Pinochet on his way?

Press, 28 June 1983, Page 21

Pinochet on his way?

The Chilean military junta, which brutally overthrew the country’s elected government 10 years ago, is heading towards a potentially disastrous confrontation with the very forces which brought it to power. With only two weeks before a planned general strike, Chile’s middle classes have begun to mobilise along with industrial workers against the Pinochet regime, and sections of the armed forces are urging an immediate change in leadership. The powerful bourgeoisie, which de-stabilised Salvador Allende’s socialist regime in 1972-73, included the Truck Owners’ Confederation, led by Leon Vilarin. Today Vilarin and his organisation are openly critical of their former hero, President Augusto Pinochet, have held meetings with groups opposed to the Government and are preparing to support the July 11 strike. Most important of all is the discontent within the armed forces. A document, obtained by the “Sunday Times” from military sources in Santiago and circulating in several barracks, addresses “the patriotic officials of order” and officiers of the armed forces. “The situation today must be changed,” it says. “We call on you, senior official, to think and act in accordance with the interests of our fatherland, and with the honour and responsibility of Chile’s soldiers ... It is imperative to

By

CAL CRYSTAL,

‘Sunday Times,’ London

change the direction of the government of the nation, and of the superior command of the armed forces. We are not conspirators. We are expressing important patriotic feelings that are not being heard.” Pinochet, therefore, appears to be moving with extreme caution. Compared with the summary deportation of a couple of Irish missionaries, two months ago, for allegedly helping dissidents, unwelcome foreigners are being handled with kid gloves today before being asked to leave. The strike will be the third in three months, but it differs from the earlier demonstrations in that it will be widely supported, even by some industrialists, it will be better organised, and it will be difficult for the Government to crush without irreparably damaging its own power base. When the copper-mine workers issued a statement recently declaring, “If we don’t fight for changes we will be surrendering our democratic union principles,” the words had a sympathetic response from moderate unions, such as the public employees and the rail workers. Already a “national commando” of workers, including copper workers and men from moderate unions, has been formed. At least two other “commandos” are being put together, composed of univer-

sity students and the inhabitants of shanty towns. This month’s rioting during a day of protest left a 15-year-old boy dead, several people injured, and hundreds detained. After the May 11 protest, an estimated 6000 people, mostly from the shanty towns, were detained. The junta’s response, however, has only fuelled the popular outrage of the Government’s failure to check the dramatic slide of Chile’s free-market economy. Although Pinochet won approval in 1980 for a constitution extending his authoritarian rule, he is known to have made quiet soundings among certain leading Chileans about the desirability of stepping down in favour of a civilian government. Those soundings preceded this month’s widespread demonstrations. The highest opposition profile is being displayed by General Gustavo Leigh, former commander of the air force and a former member of the junta. Leigh, dismissed in 1978, now declares that the situation is becoming ominously similar to the days before the 1973 coup. “Just as before,” he says, “we are confronted with a President who doesn’t listen, who doesn’t want to give in to the demands of both the armed forces and the civilian population.”