What next after the
Chilean Generals view British military hardware A ROAR of approval went up around the world as the news came out that General Pinochet had lost the plebiscite in Chile on October 5.
All but the most hardened reactionary of Thatcherite gave a cheer. You can imagine the scene in Santiago as people danced through the night: a serious cause
The breadth of support for the celebrations in Britain was as wide as it was in Chile. It was a rare occasion in the recent Labour Party conference where everyone could applaud together with equal feeling. But will the dictatorship actually fall? Does the unity of the "vote no' campaign have any fubloodstained dictator represented a real blow against the right wing regime, possibly a fatal one; but only the future will tell. There is everything to play for, and the actions of all sides count. The dictatorship has many other lines of defence following their defeat in the plebiscite.
The 1980 •constitution of liberty still remains in place, a fraudulent 'constitution' that legitimises the totally arbitrary use of executive power. Article Eight, prohibiting the establishment of marxist or communist parties or any organisations "based on class
UP D A TE celebrations?
warfare' remains in force.
Pinochet himself still has 18 months in power under the terms of the plebiscite even after the no' vote; and if that is not enough, he is commander-in-chief of the armed forces for life: hardly encouraging factors in the fight to restore democracy, let alone the fight for socialism.
The good signs are that the enemy are already beginning to squabble among themselves. The right wing's main man is down, so the fight is on for a successor, a new right wing president.
The chiefs of the national police and both the navy and the airforce have made comments distancing themselves from Pinochet, though navy chief Merino is seen if anything as even more of a fanatical anti-communist than Pinochet. Now he is casting doubt on whether Pinochet will stay the full 18 months, while airforce chief Matthei has talked of possible negotiations with the opposition. They are looking for alternative ways to maintain their power, and their disagreements on how to do this, and conflicting personal ambitions may well work to the advantage of the Chilean workers and peasants.
On the other hand, although the wide diversity of those campaigning for a 'no' vote helped produce a successful result, it might also
Chile
work in favour of the regime, which still won 43 per cent of the vote. Many from the Christian Democratic party argued that the boat should not be rocked in the period leading up to the plebiscite, and that there should be no mass protests or demonstrations against
These people were wrong; was precisely the mass pressure that forced the regime to take the risky step of going for a vote. Only such pressure can lead towards a real change in the polities of government and a dismantling of the military state. That is, of course, not what the Christian
The Christian Democrats played a key role in Pinochet's overthrow of Salvador Allende's popular front government in 1973, and now see themselves as natural successors to the dictatorship that they helped set up. They think it is time for a 'clean' change of image for the government, while retaining the same content. They support the 1980 constitution.
They see themselves as able to reach an agreement with the regime, since they would guarantee immunity for those responsible for the torture and murder of so many Chileans. This would kill stone dead any hopes of real change following the plebiscite.
The 16 parties which par-
C. GUARITA/REFLEX ticipated in the 'no' campaign managed to achieve a rare degree of unity around their limited but significant aim. On the left as well there have been less divisions and in-fighting than has been prevalent in recent years.
The Socialist Party, MAPU, the Communists and the MIR agreed that the plebiscite is only part of a greater campaign which must involve mass mobilisations against the regime as a whole. There must be a clean break from the regime and no negotiations with it, though both Socialist Party leader Ricardo Lagos and the Communist Party had only recently argued for negotiations or dialogue' with the dictatorship.
The Communist Party shifted its line substantially to the left as the campaign went on, adopting the call for a mass movement to create conditions for a new provisional government.
Ricardo Lagos has emerged from the events as the leading figure among the left organisations, though he believes Chileans are not yet ready to vote again for a Socialist president, and is reportedly 'saving himself' for an electoral bid in the 1990s. We will undoubtedly be hearing a lot about him in reports on Chile in the coming year or so.
Gareth Mostyn