Chronology of recent events

The Chilean government throwing protesters and tear gas-, water Jan. 15took control of the na­ canon- and rifle-firing "forces of order" tion's largest banks at the behest of the led to 1300 arrests, many injuries and International Monetary Fund's austerity several deaths. Students held campuses, program. Chile is scheduled to pay $3.5 particularly the University of Santiago billion dollars on its loans this year. for three days. When they marched off Riots and demonstra­ campus, the police attacked with clubs M ar. 26 tions occurred in four and drove them back. To protest human cities. The military was called out against rights violations, the Pinochet's constitu­ the population for the first time since tion was ignominiously burned outside 1974. the supreme court before hundreds of M A general strike and plant demonstrators. Several city buses were BY 8 occupation by the National destroyed by fire. Bombs exploded at Union Command, a confederation of seven electric power facilities. Chile's largest unions, was called off be­ Union leaders and the cause Pinochet sent tanks and troops to JUD8 20 Communist Party dis­ three of the largest mines and threatened avow the violence which they claim is due to "invade" any occupied facilities. In­ to "splinter groups" outside their con­ stead, the Union Command sponsored trol. the first national day of protest on May The junta arrest Gabriel 11th. JU IV 12 Valdez and other lead­ M 11 700Jo of the nation's stu­ ers of the Democratic Ahiance-a coali­ BJ dents boycotted classes. tion dominated by the Christian Demo­ Motonsts blocked business-related and crats- for organizing the third national military traffic by packing the streets with day of protest. Lawyers throw small automobiles. Marches and rallies of sev­ change at government prosecutors in the e.ral thousands occurred. Demonstra­ national courthouse, protesting deten­ t~ons by lawyers led to beatings in the na­ tion and arrest proceedings. twnal courthouse. As street demonstra­ May 14 Soldiers se.ized about AUg • 12 tions continued for the . 2000 people m predawn third straight day, the commander of the rruds on two areas that had shown resist­ Air Force-Fernando Matthei, a mem­ ance. on May 11th. The detained were ber of the junta-publically questioned h~l~ m soccer stadiums. About 200 union the government's account of the violence militants were arrested and t 'k· miners were fired. ' s n mg and informed Pinochet that the air force would not participate in fur~her repres­ June 10 At l~ast 550 miners sion. In late August, Brigad.1~r General . were f1red, 350 arrested Carol Urzoa Iban- the military gov­ and three killed in strike actions at the El ernor of Santiago- is assasinated: Salvador copper mine, Chile's third Jar - Rodomiro Tomic -.a est. The El Salvador and Ch . g S . uqUicamata ept. 3 Christian DemocratiC ctopper mme~ were put under direct mili­ leader-said that if Pinochet would ary occupat10n. reach minimal agreement with the peo­ ple, the protests would be unnecessary· June 11 Hundr~ds of thousands 6000 people formed the tiona! day of prot~~r~hh m the seco~d na­ S . . . · antytowns m rna ept. 8 funeral procession. foJ JOr Cities throughout Ch'l .­ Miguel Angel Zavala, a bus driver k~lle d caded with piles of 1.e we.re barn­ at a demonstration. 30,000 people hne d trash. Clashes betwee burmkng tires and the streets. The march, led by clerg~ a~ts n roc - and glass- members of the Chilean Human Rig 4 Fa11,1983 ''Fortunately our army is nationalist; for that reason we only in- vade our own coun t ry. "

most of the night. Approximately 36,000 Commission, was stormed by police after people were involved in La Leg una along, it had entered the municipal cemetery. one Santiago shantytown. Gabriel Valdez announced that any fur­ A protest of 10,000 stu­ ther dialogue with the junta was incon­ 0 Ct. 5 dents and miners in San­ ceivable. tiago, called to support out-of-work 13J'he fourth straight day miners, burned an effigy of Pinochet. Sept_. of . protests inclu~ed Riot police fired buckshot and tear gas mairltammg the barncades of burnmg when the crowd tried to march on the na­ tires to block military/police related traf­ tional palace with the slogan ''Enough of fic, marching, pot-banging, throwing crime and torture." rocks at cops, and assembling, through -N.M.

No Middle Ground 5

X Chronology of the Chilean workers' movement The Gran Federaci?n direct action, and, as its objective, 1909 Obrera de Chzle abolition of wage-labor and direct (GFOC) is formed in September by control of production by the the more conservative labor groups workers. to bring together the workers' coo?­ Arturo ~lessandri eratives. Cooperativism is strong m 1920 Palma Is elected Chile at this time, with 55,000 people president and responds to worker ac­ in 433 workers' co-ops. tivism by propagating a "cor­ At the GFOC con- poratist" work code, inspired by 1917 gress of 1917, a more Benito Mussolini, which aims at con­ revolutionary tendency becomes trol of the working class. dominant, replacing the more con­ A coup d'etat takes servative faction, and the name of 1924 place. At first only the organization is shortened to the IWW opposes the new regime. Chilean Workers Federation But a new wave of repression hits the (FOCH). Their goal was the cot?­ workers' movement, with mas­ plete abolition of capitalism and Its sacres, imprisonment, tortures. replacement by the workers' union federation, which would control in­ 1927 A new military reg­ dustry. ime comes to power with Carlos Ibanez del Campo at its 1922 The firs~ serious ~f­ head. A ferocious dictatorship fort at direct mamp­ destroys the unions one by one. ulation of the workers' movement by There occur a series of assasinations political parties occurs. A delegation of militants in plain view as meetings headed by Lius Emilio Recabarren are letting out. Dawn kidnappings. appears at the 2nd National Con­ Tortures. People forced into exile. gress of the FOCH. Recabarren has The Chilean IWW ceases to exist. just returned from the USSR and an­ FOCH almost totally disappears. nounces his intention to form a Chilean Communist Party. FOCH 1931 The fall of the dicta­ abandons its federalist organiza­ torship. The work­ tional practice in favor of central­ ers' movement enters a period of re­ ism. The domination of CP politics organization and Chile passes alienates libertarian, syndicalist or through a period of institutional social-democratic unionists, leading crisis. The economic crisis amplifies to a split in 1925. this situation. The anarcho­ syndicalist unions create the CGT 1919 The Chilean IWW (General Confederation of is founded as an Workers). Though inspired by the anarcho-syndicalist workers IWW tradition, the CGT is built organization in Valparaiso and more on the federalist model of or­ spread rapidiy throughout the coun­ ganization such as the Argentine try. The IWW espouses, as its tactic, FORA. Throughout the period of

22 Fall.l983 -~------====-

1931-34 the unions of the CGT are regulated form of unionism. The involved in strikes and movement­ CGT unions reject the legalistic ap­ building. During this process the proach as a method for "dominating General Association of Teachers is the revolutionary workers move­ formed. The various political par­ ment.'' Meanwhile, the CP has been ties, such as the Socialists (SP), trying to rebuild the FOCH but its Communists (CP), the bourgeois support is weak. During this period Radical Party (RP) and the right­ the union movement is subject to no wing Phalange, advocate a legalized, one but its own members, striking Persona non grata in several countries Italy, we're told, now has 3500 granted asylum in that country. political prisoners. Among these is Those of the six who were not in jail Juan Teofilo Pollocar- a Chilean were forced to leave Italy. libertarian exile. Juan was born in Italy now has in effect a repres­ Coyhique, in the far south of Chile, sive law which permits imprison­ in 1954 of a family of campesinos. ment of people identified with the Beginning in 1968, when he was 14, revolutionary left under a catch-all Juan came to participate in struggles charge of "subversive association." on the land, in occupations of lati­ This law had been passed, with the fundia (large estates) and played crucial aid of the Italian Communist various roles in organizations of Party, after the Red Brigades's as­ Chilean campesinos. He was in­ sasination of Aldo Moro. In 1981 volved in the setting-up of a Pollocar was sentenced to 16 years people's radio station in Coyhique, in prison, under a charge of "sub­ which is where he was the day of the versive association'' with the armed military coup that overthrew the struggle group Azione Rivoluzione. Allende government in 1973. Juan's present situation is that he After the coup in Chile, Juan fled needs medical treatments, at a cost to Argentina, where he was detained of 600,000 lira each, to avoid losing by the military authorities. After a his leg. The Italian prison system month in jail in Argentina, he was does not provide for such medical expelled and sent to Cuba. In April attention. Italian and Chilean liber­ of 1975, Juan and five other Chilean tarians have been raising money on libertarians were expelled from Juan's behalf. Information Net­ Cuba for political reasons and went work on Latin America has also to Italy. Because of their political been collecting funds on Juan's be­ expulsion from Cuba, a campaign half and will forward funds to the of defamation against the six folks in Italy handling solidarity on Chilean libertarians was launched Juan's behalf. (Any donations for by the marxist parties of the Pop­ Juan should be so indicated and ular Unity (Allende's coalition), made payable to "Libertarian Aid whose organization in Italy, Chile for Latin America.") 0 Democratico, opposed their being

No Middle Ground 23 for its own principles and its revolu­ G. Gonzalez Videla, tionary goals. It is not controlled by 1946 a member of the any political party seeking to dom-­ bourgeois Radical Party, is elected inate the labor movement for its own president with the support of the left purposes. parties. Videla propagates a "law of As always the armed the defense of democracy" which is 1932 forces fulfill their used to outlaw the CP, and also a tragic role. On June 4 a group of campaign of repression is unleashed politicians and military men carry against the labor movement. out a coup d'etat and install the gov­ Carlos Ibanez del ernment of Marmaduke Grove who 1952 Campo, whose declares Chile a "socialist republic," bloody dictatorship in 1927-31 could but the workers and the unions have hardly be forgotten by the working no avenue for participation. On June class, is elected president. To develop 16th the military bring the 12-day­ a common front against the bosses, old "socialist republic" to an end. the CTCH factions appeal for unity The Confederation during 1st of May mobilizations. 1934 of Chilean Workers (CTCH) is formed under the aus­ Unity discussions pices of the Socialist and Communist 1953 lead to the merger of parties. The Communists adopt the the CGT and the two CTCH fac­ Popular Front tactic of alliances tions; in February the Chilean with other reform-oriented parties Workers Central (CUT) is born. The and "progressive" sections of the National Committee consists of ruling class. The Chilean workers' Clotario Blest (President -an in­ movement now finds itself divided dependent left-wing Christian), into two camps: the revolutionary Baudilio Cazanova and Isodoro unionism of the CGT, and the party­ Godoy (Socialists), and Juan Vargas controlled unionism of the CTCH. Puebla (a Communist). The Na­ Pedro Aguirre tional Council of the CUT consists 1938 Corda, candidate of of two Christian Democrats (a refor­ the Popular Front, is elected to the mist Church-supported party), seven presidency. Although a national Socialists, a Phalangist, a Com­ campesinos organization is formed munist and four anarcho-syndical­ in 1939, ~trikes during the harvest ists (Ernesto Miranda, Ramon Dom­ season are outlawed by the Popular inguez, Hector Duran and Celso Front government. CTCH leaders Poblete). The unification of the are elected to parliament and the labor movement is followed by a CTCH becomes committed to the period of unity and action. Manual defense of the government and its workers, intellectuals, campesinos, policies. In 1939 the CTCH fails to students and professional workers support a printers' strike organized join up with the CUT. The workers by the anarcho-syndicalist CGT. In­ are developing a consensus towards a ternal democracy within the CTCH confrontation with the bosses and begins to suffer. Due to the failure of the State. This is reflected in a the Popular Front government, the 15-point program drawn up by the CTCH splits into opposing Com­ National Council. The CUT munist and Socialist factions. develops a campaign of partial work

24 Fall, 1983 stoppages, preparing for a general strike. The workers are demanding changes that are social and political as well as economic. • lt is in this social 1956climate of rebellion that the national general strike of Ju­ ly 1956 takes place. For 48 hours nothing moves in Chile. Ibanez threatens to resign and give the responsibility for running the coun­ try to the CUT. However, 700Jo of the leaders of the CUT are of the marxist parties. Ibanez calls upon the left­ wing parties for a solution to the crisis. The parties of the left ask the leaders of the CUT to call off the general strike. A committee is set up by the CUT, headed by the CUT president, Clotario Blest. When the committee presents a list of demands to the Ibanez government, Ibanez demands that the workers return to work before he will respond. With the Communists, Socialists and Radicals supporting this proposal, the general strike is called off. The four anarcho-syndicalists on the Na­ tional Council protest that the strike Clotario Blest should not be called off without first The 1956 general strike, and its after­ consulting the rank-and-file, but math, demonstrated the destructive they are overruled. The return to role of the political parties, which work creates disorientation and de­ prevented revolutionary unionism moralization. Having gained noth­ from accomplishing its work of ing, Chilean workers cannot under­ social transformation. The interests stand why they should return to of the political parties were suc­ work. cessfully imposed above those of the A new general strike workers. After 1957, the CUT 1957 is called, to back up became a fish pond, with the parties the original demands made during fighting for control of the unions. the July 1956 general strike, which Under the government of Allende, had not yet been fulfilled. This strike the CUT continued as an arena for is a failure and the government the manipulations of the marxist responds with strong repressive political parties, and the Christian measures. After this experience, the Democrats perfected their competi­ four anarcho-syndicalist members tion for control, as well. resign from the National Council. - Coordinadora Libert aria * * * Latina-Americana NoMiddleGround 25