Pinochet's soliders give fascist style salute tian Democracy in a 'dialogue' even while that saying Popular Unity was illegal and should be overthrown.
What is more they Christian Democrat's demand for arms searches in the working class areas which were often carried out with great brutality. As late as september 1915 they were still talking about the professionalism, constitutionalism anditicisme the Chilean angrad laties were themselves on the correctness of their peaceful strategy socialism.
All this led to 11 September, when defence of the working reduced to 42 armed people who believed in the peaceful road.
With Allende assassinated and the Popular Unity leaders hidden away, the workers found themselves and trapped 1n the factories. resistance in this situation was doomed, but they fought heroically cases with their bare hands. But spontanamed resistance could do nothing taneous, uncoordinated against a powerful centralised army.
nours to occupy the factories which were fiercely defended.
In the shanty town suburbs many armv assaults were driven back. tor example in the La Legua neighbourhood WiCHC LIC WUrKCIS fought heroically.
Within the armed forces there were manv in the rank and ille who relusea to carry out the criminal orders of the generals. Hundreds of them with those with known leftist pathies, were shot.
Could the tragic end of the Popular experiment have been avoided.
perialism have been defeated? It is impossible to that question. What was needed was a different, revolutionary strategy plemented by a different leadership. agreed to the congratulating aboul was teroenes Their in many often took the army symPopular Unity to change course Finally, imLike the Nazis, Chilean soldiers burn Marxist books Between 1970-73 nothing persuaded the Lulust oc salu lal sullic o politics, the reformist leaders including Allende himself, added their names to the long list of martyrs of the working class. But the lessons or historv are not moral. but practical and above all political. If the people of Chile remember Allende, it is above all not necessarily because of his but for the brave attitude he showed during his last moments. Many of the other leaders of Popular Unity are still around, and while still sharing his political misconceptions, none of his courage. THERE have been four national days protest Pinochet dictatorship Ten years after the coup the people are fighting back. But the attempts to organise general failed, despite the combativity and courage of the demonstrators.
The movement Pinochet presents a paradox. The workers and especially the youth have overcome _resulting from ten years of repression. But the Christian Democrats have pushed themselves forward as the 'leaders' of the while failing even to pose the question of bringing down the dictatorship.
The Christian Democrat line is for a 'National Government', including of course the They constantly 'gesture' i would enable them to call off their actions.
The failure of the last general strike call was precisely because the proposed strike had no demands or objectives. It seemed stupid to risk repression for such a vague affair.
Junta stantly attempted to keep the ment within peaceful bounds. But the workers in the shanty erected barricades, clashed with the police and demanded that the junta goes. The logic of t shared against the this year. National Party, strikes have against extreme the inhibitions bankruptcies.
movement, Protest At the military. appeal for a Pinochet which stinctively precise create there is Democratic The Christian Democrats have conmove- the ano towns have military power. the Chris Communists progressive Socialist Action sonalities like General Leigh, once described by the international press as a super-Hitlerite, an ex-member of the the most reactionary party in the 1970-73 parliament.
Nevertheless, the very fact that the Christian Democrats are involved at all is significant. It is a symptom of the fact that whole sections of the middle class have suffered under Pinochet's monetarist policies, which have resulted in economic collapse, 35 per cent unemployment and numerous beginning of the protests large numbers of middle class people banged empty pots or sounded their car horns as a gesture of protest. But as the movement has adopted more militant forms of strugle, , middle class involve ment has tended to peter out.
The protest movement has coincid. ed with the strengthening of rank and file union co-ordination, which has in.
mobilised around the demand for the removal of the junta. On the other hand, the reformists and Christian Democrats have attempted to national 'leaderships' which represent little in terms of rank and file support.
The problem today in Chile is tha well defined Christian project for 'democratisation' in cooperation with military, which the Communist Socialists being dragged behind. But the spontaneous thrust of the working class movement is for the total sweeping away of the junta and Today, unlike 1973, the hold of the and Socialists over the working is While is now the crucial tasi 9 September 1983
Socialist Action 9 September 1983