, shortage of housing, insufficient food, absence of jobs, little and low health protection, no right to rest and leisure for the vast majority of our compatriots. And when I say compatriots, I speak as a Latin American, because being a true Chilean, I believe that I and all of us are citizens of Latin America, if we interpret the historical mandate exemplified by the Fathers of the Nation, men born in different lands, united under the same banners, fighting with the same determination, to make Latin America an emancipated continent with the voice of a continental nation. For this reason, if our man, as a consequence of the capitalist regime and system, and our nations, as a consequence of imperialist encroachment, have dragged the harsh chain of economic exploitation and political dependence, women, even more so, have faced and still face an inequality that punishes them and marks them very strongly. Hence how important it is that women have been forging this consciousness on a massive scale, not only to fight for their forgotten rights, but also to be fully included in the great battle for structural changes that will allow our nations to build a new life, where economy is at the service of people. Our nations will attain the right for productive assets to no longer be in the hands of a small minority, but to be patrimony of everyone, at the service of everyone. Logically, each country has its history, its traditions, its idiosyncrasies, its customs; no recipes can be applied internationally. However, the basis of revolutionary thought is already established both in doctrine and ideology. There are, throughout history, many examples of the painful revolutionary experiences of millions of human beings. This is the reality of emancipation as demonstrated in the countries that have defeated capitalism, have built or are building socialism; therefore, women are a fundamental, essential factor in this struggle. No one can imagine an emancipatory revolution, one that can build a new society, without the active and combative presence of women, friends, sisters, and companions; of women present at all levels of work and culture, taking on responsibility according to their skills; together with men, free of inequalities, and based on a great common task; of women providing the revolution with their tenderness and firmness, which is deeply rooted because it is the mother who feels the pain and the hunger of her child, as well as the suffering of her people

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due to the injustice of a regime still marked by imperialist exploitation. That is why women have the conviction that the people’s struggle—which is their own, particular struggle dependent upon the characteristics of each country—is also a struggle that takes place, although in different latitudes—I will not mention any names—through the action of all nations. Notes 1. Choral-theatrical musical ensemble that brings together percussionist musicians and singers. 2. Ines Suarez (1507–1580). Spanish woman who ended up settling in Cuzco in 1537. She joined the expedition of the conquistador Pedro de Valdivia to the lands that would later be declared part of the General Captaincy of Chile. That expedition founded Santiago in 1541. She stood out in her role in the defense of said city against the Mapuche offensive led by the toqui Michimalonco. 3. Pedro de Valdivia (1497–1553). Spanish soldier who led the expedition to conquer Chile. After the founding of the city of Santiago, he served as the first Governor of Chile. 4. Marina Ortiz de Gaete (1509–1592). Spanish woman, legal wife of Pedro de Valdivia. When he joined the expedition to the so-called West Indies, she stayed in Spain. In 1553 she set off on her journey to Chile at the request of Valdivia, but he died in battle before they met again. 5. Reference to La Araucana by Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga about the widows of Mapuche warriors, respectively Caupolicán, Crepino, and Lautaro. 6. Javiera Carrera Verdugo (1781–1862). Chilean aristocrat. She is considered one of the ideologists of her country’s independence, along with her brothers José Miguel, Juan José, and Luis. She contributed significantly to this cause by hiding soldiers and receiving weapons. 7. Paula Jaraquemada Alquizar (1768–1851). Chilean aristocrat. She adhered to the patriot cause for the independence of Chile. She provided shelter, food, horses, and supplies to the patriot armies on her estate. A most notable incident was her courageous refusal to help the troops of a royalist officer. 8. Maria Cornelia Olivares (fl. 1817). Chilean woman who was born and lived in Chillán. She adhered to the patriot cause for the independence of her country and stood out as a revolutionary in an area of high royalist influence. She was imprisoned and tortured. In 1818, Bernardo O’Higgins, as Supreme Director of Chile, declared her a meritorious citizen. 9. Gabriela Mistral, pseudonym of Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (1889–1957). Chilean poet, teacher, and diplomat. She is considered one of the most important figures in Chilean and Latin American literature. She won the 1945 Nobel Prize for Literature. 10. Probably referring to Võ Thị Sáu, a Vietnamese guerrilla who fought for the independence of her country. She was the first female martyr in the fight against the French occupation and, therefore, a true symbol of resistance. 11. Refers to the fact that in 1949, thanks to the political struggle of the feminist movement, women in Chile obtained the full right to vote. Prior to that date, they could only vote in municipal elections. 12. Pedro Aguirre Cerda (1879–1941). Chilean politician, professor, and lawyer. Member of the Radical Party; he was designated as the presidential candidate of the center-left Popular Front coalition. In 1938 he was elected President of Chile and governed until 1941.

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Indigenous people

Four documents have been selected that account not only for the UP agenda and its antecedents to redress the situation of indigenous nations in Chile, but also the recognition of a specific problem area that, at that time, was being discussed by the left wing. Thus, it is possible to appreciate in the texts some nuances regarding the indigenous condition and its place in the Chilean Revolution. The first text is an agreement between Araucanos Allendistas (Mapuche supporters of Allende) and Salvador Allende, who at that time was a presidential candidate for the FRAP, which was signed at a campaign event held in Ñielol in April 1964. This document established the first guidelines. The second is a speech by Salvador Allende (1970) where he traces the main challenges his government faced regarding the Mapuche issue, as the largest indigenous population in Chile. This second text comes from a book published by the state publisher Quimantú (1972). Then, the Agriculture and Colonization Commission Report is presented, which, being made up of both government authorities and Mapuche authorities, was presented before the Chamber of Deputies (1971). In these last two texts, diagnoses and characterizations of the indigenous population are established. Finally, there is a speech by Allende regarding the enactment of his main project on this subject, the 1972 Indigenous Law. Cautín agreement between the presidential candidate Salvador Allende and the Mapuche people. Campaign event in Ñielol, Temuco (April 12, 1964) The Mapuches, who have been constantly neglected and exploited, have signed one of the most far-reaching commitments in their entire history with the future People’s Government. For the first time, a pact—the Pact of Cautín—has laid the foundations for the transformation of their battered lives. This time their needs have not been interpreted by the empty demagogic phrases of the great lords who usurped their lands or those of the bourgeois politicians who only sought their votes, but, on the contrary, these needs have been translated into concrete DOI: 10.4324/9781003487708-5

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achievements, in forthcoming solutions that will transform their miserable condition as forgotten Chileans. Salvador Allende’s visit to Cautín has made this a solemn pact. The popular candidate himself has signed it and its clauses are the alphabet of the new life that the Mapuches will begin to build with the People’s Government. At the signing ceremony of the pact, the Provincial President of the Mapuches, Antonio Mulato Ñunque, spoke of the history of his people, how their aspirations have been constantly betrayed, and of his desire for education and progress. He pointed out that the “Pact of Cautín” began a historic and definitive chapter for the Mapuches that will become a reality with the triumph of Salvador Allende. We reproduce below this extraordinary document, which signifies a new and vital commitment of the popular forces to the Araucanian people, for the whole of Chile to witness. Agreement for the development of the Araucanian community Cautin, April 1964 Signed between presidential candidate Dr. Salvador Allende and the Araucanian people, through the leaders of the Allendista provincial command

They, the landowners and their government, have marginalized the Araucanian Community for centuries. The landowners, using their lawyers and legal systems, have usurped our lands and our rights. They have denied the Araucanians the right to be educated and to study at the universities. They forget the role of the Mapuches in the history of Chile. They want to crush us. But the Mapuche people are valuable. The Mapuche people are workers. The Mapuche people want justice and want the usurped lands and their rights returned to them. That is why we, Araucanians and Chilean people, support the presidential candidate Dr. Salvador Allende, because his will be the only government—a popular one—that will defend the Araucanian Community. That is why we signed this historical document. With his signature, Dr. Allende agrees to make these plans a reality. And we, Araucanians, commit ourselves to working so that the People’s Government becomes a favorable reality for all Chileans. These commitments for the development of our Araucanian community contain the following fundamental aspects: Title I. Religion

“They, the ones who have deceived us, do not respect the ideas of the people. We, the Araucanians, and the workers of Chile, will allow each person to have their own ideas and religion.”

Indigenous people 111 Considering that the Mapuche people have deep religious roots, which they practice through their NGUILLATUN1 or through the Catholic or Protestant Churches, the government will maintain and ensure the most complete religious freedom in the communities. These religions, with their variations, will not be affected, and each citizen will be able, much as they are now, to practice their beliefs as they please. Title II. Education

“They do not allow the Mapuches to go to university. We, in the People’s Government, will open the doors of schools, high schools, institutes and universities to all Mapuches.” Considering that the Araucanian people want to maintain and develop all the positive aspects of their traditional culture, aspects that have enriched the heritage of Chile’s national culture, such as their language, their legends, their religious activities and their handicrafts, and that they also want to prepare themselves not only to produce but to be included, with dignity, in all levels of national development and participate with increasing consciousness as a Mapuche man and as a Chilean citizen, the following are agreed on: a) A basic education that contemplates the preservation of our language and guides our training with a technical-artisanal focus and opens up the possibilities of higher university education; b) Creation of primary schools in communities with a school population; c) Improve and expand the existing Farm and Estate Schools in Cautín and other provinces with a Mapuche population in order to allow the enrollment of a greater number of Araucanian students; d) Create in the remote and highly-populated areas of CHONCHOL, GALVARINO, PUCÓN, TOLTÉN, PANGUIPULLI, etc., experimental, agricultural, boarding schools that provide primary education up to fourth grade and then the farming specialty in the same establishment; e) Reopening of the Agricultural School in Temuco to allow the enrollment of students from farm schools and similar establishments to obtain the title of Agricultural Technician in various specialties, in order to prepare the trained, human elements that work, make use of their knowledge and take on responsibilities for the development of the Popular Agrarian Reform; f ) Allocate a minimum of 20 scholarships in each Normal Rural School from Chillán southward, for Araucanian students or direct descendants; and g) The same number of scholarships will be provided by the TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE of Temuco (Universidad Técnica del Estado de Temuco), Industrial Schools, Commercial Institutes and existing Women’s Technical Schools from Malleco southward.

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Title III. Land ownership

“They have usurped the lands that belong to the Mapuches. We, Mapuches, by mandate of the law, will recover our lands.” Considering that the Araucanians have been the owners of this land since time immemorial, and that over time the undue usurpation and the non-existent defense by the different governments have reduced their properties to the point of leaving them in humiliating smallholdings, the administration of President Allende will establish the following: THE INDIAN LAW will be changed by “A LAW FOR THE PROTECTION AND INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARAUCANIANS.” That law must be previously studied with the participation of properly registered Araucanian organizations and whose bases will be: 1. Restitution and resizing of all farms adjacent to communities or indigenous landowners to accurately determine the number of usurped hectares and for them to be immediately returned to their former owners; 2. Reorganization of all the communities; 3. Guaranteeing Araucanians the indefinite and legal ownership of Araucanian lands; 4. A high percentage participation in the Agrarian Reform, giving first priority to graduates from Agricultural Schools or similar establishments; secondly, to parents whose children study in said establishments in order to ensure their future employment and the application of their knowledge, and thirdly, to those who, having not met previous requirements, are interested in receiving the benefits of said reforms; 5. Extending the payment of contributions to a 20-year term, and other exemptions contemplated by virtue of the current Law No. 14,511. Title IV. Housing and health

“They do not take care of Mapuche health. In the People’s Government, we will have access to medical and dental care, and we will have better houses.” Considering the current state of health of the population in the Araucanian Communities, characterized by chronic childhood diseases, malnutrition and the lack of resources to care for women and men, especially their dental ailments and the problems of lack of housing and poor condition of the existing ones, the following is agreed upon: a) Elaborate, with representation from the Communities, an environmental sanitation plan that covers the problems of supplying drinking water by

Indigenous people 113 means of weights and pumps and the installation of a sanitary unit in the homes; b) Establish a dental service for the communities; c) Facilitate the resources for the training of Araucanian female practitioners and dental assistants to collaborate in the health programs; d) Study and application of a housing plan for indigenous communities that includes the following points: 1. A study on the conditions and characteristics of housing for the Araucanian family; 2. Stimulate, advise and provide technical support for a self-construction program within the communities. Title V. Economic resources for the development of the Araucanian community

“They take all the credit and money. We, members of the People’s Government, will create, for the first time in the history of Chile, the ARAUCANIAN BANK. The Araucanian Bank will help the Mapuches with money and credits.” To form an “Araucanian Bank” for Agricultural Development and Reforestation dependent on the State Bank with representation of the communities. Its financing will come from the resources for the development of the Araucanian community, provided by the State Bank according to discussions with the communities. Its financing will be made up of the resources for the development of the Araucanian community, which the State Bank will provide, plus deposits made by members of the community according to their savings capacity. This body will be responsible for the following main functions: a) Promotion and development of cooperatives for agricultural production in indigenous communities; b) Advice and technical orientation of the production; c) Promotion and encouragement of craft production; d) Marketing of agricultural and craft products; e) Seeds, fertilizers and herbicides for agricultural work, and f ) Rationalization of credits for production in indigenous communities. Title VI. Directorate of Indigenous Affairs

“They do not listen to our voice. With the People’s Government we will have a voice through the representatives in all the Ministries.” Considering that its creation constituted a serious conquest, it must fulfill functions that are truly valuable for the life and progress of the people it defends. To that end, the following will be determined:

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Complete reorganization

a) The directorate must be given functions of “management, orientation and coordination of Araucanian affairs with Ministries and public offices with supervisory powers” in compliance with the legal provisions related to the Mapuche people; b) The directorate must remain in the hands of Araucanians by democratic representation of the communities, and the representatives and technical advisors of the government. The Araucanians

They think we are cowards. They think we are weak. They believe we are useless and incapable. But the Araucanian is brave. He has always been brave. For this reason, we will give our blood to defend the legal government of Dr. Allende, who will respect the rights of the Araucanian. Considering the singular and great possibility that Chile’s destiny presents to us through Salvador Allende’s nomination, in exchange for full compliance with the points considered above, we Araucanians commit to the following: 1. Work by all means at our disposal to organize committees and ensure that Allende support groups are organized in all communities; 2. No Araucanian will sell their vote and anyone who does it or attempts to do it will be considered a traitor; 3. Each Allende-supporting Mapuche will monitor others to ensure citizens’ consciences are not bought and will fight to put an end to this immorality inherited and maintained by the despicable oligarchy and the landowners; 4. From the day of victory, the Araucanian people will be with Allende and will know how to organize themselves properly in order to defend the People’s Government from any offensive that aims to destroy and undermine it, and they will be capable of restoring their warrior rights to give their blood and life in defense of the legally constituted government; and 5. Be mindful so that this agreement crystallizes in the shortest possible time. To this end, they will put their shoulder to the wheel as an honorable means of collaborating with our president in raising the living standards of the Mapuche people and in the development of a greater, dignified, prosperous and sovereign homeland. SALVADOR ALLENDE G., People’s presidential candidate; Antonio Mulato Ñunque, Provincial President of Araucanos Allendistas; Gregorio Seguel, 1st Vice President; E. Peinemal, 2nd Vice President; and Juan C. Huichalaf, 3rd Vice President.

Indigenous people 115 Speech in Plaza de la Constitución, Santiago (December 21, 1970). Salvador Allende. Extracts . . . Mapuche nation

I want to tell the people of Chile what I learned yesterday in Cautín, while the Second Mapuche Congress was taking place: you should know that in Chile there are 3,048 indigenous settlements, between Biobío and Llanquihue, with 392,616 Mapuches, and that the biggest concentration is in Cautín with 189,000; in Malleco there are 89,000; in Valdivia 3,000; in Arauco 5,000, etc. The basic activities of the Mapuches are agriculture and livestock. However, many of them only feed on pine nuts, there, in the agricultural sectors on the coast of the Biobío province. I want to tell you that the race that heroically defended these lands in the early years of our history has been losing its lands, and they have become more neglected; I want to point out that the law that was enacted to give them certain privileges is paternalistic and, for this reason, the Mapuche is deprived of selfdetermination. They cannot dispose of their land or lease it. Everything must be processed in the Indian Courts, which are few in number, and which, moreover, work few hours a day. I want to point out that there are approximately one and a half hectares or one and a quarter hectares per Mapuche, and that only 60% of this land can be cultivated. And I want to say that the living conditions of these people are deplorable. I want to emphasize that there are 77,800 children of school age and that there is a lack of schools and teachers; especially teachers who comprehend and truly understand the Mapuche anthropology. There are 37,000 preschool-age children that have been completely abandoned and 27,000 infants in need of medical attention, many of whom have never had a glass of milk. I want to tell you that it is a national obligation, it is an imperative of our conscience, not to forget what Chile owes to the Mapuches and to the Araucanian race, the origin and basis of what we are. Therefore, the People’s Government will responsibly face this situation: it will raise the material and spiritual level of the Araucanian man, of our Mapuches; it will legislate in a different way; it will give them land and dignify their existence, as an imperative need for their human presence in the life of Chilean people. For this reason, yesterday I told the Mapuches that the youth will meet today, here in Santiago, to begin their voluntary work. I ask of them more than just that, I order young students in their fifth and sixth year of medicine and students in their last year of dentistry, and I ask young doctors and dentists, to go with haste, with affection, with human tenderness, to work for one or two months there, in the communities; to identify with the dramatic reality of the Mapuche people, I ask them to use not only their technical knowledge, but also encouraging language when diagnosing and helping patients to heal. Let the teachers and students of the Escuelas Normales (teacher training colleges) also go. We, the

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government, will mobilize INDAP,2 CORA3 and all the organizations required to change the life and work of the Mapuches. This is a commitment of honor, and I know that the youth who listen to me will take my request and my mandate into consideration, a mandate that emanates from the pain and hope of the Araucanians in the southern zone of Chile. Extracts Integration of the Mapuche people into Chilean Society. (1972). Hernán San Martín The Araucanian population4 is not a foreign population, nor is it marginal or inferior. It is integrated in every way into Chilean society, but this integration was made, and is maintained, in the form of a stratum that is ethically and culturally discriminated against and economically dominated and exploited. For this reason, their class position is equal to that of any other poor Chilean group. Therefore, there is no Mapuche problem that is not somehow related to the general agrarian problem in Chile, which means that the solution to the problem of agrarian development for the Araucanians lies in the revolutionary change of the structures of Chilean agriculture (including Mapuche agriculture) to make it economically productive. This does not mean we must “Chileanize” the Mapuche subculture (a blunder committed with the people of Easter Island by the Christian Democrat government5) but rather to lead it, through its own cultural channels, towards development and progress. One of the basic cultural values of the Araucanians, because it is an ancestral value, is the “agrarian community” (as it was in all pre-Columbian America), whose existence has been very difficult due to Chilean greed, but in spite of this, it still survives after hundreds and hundreds of years. Today, with the Agrarian Reform, it seems appropriate that the functional community units, that also ensure unity of the entire Mapuche community, are adopting an approach that is different from the traditional and already obsolete methods. Because although the Mapuches are Chileans like us, it is also true that if they are kept within a relationship structure in which they are in inferior conditions (as we have already explained), this will deepen their poverty because they will be more easily exploited. If the People’s Government wishes to substantially change the local structures that exploit the Mapuche people, it will have to confront the dominant classes at the national level, and this entails changes in the social structure as a whole, which is exactly what is being done through the Agrarian Reform, the nationalization of copper and iron, the nationalization of banking, etc. Local programs for “Mapuche development” that do not call for structural changes are ineffective because they are absorbed by the dominant local groups. The recipe cannot simply be to provoke or try to produce development and social change in an isolated way in the Araucanian communities. These attempts

Indigenous people 117 will not have the desired effect if they are not accompanied by a favorable change in the existing economic structures. Regarding the restitution of lands to the Araucanians, the problem must be faced within this same framework. What is intended is to develop a Mapuche economy that allows this stratum to emerge from underdevelopment. It is not a matter of planning scrupulous “community development” programs for Mapuches; it is a matter of freeing the productive strength of the Mapuches and allowing them to make good use of them. Revolution is justice: Araucanian participation in the current transformation process of Chile

There are two fundamental concepts regarding this matter: firstly, what mainly concerns the Araucanians in the process of the Chilean Revolution is the issue of the Agrarian Reform; secondly, the economic and social development of the Mapuche stratum, without destroying their basic cultural values (unless those values are obsolete and thus are opposed to development). Regarding indigenous communities, the Agrarian Program of the People’s Government of Chile states the following: Defense of the integrity and extension of the democratic management of the indigenous communities threatened by usurpation; and for Mapuche people and other Chilean indigenous nations to be assured of sufficient land, technical help and assistance with credit. Regarding the first point, if the Agrarian Reform is a revolutionary change in the Chilean social structure, it is only fair that the Araucanians, who are also Chileans, fully enjoy its fruits under equal conditions. There can be no discrimination, racial or otherwise. The group must be protected until it achieves, in the transformed Chilean social structure, the equality of conditions that we demand for them. Now, are the Mapuches willing to participate in the experience? . . . The Mapuche attitude towards the Agrarian Reform and towards the People’s Government is open, broad, but, as always, distrustful. Deep down, as before, they remain skeptical, and many prefer to take justice into their own hands (seizures of funds that were previously indigenous lands). However, this attitude can change. The final stance will depend above all on the position that the government adopts regarding the current and longstanding problems of the Mapuche people and the way in which it handles them. Because we cannot forget that their social stratum is that of a very distinctive and ancient subculture, and therefore, their natural anthropological tendency is to defend it from foreign interference (even when they are open to useful influences that may generate changes in their culture).

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The agrarian Mapuche community must evolve towards an agrarian cooperative, overcoming the traditional individualistic mold (family work unit). From a modern, economic point of view, it must be transformed, while continuing to be an indigenous community; it is a collective, productive and progressive agrarian community. Preserving the indigenous community is an effective method to fight against usurpation. In other words, the Agrarian Reform must be carried out within the framework of the ancestral Mapuche community. The lands of the indigenous community must be preserved, and lands must be given to all Mapuche families. But the traditional economic and productive system must be changed to make them economically active. How could the socioeconomic development of the Mapuches be furthered? The answer to this question also entails determining the way for Araucanians to participate actively in the process of Chilean revolutionary changes in the march towards socialism. The subsistence economy, characteristic of Mapuche production, is an undeveloped, stagnant economy that cannot increase production and income by itself unless changes are made to their system. Traditionally, it was based on the smallholding and on the family as a producer and consumer unit, which makes it highly dependent. The logical solution is to change these structures so that the productivity of the Mapuche people increases at economic levels, both in the production destined for self-consumption, and the production that ends up in the market (surplus). This means ending the economic and social exploitation of the Mapuches, the appropriation of their economic surpluses and putting an end to external domination, allowing the conscious construction of their own socioeconomic development. Is the People’s Government determined and in a position to be a factor of change in the Mapuche population as indicated? We think so, and we believe that the Poplar Government has the means to do so: the Agrarian Reform; specifically, an Agrarian Reform that takes the historical evolution of the Mapuches and their culture into account, and that changes the current relationship of domination to which the Mapuche population has been subjected. The premises that should be taken into account (even if they are debatable) are the following: 1. Indigenous lands must be respected, and no Araucanian family must be left without land (as long as they work them). 2. The indigenous community must be maintained as a means of preserving the Mapuche culture and giving cohesion to the Araucanian people. 3. The indigenous community must be transformed into an agricultural cooperative, eliminating the smallholding and subsistence structure for a commercially productive one. 4. Create a public land fund to locate Mapuches who do not have land and who wish to work it.

Indigenous people 119 5. Provide technical assistance to the Mapuche agricultural community for agricultural and livestock work. 6. Provide technical assistance to Mapuche agricultural communities (cooperatives): seeds, machinery, housing, etc. 7. Creation of Mapuche villages to end the isolation of the Araucanian family (to be done according to their own ways of life and not as an imposition). 8. Primary and secondary education plan; adult literacy instruction; teacher training colleges (Escuela Normal) for Mapuche teachers. 9. Health plan for the Mapuche population. 10. Foster in the Mapuche people the desire for their self-development as a community and in economic matters. The latter is essential: to encourage the Mapuches to carry out such a program, they must take on this task themselves and the new Araucanian leaders and the Rural Worker Councils will play a very important role. Let us remind ourselves that the traditional “indigenous reservations” are a product of the pressure of the dominant national society to integrate the Mapuches, as a dominated group, into the exploitative capitalist structure. Let us also remember . . . that the attitude of the Mapuche population towards the Agrarian Reform and towards change, in general, is not uniform and resolute. For this reason, Rural Worker Councils can be something positive or negative, depending on who directs them: if their directors are new, realistic, and modern leaders, they will serve as a factor of change; otherwise, they will somewhat slow down the process. But the most important thing is for the Araucanian to adopt a class position and become the most important factor in the revolutionary change regarding Mapuche agriculture. This class consciousness is manifested in the increasing cohesion of the small Mapuche producers, in their aggressiveness towards large estate owners and in their participation in active political life. Tables 4.1 and 4.2 illustrate the Araucanian stage of awareness: As can be seen in Tables 4.1 and 4.2, there is a very positive tendency among the Mapuches when it comes to participating in the elaboration of their own Table 4.1 Mapuche attitude towards large estate owners ATTITUDE

Percentage frequency over the total

Positive and collaborative Positive Indifferent Negative Aggressively negative

1.8 3.6 20.0 25.5 49.1 100.0

Source: Agrarian Reform Training and Research Institute (ICIRA) studies, 1966.

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Percentage frequency over the total

Positive with militancy Positive as allies Indifferent Mistrustful Negative

14.4 20.4 34.4 25.4 5.4 100.0

Source: Agrarian Reform Training and Research Institute (ICIRA) studies, 1966.

destiny within the framework of the Chilean Revolution. It could not be otherwise, despite how much they have been humiliated and robbed of, given that they were a “nation” before us and helped us form ourselves as Chileans. Let us not forget “our father” Lautaro. Now, at the time of liberation, they cannot be left out of the task that we have all set ourselves: to make Chile a fair country. Report by the Agriculture and Colonization Committee before the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Santiago (September 14, 1971). Extracts Honorable Chamber: Your Committee on Agriculture and Colonization is hereby informing you of a Bill, originating in a Message and with the urgency procedure qualified as “simple,” which establishes norms on indigenous people. During the discussion of this legal initiative, which took eight sessions, with a total duration of 22 hours, the commission was attended by: Jacques Chonchol, Minister of Agriculture; Humberto Martones, Minister of Lands and Colonization; Oscar Alvarez, Minister of the Honorable Court of Appeals of La Serena on secondment in the Ministry of Justice; Eduardo Montenegro, Undersecretary of Agriculture; Lautaro Ojeda, Undersecretary of Lands and Colonization; Héctor Humeres, Comptroller General of the Republic; Wladimir Arellano, Budget Director of the Ministry of Finance; Daniel Colompil, Director of Indigenous Affairs; César Toledo, Rapporteur Judge of the Honorable Court of Appeals of Santiago, on secondment in the Ministry of Justice; Javier Huenchullán, Deputy Director of Indigenous Affairs; Sergio Aranda, Deputy Director of the National Planning Office; Jorge Osses and Hugo Ormeño, officials of the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs; Mario Osses, member of the commission that studied

Indigenous people 121 the project on indigenous legislation in the Ministry of Agriculture; Antonio Millape and Bernabé Namoncurá, President and National Vice President of the Mapuche Confederation Association, who, along with disclosing the Executive’s position on the project under study, explained the scope of each of the provisions and responded to the queries made by the deputies present in the commission. The government, when sending the Message to the National Congress, indicates its position and the measures it considers appropriate to give a definitive solution to the problem of the country’s indigenous race. To this end, it points out that “the indigenous problem is an essential concern of the People’s Government and should also be of all Chileans.” It adds: the problem of indigenous groups is different from that of the other people in rural areas, which is why it must also be observed and dealt with by means of different procedures and systems and neither the legislator nor the common citizen have always been able to understand that, thereby aggravating the problem. In the same way their scale of values is different, so is their behavior. Once they realize that they have owned the land for hundreds of years, their attitude becomes that of someone who feels dispossessed of something that rightfully belonged to them, whereas, for the remaining rural workers, obtaining land constitutes a conquest. Their banner of struggle is recovery of lands, while for others, it is distribution among those who work the land best.” Then, it is pointed out that the situation of the indigenous groups has deteriorated permanently due to their reduced geographical areas, as well as their increasing impoverishment; some very small groups in rural areas amount to approximately 400,000 people. Their work is of an agricultural nature. In this group there are pure and mestizo Mapuches, both sectors preserving customs, traditions and their native language. One lakh and fifty thousand Mapuches living in urban sectors, who have left the reservations and who are closely related to the previous group. Sixty thousand Quechuas and Aymaras, pure and mestizos, who live in the few cultivated areas in the Norte Grande, preserving autochthonous ways of life and who basically live in the Altiplano, on the border with Peru and Bolivia. Some live in the northern cities. Twenty thousand Changos, Atacameños and Diaguitas, living in the coastal zone of the Norte Grande and Chico, who live mainly from fishing. They preserve some ways of life and traditions. Sixty thousand Huilliches, Onas, Yagans and Alacalufes, living in the provinces of Valdivia, Osorno, Llanquihue, Isla Grande de Chiloé, the canal zone and the extreme south of Chile. Regarding the Huilliches, they remain pure only in the provinces already indicated and on the Isla Grande de Chiloé, but the vast majority of them are mestizos. The rest of the groups mentioned are mestizos

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and there are hardly any pure ones, only the Alacalufes remain pure and they barely number around 12. In all cases, ways of life, usages, customs and traditions are preserved. Both the Ministers of State and the officials who attended the commission based their arguments and explanations preferentially on the Mapuche people, since they form the largest population conglomerate. They are estimated at around 400,000 out of a total indigenous population of 800,000 people, therefore their characteristics take precedence in all the articles of the Bill in the report. In this regard, it should be noted that the Mapuche population is found in the rural sector, living in reservations and former reservations, in the provinces of BíoBío, Malleco, Arauco, Cautín, Valdivia and Osorno. Among the listed provinces, Cautín is the one with the largest Mapuche population, which represents 25% of the total population of the named area. Notwithstanding the foregoing, there are also small groups of Mapuches in the urban sector, such as Santiago, Concepción, Temuco, Valparaíso, Lebu, Arauco, Cañete, etc. The area known as La Frontera, which runs between Bío-Bío and Osorno, has an extension of 5.4 million hectares, which is equivalent to 7.3% of the country’s total, 19% of the agricultural area and 35% of the total arable land in Chile. However, around 200,000 Mapuches live in Cautín occupying 343,306.04 hectares, so it can already be concluded that this group represents an important sector in this province but, at a glance, the man-land relationship seems very low. The Message accompanying the Bill indicates that between the years 1884 and 1929—the period of the settlement—the man-land relationship was 6.2 hectares per capita. Currently, this ratio has dropped by an amount between 0.9 and 1.4 hectares. The information provided on this occasion allows us to conclude that there has been a very serious deterioration in the living conditions of the Mapuche communities, causing serious conflicts in the relationships between parents and children, between siblings and other relatives. We must provide, albeit in a cursory manner, information regarding the settlement process and subsequent division of the communities, in order to paint a clear picture of the problem this group of Chileans still faces. In the settlement process that lasted 45 years and that began in 1884 and ended in 1929, 77,841 Mapuches were given 3,078 granted land titles, especially between the provinces of Arauco and Lianquihue. Based on this, the previously indicated figure of 6.1 hectares per person was reached; however, in the same process, 500 hectares were handed over to settlers who were not indigenous. In 1929, Law No. 4,169 was enacted, which established the division of the communities, comprising 13,778 small owners in 773 reservations, with an area of 126,748.99 hectares. To clarify some terms, we will try to define what is meant by Mapuche. In this regard, author Alejandro Saavedra outlines a definition by saying that “both

Indigenous people 123 Chileans of Mapuche or Araucanian origin are considered Mapuches, as well as those who, being of another origin, are protected by a granted land title.” Then, the aforementioned author states in the work La Cuestión Mapuche, that community members are “those groups that live in the reservations, whether or not they have a granted land title. They constitute groups of families organized around a collective ownership of the land.” Finally, it could be said that a Mapuche community is a group of families settled in an established territory, fundamentally organized around their relations with the outside world, the preservation of certain subcultural traits and some economic relations between families. It was previously stated that the man-land relationship had caused serious problems due to the low income of these groups. A study carried out among a group of indigenous people by the Institute for Training and Research in Agrarian Reform (ICIRA) in 1966 established that 47.8% of the families surveyed had a per capita income equivalent to 1,680 kilos of wheat per year, which amounts to 1,680 escudos per person, when the per capita income in the rest of the country on the same date was 5,403 escudos. Then, Law No. 14,511 was enacted, dated January 3, 1961, which in practice, according to information provided by the commission, could not meet its objectives and that is why indigenous people have fought against it, because they do not consider it an effective solution to their problems. It could be pointed out that all the procedures mentioned, both administrative and legal, have caused nothing but serious deterioration in their living standards, which can be outlined in the following aspects: A. Economic: • • • • •

Unemployment. Underemployment of manpower. Very low incomes (6,000–10,000 kilos of wheat per year). Indiscriminate exploitation of their scarce production. Hunger. Dependency.

B. Social: • High infant mortality. • High disease rates. • Malnutrition. C. Cultural: • Ignorance and illiteracy (37%) (Cautín). • Loss and degradation of customs and traditions such as Mapudungun,6 nguillatun, mingacos,7 etc. • Internal conflicts.

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The President of the Republic concludes in the Message that the members of the reservations have the right to enjoy the piece of land that belongs to them. They have inherited it and must pass it on to their own children. Considering the foregoing, the government wishes to address in depth, through various measures, the incorporation of the indigenous population into national activity as a whole and ultimately achieve a comprehensive solution to the problems that affect this sector of Chileans, mainly in regard to rural workers and their lands, through the action of public organizations and through social and economic measures. In the social aspect, we want to ensure land ownership through the nonseizure of indigenous lands, prohibition of transferring or imposing taxes on said lands, except for the benefit of other indigenous people, cooperatives or state companies; limitations on the powers to lease and hand over lands to third parties by sharecropping or other means; elimination of the Indian Courts and establishment of a verbal judicial procedure before the Court of First Instance located closest to the reservation; organization of cooperatives and active participation of rural workers in community organizations and indirectly in the Council of the Indigenous Development Institute. Then, in the economic aspect, we want to considerably increase the lands of indigenous people, returning usurped land, which, according to information that was provided within the commission, amounts to around 50,000 hectares; expropriation of lands that were part of granted land titles and that are in the hands of individuals, which constitute an area of approximately 100,000 hectares; effective incorporation of the indigenous rural worker into the Agrarian Reform process and, also, industrial and commercial activities, once proper training takes place. The government, through the draft law in the report, indicates that by means of the aforementioned measures and others related to educational, health and community aspects, the so-called Mapuche problem and, in general, the issue of the country’s indigenous population, can be dealt with. Speech on the occasion of the enactment of the Indigenous Law (September 15, 1972). Salvador Allende. Extracts Dear fellow Mapuches: Today we will pass a law of extraordinary importance and significance. A few minutes ago, in the hall next door, we signed an agreement which strongly promotes the automobile industry and establishes with Peugeot-France the possibility of developing the medium-sized car in our country; this is important. This afternoon, in Pudahuel, we will inaugurate a center for children that have been abandoned or are in an irregular situation; this is important.

Indigenous people 125 Throughout the year and a half that we have been in government, we have faced important problems in national life; in the economic field by recovering basic resources for Chile, in the nationalization of monopolies; in the bold push for Agrarian Reform; in establishing a foreign exchange budget; in the nationalization of banks. All of them are initiatives which are significant for national life. But I believe that this is an act of utmost significance, an act of justice. I think it is the first time that this house, which is the Government House, has been opened so that the Mapuche people, so that the leaders of eight provinces, can participate and feel like Chilean citizens—as they should—equal to the rest of us. That is why we wanted to solemnize this act not only with your presence— which is very significant—but also with that of guests who represent and reflect the concern with, and the study and dissemination of the culture of the Mapuche people. I am talking about the important indigenist personalities of our country. And I want to greet them all, embodied in a man here present, respected by the whole of Chile, and whom the global scientific community admires, the great Chilean, Professor Alejandro Lipschutz.8 The presence in this act of the Ministers of Agriculture, Land and Colonization, Interior, General Secretary of the Government, the presence of the Undersecretaries of Agriculture and Land and Colonization, the General Director of Indigenous Affairs, comrade Daniel Colompil, the presence of senior officials of the Ministries of Agriculture, Land and Colonization, the presence of the Commanders and Aide-de-Camps of the Army and Navy, Juan José Mela and Arturo Araya, shows that the government wants this ceremony to take place within a suitable framework due to its patriotic and national significance. And Ximena Bunster,9 an indigenist, a friend of yours, who by living alongside the Mapuches has won their affection and trust, has made a brief synthesis about the history, the struggles, the defeats, the oppression, the denial of the Mapuche people, throughout many years of suffering. And she said, at the end of her documented synthesis, that logically the legal initiative that we enact today will be part of a great process of economic and social transformation that Chile is undergoing. And that is how we view it. Likewise, I want to highlight comrade Antonio Mellape’s intervention, who by means of a fluent and eloquent improvisation has highlighted some important achievements of this law, and has also pointed out some loopholes it has. And he also criticized the parliamentarians who did not understand the importance of a law that was more than just a set of articles; because it is a small law, a code, due to its uniformity and the subject matter of its provisions. I salute the popular parliamentarians who, along with some opposition parliamentarians— unfortunately very few—and Congress officials, contributed to a law that you have promoted from the beginning, and that Jacques Chonchol, Minister of Agriculture, greatly promoted and defended.

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I would like to take up what Ximena Bunster said and indicate the following: that as a particular example of the general policy coordinating the traditional large estate structure, the new indigenous policy tries to “thaw” the Mapuche problem in a limited, collective and class-based way, through the emergence and consolidation of a reduced middle layer of small, individual owners, the stabilization of the economic stagnation and the reduction of social immobility imposed on the vast majority of the rural indigenous community. We must remember the Indigenous Directorate, which currently, in 1971– 1972, estimated that there are 400,000 rural Mapuches and 100,000 in urban centers, particularly concentrated in large cities such as Santiago, Temuco, Valparaíso and Concepción. I want to highlight that their activity is that of the economy of small rural producers. The fact that the real production unit is the family makes the Mapuche producer a smallholder in the Mapuche economy, an economy of small producers. The family economic unit uses a workforce of members of the nuclear family and—less frequently—of the external family. Regarding the scarcity and concentration of resources, the small Mapuche producers have at their disposal few economic resources, be it land, work animals or tools. In relation to land, the study of 775 families from 20 reservations shows that 30.7% of the families have between no land and 4 hectares. 60.9% have less than 10 hectares and only 10.2% have more than 30 hectares. Regarding the level of income, depending on the composition of the product, the total production of the family economic units is low. Out of 46 families studied, only 6.5% reached an annual net product greater than a value equivalent to 15,000 kilograms of wheat, that is, a value greater than 3 million escudos, in the year 1966. The previous figures indicate inequality in the concentration of land, in the distribution of economic resources, in the productive capacity of family units. The Mapuche economy, with the exception of a small group of higher incomes, is a subsistence economy in the sense that it does not generate a real surplus sufficient for carrying out its own development. The local markets that the subsistence economy of the small Mapuche producers is part of form a stratified chain of economic relations, in which the upper strata exert more pressure than the lower strata. In summary, it can be said that urban leadership until 1970, considered as a whole, is a leadership of a small sector of the middle class that maintained the status quo, which, disconnected from any general organization of the rural Mapuche groups, was manipulated directly by the promoters of traditional integration policy, or was guided by an ideology that justified such a policy. Regarding their position in the productive system, the participation issue of the Mapuches has the same origins and the same structural determination as the problems of everyone in the same social classes.

Indigenous people 127 In this sense, there is no such thing as an isolated and autonomous Mapuche issue that is independent of the existing class relations in Chilean national society. However, the situation of the Mapuches within class stratification is unique, because it corresponds to inter-ethnic stratification due to the racial discrimination against them. This is the situation we find ourselves in; we operate within this situation because the UP Program clearly establishes: defense of the national integration of the Mapuche people, broadening and ensuring democratic management of the indigenous communities threatened by usurpation. The Mapuches and other indigenous people are assured of sufficient land and appropriate technical and credit systems; reorganization of smallholding property through progressive forms of agricultural work cooperatives; incorporation of small and medium-sized farmers into the advantages and services of the cooperatives that operate in their geographical area. That is why I was invited to attend the closing ceremony of the Second Mapuche Congress, on December 20, 1970, in Temuco. I was obliged to do it out of conviction, patriotism, and because I am the interpreter and creator of the UP Program. There I received a Bill prepared by the Mapuche community, to replace Law 14,511. There I pledged the word of the People’s Government in the task of satisfying the clamor of you fellow Mapuches, regarding the recovery of your lands and the promotion of integrated development. We also consulted the Mapuche Community as to whether or not we should veto the law, and we shared our criteria and knowledge. You reached a unanimous agreement: the law must be enacted, despite the obvious omissions, because in reality, the correlation of forces in Congress did not allow us, through the veto, to obtain the restitution of the initiatives contained in the initial project. That project, at the beginning, was expanded and modified by the government in the minutest detail, since your work showed great ability and, obviously, knowledge of your own problem; decision to fight when promoting the new law; and conviction that with it you were being incorporated into the Nation of Chile, without discrimination, which has been the case until now, postponing and denying the Mapuche people the status of authentic Chileans. In this way, the government has fulfilled its commitment to you. It sent the project proposed by you, and we intervened at length in the discussion; we made use of constitutional springboards for it to be passed with urgency. Despite this, it spent 15 months and several days in the National Congress. The Bill was sent to Congress on May 19, 1971; it was approved at the end of July 1972; and only on August 8, 1972, was it communicated to the Executive branch. In general terms, the initiative found broad support in the Chamber of Deputies, even from opposition parliamentarians, but nevertheless the project was considerably modified in the Senate.

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What are the positive aspects of the law? Briefly, they are: • Creation of the Institute for Indigenous Development, with broad powers to promote the social, economic and cultural development of indigenous people in Chile. • Suppression of the Courts of First Instances of Indians. • Establishment of a broad, simple, democratic and inexpensive judicial system, which will be based on the Courts of First Instance of each Department, where the community members of the Institute for Indigenous Development will have an active and predominant role. • Expiration of the rights of absentees, which will allow the control and possession of common land to be reclaimed, allowing the land to belong to the person who works it. • Obligation imposed on the Agrarian Reform Corporation (CORA) to allocate to rural indigenous workers a percentage of the lands that it expropriates in the Araucanía area. This percentage must be fixed annually by the President of the Republic. • Faculty conferred to the Institute to buy lands with the purpose of allocating them to indigenous people. • Obligation imposed on the Ministry of Education, the country’s universities and INACAP,10 to allocate resources and prepare plans for the benefit of the indigenous population. • Recovery of the lands expropriated from indigenous people once the restitution lawsuit is won. But this law also has some aspects which are not positive: it authorizes the division of indigenous communities, but establishes a cumbersome and illusory legal mechanism; it establishes the obligation to assign an Agricultural Unit to each community member, which is impossible because in order to do so it would be necessary to make use of the entire province of Cautín and half of that of Malleco; it prevents the recovery of usurped lands, which therefore will remain in the hands of the usurpers; it does not allow the progressive evolution of indigenous lands towards cooperative or community forms of work. In some aspects, it leaves the divided lands unprotected and incorporates them into the common property regime. It does not contemplate norms that would allow the organization and functioning of indigenous communities as legal entities with development possibilities. In summary, this is not the best law that could be conceived for the Mapuche comrades. In many aspects, it has as many deficiencies as Law No. 14,511. But the indigenous rural workers, and especially their leaders, are clearly aware that the law is only a tool and not a panacea or the definitive solution to all problems. The law does have some tools that, used willingly and proactively, can

Indigenous people 129 lead to the complete liberation of Mapuche people and their incorporation into the national community. That is why we are pushing forward with the enactment of this law. I want to emphasize that the indigenous groups, especially Mapuches, have a great responsibility when it comes to the application of and compliance with this law: in the Council of the Institute, they have seven representatives out of a total of 15. I reiterate, the law conforms to the initiative of indigenous people themselves; and furthermore, the Mapuche Regional Associations and the Rural Worker Communal Councils should be strengthened to participate actively and responsibly in the formulation and application of the Institute’s policies. The government will make use of this law and also the faculties and powers of all state agencies to work with coordination and determination. Means must be sought so that CORA, INDAP, INACAP, the Ministry of Education and the services that depend on it and the Ministry of Public Health make use of their powers in favor of the country’s indigenous population. But the indigenous groups must fight to ensure equal development opportunities and nationality in all aspects, which can only be achieved with a truly democratic social body or social organization that advances towards socialism, where there is no place for discrimination, marginality or abuse. In summary, we will take advantage of all the positive aspects of the law that you yourselves have acknowledged. At the same time, I will sign a new Bill here. In this new Bill we will try to establish what we wanted in the initial Bill. It will be a new project, which establishes the restitution of lands usurped from the Mapuches, many of whom are excluded from the restitution process due to the modification that the Senate made to our law and to yours. In addition, the Institute for Indigenous Development is permanently extended; a modern channel is provided, so that reservations, to the extent that the Mapuches want it, are transformed into production cooperatives, and the subdivision of communities is prohibited. By presenting this new Bill, we want to solve once and for all the difficult and critical problem that you have faced for so many years. We are aware that in the new Parliament, the one that people will elect in March, we will probably find the necessary support for this new law to be approved, satisfying your desire in so doing. In any case, this initiative must be a motor that drives your actions in order to obtain from Congress the just approval of a law that corrects centuriesold injustices. Finally, in the midst of a difficult moment for Chile, when we are being attacked from the outside, when—for the crime of consolidating our nationality— this aggression takes different forms, especially economic ones; when the powerful forces of imperialism and transnational corporations try to deny the validity of our own laws, when international pressure goes so far as to deny rulings that they themselves sought from the National Courts, because they do not want to

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accept those rulings if they oppose their interests; when a process of far-reaching changes that shakes national life is taking place; now that the Chilean man, and above all the worker, understands that he is and will be the dynamic factor that brings about progress; now that Chile is strengthening more than anything its rebellious but patriotic will; now that the desire and drive that propel our actions is destined to give our homeland the profile of an economically independent and politically sovereign nation, it is fair for you, Mapuche brothers, to join in the great task of Chileans, as Chileans yourselves, thanks to this law, but above all, thanks to your conscience and ours. In the past, you bravely and relentlessly defended this land from the invader. Today, we and you together will expel the economic invader, in order to become a nation that is truly free. Notes 1. Mapuche religious ceremony. 2. Agricultural Development Institute. Organization dependent on the Ministry of Agriculture created in 1962 to provide technical, credit, organizational and training advice to rural workers nationwide. Between 1968 and 1969, Paulo Freire worked with the Agrarian Reform Training and Investment Institute (ICIRA), belonging to INDAP. 3. See note 3 to chapter 2 (page 85). 4. The Mapuche population. 5. Refers to the annexation of Easter Island as part of the Chilean territory during the government of Eduardo Frei Montalva. 6. Araucanian language. 7. Community work. 8. Alexander Lipschutz Friedman (1883–1980). Russian scientist, academic, philosopher, and doctor who settled in Chile in 1926. From an indigenist perspective, his studies on the indigenous people of Chile and Latin America are notable. 9. Ximena Bunster Burotto (1932–2019). Anthropologist and feminist who stood out for her contributions to this discipline in Chile. During the 1960s, she carried out ethnographic studies on the Mapuche people. 10. INACAP is the National Institute for Professional Training, created in 1966 as an initiative of CORFO to provide technical education in training centers.

5

Unionism and working class organization

Four documents have been selected, three speeches by Salvador Allende and a document prepared in 1971 by the Presidency of the Republic in conjunction with the Confederation of Chilean Workers (CUT)1 on the basic standards for worker participation in socially owned and mixed-ownership companies. The first speech is from 1971 on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of the CUT and the inauguration of the second Union School of the CUT in the city of Concepción and the other two speeches are from 1972, on the occasion of Labor Day on May 1 and another held in the former Yarur textile factory, which was in the hands of its workers. Allende’s first speech emphasizes, among other things, the fundamental role that workers have in promoting the transformations proposed by the Government Program. He envisions the government as the government of the workers and the people, therefore, their participation can be observed across various areas at all levels. The historical task of the government, which is to lay the foundations of socialism, requires increasing production and giving greater power to the workers; therefore, the political consciousness of the workers, their organization, and direct participation in the government and the socially owned and mixed-ownership companies are essential. The speeches reveal the advances and difficulties that the government had to deal with, even within the working class itself, which in some sectors repeats the traditional worker-owner relationship in its relationship with the workers’ government. This is intensified in the speech made in the textile factory, since the challenges of the government and the working class are enormous in the face of the right-wing campaign to destabilize the government. It is important to share the document defining the basic norms for worker participation, because it shows how the bases were conceived for strengthening the participation of workers in decision-making, with a democratic seal, for national, regional, and sectoral economic planning, as well as for the management of socially owned and mixed-ownership companies, something that has never again been proposed and carried out in Chile.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003487708-6

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Speech on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of the CUT, Central Única de Trabajadores de Chile (Single Workers’ Center of Chile), and inauguration of the second Union School of the CUT, Concepción (February 14, 1971). Salvador Allende. Extracts It is very satisfying and important for me to be in Concepción tonight, in this act, where workers meet to celebrate 19 years of combative existence of the CUT and, also, to present an award that honors the working class, to the workers and employees who have excelled in their work in 1971. . . . I take this opportunity to talk with you, and to avoid any tendency to make a speech—asking for your forgiveness—I remain seated in order to check some papers, since I have certain figures which I am interested in highlighting. This year, the workers have celebrated their anniversary with greater passion and enthusiasm, clearly taking into consideration the responsibility they have. May 1 of last year was significant in a transcendental way for being Labor Day and I attended the great public event. . . . And on that occasion, in my speech, I highlighted how important it was for workers—who participate in the government directly through popular parties and through the CUT—to take on the great task of increasing production in our country that year. Colleagues, why raise this issue? Because revolutionary transformations have taken place in Chile that allow the workers, that is to say the majority of Chileans, to reach the government, to carry out from there the changes that Chile needs, in order to boost national economic development so that it meets the basic and essential needs of the people, economic development to end the uncertainty that unemployment brings, insufficient wages, the lack of housing, schools, hospitals, possibilities, and recreation. It is a revolutionary process, because a minority that has held power for more than a century and a half gives way to the majority of the country, the workers, who are taking on responsibility for the government and conquering power. And when I say the workers, I am not only referring to laborers or rural workers, but also employees, technicians, professionals, all those who live from their effort and work, and not only civilians but also those others—on the fringe of politics—that have transcendental functions in national life; the Armed Forces, the Police and the Civil Security Services. It is important, then, to understand that this change means that the workers are in the government and that, furthermore, the Chilean revolutionary process is developing in accordance with the characteristics, history, tradition, and idiosyncrasy of our country. I have said many times—and it is worth repeating—that there are no recipes for revolution. Each country carries out its revolution according to the reality, characteristics and history of that country and the development of its social forces, which is clearly different for each country. In addition, we have emphasized on numerous occasions that the revolution is a great, deep and profound creative process, that the revolution does not entail or mean unnecessary violence, and that we in Chile carry out the transformations within the confines of a bourgeois

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democracy, to give way to new legal concepts and a new Constitution within the framework and laws established by the minority sectors that held power. It is a process that is taking place for the first time, and it is a process that faces extraordinary difficulties. But, at the same time, it also represents extraordinary possibilities. Difficulties because there are sectors opposed to this workers’ government that exercise their opposition harshly, through the press, the radio, making use of daily news or the other state power: the Parliament. But there are extraordinary possibilities because the Chilean revolutionary process is taking place with no social cost. No social cost means no futile sacrifice of lives and no chaos in the country’s economy. It is important to understand that the UP has a framework to act within, the UP Program, to which the parties that make up the UP and the workers contributed. Therefore, we can point out that this program interprets the vast majority of Chile and that it represents an advanced stage aimed at the changes that make it possible to structure a new society, a new social coexistence. Hence, how important it is for workers to understand that this is their government and as I said at the inauguration of this second school of the CUT of Concepción, this implies rights and duties, obligations and commitments to fulfill. This is a workers’ government, therefore, we have to change the laws to make laws that represent the revolutionary thought of most of the country. Unfortunately, without a majority in Congress, and although some sectors that are not part of the UP have supported some of the legal initiatives, we are still unable to achieve our objectives. For example, a fundamental charter, a new Constitution that reflects what this country means for us, its economic independence, the preservation of its wealth for the people and for Chile, the security and rights that must be granted to workers, to children, to Chilean men and women. We still have to wait for this to happen, but we will achieve it, in the same way that we will have to make laws with a new spirit, a new conscience, a new mentality. Our process is watched with deep interest beyond our borders, and beyond the wide borders of this continent, from different parts of the world, because it represents—without a doubt—an experience that people have not lived through. We have to open the way day by day because our experience is our own, Chilean, according to our own reality. However, many people think that a single and final confrontation will eventually have to take place. We think that confrontation with the opponents of the government is something that takes place every day, every minute, and at every moment. It is fundamental to increase political awareness, the doctrinal capacity of the vast majority of Chileans. Hence how important it is that most militants in two of the government parties—socialists and communists—belong to the working class. The other parties represent the sectors of the petty bourgeoisie. And in this Chilean movement, so typically ours, the important characteristic is pluralism; different partisan and philosophical currents are represented in it; Marxists, secularists, and Christians come together in it. Thus, we take a significant

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step forward regarding the great popular struggles, while pointing out that by avoiding sectarianism it is possible to understand people who have different philosophical positions, although they can and should agree with the national majorities, and this signifies the great transformations that nations want and need. The workers are in the government, through their class parties and through the CUT that is part of the National Development Council. Workers participate in the entire public administration, holding positions as sub-delegates, governors, and mayors. They are in semi-fiscal, state agencies. In short, this is— authentically—the government of the workers. However, frequently—and with a mindset that we are leaving behind—they are considered to be mere laborers, workers. And often we have witnessed a certain workerist trend which is disappearing and making way for a much broader and much fairer conception, and this is also interesting to highlight. For this reason, the great concern of this government is to organize the workers and, fundamentally, the rural workers, who have been the most neglected, the most denied, and the most overdue. On the other hand, the Agrarian Reform does not only entail a change in land ownership by means of the expropriation of large estates or farms, but also a change in the life of rural workers, who in essence are and will be the dynamic factor, so that the land can be used productively, and the rural worker must not only be given access to the land, in cooperatives or state farms or reformed centers, but this also entails technical assistance, seeds, fertilizer, credit, and the presence of doctors and teachers in rural areas, because the Agrarian Reform is part of the process of economic development, and fundamental in including rural workers in the revolution. That is why, for example, I have proposed before and during the campaign that in the People’s Government there would be fewer strikes. . . . The workers will understand, the labor authorities will understand, that conflicts must be resolved with a preventive approach; because the strike is the last resort used by the working class. Strikes that lasted for many days or many months took place repeatedly in important sectors of national life. In 1971 there were no strikes in the coal sector that lasted more than mere seconds. There were no copper strikes. We have not had teacher strikes. There have been no strikes in the vast majority of state services, due to a new spirit and a new mentality. In the nationalized companies, there has been an increase in production. . . . Well, then, what are the problems that an organization like the CUT faces, and what has been the contribution of the CUT? The responsibility of the CUT was laid out at the beginning, and has been known since the moment people reached government. It was concerned with the methods and tactics that workers would normally have used, with an essentially economistic criteria, it was the confrontation between workers, mainly laborers, and rural workers who demanded an increase in wages or salaries, higher income from their employers. Having workers in government, nationalizing many companies and industries and having nationalized basic resources, workers’ conscience could not allow them to make demands based solely on economic criteria. And, although many still do not

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understand this, most have come to understand what the responsibility of workers in the government represents. That is why we have been able to celebrate the agreements between the government and the CUT. If these agreements had not been possible, the stability of the government would have been shaken, and the confrontations in the field of economic demands would have surely resulted in a much higher percentage of strikes than those that have taken place. Hence the importance of pointing out that without stripping the CUT of its independence, its autonomy, without converting the CUT into a dependency of the government— because the laborers or workers affiliated to it will never tolerate it—the CUT understands that it is part of the government and that, whilst raising the legitimate demands of the workers, it is also responsible for the general progress of the country, and, therefore, it has to reconcile the policies that, from the point of view of wages and social conquests, workers are interested in, and the general economic policy of the government, which in essence will also govern the life of the vast majority of Chileans. And this is very important; it is extraordinarily important to point this out. That is why, following a tactical approach based on our own reality, we have indicated in the CUT‐GOVERNMENT agreement what the participation of workers should be in state-owned companies and even the participation of workers in private industries. And it is also essential for this to be understood and for workers to meditate on some of our past experiences. When we say that the nationalized companies belong to the workers, we say so because workers are part of the people, a basic, essential part. The coal companies do not belong to the coal workers; they belong to the people of Chile. The copper companies do not belong to the copper workers, they belong to the people of Chile, and so on. The copper companies belong to the copper workers: because they are part of the people, in the same way the coal companies belong to the coal workers, because they are part of the people. That is why we have rejected the concept of the worker company, as an expression of a system; because—unquestionably—that is a contrived and artificial position that does not reflect a revolutionary change. We need the surplus that is owed to the Chilean economy, the profits that previously belonged to big businessmen, especially foreigners, to enter the general patrimony of the country, to boost the country’s economic development. That is why it is also essential that workers have a thorough knowledge of the company they work in; but, at the same time, knowledge regarding the general economic policy of the country. Otherwise, workers will find it hard to understand why a certain percentage of readjustment is established in the CUT‐GOVERNMENT agreement and why it is beneficial for that readjustment to remain in place, because without it, the economic process would become unbalanced, and we could fall into a brutal inflationary process with dramatic consequences, especially for those who live on wages or a salary. When the workers are in the government, as is the case in Chile, the government and the working class must promote laws that benefit the vast majority of the country. I am going to give you an example. How many

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years do you think, comrades, it took Chile to pass the Law on Work Accidents and Professional Illnesses? 26 years. I presented this law in 1940, as Pedro Aguirre Cerda’s Minister of Health, and after 26 years, that is to say in 1966, Congress passed that law, a law which was destined to benefit 3 million Chileans. The Law on Health Insurance that entitles the worker and his family to medical care, subsidies, pensions, orphan’s pensions, women’s lactation allowance, rest during childbirth and postpartum, etc., spent 10 years in Congress. . . . Think about it, comrades, the workers could never imagine what the passing of such a fundamental law would involve. We often criticize the workers because they carried out solidarity strikes for salary readjustments, but they never went on strike so that Congress understood that it had to pass that law, which they did not pass because large companies had a vested interest in the “Law on Occupational Diseases and Work Accidents,” because they had to pay a tax for providing medical care and giving the injured the respective pensions, and also because it went against the profits of the companies that had to insure the workers against work accidents. This entire process also entails modifying parts of the articles of the Labor Code. And just as I stated at the beginning that, in a revolutionary government, we must promote a new Constitution and new laws, so we are adamant that we have to promote a new Labor Code. The Labor Code that we have is a code that no longer satisfies the legitimate rights of workers in a government of workers. . . . But, returning to the responsibility of the workers, at a national scale: the presence of the CUT in the government and in the Development Council of the country’s economy; at the provincial level: raising the awareness of the workers, involving them in the processes of regional activity, raising problems that are legitimate—much like the comrade has done—and explaining why they occur. Why, for example, we are forced to enact some price rises, comrades, but at the same time, why have we established compensation for those rises. Since, for the first time, a government that raises the price of some essential products in January, in the same month sends a project to compensate for those rises. Because indisputably, they had to take place. And there are internal and external factors that cause these increases, such as the importation of a series of elements, articles and products that this country is not capable of producing. Chile, I have said it so many times, you should already know, is a country that has to import at least 1,200 million dollars a year, in machinery, spare parts, petrol, meat, wheat, fat, butter, cooking oil, supplies, raw material for the industries, etc. How does a country progress? Increasing—in the case of Chile—exports. We have the obligation to export—in dollars—more than we need to import. This government has inherited the debts contracted by previous governments and has had to renegotiate the external debt because otherwise we would find ourselves in the dramatic situation where Chile would have outgoings of 1,600 million dollars a year, and an income of only 1,200 million dollars. Hence, being aware of these problems makes the informed workers understand what income redistribution is or—in other words—we have made sure that those who earn less, earn more. . . .

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We have managed to significantly reduce the unemployment figures, which is very important because it entails peace of mind for thousands and thousands of Chileans. In the same way that the income distribution policy has led to workers today receiving 60% of the national income. Before, workers did not reach 49% of the national income. Before, 51% of the national income was in the hands of a minority group. The workers—who are the majority—had 49%. Today, it is the other way around, the workers have 60%. And, logically, they will participate more and more in the national income. But, at the same time, it is essential to increase production, which raises an obvious problem for the workers. state-owned companies are different; here, people are working and producing for Chile, for the country, for the people, and workers and their families are benefitting, which is a welcome contrast to what previously meant producing for only a small group of businessmen and employers. Workers must participate in the management of companies. We cannot just appoint a manager for workers to see him in the same way they saw the previous manager; no. It is a matter of direct participation of workers. And how is this participation achieved? In the agreements between the government and the CUT it is established that in the state-owned companies there must be boards of directors, that is the Worker Assembly elects a number of workers, who can be not only laborers, but also employees and technicians, and, then, the government appoints an equal number from that same company or industry and this forms the Board of Directors of the company. Union bodies continue to function. It concerns me that this is not fully understood, and fellow union leaders think that the Board of Directors is an enemy to their activities. No. The union leaders have to carry out a great task regarding social matters and they will voice their demands. The Board of Directors—also made up of workers—manages the company. Now the relationship between the union leaders and the Board of Directors has to be the relationship of people who are of the same class, who own the same company, because the company belongs to the country, to the people. And, therefore, I believe that this will be the last year that lists of demands of the workers will be presented as before. And I think that this will be the last year, without needing to suppress the strike, that relationships will be difficult and that negotiations will take place as in the past with the owners of the industries. I believe that the time has come for workers to outline a new way of viewing their responsibility and their participation in the performance of the companies and to take into account how the companies’ performance affects the general development of the economy, in such a way that future lists of demands are carried out within the framework of a new mindset. For example, I was in Chuquicamata.2 The Chuquicamata problem was extraordinarily acute. Some politically committed sectors were interested in and intended to carry out a strike. This was a very harsh blow for the government. There had been a very brief strike in El Salvador. We had fixed the maximum readjustment amount according to

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the figure the government thought appropriate for the copper workers of the El Salvador mines. The fellow workers, still with an old-school mentality, did not believe that this was all that the company—who were obeying the instructions of the government—could grant them. They went on strike and came to Santiago to speak with the Minister of Labor, and he told them: we have already provided the right figure, we discussed it with you, we analyzed the company’s income, we saw increases in cost, we know what the international price of copper is, we cannot give you more. They came to talk to me; I received them and spoke to them as companions; I told them, let’s look at the figures, let’s discuss them, but the government has already studied the background, comrades, we are very sorry, we cannot give you a single additional cent. They said: Comrades, let’s go on strike! I told them that, if they went on strike, they would harm Chile, they would harm themselves. They went on strike. What happened? That even while on strike, volunteers recovered some old machinery, painted their dwellings, cleaned them, made 2 bathrooms, 3 bathrooms, 10 bathrooms in houses that did not have bathrooms, and after 10 days of strike, they sent for me. What had happened? The workers’ female comrades told them: Look, old man, this strike is not against the company, nor against the bosses, this strike is against yourselves, this strike is against Chile, this strike is against the government, this strike is against comrade Allende, and therefore, whereas before we prepared food in a communal cooking pot,3 now we are telling you that there is no food for you. So, get back to work! And it was the female comrades from El Salvador who made the workers return to work. And I went there and the comrades told me, comrade Allende, we recognize our mistake, and we are going to pay for the 9 days that we were on strike, and they have made up for it by working overtime. What a great new consciousness of the workers! In Chuquicamata the idea of going on strike was widespread. No less than 80 articles in the newspapers of the area. Hundreds of notices; publications in Santiago newspapers, arguing that the workers had the right to a greater increase. Newspapers that for their entire existence, since they were first published, have attacked the working class, suddenly, overnight, became their champions, leaders, and advocates of workers’ demands. Their true motive was different, to create a conflict in the area of our most important mineral, which meant, firstly, a moral failure for the government, and, secondly, brutal economic damage for Chile, at a time when the Special Court for the Constitutional Reform is still discussing compensation for the copper companies, and the possibility or not, of paying them. The laborers have to realize that, in the government they are a part of, the general performance of the economy must interest them more than their own income in pesos.4 Because there may come a time when they have a lot of pesos in their pockets, but they cannot buy anything because many things are missing. There must be a relationship between money in circulation, individual income and the possibility of satisfying individual and collective demand. If we do not

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increase the production of shoes, if we do not increase the production of fabric, if we do not increase the production of books—logically—if there is more individual income, there will be a demand for these products, in the same way that there will be a demand for food, a demand that will be impossible to satisfy. As is the case of meat. And the workers have to realize that Chile cannot import 200, 300 or 400 million dollars in meat, which would be what we would have to import—400 million dollars in meat!—to ensure the daily consumption of meat of the entire population of Chile. Chile cannot do that. Why? Because Chile only has an income of 1.2 billion dollars to buy everything it needs. Imagine if we spent 400 million dollars on meat alone! Well, comrades, the rest of the country would be paralyzed. These are the things workers need to understand. This is why it is important for boards of directors to be operating, for Production Committees to be working and for there to be a good relationship between the union leaders and the company’s administration. There can be no antagonism because they are representatives of the workers and the company belongs to the workers because it belongs to the people. But it is not a worker company as it used to be envisioned, where the workers would own the shares of the companies, because that is disguising the workers as capitalists and a People’s Government that is moving towards socialism cannot accept that, comrades. I wanted to raise these problems in this type of conversation because, in my opinion, they are extremely important. Also of immense importance is what has been denounced right here: absenteeism, a harmful disease for the country. Workers have to fulfill their obligations, especially in state-owned companies. And I insist, comrades, during the first months of this government there was a workerist trend, rejecting the employee, the technician, the professional. That is a mistake, comrades. The professional, the technician, is essential in companies, as is the laborer. And the tendency in socialist countries and even in the countries of industrial capitalism is to gradually turn the worker into a technician, especially in socialist countries. There will come a day when the vast majority of workers will be professionals, the majority will be engineers from different branches. But that will take some time, especially in countries like ours. But there can be no antagonism, there can be no conflicts between the workers of a company, between the manual workers of that company and the technicians, the employees and the professionals. They have to understand this, and they are beginning to understand it, because technology is fundamental, comrades, it is fundamental. Lenin rightly said many times that a technician is worth more than 10 militants of a revolutionary party. This is true at certain times in history. When society evolves, the worker prepares himself, he becomes a technician; and if he is a militant of a revolutionary party, then this possibility can be easily reached. That is why, comrades, we have to be highly critical of absenteeism and its causes, and I am not going to elaborate on a criticism that I have always made—because tonight we celebrate an anniversary—regarding the worst disease that Chile suffers from, which is a social scourge: alcoholism. Ah! The newspapers in Santiago said: “Dr. Allende

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has raised the problem of alcoholism very patriotically but he does not provide formulas to end it.” Yes, comrades, here I signed a decree to establish an entire national policy, which begins with education and continues with housing, with recreation, with sports and with the treatment of alcoholics, who are not sick but who require a cure. . . . The revolution is related, comrades, to the processes of life and that revolutionary consciousness is expressed daily and is, as I have mentioned, constantly confronting its own conscience. The worker who does not fulfill his task, his obligation, is not a revolutionary. The worker who does not understand what is important is not a revolutionary. Being a revolutionary entails renunciation, and above all, building a new society which he will not be able to benefit from if he is an adult, or an elderly person. But who will benefit? His children, the new generation. Hence the transcendent importance of understanding these problems, and understanding them, above all, in the case of Chile, where a revolutionary process is carried out with minimal social cost; where everyone’s rights are preserved and where we make progress and take on the challenge in order to build a different profile for Chile, and to then look at the continent as a whole and also contribute to building a different profile for Latin America, since we long for it to be a continental nation, as those who gave us political independence dreamed of, and today we fight to achieve economic independence. For this reason, when such a significant event takes place, when we celebrate the 19th Anniversary of the CUT, we must remember the responsibility of the workers because, as comrade Lira said, it was fundamentally the workers who made the victory of the UP possible. We must criticize, for example, the increasing tendency to create more and more unions, including the centers of large companies. This cannot continue, comrades. I have suggested that it would be useful to study imposing a limitation on the number of times that a fellow worker can be a union leader. Being a union leader cannot become a profession. I think that, in the interest of the workers and given the authority that this union leader has over the masses, we should consider the possibility of that union leader having to work a fixed number of hours, and dedicate another fixed amount to the conflicts of fellow workers. Because it is another way of accentuating their prestige, their influence, and their moral authority over the workers. If the union leader does not understand the process of economic development of the company in which he is a leader, if he does not participate in a dialogue with his colleagues, who are laborers or employees or technicians much like he is, he will not be able to understand the reality of that company and he may be raising demands that can be satisfied today, but not be viable tomorrow, and raising others that can only be met when the general economic development process of the country allows it. I know that the Chilean working class is ready for that. I also know that the workers have already taken an extraordinary step forward, which is their presence in the People’s Government. The future battles will be much more significant, they will be the great battles for economic transformations, they will be the great battles about industrial

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processes, it will be a Chile that owns its copper, not producing the 580,000 tons that were produced last year, but reaching 700,000, 800,000, until we are able to reach a million tons. Transformations to increase the production of steel, coal, saltpeter, and use those surpluses to boost our economic development. Chile is a country that is on the margin of scientific progress. The era of atomic energy, of nuclear energy, has not even made an appearance in this country. And there are countries where they have already been walking for years and years along those avenues of great progress, of intellectual capacity. We must make a huge effort for this to happen. But this entails economic efforts that are beyond the possibility of a dependent country, but are possible for a nation that is breaking free from dependency and moving towards independence and socialism. But in order to achieve this, people must be trained. We have no nuclear engineers nor atomic engineers. The percentage is very small. Here in Chile, there is a lack of fellow geologists, and we do not have a cadastre of the country’s mineral resources. Currently, for example, we are searching for oil and we have to find it because Chile needs it. We must now search on the continental shelf because we have been unable to find any on the mainland except in the last well that was discovered, a short time ago, in Punta Arenas. We have to find oil, and likewise we have to provide more electricity, listen well comrades, we must also make a national plan for water. This country suffers from a lack of water. Furthermore, 3,200,000 Chileans do not have access to water; the Chilean countryside needs more water; for industries, for drinking and cleaning, for meals. It is a huge task. It takes great effort. Millions and millions must be invested. Electricity, to illuminate houses; electricity to start motors. Workers must be aware of this entire process. They must be part of this process. And set out to act as technicians and governors—because they already are—and every day there will be more of them, and every day there will be more work to do, because this will be irreversible, and that will also depend on the unity, tenacity, conscience, revolutionary will and generosity of the workers. I am convinced this will take place and that is why this 19th anniversary is so important and significant. The workers celebrate this anniversary whilst envisaging new horizons and a new way of living. The workers celebrate it now that they are the government, now that we want Chile to be in the hands of workers, of Chileans, Chileans with a Latin American conscience, with a revolutionary will. I always quote the phrase of a student written on the wall of a university in Paris: “The revolution is made first in people, and then in things.” Indeed, comrades, this revolution has to take place in each one of us, to work, study, and produce more, to be aware that working more is not done for a boss, but for your family and for the great family, which is the people of Chile. . . . Comrades, Chile is experiencing a different stage of its history, and tomorrow’s history will be kneaded with the sweat, effort, intelligence and capacity of workers that are willing to sacrifice themselves. I have faith in the people and absolute confidence in the maturity of the Chilean working class. I know that rural folk, although lagging behind for a century and a half, are

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quickly joining the new current and the man of the land is already aware that he is present, as one more citizen, in this great struggle for a different homeland and for a better Chile. The workers must understand and make others understand that the revolution and the new society will benefit Chilean women the most. I was telling them a few days ago, here in this theater full of female comrades, that this year will be “The Year of the Woman” and we will sign a commitment, not to satisfy the desires of the women of the UP but all Chilean women. But, the worker, the employee, the technician who does not share his concerns with his mother, his daughter, his wife, his partner, he who does not make her think beyond domestic limits, who does not do it in the dimension of the neighborhood, the village, the town, the country and the continent, he is not a revolutionary nor is he a comrade. We must fight for the human couple in the great Chilean task of making our homeland a different and better homeland for all Chileans. Labor Day speech (May 1, 1972). Salvador Allende. Extracts (. . .) Worker participation

Comrades, we have conquered a long stretch of the road towards economic independence in order to promote the development of our country, to give people what they need and have justly demanded for so many years. We can only do this by strengthening the power of workers every day. How? By increasing their power of political decision-making, increasing their economic control, strengthening their organizations and increasing and making their participation real. You must understand, you must realize: participation is a fundamental instrument for organized workers to conquer power. Revolutionary worker participation means replacing private owners, big business capitalists and monopolies. Participation— I insist and repeat—is an instrument that strengthens the sense of work and responsibility at the service of man and at the service of the country. The big capitalists fight against worker participation because they see it as the consolidation of the power of the people; full participation is not improvised, participation is organized, participation is prepared, participation is the product of the capacity that each comrade, rural worker, employee, technician or professional must develop. That is why we have to analyze, comrades, the way we have made progress and how far we have advanced in terms of participation. ... We have created a Cybernetic Department in the Development Corporation so that, with the use of computers, we can have up-to-date production figures for each company, at the tip of our fingers, and I will visit the companies and talk to the workers and we will put an end to Saint Monday,5 comrades. For

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example, there have been 10 small, partial strikes in Chuquicamata this month. It pains me to say it. This cannot go on. The fellow workers of Chuquicamata have to understand this. I was in El Teniente,6 I went there with the President of Mexico. At the end of the visit, at the bottom of the mine, before inviting us to a light snack, with pride, you could see it in their faces, you could feel how proud the workers were, they took us to a wall that is more or less 80 meters long. On that wall there were four murals depicting the work carried out in the different areas of the industry. Murals painted by the workers; but each mural had the production figures. And they told us: “Look, President; look, President of Mexico; look, comrade Allende, how we have been increasing production. In March, El Teniente produced more than it had produced in the previous 11 months.” And they added: We have organized 56 production committees; and we have already spoken with the missing comrades; there are still comrades who do not work enough. We have already told them, as you did, that “Saint Monday cannot continue!”: That is why we assure you, copper worker’s word of honor, that we are going to achieve the goals that the copper department and the government, through the Ministry of Mining, have set. That is what the workers at El Teniente told us. Comrades, we are following a new path and logically—in some cases—we have made mistakes, we have improvised. The steering committees must understand that they are not theoretical committees, that they have decision-making power, that they must make use of it; I said the same to public officials. I prefer a fellow Mayor, Governor or Deputy Delegate who makes a mistake, to a bureaucrat who lives in his office and who is incapable of trying to solve the problems of fellow workers. Production committees must be on the front lines of battle and I have already outlined the wide range of responsibilities they must have. The comrades of the Administration Committees, the director comrades of the companies must dialogue fortnightly, weekly, with the Worker Assemblies. They must inform them, provide them with background information, point out any difficulties encountered, and specify the commitments they have to fulfill. The Relationship Committee between the Management Committee and the Union Board must function. There is no antagonism between the work of the Management Committee and the union leaders, they do not go along parallel routes. They integrate, they work together, they have the same task: to promote and drive the progress of the stateowned industries, industries that belong to the people. For this reason, comrades, I want to tell you that, as I am seriously concerned about these matters, I have decided on the following—I am only going to read two pages and I do it so as not to forget any detail—I am going to read the instructions related to the resolutions I have made. First: I have decided to issue instructions so that, by the end of June, all sectoral committees will have carried out an extensive

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evaluation and mobilization together with union leaders, the workers’ representatives on the Boards of Directors, the government representatives, auditors and managers in their respective areas. The future policy to be followed must emanate from them and clearly establish the attributions of the various management bodies. Second: I will instruct the Ministers of Labor, Public Works, Mining, Agriculture and Economy, so that, within a period of 30 days, they can prepare a full and rigorous study aimed at replacing the current system for setting remunerations, which corresponds to a capitalist company structure, by a model that is adjusted to the characteristics of the socially owned companies. Meetings should be organized with the workers to discuss in depth the need for new formulas which will establish the relationship between the function to be fulfilled in the production process and the remuneration to which the workers are entitled for their work. Third: I will ask the government’s economic services to provide me with a detailed description of the levels of decision-making and responsibility within the structure of socially owned companies, sector by sector, within a period of 30 days. Fourth: the executives of the state economic organizations, both services and companies, must ensure—for the benefit of the government and the workers—levels of efficiency in the production of goods and services, as well as a true level of worker integration in the running of institutions. Fifth: we believe that it is the responsibility of state agencies and universities to coordinate their efforts with the CUT to organize a vast and full training program for workers. At the end of the year, we will highlight the state economic agencies and the companies which have most efficiently integrated the workers. In summary: for the workers and leaders of the CUT, 1972 is the year of participation, the year of integration, the year of taking on responsibility, the year of accentuating the power of the people, the year of consolidating the revolution! That is why I point out how committed the workers and the leaders of the CUT have been; but I emphasize the responsibility that political parties and state officials must assume. Above all, I am interested in rural workers participating in a more effective manner, as soon as possible. I have already pointed out where communal committees exist and where they do not. I have shed light on the failures of the provincial rural worker committees. They must have jurisdiction, they must have the necessary training and the means to carry out their work, and I will make sure that happens. And the participation of employees, technicians and professionals is also an important factor that we will promote while holding conversations with professionals and technicians. That is why, comrades, this year is the year of participation and I should let you know that I have decided to create the “Order of Merit for Work,” which will bear the name of the distinguished warrior: Manuel Rodríguez. We will award the distinction to the unions, companies and workers who most stand out working for Chile and for the country, and they will carry on their chest the medal that will bear the name of the immortal guerrilla: Manuel Rodríguez. That is why it is important to point out that the revolution that is under way faces obstacles that

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others put in our path. Faced with what we have done regarding the creation of the economic area and the participation of the workers, they create difficulties to hinder our progress. There is a Constitutional Reform that will be voted on next week in Congress, based on the vetoes that the government has presented. I have already said it and I am not going to analyze it in depth now. In the extraordinary demonstration that we held in response to another gathering, I stated what the Constitutional Reform meant: how the majority can insist on the articles vetoed by the Executive, because we maintain that it should be by two thirds, in accordance with the regulatory provisions of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. I have pointed out that behind this attitude there is the threat of removing the President of the Republic by simple majority. It does not bother me; that fact does not bother me personally. It worries me because it is my obligation to defend the Constitution. And I have also said that we will appeal to the Constitutional Court and that we will wait for this court’s ruling. It is the majority of Congress, not us, that denies the powers of the Constitutional Court. The only body that can make a ruling is the Constitutional Court itself. I repeat, I am not personally worried if they try to do this. What worries me is that the foundations of the Chilean institutional framework are being swept away, that they want to change the rules of the game, and, therefore, they want to throw this country into a very hard and very deep fight. It is my obligation—and I will fulfill it—to defend the constitutional precepts. It is my obligation to avoid confrontation. It is my obligation to reject all violence, physical, economic and social. It is my obligation to prevent a bloodbath in Chile. It is my obligation to defend the conquests of the workers and the Chilean Revolution. For this reason, the other thing workers should think about is what is being attempted in this Constitutional Reform; it would overturn the advances made in socially owned companies, and try—I repeat—to create what they have called “worker companies.” I have been reading a pamphlet that is going around. The introduction to that brochure is the kind that could be signed by any of us. It uses anti-capitalist, almost revolutionary language, and it speaks of replacing the system and the regime, and one of the ways to do so is the creation of worker companies. Comrades, you have to be aware that capitalists will defend themselves to the last breath, through any means necessary. If they can use physical and economic violence, as I said a moment ago, they will. That is what we have learned from other nations’ experience throughout history. But they will also always use mystification and sometimes even deceit. Listen carefully; they try to deceive us by proposing the so-called worker companies as an alternative to the socially owned companies of the economy, the strategic companies that are of interest to Chile and that are conceived as the first step towards a socialist society and economy. What does this constitute? It is the height of deceit and hypocrisy: pretending to be anti-capitalists and proposing supposed worker companies that, in our opinion, are designed precisely to defend the system. Those companies will continue to be privately owned, and this is the core issue, comrades.

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The stem cell of capitalism is precisely the private ownership of the means of production, and therefore capitalists want to maintain control of their companies, changing the name and now calling them “worker companies.” Comrades: to walk towards socialism you have to socialize the means of production and capital; that is to say, that these means of production must be owned by the workers. It is absurd to raise the flags of socialism and defend the appropriation of the country’s strategic companies with private capital in mind. In our opinion, it is hypocritical to state that these companies belong to workers if they lease the capital and make payments to those who still own the capital. In a socialist company, the workers do not lease any capital because the company belongs to the workers, it belongs to the people and therefore the workers do not have to make any payments to the capitalists, because they have abolished private ownership of these companies, comrades. In this brochure, a percentage that reaches 5% of the company’s profits is to be handed over to the owner, and these are companies that are supposedly socially owned, comrades. And that income is given to private capitalists and it is even being said that it must be readjusted annually, adding that, if there are losses, it will be the responsibility of the workers. Take note, comrades. Learn, comrades. I think that workers should not accept it. The fruit and effort of workers will no longer go into the pockets of Chilean monopolists. The fruit of the labor in nationalized companies will be distributed, fundamentally, as income, so that it benefits the whole of Chile, to promote the development of the companies and to give fair wages and salaries to those who work in them, but you must understand, as I have said many times: the nationalized companies do not belong to certain workers, they belong to the people of Chile at the service of the national economy. They intend to organize worker companies, as they call them, as a kind of company bank, with traditional banking criteria. Even the blind can see through this, comrades. You have to realize what is at stake in Chile at this moment: whether the outdated and failed capitalist regime is maintained, or the revolution is carried out. What do you want, comrades? To walk towards socialism? Yes or no, comrades? (Crowd yells: Yes! Yes!). Then we cannot allow worker companies. Right, comrades? (The crowd shouts again and says: No! No! No!) (A worker shouts: “March forward, comrade!”) Comrades, we must march forward, backward, sideways, we must march in every direction, comrades. Lastly, comrades, creating these companies has another serious consequence. It establishes differences within the same class. It separates workers according to their income, and low incomes at that. It is the wedge they want to drive between workers. We are not going to accept it. We are going to reject it. And the way to reject it is for the workers to understand that the socially owned companies, as we have proposed, are the first pivot and the first step in the construction of tomorrow’s society, of socialist construction, comrades. For this reason, comrades, and don’t continue shouting “Allende,” because you encourage me to continue speaking and I am against the exploitation of man by man, so don’t exploit me anymore. . . . Well, comrades, I am going to try to get to the heart of the matter quickly. First of all, clarity, comprehensive understanding,

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knowing where we are going, what goal we must reach at this stage. I was honest when I claimed that the government I lead is not a socialist government. The UP Program is not a socialist program. But the government and the program lay the foundations of a socialist construction and we have to firmly consolidate it, to lay each brick of the future building, with pain, with sweat, with effort, without blood, but with the conviction to shed blood if necessary, comrades. Not to attack, we do not want violence. To defend ourselves from the counterrevolution, from reactionary violence and the fascist blade. Basic norms for worker participation in socially owned and mixed-ownership companies (May, 1971). Presidency of the Republic and the CUT of Chile Introduction

“The revolutionary transformations that the country needs can only be carried out if Chilean people take power into their hands and make genuine and effective use of it.” This is one of the fundamental approaches of the UP Government Program. For this to be effective, the unions and social organizations of laborers, employees, rural workers, professionals and other sectors of workers will be called upon to intervene at the level that corresponds to them in the decisions of the organs of power. The participation of workers is a political problem, which will allow the consolidation of the transformations of the economic and social structures. This is reflected in the workers’ ability to make decisions and ensure that measures are properly carried out. This decision-making capacity is exercised mainly at two levels: a) National, regional, and sectoral economic planning. b) Management of socially owned and mixed-ownership companies. The first level refers to the participation of workers as a class, that is as a group comprised of all workers in Chile. At this level, the main goal of participation is for proposals by the workers and the government to be complementary in decision-making regarding the planning of the national economy. To make effective use of this power, the workers are integrated through the representatives of the CUT and representatives of the federations and confederations, in the superior organizations of national, regional, and sectoral development planning, such as the National Development Council, the Regional Development Councils, ODEPLAN,7 Sector Development Committees, ministries, and

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others. There, the workers voice their proposals, which represent the general interests of all workers in the country, participating in a real and effective way in development planning, which will later be applied to companies in the form of production plans and programs. A second level of participation corresponds to workers running socially owned and mixed-ownership companies. The UP Government Program says: “Regarding public sector companies, their Boards of Directors and their Production Committees must have direct worker and employee representatives.” Participation will allow workers to transform from simple cogs in the capitalist productive machine into active elements that consciously and responsibly decide their participation in the economic and social process, using all their experience, initiative, and creative power. This implies consolidating a solid economic and social base that will pave the way towards the implementation of socialism. Both the government of the UP and the CUT deem it necessary to establish basic rules of participation in order to standardize, in broad outlines, the worker and state co-management of socially owned and mixed-ownership companies. To this effect, the Ministry of Labor established the CUT-Government Commission, which focused on the study of worker participation in the management of socially owned and mixed-ownership companies, and was composed of representatives of the CUT, of the Ministries of Labor and Economy, ODEPLAN, and INACAP. This work benefited from the creative contribution of the most representative federations and confederations of the country. This commission finished its study stage with the elaboration of the Basic Norms for Participation, destined to standardize, in broad outlines, the worker and state co-management of socially owned and mixed-ownership companies. These norms, ratified by the CUT and the government, must be implemented quickly and effectively in order to respond to the historical challenge that the government and the CUT have presented as unavoidable tasks for all workers, in order to win the “battle for increased production” today and not tomorrow, and include them in decision-making. All of this can only become a reality within a dynamic co-management system that irreversibly consolidates the economic and social bases that will allow us to advance firmly and resolutely towards a more just society, towards a socialist society. These basic norms must be appropriate to the characteristics of each company that produces goods or services, respecting existing standards, but enriching their development and implementation. This adaptation will be developed by the Company-Union Committees that will be formed in each of the companies in which the basic norms are put into practice. For the national implementation of the basic norms in all socially owned and mixed-ownership companies, an Executive Committee was created, made up of 4 representatives of the CUT; 2 representatives of the Ministry of

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Economy; 1 representative of the Ministry of Labor; 1 representative of ODEPLAN; and 1 representative of INACAP. Basic norms for worker participation in socially owned and mixed-ownership companies: 1. Companies these rules apply to 1) Socially owned companies, that is, those that are the exclusive property of society as a whole, and that must be managed and administered jointly by representatives of the state and representatives of the workers. 2) Mixed-ownership companies controlled by the state, that is, those where part of the capital belongs to society as a whole, and the rest to private businessmen. For the purposes of participation, socially owned and mixed-ownership companies fall into two groups: a) Companies that concentrate their production in a single plant. b) Companies that develop their production in two or more plants. Participation in socially owned companies 2. Participative bodies for companies with a single plant a) Company Worker Assembly; b) Production Unit Assemblies (section, department, division, or the equivalent); c) Production Unit Production Committees (section, department, division, or the equivalent); d) Company Worker Coordinating Committee; and e) Board of Directors. 3. Company Worker Assembly The Company Worker Assembly is the highest body for participation at the grassroots level. It is made up of all the company’s workers and is called and chaired by the committee of the company’s single union or guild organization. If there is not a single union or guild organization, a representative committee of the company’s unions or guild organizations will convene and preside over this assembly. 4. Functions of the Company Worker Assembly a) Discuss the company’s production plans and policies in accordance with the general guidelines established for the respective branch by the national and sectoral planning agencies; b) Elect the workers to be their representatives on the Board of Directors;

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5. Production Unit Assemblies (section, department, or the equivalent) By Production Unit, we mean each one of the functional sectors a company is divided into. The Production Unit Assemblies are the worker congregations of each section, department, division, or equivalent production unit. 6. Functions of the Production Unit Assemblies a) Know and discuss the plan and policy of the company for the corresponding Production Unit; b) Elect the members of the Production Unit Production Committee; c) Set the policy of their representatives who are in the respective Production Committee; and d) Vote on motions of no confidence against their representatives on the corresponding Production Committee. 7. Production Unit Production Committees (section, department, division, or the equivalent). The Production Unit Production Committees (section, department, division, or the equivalent) are advisory bodies to the Head of the Production Unit, and supervisors of the application of the company’s plan and policy for said unit. The Production Committees of the section, department, division, or the equivalent will be composed of a variable number between 3 to 7 workers, depending on the size of the assembly that elects them. 8. Functions of the Production Unit Production Committees (section, department, division, or the equivalent) a) Advise the Head of the Production Unit, making suggestions—after their discussion and approval in the Production Committee—that are deemed appropriate for the better functioning of the corresponding production unit; b) Study and propose to the head of the corresponding production unit the best way to carry out the company’s plan and policy for said unit; c) Ensure that safety and hygiene measures are rigorously followed, and propose to the Head of the Production Unit initiatives that improve

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occupational safety and hygiene and, in general, improve environmental working conditions; Ensure the care and maintenance of the facilities, machinery, and equipment, proposing timely repairs or changes of spare parts to avoid a stoppage or hindrance in production. Likewise, regarding the supply and use of raw materials; Raise awareness of the importance of social ownership of the means of production; Make suggestions about new methods or procedures that improve work performance; Study and discuss the use of all available resources in the production unit to propose measures that make the best and most intensive use of those resources and, by doing so, reduce production costs; Inform the Production Committee of the department, division, or the equivalent, about the problems that could not be solved at the level immediately below them; Promote comprehensive training of all workers of the production unit and, especially, a technical-professional training; Work in permanent contact with all the workers of the production unit, making sure that they all participate in an effective and responsible manner. Study incentive measures and improvement goals for all workers of the section, department, division, or the equivalent; and Discuss and seek solutions to problems regarding absenteeism and human relations, among others.

9. Company Worker Coordinating Committee The Company Worker Coordinating Committee is a body that has the following functions: a) Instruct the workers’ representatives on the Board of Directors, in accordance with the guidelines set by the Company Worker Assembly. b) Propose solutions to the problems raised by the representatives of the Production Committees of the divisions or departments to the respective agencies. c) Instruct these representatives regarding the best way to run the Production Committees, with an overall vision. The Company Worker Coordinating Committee will be chaired by the president of the company’s single union or guild organization or, alternatively, the president of the representative committee of the company’s unions or guild organizations.

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10. Breakdown of the Company Worker Coordinating Committee a) The five representatives on the Board of Directors, with the right to speak and vote; b) The leaders of the single union or guild organization, or a representative committee of the company’s unions or guild organizations, with the right to speak and vote and who calls and presides meetings; and c) One representative of the Production Committee for each division or department, as appropriate, only with the right to speak. 11. Board of Directors The Board of Directors is the only participatory body with the power to pass obligatory resolutions for all company workers, regarding its operation in various aspects. The Board of Directors is the body that determines the company’s policy, according to the national planning of the economy for the respective sector of the production of goods or services. 12. Composition of the Board of Directors a) The 5 representatives of the state, appointed by the President of the Republic or by the corresponding state body; b) The 5 workers’ representatives, elected by the Company Worker Assembly; and c) A representative appointed by the President of the Republic or by the corresponding state body, who will preside over the Board of Directors. All members of the Board of Directors have the right to speak and vote. The workers’ representatives on the Board of Directors will keep their positions for two years, and may be re-elected for the following period, but not for the subsequent one. A representative on the Board of Directors cannot at the same time be a union leader. 13. Participative bodies for companies with two or more plants a) Plant Worker Assemblies; b) Production Unit Assemblies (section, department, division, or its equivalent); c) Production Unit Production Committees (section, department, division, or its equivalent); d) Plant Worker Coordinating Committees; e) Plant Production Committees; f ) Company Worker Coordinating Committee; and g) Board of Directors.

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14. Company Worker Assembly The Company Worker Assembly is the same body that companies with a single plant have, but in companies with two or more plants it is made up of all the Plant Worker Assemblies. 15. Plant Worker Assemblies The Plant Worker Assemblies are the organizations for participation at the grassroots level of each plant. These assemblies are made up of all the workers of each plant, and are called and chaired by the leaders of the plant’s union or guild organization or by a representative committee of the unions of each plant. 16. Functions of the Plant Worker Assembly a) Discuss the company’s production plans and policies in accordance with the general guidelines established for the respective branch by the national and sectoral planning agencies; b) Elect, together with the other Worker Assemblies of the plants, the five workers’ representatives on the Board of Directors; c) Resolve conflicts that arise in the Company Worker Coordinating Committee regarding the application of the policy set by the Company Worker Assembly; d) Set the policy of their representatives on the Board of Directors, together with other Plant Worker Assemblies; e) Vote on motions of no confidence against their representatives on the Board of Directors; f ) Elect their 5 representatives on the Plant Production Committee; g) Establish the policy of their representatives on the Plant Production Committee; h) Solve the conflicts that arise in the Plant Worker Coordinating Committee, regarding the application of the policy established by the Plant Worker Assembly; and i) Vote on motions of no confidence against their representatives on the Plant Production Committee. 17. The Production Unit Assemblies and Production Unit Production Committees (section, department, division, or its equivalent) are the same as those of a company with a single plant. 18. Plant Worker Coordinating Committee The Plant Worker Coordinating Committee is the body that instructs the workers’ representatives on the Plant Production Committee, in accordance with the guidelines given by the Plant Worker Assembly.

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19. Structure of the Plant Worker Coordinating Committee a) The five workers’ representatives on the Plant Production Committee; elected by the Plant Worker Assembly, with the right to speak and vote; b) The leaders of the plant’s union or organization, or a representative committee of the plant’s unions, with the right to speak and vote; and c) One representative for the Production Committee of each division or department, as appropriate, only with the right to speak. 20. Plant Production Committee The Plant Production Committee is the upper body of the plant, which will advise its administrator regarding the application of the policy set by the Board of Directors. This Plant Production Committee will be made up of five workers’ representatives elected by the Plant Worker Assembly. 21. The Company Worker Coordinating Committee and the Board of Directors are the same as those in a company with only one plant. 22. Functions of the Company Worker Coordinating Committee 1. Instruct the workers’ representatives on the Board of Directors, in accordance with the guidelines set by the assemblies of each plant. 2. Study and propose solutions to the problems raised by the Plant Production Committee representatives. 3. Instruct the Plant Production Committee representatives to improve their operation, with an overall vision. 23. Structure of the Company Worker Coordinating Committee 1. The five workers’ representatives on the Board of Directors, elected by the Company Worker Assembly, with the right to speak and vote; 2. The leaders of the plant’s single union or guild organization, or a representative committee of the company’s unions, with the right to speak and vote; and 3. One representative for each Plant Worker Coordinating Committee, with only the right to speak. 24. The Board of Directors is the same as that of companies with one plant.

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25. Requirements to be elected in participative bodies 1. Meet the requirements to be a union leader; 2. Have spent at least two years in the company or respective branch, except in new companies or in special cases previously decided by the Company Worker Assembly; and 3. Be a member of the union or guild organization of the company. 26. Proportionality in the representation of the five workers on the Board of Directors: Three representatives of the Production Sector; One representative of the Administrative Sector; and One representative of the Technical-Professional Sector. 27. Procedure for the election of workers’ representatives on the Board of Directors. The workers’ representatives on the Board of Directors are elected by direct and secret ballot. The internal participation regulations of each company will determine the election method. The single union or guild organization or a representative committee of the company’s unions will be in charge of organizing the election. The titular and substitute workers’ representatives will remain in their positions for two years, and may be re-elected for the following period, but not for the subsequent one. The workers’ representatives on the Board of Directors will be elected from a single list, be it in companies with one, two, or more plants. 28. Motions of no confidence; revoking the designation of the workers’ representatives on the Board of Directors. To revoke the designation of one or more workers’ representatives on the Board of Directors, a motion of no confidence is presented to the Company Worker Assembly, which will approve or reject the motion of no confidence by a majority vote of all the company’s workers. Motions of no confidence may only be requested by: 1. The Company Worker Coordinating Committee, by a majority vote of its members; and 2. A third of the company’s workers that are in a union or guild. If the motion of no confidence is approved against one or more of the representatives on the Board of Directors, they will be replaced by means of the same procedure they were elected by. General provisions

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29. Participation in mixed-ownership companies The rules of participation for mixed-ownership companies are the same as those of socially owned companies, except in the case of top level administration, in which the state, together with the unions or guild organizations of the company, will define the formulas for participation at that level. 30. Role played by the union or guild organization in the participation process The company’s union or guild organization must direct and guide, in an organized, effective, and productive way, the participation of all the workers of the company as a fundamental condition for ensuring the revolutionary transformations that open the way towards the implementation of socialism in Chile. 31. Joint Committee of the company and the single union or guild organization set up to prepare the Internal Regulations of the company. For the purposes of starting the participation process in a company, a Joint Committee will be formed by the company and either the single union or guild organization, or a representative committee of the company’s unions or guild organizations, to study its functional structure and draw up the Internal Regulations for Participation in the company, adapting the basic rules to the specific conditions of that company. These Internal Regulations will come into force once approved by the CUT-Government Executive Committee for Participation. The meetings of the worker participative bodies will be held outside working hours, except in the case of the Board of Directors, or in the cases the Board determines. The workers’ representative positions will be unremunerated, being the respective company responsible for travel and transportation expenses occurring in the exercise of their duties. Companies whose purpose is to set economic policies and their execution at the national level will not be limited to five state representatives and workers on the Board of Directors, as was established in these basic regulations, but up to a maximum of 20 representatives in total. Additionally, company workers will amount to 50% of the workers’ representation and the other 50% will correspond to the CUT and other organizations related to the national economic policy, whose representation the state deems necessary. In companies that establish and carry out sectoral policies of the economy, the representation of the company workers will be reduced to 50% of the representatives on the Board of Directors, with the other half corresponding to the most representative union or guild federation, or national single union, and organizations whose participation the state deems necessary.

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These basic rules will not apply to social security institutions, universities, or the Armed Forces. Statement by the President of the Republic, comrade Salvador Allende Gossens, during his visit to the socially owned industry, former Yarur (November 4, 1972). Extracts Dear comrades of the former Yarur industry:8 I wanted to come to greet you and be with you for a few minutes; I have come to express the satisfaction that I have as a comrade President, knowing that you are carrying out the production plans that the Administration of the Company has drawn up, an Administration comprised mainly of workers. I have come to tell you that I never doubted that the workers—that is: laborers, rural workers, technicians, professionals—would respond to Chile’s demand, would know how to deal with external and internal aggression. To the external one, sponsored and executed by North American imperialism, that owned the riches of copper, saltpeter and iron; and to the internal aggression of the sectors of the old oligarchy, that have tried and intend to prevent the fulfillment of the program that enables people to reach government. Yesterday marked two years since we reached government and this is not the right moment to review what we have done so far. Of course, I can say that we have been rapidly fulfilling the commitment made to workers, to the people of Chile, to Chile, and to its history. And this has not been carried out by a single man—even though I am the President of the Republic—nor by the parties that make up the UP. The organized working class has done it, the popular parties and hundreds and thousands of Chileans who, without belonging to a union or a political party, stand together with their government, because they are workers and understand that in Chile we are carrying out a process of profound changes, which has faced and will continue to face difficulties, but which entails replacing the old regime with a different social understanding that will result in the construction of a socialist society. This is a long, difficult process carried out in our country within the framework of bourgeois democracy, respecting pluralism, democracy, and freedom. Chile is not a socialist country; we have a long, long, long way to go before it becomes one; Chile has all the defects of the old capitalist regime and none of the advantages of socialism. We face more difficulties than other nations that advanced towards socialism, because they did so outside of constitutional and legal concepts, whilst bearing weapons. We have done it within Chilean reality, its history, and constitutionality. But this complicates matters because we face opposition; there are people here who, in accordance with the rights established

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in the Constitution and the law, legally accept what we want to do, but there is an opposition made up of seditious fascists who use the most despicable means to impede the progress of popular achievements, because they know that this is an irreversible process, that there is no going back, and that each step we take strengthens the power of the workers. For this reason, on various occasions, sectors that do not think like us, especially political sectors, even those that used to be antagonistic to one another have joined together—fundamentally in Congress, where the UP is a minority— to make it difficult to pass laws and thereby delay the progress—even in the human and social fields—of the initiatives of the government that I preside. No other government has ever faced these problems. No other government has ever concerned itself with these human matters, which in essence are the ones that concern us the most, because we want to put the economy at the service of man, not man at the service of the economy. But they fight us because we do things that they could never do, because they do not feel them, and they want to take away the tools that allow us to perfect our ideas. But they fight us, fundamentally, because doing these things requires more resources, and to have more resources we must go up against big monopolies, and above all—which we have already done—against foreign capital, which wrested extensive wealth from our country. That is why workers must be aware of the problems that affect our country. There is nothing that workers cannot understand when they are interested in understanding it. Hence, the need for union leaders and political leaders to go to the industries, to the factories, because these state-owned companies are the basis of the country’s economic development, as are copper, iron, coal, saltpeter, oil, and steel. But these textile industries constitute an extraordinary, very high percentage of male and female workers, and therefore their production is essential for the country. But every former Yarur worker has to be aware that this company belongs to them, because it belongs to the people. It is not your property, comrades. It is owned by all the people of Chile. And just as I congratulate, encourage, and highlight the importance of the creative capacity of those who work here, I have proudly witnessed how you have found an alternative to importing spare parts; how you have repaired imported pieces that aged before their time and make them work. Because everything has a special value now, because it is ours. As I have already said, you must save on electricity, on paper, on yarn, on spare parts, you have to take care of everything, comrades. For example, I went into a bathroom and the water had been left running. That is bad! Water cannot be wasted because we do not have plenty of water. However, when I went into the machinery and boiler section, I came across a mirror—black, of course—but shining nonetheless, and I ended up congratulating my comrades, so much so that I asked them if they had taken proper care of that mirror because they knew I was coming.

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This is what you must be aware of. And the workers in this industry cannot think that they will continue to have a traditional benefit. A unique process has taken place, and I must share it with you. The traditional benefits that some workers, textile workers, have obtained after the popular victory are not readjustments or increases in wages and salaries, which are logical and fair in a process of income redistribution, because without a doubt the labor sectors are the ones with the lowest income. They have also received additional benefits, by obtaining a greater amount of products than the family needs. We must put an end to that. It pains me on a regular basis, knowing that some colleagues, instead of taking the fabric home, sell it two blocks away from the factory, thereby promoting the black market. They are not revolutionaries! They are not real workers! They are not authentic Chileans, those who act like this! And if they made the mistake, you have the obligation to prevent this from continuing. Why? Because the revolutionary moral code of the working class is at stake and revolutionary morals cannot have a price, nor entail profiteering or personal advantages. [Applause] Workers do not always understand how a company or an industry functions, and, by the way, they are not always right. We still carry the past with us. You believe that Amador9 is still here. . . . What was the name of the other one? . . . [Laughter] Some believe the old bosses are still here. No! You are your own bosses. There can be no confrontation between you, workers, and the leaders of the worker companies. Furthermore, this is a state company. And you must understand that wages and salaries depend on the general wage and salary policy. It would be nonsensical to tell you, comrades: “If you earn 15 escudos per hour, now you are going to earn 20 or 30 escudos per hour.” No, comrades, what is the point of having more money if there is nothing to buy? This country was not prepared for a domestic consumer market like the one we have today. Take into consideration that, in Santiago alone, there were 250,000 unemployed, and that we have given work to 230,000 unemployed. That means that 600,000 Chileans today have the opportunity to buy and eat, because that head of the family, man or woman, is working. We do not have total power and we have still not been able to reduce the excessive purchasing power that the powerful sectors of the Chilean upper and middle classes have had and still have. So, faced with limited production, despite the fact that we started using what had been unutilized capacity of the industries, which was 25% of total capacity, there are always some things missing. There is more money circulating than things to sell; other than organized smuggling, because this is still an exceptionally cheap country, comrades, despite the recent price increases. But although there are criticisms to be made, I am glad that you understand that there are also things to be applauded. How can we not acknowledge, for example, people’s loyalty and adherence to the government I preside over, when

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1,600,000 Chileans took to the streets throughout Chile from Arica to Magallanes on September 4? When the price rises were extremely high and the readjustment had not yet been carried out, when the right wing and the reactionary groups thought that I was going to be alone in the Plaza with the Ministers, they found that 700,000 people, men, women, the elderly, and some children, were gathered with affection, with faith, because they understand that our great conquest is more important than the increase in prices, because they understand that we are making history by fighting for the economic independence of Chile. [Applause] This strike: the strikers claim that we are going to deny union and guild rights. Can you imagine, comrades? We, the workers’ government! It is one thing to make use of one’s rights, and another is to maliciously use pseudo-rights to try to bring a country to a standstill, or use the excuse of supposed violation of rights of associations, not even unions, guilds, or confederations. This is the case of the truck drivers. Comrades, you cannot imagine what this strike of truck drivers and commerce has meant, especially that of the truck drivers and the support received from some guilds. This has a clear political orientation. Why did the professional associations not go on strike when in El Salvador, during the Frei government, 6 workers and 2 women, one of them pregnant, died? Why did they not defend union rights when the economic demands of workers were answered with lead? Why did they not stop work when 11 residents died in Pampa Irigoin and a large number were injured? In the same way that more than 35 workers were injured in El Salvador. Why did they not stop work when 7 workers died in the streets of Santiago and when two students died in Puente Alto, etc.? Because it was not a class problem whereas today it is. Today it is an employer strike, a strike by those who had economic power and political power over the workers. Is it really against the government? No! Basically, it is against all workers because they know that this is the government of the workers. This is an essentially political strike. They have used means that we would never resort to. We, the “professional agitators”—as they called us—never resorted, as they have, to sabotage. When there was a national strike, it never lasted more than 24 or 48 hours at the most. And during that strike no railway lines or industries were destroyed, no businesses or people were attacked. For about 20 days we have been suffering from the unpatriotic attitude of a stubborn sector, the voluntary or involuntary errors of those sectors, the misunderstanding and distortion that the press and radio have caused in a vast group of Chileans. And lastly, the sense of class of these people, which is sometimes even stronger, in some groups, than in the working class.

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What would have happened to this country, if the government had not made use of the institutions that the Constitution grants it: Police and Investigations first, to stop the riots that took place throughout the country prior to the strike! You all know that irresponsible youngsters and even paid lumpen10 burned tires and bales of paper, that they threw bales at some stores. Everyone knows what took place night after night in the rich neighborhoods, there in Providencia, and then they ended up striking. But they have gone further. They have broken railway lines, there have been derailments, a woman has died, and there are 4 seriously injured, due to the derailment near Valdivia. There have been direct attacks against companies and businesses, against truck drivers that continued working or started working. Two students in volunteer work, one of them had his arm broken and the other is about to lose an eye. And so on. Fifty-two attacks! The most disastrous could have been the attack on the pipeline, which luckily failed. The one at ENTEL, where they planted 4 bombs and wounded a police officer, Captain Bustamante, who will surely be injured for the rest of his life. We will send him wherever necessary, where they have experience in muscle grafting so that this man, who was doing his duty, can recover the use of his left leg, which has been brutally injured. Just a few meters from him was a corporal from Carabineros, also wounded, and a gunsmith, who we could consider a work hero; he was wounded when disarming the first bomb, he continued working to disarm the rest, and the ENTEL tower did not collapse. What did they want? To interrupt the transmission of the National Channel. To deprive a vast percentage of the central-southern provinces of information, where the old landowner oligarchy is still as insolent as feudal knights. We have witnessed this, comrades. We have witnessed the difficulties regarding supply. Consider the following: in Santiago, 4 million liters of gasoline are consumed every day, 4 million liters of gasoline! And 500,000 liters of oil for companies and industries. What would have happened to us without our Navy? What would have happened without our Airforce? They have provided all their planes to transport officials, to transport meat, to bring meat from Argentina, or to take to the north. What would have happened to us without the Army and their trucks, land organizations, soldiers, officers and commanders, without the curfew? What would have happened to us without the Carabineros who worked for almost two months, 12, 14 hours a day? And Investigations, which does a quieter, but extremely tough job, too. And what would have happened to this country, without you, without the working class, without the loyal rural workers, the employees, the technicians

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and professionals, but fundamentally without the laborers? What better response! What a precise slap . . . on the mouth! [Laughter and applause] Well, I said: “on the mouth” because here is a young and good-looking journalist taking notes, so she doesn’t write “mug” [Laughter]. What a slap on the mouth, [Laughter] the response of the workers! Not a single factory stopped work! And the daring owner who wanted to close it discovered that the workers had opened it and that it is working. The factory has been seized and the boss is going to sweat bullets in order to get it back. [Laughter and applause] He will have to appear in court. We will show up to press charges against him for deliberately decreasing production and attacking the national economy. That is to say, we will use all the legal means so that one day those owners may also receive a sanction. We cannot allow this, comrades! You see, lack of transport in the fields, what does it mean? That the seed has not arrived, that the saltpeter has not arrived, that the compound fertilizer has not arrived, that the food for the poultry plans has not arrived. Next year we will have much, much, much less wheat. Next year we will have much less corn. Next year we will have far fewer birds, because the poultry plans that were being developed—for the first time in a planned way in this country—have been halted due to lack of food, comrades. First, because that food does not exist here and it was difficult to buy abroad because we do not have dollars, because the price of copper has dropped, because the North American banks do not give us credit, because the Kennecott lawsuit generates commercial uncertainty. And at a time when the country is being brutally attacked by imperialism, bad Chileans raise their pseudo-union problems to conspire—that is the truth— against the People’s Government. For this reason, comrades, the response of the people has defended Chile. The consciousness of the working class and workers. And for this reason, whilst the laborers and rural workers have responded, and the employees have done so, as well as the professionals, you should know that currently, throughout Chile, in hospitals with 100 doctors, an average of 35 are working. There are provinces where there are so many reactionary doctors that 10 out of 100 doctors are working. But those 10 doctors are doing the work of the other 90. Think, comrades, what it means to take on the work of 90 doctors, when there are only 10 doctors, in addition to the work they already have. And there they are, the colleagues who have a conscience, who work in solidarity, not with the government, but with the people, with Chile. The same goes for nurses, midwives. A huge effort, comrades. That is why the “Patriotic Front of Professionals” has been created, just as the Association of Volunteers for the Homeland has been created, which brings together

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students: 25,000 to 35,000 students have mobilized in Chile to load, to unload, to help, to work, to weave, to hem. Well, a new Chile has been born here, out of difficulties, a different conscience has been born. These 21 days have deepened the revolutionary process more than years of speeches. These 21 days that they thought would be fatal for us will definitely be fatal for them, because the people have become aware of their strength, their capacity, it has accentuated their spirit of sacrifice, they have proven that they have a vision of the future, and, more than anything, that they can bear a great responsibility. They criticized me and continue to criticize me: “Take the workers to the streets!” “The laborer comrades trust you, President, take them to the streets!” What for? Why am I going to take them to the streets? So that they are provoked, so that the fascists shoot at them, so that the police have to intervene, and so that the police themselves, without knowing who they are fighting against, shoot down government workers? No, comrades, that is what the law enforcement is for: Carabineros and Investigations. The Armed Forces can also intervene to that end. The workers are on another front, much more important, the front of production, the front of revolutionary vigilance, at school, in the workshop, at home, in the company, in the industry, in the neighborhood, in the countryside. The workers are there. That is their front, and they have to stay on that front, for how long? Until we deem it necessary for them to leave; but they are not going to do so, except to help the police, to be at the disposal of the police, which is very different. Ah, they would like me to send 10,000 workers from the Cordón Cerrillos, for us to mobilize them in half an hour and open the entire center of Santiago in 3 hours! No, because that would allow them to justify any future harassments. We are not going to fall into that trap, comrades. We have too much experience from what happened in other towns. But a vigilant, conscious attitude, yes. We are facing a fascist threat, comrades. If this government were toppled, what would be in store? The most brutal and black dictatorship. The most brutal dictatorship. Who would pay the consequences? Workers and their wives. Personally, comrades, what can I expect from life? Nothing more, I have had everything, not for personal advantage, but in my commitment to the people. But what worries me? My life? No. I am a doctor, I know perfectly well what the destiny of man is, sooner or later death comes for us all. I don’t have the makings of an apostle or a messiah, or a martyr, comrades. I have the makings of a revolutionary leader. That is why I know what my obligation is. And for that reason, I will not give myself up to be butchered either. They are going to have a hard time catching up with me. [Applause]

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That is why I ask, comrades, who defended this government? Who supports this government constitutionally? The Armed Forces, Carabineros, and Investigations, the people of Chile expressed in the CUT, in their political parties. For this reason, the new Cabinet is made up of representatives of the Armed Forces, the CUT, and the popular parties. And that is why we are looking for a solution to this pseudo-strike, which—without being a strike—has been the most expensive hurdle Chile has faced in its history. It has already cost us about 130 million dollars and more than 4,000 million escudos. For example, think about how much sales tax we have missed out on during these 20 days that businesses have been closed. But, think about something else; who is paying? Where does the money come from to provide for the thousands of truck drivers who are on strike, not working? Either their profits were excessive, or they are being paid off. [Laughter] Where does the honeycomb come from? How is it possible that merchants who have their businesses paralyzed for 20 days can pay their employees with increased salaries? Either they earned excessively, or they receive money under the table. Think of the difficulties, comrades! How have we overcome this problem? By improvising, just as you improvise spare parts. Because not a single body could have foreseen that, at a certain moment, transport and commerce would be paralyzed, as well as a certain percentage of doctors, architects, and professionals. Nobody could have seen it coming. And yet, faced with this reality, the country has not stopped. It did not stop, and we must acknowledge something important. There have been sacrifices. People have always had to sacrifice themselves. But now people understand why they are sacrificing themselves. Notes 1. The Workers’ Single Central of Chile (Central Única de Trabajadores de Chile; CUT) was founded in 1953 with the aim of bringing together the Chilean labor movement to defend the rights of workers and represent their demands. It supported the UP government and, at the end of September 1973, after the civic-military coup, it was legally dissolved. 2. Chuquicamata (or Chuqui) and El Salvador are part of the great Chilean copper mines. 3. The communal cooking pot is an instance of community participation and resistance to provide meals for the hungry. They are organized during labor strikes or by poor communities during economic crises. 4. National currency. 5. Refers to work absenteeism at the beginning of the workweek. 6. One of the state-owned copper mining companies. 7. National Planning Office, dependent on the State.

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8. The Yarur industry was a textile factory, founded in 1936 by Arab immigrants and that had up to 40,000 workers. It was expropriated by the UP government and transferred to the cooperative of its workers. 9. Amador Yarur was one of the owners of the Yarur textile industry, which was expropriated and transferred to the worker cooperative during Allende’s government. 10. A Marxist concept that refers to the underclass lacking class consciousness.

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Index

absenteeism 139, 151 agrarian reform 2 – 6, 55 – 56, 67 – 69, 111 – 112, 116 – 119, 124 – 125, 134 Agrarian Reform Corporation (CORA) 68, 85n3, 116, 128 – 129 Agrarian Reform Training and Investment Institute (ICIRA) 123, 130n2 agricultural policies 66 – 73 Agriculture and Colonization Committee, report by 120 – 124 Aguirre Cerda, Pedro 103, 108n12 Alessandri, Jorge 4, 85n3 America’s dialogue (Allende-Castro) 36 – 44 Antofagasta: speech on International Women’s Day (Allende) 101 – 104 Araucanian community: agreement for the development of 110 – 114; participation in transformation process 117 – 120, 119 – 120 Bolivia 121 campaign event (Allende) 109 – 114 CAP (Pacific Steel Company) 35, 45n8 Carrera Verdugo, Javiera 101, 108n6 Castro, Fidel 10, 16, 81 – 82; America’s dialogue 36 – 44 Caupolicán 11, 108n5 Cautín agreement (Pact of Cautín) 109 – 114 Central of Chile (CUT) 131 – 137, 144, 164n1; basic norms for worker participation 147 – 157; speech on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of (Allende) 132 – 142

Chamber of Deputies 109, 127, 145; report by Agriculture and Colonization Committee 120 – 124 change, process of: Araucanian participation in 117 – 120, 119 – 120; rural worker participation in 71 – 72 children 99 China, People’s Republic of 81 – 82 Chonchol, Jacques 46, 66 – 73, 120, 125 Christian Democratic Party 3, 13, 31, 38, 50, 85n1, 116 Christians 83, 133 Chuquicamata/Chuqui 30 – 33, 137 – 138, 143, 164n2 communal cooking pot 138, 164n3 communal tenure population 67, 72 – 73 company workers 149 – 156 Concepción, speech at (Allende) 132 – 142 Confederation of Chilean Workers, The Worker’s Single 131 – 137, 144, 164n1; basic norms for worker participation 147 – 157; speech on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of (Allende) 132 – 142 copper workers 10, 32, 35, 135, 138, 143 CORFO (Corporation for the Promotion of Production) 35, 45n8, 130n10 Cornelia Olivares, Maria 101, 108n8 Cuba 2 – 3, 36 – 44, 81, 107 culture 59 – 61 democracy see participatory democracy de Valdivia, Pedro 95, 108n2 – 3 development options 61 – 66 Directorate of Indigenous Affairs 113 – 114 dogmatism 82 – 83

170

Index

Easter Island 116, 130n5 economic planning 56, 131, 147 economy 123; agricultural policies in the transition to socialism (Chonchol) 66 – 73; development of the Araucanian community 113; income distribution and development options (Vuskovic) 61 – 66; Popular Unity Government Basic Program 46 – 61; statement delivered at University of Guadalajara (Allende) 73 – 85 education 59 – 61, 111 electoral participation 3 – 4, 10, 19 – 20, 29, 81, 108n11, 150 – 155 El Salvador 11, 30 – 33, 137 – 138, 160 emancipation, Chilean woman 94 – 101 Emancipación de la Mujer (Vidal) 86, 94 – 101 ENAMI (National Mining Company) 35, 45n8 ENDESA (National Electricity Company S.A.) 35, 45n8 equality between spouses 99 – 100 Estadio Nacional: inauguration speech (Allende) 10 – 18 Family Allowance 78 – 79 female emancipation 86, 94 – 101 feminism 7, 91, 108n11 Frei Montalva, Eduardo 3, 47, 78, 85n1, 89, 130n5, 160 Gabriela Mistral building, speech at (Allende) 105 – 108 gender equality: the Chilean woman (Puz) 86 – 94; the emancipation of the Chilean woman (Vidal) 94 – 104; interview with the international press at United Nations (Allende) 104 – 105; speech in the “The Present-Day Woman in Latin America” seminar (Allende) 105 – 108 Government Program 16, 25, 131, 147 – 148 Gran Minería del Cobre (Great Copper Mining Industry), nationalization of 27 – 36 Grupo Móvil (Mobile Group) 47, 85n2 Guadalajara, University of: statement delivered at (Allende) 73 – 85 Guevara, Ernesto Che 81

health 112 – 113 historiographical debate: road to socialism 4 – 7 history 2 – 4; women 95, 101 – 104 housing 112 – 113 INACAP (National Institute for Professional Training) 128 – 129, 130n10, 148 – 149 inauguration speech (Allende) 10 – 18; see also speeches income distribution 61 – 66 INDAP 116, 129, 130n2 Indigenous Law 109, 124 – 130 indigenous peoples 72 – 73: Cautín agreement between Allende and Mapuche people 109 – 114; integration of Mapuche people into Chilean society (San Martín) 116 – 120, 119 – 120; report by Agriculture and Colonization Committee 120 – 124; speech on the occasion of the enactment of Indigenous Law (Allende) 124 – 130; speech in Plaza de la Constitución (Allende) 115 – 116 industrialization, rural areas 71 institutional order 52 – 54 integration: Mapuche people into Chilean society 116 – 120, 119 – 120 international press, interview with (Allende) 104 – 105 International Women’s Day, speech on (Allende) 101 – 104 interviews: America’s dialogue (AllendeCastro) 36 – 44; at United Nations (Allende) 104 – 105 Jaraquemada Alquizar, Paula 101, 108n6 justice, revolution as 117 – 120, 119 – 120 Labor Day speech (Allende) 142 – 147 land ownership 112; landowner’s wife 95 – 96 land tenure systems 62 – 63, 66 – 68 Lautaro 11, 108n5, 120 law enforcement 85n2, 163 legal situation of women 98 – 100 Lenin 82, 139 living conditions 8, 10, 59, 76, 115, 122

Index machismo 89 – 91, 94 – 96 Mapuche people 46, 56, 67, 95; Cautín agreement between Allende and 109 – 114; integration into Chilean society (San Martín) 116 – 120, 119 – 120; overcoming of disregard and segregation of 72 – 73; report by the Agriculture and Colonization Committee 121 – 130; speech in Plaza de la Constitución, Santiago (Allende) 115 – 116 Marxism 1 – 3, 15 – 16, 81 – 83 matrimonial regime 98 – 99 Mexico 31, 73 – 74, 77, 83, 85, 88, 143 Mistral, Gabriela (Lucila Godoy Alcayaga) 102, 108n9 mixed-ownership companies 147 – 157 Mujer Chilena, La (Puz) 86, 86 – 94 nationalization and Chileanization 2 – 5; economy and social rights 55, 61, 74, 82; Gran Minería del Cobre 27 – 36; indigenous people 116, 125; participatory democracy and sovereignty 10, 14, 21; unionism and working class organization 134 – 135, 146 Near North 67, 70, 72 – 73 Neighborhood Courts 21 – 22 Ñielol, Temuco 109 – 114 O’Higgins, Bernardo 11, 27, 44n2, 108n8 Olivares, Augusto: America’s dialogue 36 – 44 Pact of Cautín 109 – 114 participatory democracy: America’s dialogue (Allende-Castro) 36 – 44; Chilean road to socialism and current state apparatus (Allende) 24 – 27; inauguration of popular discussion sessions (Allende) 18 – 24; inauguration speech (Allende) 10 – 18; speech on the occasion of the nationalization of Gran Minería del Cobre (Allende) 27 – 36 Peru 11, 35, 45n9, 77, 121 Plaza de la Constitución, Santiago: speech in (Allende) 115 – 116 policies see agricultural policies political participation 6 – 7, 18 – 20 Popular Action Front (FRAP) 1, 3, 109

171

popular discussion sessions, inauguration of (Allende) 18 – 24 Popular Front 3, 108n12 popular power 6, 14, 57 Popular Unity (UP) 1 – 9; basic program 46 – 52; culture and education 59 – 61; new economy 54 – 57; new institutional order 52 – 54; social tasks 57 – 59 “Present-Day Woman in Latin America, The” 105 – 108 press, interview with (Allende) 104 – 105 production: and agricultural policies 69 – 71; women’s participation in 97 – 98; workers as dynamic factor in 22 – 23 proletarian woman 96 Puz, Amanda 86 – 94 Quimantú 86, 109 Radical Party 3, 38, 108n12 Rancagua, speech at (Allende) 27 – 36 religion 110 – 111 restitution of indigenous lands 73, 112, 117, 127 – 129 revolution: and the human person 104; as justice 117 – 120, 119 – 120 rights 4, 8, 12 – 19, 98 – 107, 110, 114, 133, 160; agricultural policies in the transition to socialism (Chonchol) 66 – 73; income distribution and development options (Vuskovic) 61 – 66; Popular Unity Government Basic Program 46 – 61; statement delivered at University of Guadalajara (Allende) 73 – 85 rural areas: industrialization of 71; worker participation in the process of change 71 – 72 San Martín, Hernán 116 – 120, 119 – 120 Santiago: speeches in (Allende) 105 – 108, 115 – 116 sectarianism 82 – 83, 134 socialism 4 – 7; agricultural policies 66 – 73; America’s dialogue (AllendeCastro) 36 – 44; Chilean road to socialism and current state apparatus (Allende) 24 – 27; inauguration of popular discussion sessions (Allende) 18 – 24; inauguration speech (Allende)

172

Index

10 – 18; speech on the occasion of the nationalization of Gran Minería del Cobre (Allende) 27 – 36 Socialist Party 10, 26, 37 – 38, 44n4 socially owned companies 147 – 157 socially owned industry 157 – 164 social rights: agricultural policies in the transition to socialism (Chonchol) 66 – 73; income distribution and development options (Vuskovic) 61 – 66; Popular Unity Government Basic Program 46 – 61; statement delivered at University of Guadalajara (Allende) 73 – 85; see also rights social struggles of women 91 – 94 social tasks 57 – 59 sovereignty: America’s dialogue (AllendeCastro) 36 – 44; Chilean road to socialism and current state apparatus (Allende) 24 – 27; inauguration of popular discussion sessions (Allende) 18 – 24; inauguration speech (Allende) 10 – 18; speech on the occasion of the nationalization of Gran Minería del Cobre (Allende) 27 – 36 speeches: CUT, related to (Allende) 132 – 142; inauguration speech (Allende) 10 – 18; Indigenous Law, enactment of (Allende) 124 – 130; International Women’s Day (Allende) 101 – 104; Labor Day (Allende) 142 – 147; nationalization of the Gran Minería del Cobre (Allende) 27 – 36; Plaza de la Constitución, Santiago (Allende) 115 – 116; “The Present-Day Woman in Latin America” seminar (Allende) 105 – 108; statement delivered at University of Guadalajara (Allende) 73 – 85; visit to socially owned industry, former Yarur (Allende) 157 – 164 spouses, equality between 99 – 100 state apparatus 10, 24 – 27, 51

speech (Allende) 142 – 147; speech on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of the CUT (Allende) 132 – 142; statement during visit to socially owned industry (Allende) 157 – 164 Union School of the CUT: speech (Allende) 132 – 142 United Nations, interview at (Allende) 104 – 105 University of Chile’s Law School, inauguration of popular discussion sessions in (Allende) 18 – 24 University of Guadalajara, speech delivered at (Allende) 73 – 85

transformation, process of see change, process of

Yarur, Amador 159, 165n9 Yarur industry 5, 131, 157 – 164, 165n8

unionism 131; basic norms for worker participation 147 – 157; Labor Day

Zaire 45n9, 77 Zambia 35, 45n9, 77

Vidal, Virginia 94 – 101 Vietnam 34, 44, 85, 102, 108n10 voting see electoral participation Vuskovic, Pedro 61 – 66 wealth, sources of 10, 12 woman 6 – 8, 20, 36, 59 – 60, 78 – 79, 142; the Chilean woman (Puz) 86 – 94; the emancipation of the Chilean woman (Vidal) 94 – 104; interview with the international press at United Nations (Allende) 104 – 105; speech in the “The Present-Day Woman in Latin America” seminar (Allende) 105 – 108 worker participation 142 – 147; basic norms for 147 – 157 workers: as dynamic factor in production 22 – 23; rural participation in the process of change 71 – 72; see also worker participation working class 1 – 2, 6 – 9, 36 – 38, 60, 131; basic norms for worker participation 147 – 157; Labor Day speech (Allende) 142 – 147; speech on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of the CUT (Allende) 132 – 142; statement during visit to socially owned industry (Allende) 157 – 164