The Battle of Chile: Part II (1976) Movie Script
1
THE BATTLE OF CHILE
THE STRUGGLE OF
AN UNARMED PEOPLE
PART TWO: THE COUP
A PATRICIO GUZMAN FILM
IN MEMORY OF JORGE MUELLER SILVA
Santiago de Chile.
June 29, 1973.
Unable to remove President
Allende constitutionally,
the U.S. government
and the Chilean opposition
opt for the strategy of a coup.
After its defeat in the presidential
elections in March, 1973,
the opposition sets the wheels
firmly in motion for a planned uprising.
On June 29,
at 09.00 a.m.,
a single regiment attacks the
government palace with six tanks.
Shortly after,
an Argentinian journalist
films his own death.
He also records, two
months before the final coup,
the true face of a sector
of the Chilean army.
For an hour,
the tanks exchange fire
with the presidential guard who
are inside the La Moneda Palace.
22 people die during
these first moments.
Parliament, the Judicial Power,
and the opposition
parties are silent.
However,
the rebel troops don't receive support
from the rest of the armed forces.
Perhaps thinking that conditions
are not yet right for a successful rising,
the other officers
don't join in this action.
Meanwhile,
loyal troops begin the first
counter-attack to break the siege.
Watch out! Over there!
Don't shoot, bastards!
At 10.30,
more loyal soldiers are
mobilized towards the city center.
Advancing on the
Panamerican road into the capital
are ten artillery regiment
troop transporters
from the city of San Felipe.
The civilian population
must stay calm.
After a brief confrontation,
the rebel tanks
begin to withdraw.
The Commander-in-Chief of
the Army, Gen. Carlos Prats,
directs the
operations personally.
At 11.00 a.m., with
fighting still going on,
the President of the
Republic goes into the palace.
Just then, another column
of loyal soldiers arrives,
headed by the Minister
of Defense, Jos Toha.
Young Communists of Chile!
Long live the
workers' president!
Fight and create popular power!
Fight and create popular power!
The situation is
being controlled,
but some troops have
not yet surrendered.
Even as they withdraw,
the tanks are still firing.
Jos Toha, Minister of Defense,
tries to instil calm in the
face of possible danger.
He is assisted in this
task by Gen. Pickering.
Minister,
if we don't control these
people, there'll be a massacre.
Help me, please.
Get out of here,
please! Move away!
If you don't move,
someone might get killed.
Generals Pickering,
Sepulveda and Prats
lead the officers most
determined to suppress the rising.
Other commanders, however,
merely wait expectantly.
Such is the case with Augusto Pinochet,
later Head of the Military Government,
who now joins in
with the loyal forces.
At 11.30,
Gen. Carlos Prats assures
the Minister of Defense
that the rebels
have surrendered,
and shows the positions
of his own troops.
On the south side of La Moneda
is the Warrant Officers School
and on the north side
is the Buin Regiment.
But Gen. Prats
will think it essential
to declare a State of
Emergency to control the situation.
We must request a State
of Emergency at once.
We can't control the
situation otherwise.
Allende, Allende,
the people will defend you!
At noon, with the defeat
of the rising confirmed,
the Christian Democrats
say that they support
the constitutional regime.
The other opposition
group, the National Party,
refuses to comment.
The leaders of the fascist
group "Homeland and Freedom"
take refuge in the
Ecuadorian embassy,
revealing themselves as
the authors of the putsch.
Use a heavy hand!
At 6.00 p.m.,
the presidential flag is lowered by
the guard who defended the palace.
For two hours, this
company, led by Lieut. Perez,
refused to hand over
the seat of government.
Along with Gen. Prats, they
are the heroes of the day.
The ease with which the
attempted coup was crushed
raises many questions.
The rising showed that some
officers were sympathetic,
and only the fear of having
to face other army units
prevented them from
joining the rebellion.
Consequently,
Allende relies on the
constitutionalist officers,
rejecting any action which may
weaken his government's legality.
We shall make the
revolutionary changes
in pluralism,
democracy and freedom,
which does not mean
tolerance
of anti-democrats,
tolerance
of subversives,
or tolerance of
fascists, comrades!
Close the National Congress!
But you must understand
what the real position
of this government is.
I will not, because
it would be absurd,
close
the Congress.
I'm not going to do it.
I said...
I said respect.
But if it's necessary...
If it's necessary,
I shall present
a bill to call a plebiscite
and let the people
resolve this question!
"Mummies", shits, the
street belongs to the left.
"Mummies", shits, the
street belongs to the left.
The next day,
Allende asks Congress to
declare a State of Emergency.
Meanwhile, from the
morning of June 29,
left-wing workers
take control of factories, companies,
mines and agricultural centers
throughout Chile.
Let's create popular power!
Comrades,
the conclusions of the 500
workers in the packing factory
are the following.
Strengthen the industrial belts.
Strengthen the
communal councils.
Strengthen the neighborhood
groups and the COPPs.
Strengthen all the
community organizations.
We must take advantage
of this opportunity
and go on the offensive
in terms of gaining new sectors
and nationalizing
new industries.
We, the workers, are
at our battle station,
our workplace,
building the necessary elements
to defend ourselves
against any attack by fascism,
or any further attempts
by the armed forces
to overthrow the government.
We believe we must
strengthen our battle station
which is, firstly,
here in the industries.
At the same time,
all forms of popular
power are strengthened,
especially the industrial belts.
Each belt is a group of
factories and companies
which coordinates the tasks
of workers in the same zone.
In the country's main cities,
31 industrial belts
have been set up.
Eight of these are in Santiago.
- Who do you represent?
- The "Macul" belt.
- And you?
- The "Macul" belt.
- And you?
- The "Cerrillos-Maipu" belt.
- And you?
- The "Cerrillos" belt.
- And you?
- The "Vicuna Mackenna" belt.
- And you?
- The "Vicuna Mackenna" belt.
- And you?
- The "O'Higgins" belt.
- And you?
- The Christian Left.
The Radical Party Union.
The Government, with
the support of the belts,
puts some strategically
important factories
under legal State control.
Comrades,
as we all know,
fascist groups tried to
overthrow the Government
and there are still
repercussions from that.
There is still a latent
danger against a process
which the working class
began and has taken in hand.
It has been resolved that,
given that the packaging
and aluminium company Alusa
has suspended
delivery of its products
which constitutes an
obstruction to distribution,
and in view of the
Supreme Decree no. 338
and Law no. 16,464, I resolve,
firstly,
the use of the industrial
establishment is hereby requisitioned,
along with machines
and other elements
necessary for the production
and/or distribution of the Alusa factory.
On July 2,
the law on the State of
Emergency proposed by Allende
is submitted to Parliament.
This law would grant the
President special powers,
enabling him to appoint,
transfer and dismiss
whatever military leaders
he thought advisable.
The floor is open to speakers.
The debate is over.
During the three
previous governments,
the State of Emergency
had been authorized twice.
Those deputies who reject
the proposal, raise their hands.
The State of Emergency, the chief
legal instrument for extreme situations,
is not authorized.
Result of the vote.
The number of
votes in favor, 52.
The number of votes against, 81.
The Executive's
proposal is rejected.
The Executive's initiative
doesn't convince Parliament.
The opposition parties
think it unjustified
to grant Allende special powers.
On July 2,
the same day as Congress
rejects the State of Emergency,
navy officers order their troops
to carry out a raid in Valparaiso.
A law on weapons control
passed the previous year
enables the military
to carry out
searches for weapons
without a judicial order or
government authorization.
Despite increasing terrorist
action by the extreme right,
this law has never before
been enforced by the military.
Each raid includes
besieging the factory,
the temporary
detention of the workers,
and their interrogation.
Thus, without
overstepping the law,
some officers start to act against
factory employees and workers.
In this first raid no
weapons are found.
Chile is suffering the aggression
of North American imperialism,
of a sector of the oligarchy,
which in October 1970
joined with ITT and the CIA
to overthrow this Government.
They want to repeat
a stupid attempt of that kind.
So the present struggle
has a patriotic and
national character.
Chile has got every
right to govern itself
in accordance with
the will of its people.
At the same time,
a series of revolutionary
transformations is in process,
the aim of which is to open
the way to a socialist society.
Faced with the threat of a coup,
the Communist Party
and a sector of the left
agree with President
Allende's ideas.
An armed confrontation
must be avoided
in what are
unfavorable conditions.
Therefore,
this sector decides to get
the support of the officers
who respect the
democratic system.
In the political area,
both Allende and this sector
want a minimum agreement
with the Christian Democracy.
This aims to reinforce the
stability of the government
and create a strong
front against civil war.
They've carried out a
campaign these last days.
A campaign in which
they are trying to show
that the Popular Government
is an illegal government.
I want to ask Mr. Victor
Garcia Garzena
what is the National
Party's opinion
of the rebellion of June 29
which ended in the death
of over 20 innocent people.
I want to know their opinion,
because the paper "La Tribuna",
on the day after that event,
said that it was a show.
While the seditious attack was
underway, the radio station "Agricultura"
was broadcasting
declarations such as,
"This is the day so many
Chileans longed for."
"The armed forces
are confronting
"this totalitarian,
Marxist government",
and other similar remarks.
That is a political crime.
That is an attack
against our people.
The most serious attack against
democracy and the constitutional regime
which they claim to defend.
This gentleman was
already jailed in 1967
by the Christian
Democrat government,
for seditious actions on
behalf of the National Party.
Good evening to all
our television viewers.
As you have all seen and heard,
the young student
has described me
as being seditious.
But I ask you to look
at him and look at me.
Look at his life
and look at mine.
I don't know how the cameras
haven't fallen with shame.
That's the truth.
He has devoted
his life to revolution.
He has worked at nothing
else except revolution.
And here am I, a man who
has worked for 35 years,
who was a university
professor for 25 years,
who has always
earned his salary.
And the young student says,
"Look at the troublemaker".
So, as it's quite ridiculous,
I'll move on.
The regime can't work without
virtues, without republican virtues.
That's my opinion,
and everyone knows it.
I've always practised it.
I don't condemn those
who are desperate.
I don't condemn people
like the poor truck driver
who picks up a stone.
And neither do I condemn those
people who clamor and who rebel.
I don't support, and I
never have, any rebellion.
I don't support coups
or other escapades.
But today, I fully understand
how an entire country
cannot live at peace
when its most urgent
and basic needs,
as we have heard here tonight,
can't be satisfied.
He's just described himself.
He has shown
the seditious face,
the rebellious face
of the National Party.
And here you have the chief
threat to the constitutional regime
and the democracy
you say you defend.
Mr. Garcia Garzena has said,
and the viewers heard him,
that he doesn't condemn
the rising of June 29,
perpetrated by a unit which
undoubtedly was traitorous
to the pure tradition
of our armed forces.
He doesn't condemn the
murder of over 22 people.
He doesn't. Just the opposite.
But he hasn't been frank
enough here to say he applauds it,
as it was applauded by his
National Agricultural Society radio,
or as it was applauded
by his paper, "La Tribuna",
which said the next day
that it was a self-coup,
a show put on by the
Popular Unity government.
Repeat that here, sir!
I didn't say I supported the
uprising. Don't distort my words!
Then make yourself clear.
I've done that, and now
I intend to ignore you!
I want to explain to
our television viewers
that our system
isn't one of class hatred
or of any kind of struggle.
It's what's called
national integration.
That's what we want.
We want everyone to feel
members of the same homeland.
- Like in Uruguay.
- So that we feel...
- Why are you confusing me?
- Or Bolivia.
- Why mention other countries?
- Or Brazil.
You're like a Bolivian!
Don't despair,
Don Victor Garcia.
Don't get hysterical.
Please, let me continue.
These are the problems.
What is the origin of the attacks
against democracy and freedom?
Their aim is to prevent dialogue
and finally take us
along the road to civil war.
The road sought by Don
Victor Garcia Garzena,
that dove of peace whom
we have seen here tonight,
who wants to set up a
fascist dictatorship here,
like that of Jos Maria
Bordaberry in Uruguay,
and, deny it if you can,
like those in Brazil and
in Bolivia. Exactly that.
On July 5,
Salvador Allende
forms a new cabinet
to tackle the crisis and
create favorable conditions
for a dialogue with the
Christian Democracy.
He tries to incorporate a
personality from that party.
I know perfectly well
that revolutionary processes
shake up and
convulse the people.
But I also know that here,
we wanted to do,
and are trying to do,
something that other
peoples didn't manage.
A revolution by
different channels,
in accordance with our history,
our tradition, and our reality.
I hope that we may be capable
of writing one more page,
to show that Chile
has its own creative will
and its noble decision to
make the homeland ever greater.
Please take
the oaths of loyalty.
Finally, let me
clarify that I called
the rector of the Catholic
University, Fernando Castillo,
and I asked him to
form part of the cabinet.
Regrettably,
he had obligations
which I respected.
I respected his reasons, and
even though he was most willing,
I couldn't have Fernando
Castillo's collaboration.
But I know the country
can rely on his collaboration
in any circumstances.
I wanted to inform
you fully of this,
and also to reiterate
that I am confident
that we shall overcome
the difficult hours
with everyone's help.
Thank you.
Why has this split occurred
when no one really wants it?
In my opinion,
it's because when the Popular
Unity sets out programs,
projects for Chile,
which could really mean
an accumulation of
interest in that objective,
Popular Unity first says,
"Let's see who would
supposedly be opposed to this."
They look for all
possible enemies,
find them, and then set
them up as a minority.
But I think that all
those great projects
for the transformation
of our society
are projects which,
if sent out properly
as a message,
seeking all those who can
come together as a force
which is really working
for Chile's objectives,
are a government's
most basic obligation.
But, influenced by its
more traditional wing,
the Christian Democrats
will not, for now,
talk with the Government.
Even so, Allende,
a sector of the left, and a
sector of Christian Democrats,
will strive for a dialogue
to modify the
correlation of forces
in case of a coup.
We must call, comrades,
on the good sense and patriotism
of the sectors of the
Christian Democracy
who think for themselves,
and don't follow
the dictates of the Pentagon, the
CIA, and the Chilean capitalists,
so that they show
their opposition
among the people, in
the unions, everywhere,
to the fascist,
reactionary offensive.
Because if fascism
manages to win through,
they won't ask the copper worker
if he's a communist, if he's
from MAPU, if he's a socialist,
or a Christian Democrat,
when they repress him.
On July 8,
the marines carry out
a raid in Valparaiso.
That same day,
the Air Force occupy
a cemetery in Santiago
with 3 helicopters.
200 soldiers search the graves
and niches looking for weapons.
In neither case
is anything found.
This is just incredible.
Look at what they're doing,
and it's going on every day!
Why would anyone
want to dig up the dead?
The dead don't have bullets or
anything. Why would they kill them?
Imagine digging
the poor things up!
All they could do was
throw their bones at them.
So tomorrow, or even
tonight, they'll send their planes.
They'll kill us all, because
we're defenseless.
- Should the people be armed?
- Yes, of course!
The Government have
to do that and very soon.
They have to, or else
it'll be impossible...
We're his strength.
Allende is the president
because we voted for him.
The rich will never
be on our side.
Whatever we have now, it's
because of this government.
Because we've
never had anything.
How could we not be
grateful to the government?
That's what we have to
make those others understand.
They aren't thinking straight.
They don't understand
all that's being done.
If you're out, moving
around all day,
you see what they're
doing for the workers.
What must we do to
defend this government?
- Unite, that's the first thing!
- And if they come with arms?
We should have arms
too, to defend ourselves.
That's what
everyone here thinks.
Nobody in this camp
has got a weapon.
And you can't do anything
with your hands or with sticks.
If they come with arms,
you can't do anything.
The workers have got
their defense organizations.
There are brigades which can
be mobilized at any moment.
But there are no popular
elements to defend the factories,
nor are there even any popular
elements to mobilize workers
in any formation for
combat or street fighting
against any military
sectors or fascist sectors
which have those elements.
We want a popular militia!
On July 12,
the Socialist party states its position
as regards the threatened coup.
The soldiers, sailors,
airmen and policemen
cannot lend
themselves at any time,
or under any circumstance,
to murder workers.
And if it should happen
that some officers rebel,
the officers, warrant
officers, N.C.O.s and soldiers
are not under any obligation
to obey them.
To be even clearer,
not only is it their duty
to refuse to obey orders which
would mean firing on the people,
or to participate in attempted coups
against the workers' government,
they must also
actively oppose them.
The bourgeoisie must
understand quite clearly
that it cannot
act with impunity.
Every subversive action,
every attack on Chile
and its government,
will invariably be
answered by the workers,
using every method,
with all the resources
which may be necessary.
Our party thinks
that the seizing of companies,
factories, lands,
is a legitimate response
by the working class
and the workers,
to the seditious,
mutinous attitude of the right.
We have said
that every step in this
reaction must be thought out.
I'd like to know
the party's position
as regards the raids by
the military in our factories
looking for arms.
I take it as an offense
against our class,
because I think
that if the workers
were ever to take
up arms at any time,
it would be to defend
their government.
So could you,
as a lawyer and as a jurist,
tell us when it is legal,
and when it is illegal?
There's a problem here.
We could be acting illegally
in trying to defend the
workers' government,
as workers ourselves,
if we took the precaution
of acquiring a weapon.
I think that the people,
to defend its government,
should use all the
means available.
The problem of arms
becomes tied in with that of
the occupation of companies.
For a sector of Popular
Unity, led by the communists,
the indiscriminate
expropriation of factories
only damages the
government's legal image.
But for the other sector,
led by the Socialist Party,
the occupation of industries
is a useful form of mobilization
which helps prepare
the coming struggle.
For them,
an armed clash with
the right is inevitable,
and the only way
to tackle a coup
is by organizing the masses
and strengthening popular power,
especially in the
industrial belts.
Another task for today, comrades,
to control the reactionaries
and to move forward
is the formation
of industrial belts
all over the country.
What is needed, comrades,
is that our union leaders
look on this task as
a priority for them.
That comrades from
other companies unite.
That they should tell
the leaders of other unions
of the need to connect
with workers from the next
block, or from further away.
And that way, comrades,
we shall build up
that popular force
which is the basis
for advancing,
and a rampart for
repelling reactionary attacks.
On July 19,
the Arauco regiment occupy
the Workers' Central
in the city of Osorno.
The next day,
navy personnel carry out
another raid in Concepcion.
In neither case are arms found.
On July 12,
the Revolutionary
Left Movement, MIR,
from outside Popular Unity,
states its position.
Throughout the entire country,
a single cry is heard
echoing in the factories,
estates, towns, and schools,
in the bastions of the people.
The call to create,
strengthen and
increase popular power,
the power of the
community commandoes,
the power of the
workers and the peasants.
The revolutionaries
and the workers
must immediately extend the
seizure of factories and estates,
increase defense preparations,
promote popular power
as local government,
independent of
the powers of state.
The warrant officers
and policemen
must disobey the
orders of fascist officers,
and in that way...
And in that way,
all forms of struggle
will be legitimate!
Then it really will be
true that the workers,
along with the soldiers,
the sailors, the police,
the warrant officers
and the loyal officers,
will have the right to
build their own army,
the people's army!
On July 19,
the workers from the Vicuna
Mackenna industrial belt
occupy the main
road in their area.
Why are you occupying the road?
It's in support of our comrades who
were evicted from the ICMETAL factory.
Will any government
representative be coming?
We hope some authority will
come and solve the problem.
The day before,
workers from the Cerrillos belt
had carried out a similar action.
The protest is directed
against government attempts
to hand back some industries
to facilitate a possible minimum
agreement with the Christian Democracy.
The contradictions
among the left
about what strategy
to use against the coup
explode publicly.
At 11.30,
the police chief orders
the road to be cleared.
The police can only
advance to the first barricade.
Beyond that are 4,000 workers
positioned along four miles.
At 11.45, the Intendant
of Santiago arrives.
Julio Estuardo is a
functionary of the Popular Unity
and the highest
authority of the province.
You wait here.
His mission is to
end the confrontation.
Please inform the Chief
that on my instructions
nothing is to be moved here and
you are to pull back two blocks.
So pull back the police forces,
preferably beyond Matta Avenue.
Tell the Prefect that
it's on my instructions.
Thank you.
The police have to withdraw.
But the problem of occupied
factories continues to be debated,
with the presence
of TUC delegates.
The TUC set up
a commission
to look at the cases
of the industries
which are in the
hands of the workers.
That commission is studying
those problems today,
through the corresponding
institutions, CORFO
and the Ministry of Economy.
There's one thing we
must have very clear.
There are a lot of industries
which have been taken over.
In Santiago, a huge number of
industries have been taken over,
but not all of them
can be nationalized,
for a variety of reasons.
What's more, when
the TUC issued the call
to take over the industries in
the case of any attempted coup,
that meant, in times of crisis,
stopping fascist activity.
But it didn't mean
that, indiscriminately,
all kinds of industries are
going to be nationalized.
There are some
problems there too,
with industries which
are totally unfinanced,
and if the State takes them over
it's really just taking
over a dead weight.
And that can't be.
So this is what
has been discussed
with our fellow workers in those
industries who would be affected.
What we want is a decision
from TUC, and soon.
It can be good or bad,
but we want a decision,
so that the TUC doesn't
just become an antibody
in the bosom of the workers.
The problem is that there
are other reasons here.
For instance, what about the
companies with Swiss capital?
There's a problem...
There's a problem of
international relations.
What do international
relations have to do
with the problems
of the workers?
A lot!
Because the Swiss government
is one of the chief members
of the "Club de Paris",
where Chile's external debt
is discussed and renegotiated.
You all know that after
this government came in,
and nationalized
copper, for example,
there was a Yankee boycott
and the country doesn't
have the foreign exchange
or the credits it used to have.
So that is all renegotiated
in the "Club de Paris",
and Chile has to
handle itself there
with a great deal of caution.
We're not talking about
international relations here.
We want to nationalize the
industries which interest us.
And without accepting
any compromises.
All the things that you're
explaining about international affairs
won't be understood by
the workers in general.
You have to give them
some more local reasons,
and use words that all of
us here can understand.
Can the workers
disobey the TUC leaders?
Well, I can answer that too.
Yes, there are answers
which are more
local, more Chilean.
Today, as you all
know, comrades,
we, the working class,
through this government,
have gained some power,
but we haven't
gained all the power.
The reactionaries
want the forces of order,
whether police or army,
to have a confrontation
with the workers
which will occur
if the workers don't obey
central management,
but take justice
into their own hands
and have a confrontation
with the police and army.
And then,
the right accuses the government
that there's no discipline
and that there's no authority.
And we're just a step away
from the President being impeached,
because that's what they want.
But the thing is,
we can see
everything clearly too.
They asked us, the
workers, to get organized,
and to set up the industrial belts
and to get organized on all fronts.
We organized ourselves
on the neighborhood fronts,
on the workers' fronts
and in the trade unions.
We organized ourselves
in the industrial belts.
And we're still hearing
the same old story.
It isn't the time,
there's a legislative
power and a judicial power.
They asked us to organize
from the people up
to the highest level,
and that's what we've done.
But the President still
keeps asking us to stay calm,
to keep acting this way
and to keep organizing. Why?
Why is there this fear
that we, the workers,
and all the people,
will call a general strike
and ask the President,
like any executive power,
to decide once and for
all what their battle plan is?
What is the plan they
have for us to fight the right?
And if it's necessary
to have a plebisicite
as those on the
right are demanding,
we'll have it from the
people up to the highest level
and I assure you that we'll
win from here to Rancagua.
We've got organization
inside the camps,
the industrial belts
and the unions.
And the TUC still carries
on, asking us to keep calm,
saying we can't do such-and-such
because this belongs to Queen Elizabeth,
or that belongs to Switzerland.
They just keep making things up.
The truth is, the
people are getting tired.
This is all bureaucracy!
We're fighting bureaucracy
amongst ourselves.
Within our own defenses,
within our own unions,
within our own
power like the TUC,
we still have bureaucracy.
Until when?
What I want to know
is if you have confidence
or not in popular power.
Does the TUC not have
faith in those workers
who marched past
comrade Allende on Friday
to shout their support for him?
Does the President not have
faith in our organizations?
Do the deputies up
there not have faith in us?
They sit and do nothing.
And what about the senators?
Instead of fighting
for the cause,
instead of doing
something for the workers,
whenever the right wing
deputies appear they all keep quiet.
I think we've had enough!
There's a reason that
we're meeting here tonight.
It's to ask the government
to expropriate the greatest
number of factories.
And we'll let the right have
the ones that are of no use.
If the government can't
take on those dead weights,
the right can do it,
and we'll keep fighting.
You go to the market and
see all the black market stuff.
And they still ask
us to stay calm.
Until when? We're
sick of all this.
Do you not know
the class composition
that exists today
in the armed forces?
Don't you know that
the majority of officers
are in favor of the coup?
Because here, comrades,
power isn't achieved
only through good organization.
There is good organization.
But we also need
to have some weight
to counter-balance the real
power of the reactionaries.
And that's why in the
Trades Union Council
we're talking about
protection committees.
And what are
protection committees?
Protection committees
for production industries
and also protection
committees for the war.
They're things
we can't talk about
or give details on,
because we mustn't
make that mistake.
But we, the workers,
have to be prepared
to go into battle on all fronts.
And the TUC is involved
in that struggle today.
I accept that there are
differences, comrades.
But the problem arises
when there is a desire
for organizations
which follow a direction
parallel to the
workers' organization.
That's where problems start.
And so I admit
that here there are many
comrades who ask questions,
not with any ill intention,
but they are things which have to
be discussed in much greater depth.
You can't just
unfoundedly catalogue
such-and-such an organization,
or such-and-such a leader,
as having some defect.
I believe that we all
make up the organizations,
and we all have some
degree of responsibility.
And you have your organization
for setting out this
kind of problem.
And we are in agreement
that we have to look for answers
to the problems which we
are setting out here today.
But let us not forget
that we've got a government
presided over by
comrade Allende,
and we have to
obey that leadership.
There is an organism
which is the workers,
and there are organisms
which are the class parties
and they too provide guidance.
On July 19,
the School of Infantry raids a
factory in the town of San Bernardo.
Every sector on the left
recognizes the need to prepare
the armed defense of the government.
But they are unable to agree
on the formulation of a joint plan.
On July 20, in view of the
growing wave of violence,
the Catholic church
issues a public call
in favor of peaceful
understanding.
This campaign,
led by Cardinal Silva Enriquez,
ends with the
countrywide celebration
of "Masses for Peace".
For the representatives
of the people,
that they may exercise the
public powers of the State.
That their competence,
aided by the wisdom and
prudence that comes from God,
may lead them always
to serve the homeland,
for the true good
of the communities.
- Lord hear us.
- Lord graciously hear us.
For the citizens
of our homeland,
so that in the diversity of
opinions and preferences,
God may enlighten
our consciences,
soothe passions,
and control partisan
resentments,
so that the common good
of the Chileans may prevail.
- Lord, hear us.
- Lord, graciously hear us.
The Church's
call for pacification
puts some leaders of
the Christian Democracy
in a difficult position.
For three weeks, they have
refused to have talks with Allende.
If they don't change
their position,
they will be opposing the
Church's public position.
A few days later,
Patricio Alwin and
Osvaldo Olguin,
the leaders of the
Christian Democracy,
arrive at the government palace
to speak with the President.
Aware of the discrepancies,
but convinced of his strategy,
Allende wants to reach
a minimum understanding
to avoid a
constitutional break-up.
A possible agreement
between Allende and the
Christian Democrat leadership
causes great unease
in the extreme right.
On July 27,
at 1.30 a.m.,
Commander Arturo Araya Peters,
President Allende's naval aide-de-camp,
is assassinated by a commando.
The violence extends
to an officer directly
linked to the President,
at the very moment
when the Christian Democracy
agrees to speak with Allende.
Commander Arturo Araya
had become the main link
between the government and
the constitutionalist navy officers.
That same day,
theaide-de-camp's remains are
taken to the La Moneda Palace.
They are later
transferred to Valparaiso,
to be buried with
military honors.
OFFICERS
Months later,
in exile in Buenos Aires, and
before being assassinated,
Gen. Carlos Prats
says that one of the reasons
for eliminating Commander Araya
was to prevent Allende from
knowing what was happening
in the military
circles in Valparaiso.
This is where a
sector of the officers
start to plan the coup,
with the advice of the
North American government.
The remains of Commander
Arturo Araya Peters are seen off
by the Commander-in-Chief
of the National Navy,
Admiral Raul Montero Cornejo,
and by a college
contemporary of his,
Sea Captain Guillermo
Aldonei Hansen.
And here in the cemetery,
we have two sections
of the Submarine School
and the band of the
Armaments School.
All here can remember
the brilliant navy career
of Commander
Arturo Araya Peters.
His Excellency the President,
Dr. Salvador Allende,
ministers of state,
heads of the armed forces...
The raids are intensified.
On August 3,
the army surrounds
one of the main factories
in Santiago's Cerrillos belt.
These operations
allow the army to
check the terrain
and study the
workers' reactions.
They officers accustom the troops
to confronting the civilian population,
and watch the behavior
of their own soldiers.
The next day,
the army occupies the
industrial area of Punta Arenas.
To date,
the army have carried out 27
raids throughout the country,
without finding any arms.
For the first time in an
operation, tanks are used.
During this week,
the transport operators
call an indefinite stoppage.
The extreme right wants
to provoke economic chaos
and sabotage the talks
between the Head of State
and the Christian Democracy.
The carriers assemble their
trucks at certain strategic points
to make a show of strength
and maintain internal cohesion.
As the "New York
Times" was to reveal later,
the strikers are
financed by $5 million
from the Central
Intelligence Agency, CIA.
Each of the operators
receives $4 a day,
at the black market
exchange rate.
Meanwhile, in the
gardens of Congress,
just as happened
with the copper strike,
the truckers' wives are
given money and provisions.
On July 31,
the government decrees
the legal resumption of work,
and sends tractors to tow
the paralyzed
vehicles to Santiago.
However, the operators
react with violence
and accuse the government
of attacking private property.
These events are filmed
by TV's Channel 13,
which sympathizes
with the strike.
AUGUST 7
A few days later,
a portion of Parliament transform
the incident into a scandal.
Congress asks Channel 13 to
re-broadcast their film of the events
to help the deputies
reach a judgement.
With the approval
of some senators,
these images are
retransmitted to the public
presenting them as
an official document.
This shows the opposition's
power within the media,
and the freedom of speech
tolerated by the government.
The opposition block controls
Santiago's leading station,
as well as 75% of
the radio stations
and 70% of the written press.
In this case,
the seizure of the trucks
fuels a campaign to
discredit the government.
While this is
happening in Parliament,
talks between Allende and the
Christian Democracy are deadlocked.
The leaders of that
party set three conditions.
The President must submit
to Congress' authority,
thus renouncing presidential
powers held by other Chilean leaders.
He must back down on
his nationalization policy.
Finally, he must grant
key government posts
to officers who are totally trusted
by the Christian Democracy.
In reply,
Allende is opposed
to this capitulation,
and the Christian
Democracy halts the talks.
This being so, the
entire opposition
joins the
anti-government escalade.
During July and August,
terrorist groups trained by North
American intelligence services,
carry out 250 attacks with
dynamite and fire bombs.
With this authority vacuum,
Allende gets the support of
the leaders of the armed forces,
and gets the military to
agree to share responsibilities.
A country
cannot live
submitted to threats
by the heartless.
The streets of Santiago
were strewn yesterday
with publications like this.
We must ask who
is paying for them,
where are they printed,
which are the companies
who are contributing
to these attacks
against national life,
against the government,
against the country.
"Eight measures to
depose the government".
That is how shameless they are.
This Cabinet
must put an end
to the fascist stoppage
by the carriers,
by deciding
to enforce the law implacably.
It has the support of the
vast majority of Chileans,
who want to avoid,
by all possible means,
a civil war in our homeland.
On August 9, the top military commanders
are incorporated into the government.
Gen. Prats, natural
leader of the loyal officers,
occupies the
Ministry of Defense.
Command of the army falls,
meanwhile, on Gen. Pinochet,
also considered
a constitutionalist.
This new cabinet is
received with discrepancies
by most of the politicians.
The right reject it.
The Christian Democracy
show a division of opinion.
The left has its doubts.
Only two days later,
the Communist and Socialist
parties support Allende's decision.
Thank you.
The session is over.
On August 11,
the new cabinet takes the
first steps to requisition trucks.
But the initiatives taken
by the commanders
displease most of the officers who
are sympathetic to the stoppage.
This shows that part
of the military apparatus
is also involved in the
anti-government offensive.
The U.S. press later revealed
that William Colby,
ex-director of the CIA,
was questioned by the House of
Representatives in Washington,
in October 1973.
He never denied
that CIA supported the preparation
and financial maintenance of the strike.
On August 12,
the Christian Democrat Party
officially announces
its support for the strike.
In factories,
raw materials are diminishing,
and in the country
seeds are scarce.
In these circumstances,
the civil-military
cabinet has failed.
But the popular response
to the strike continues.
The government
and its supporters
arrange for products to be
brought to distribution centers.
With shops closed,
part of the population
supports the Provisions Council
and strengthens
the "popular stores".
Each store is formed by
the neighbors in a sector.
It buys food directly from the
State, and sells it at cost price.
Soon, half of Santiago is
benefiting from direct provisioning.
Direct provisioning!
Direct provisioning!
In some areas,
the Industrial Belts
send workers' pickets
to oversee distribution
and open any closed shops.
At this moment, popular
power is ahead of the police
in maintaining public order
and controlling tradesmen.
That's enough for now.
Please move the kids away.
This isn't a workers' stoppage.
It's a stoppage by the truck owners.
I don't think there's one
worker with a truck on strike.
The ones on strike
have got fleets of trucks.
They're keeping this
useless strike going.
This stoppage
is clearly political.
And it is we, the people,
who are being harmed by it.
We're the ones who have to
put up with waiting in these lines.
If all the trucks
went back to work,
we wouldn't have
all these lines.
But the workers
went out on the street.
We went out and fought
and did our duty as workers,
defending our workplaces
and continuing production,
and loading goods
with our bare hands
so that the towns
didn't go short of food.
The workers showed that to
our President and the authorities.
Some of the carriers who
support the government
organize convoys
to distribute food
in the provinces.
The population also develops
a family supply system,
called "the people's basket".
No compromise on
defending the people's basket!
No compromise on
defending the people's basket!
How do you see the
government's attitude?
The government's attitude
has to be to maneuver.
If you were the government,
you'd have to do the same.
The government has to
walk a tightrope at times.
I believe that this isn't
the government's fault.
For me, as a Marxist socialist
from 1932 to the present,
because I was in the fight
for the Socialist Republic
and I knew comrade Grove
and he made one mistake.
When the people
asked him for arms,
he wouldn't give them any.
Of course, it would have been
an uncontrollable massacre.
And then what would
have happened?
Even now,
I think we're still far
from having a good front.
We just don't have one.
We've got anti-fascist organizations
and defense committees,
but we're lacking provincial
and national coordination
in order to act on one front.
We can't let what happened
in Spain happen here.
There was a party division,
the anarcho-syndicalists on one
side, the socialists on the other,
and Franco's
fascism got into power.
Meanwhile, in Valparaiso,
some sailors discover
the naval conspiracy
and inform several
left-wing leaders.
This action is discovered
by the commanders
and the sailers are jailed
and submitted to torture.
On August 22, in the
Chamber of Deputies,
the opposition breaks definitively
with the constitutional regime.
The Deputies argue that the government
"would be violating the Constitution"
and they give the go-ahead
for military intervention.
Supported by a simple
majority and without legal force,
this declaration justifies military
rebellion and legitimizes the coup.
From this point,
events occur rapidly.
A group of women
gather outside the house of Army
Commander Gen. Carlos Prats,
natural leader of the officers who
respect the democratic system.
The rally, in which the wives
of six generals take part,
is to show Carlos Prats
that he no longer has
the top military support.
The next day,
the Council of Generals
refuses to back him
and Carlos Prats
decides to resign.
- Faggots!
- Lousy faggots!
Generals Pickering and Sepulveda,
the main loyal commanders, also resign.
Augusto Pinochet,
seemingly a professional soldier
who respects the Constitution,
becomes the new
Commander-in-Chief.
While the conspiracy progresses,
the civilian opposition
begins the final offensive.
On August 14, in the
Catholic University,
the women from "Feminine Power"
meet to support
the transport strike.
That is why
this strike by the carriers,
which was avoided
in October 1972,
will, this time,
have to be a battle
to the final consequences.
This is how it is
seen by all of us
who support the carriers
in their just struggle.
CHILEAN UNIONS
DEMAND RESIGNATION
Days later,
the government's enemies ask
for the President's resignation.
Three years of economic war
have let the White House
and the internal opposition
win a large sector
of the middle class.
This is where the rebel
officers find the social support
for continuing with their plans.
September 4 is
the third anniversary
of Salvador Allende's
electoral triumph.
Despite the crisis,
government sympathizers organize
one of the biggest demonstrations
in the country's
political history.
From 5.00 p.m.,
more than 800,000 people file
past the President of the Republic.
Three days later, Allende
tells his collaborators that
he wants to hold a plebiscite
to resolve the government's
continuity in a democratic way.
The chosen date for
announcing the plebiscite
is September 11.
We'll cut the dick off the
"mummy" who speculates!
If that won't do, we'll
cut his balls off too.
Workers, let's go into
action and stop the rebellion!
Workers, let's go into
action and stop the rebellion!
Young Communists of Chile!
Allende, Allende,
the people will defend you!
Allende, Allende,
the people will defend you!
UNITY AND COMBAT AGAINSTHE COUP THE HOMELAND
Keep fighting, President!
- Hurrah for Allende!
- Hurrah!
Popular Unity, keep fighting!
We'll fight and we'll
create popular power!
We'll fight and we'll
create popular power!
The Socialist Party of Chile.
Socialist Youth!
The expropriated factories
will never be handed back!
The time for
conciliation is over!
It's time to fight!
People, awareness, arms!
- Louder!
- MAPU!
- Shout it louder!
- MAPU!
Allende, don't worry,
the people are with you!
Faced with the people,
mobilized but unarmed,
the internal opposition and
the U.S. State Department
decide to play their last card.
THE MORNING OF SEPTEMBER 11
THE VOICE OF PRESIDENT ALLENDE
Confirmed reports have said
that a sector of the navy
has isolated Valparaiso
and that the city is occupied.
In any case, I am here,
in the government palace
and I'll stay here, defending
the government I represent
by the will of the people.
On September 11,
the navy unleashes the
coup in the port of Valparaiso.
At the same time,
four North American destroyers
move close to the Chilean coast
to take part in
"Operation Unitas",
and maintain contact
with the mutineers.
At 7.30,
President Allende has arrived
at the palace to give instructions.
The situation is critical.
There is no joint plan for the
armed defense of the government.
During the early morning,
most of the constitutionalist
officers have been neutralized.
At 8.00 a.m.,
two Air Force planes
start to fly over the capital.
At 8.20,
the leaders of the uprising
demand the President's resignation,
and offer him a plane in
which to leave the country.
At 9.15,
the President prepares to fight
and speaks again by radio.
The Air Force has bombed
the masts
of "Radio Portales"
and "Radio Corporacion".
This being so,
it only remains for me
to say to the workers,
I am not going to give up.
Placed in an
historical transition,
I shall repay the loyalty
of the people with my life.
History is ours,
and it is made by the people.
Long live Chile!
Long live the people!
Long live the workers!
After a few hours of resistance,
the military send
Allende an ultimatum.
If he doesn't surrender, the
planes will begin bombing.
At this,
the President gives the
palace guard freedom of action,
and they abandon the building.
President Allende, who
refuses to surrender,
is accompanied by 40 civilians
prepared to face the attack.
Despite the bombardment,
the palace defenders
hold out for three hours.
At the same time, there are skirmishes
in parts of Santiago and the provinces.
At 2.15 p.m., President
Allende dies in La Moneda.
At 9.00 p.m.,
the leaders of the uprising
speak to the country.
The armed forces
have acted today
solely from the
patriotic inspiration
of saving the country
from the tremendous chaos
in which it was being plunged
by the Marxist government
of Salvador Allende.
The Junta will maintain
judicial power
and consultantship
of the Public Accounts Control.
The Chambers
will remain in recess
until further orders.
That is all.
It may be sad
to have broken a
democratic tradition
which on this continent
was of long standing.
But when the State
loses its qualities,
there are those
who, by mandate,
have to enforce them,
and take on that task.
We are doing that today.
We are sure that all of Chile
has to understand the
sacrifice that entails.
It isn't a matter of
squashing tendencies
or ideological trends,
or carrying out
personal revenge,
but, as I said, of
reestablishing public order,
and returning the country
to observance of the
Republic's Constitution and laws.
After three years
of suffering the Marxist cancer
which led us
to economic, moral
and social disaster,
and which could no
longer be tolerated
for the sacred interests
of the homeland,
we found ourselves obliged
to take on
the sad and painful mission
which we have undertaken.
We are not afraid.
We know the enormous responsibility
that will rest on our shoulders.
But we are convinced,
we are quite sure
that the vast majority
of the Chilean people
are with us.
They are willing to
fight against Marxism!
They are willing to stamp it out
down to the final consequences!
From September 11,
all the army's resources are used
to repress the popular movement,
with the compliance
of the U.S. government.
The initial armed resistance
by some industrial belts,
towns and agricultural centers
is quickly crushed
in an unequal fight.
Thousands of
people lose their lives,
and the main sports stadiums
are turned into concentration camps.
Latin America's longest
representative democracy.
has ceased to exist.
Nevertheless,
as of September 11,
the democratic forces
begin to reorganize,
and adopt numerous
forms of resistance.
The battle of Chile
is not over.
THEY HAVE THE STRENGTH.
THEY CAN SUBJUGATE US.
BUT THEY CANNOSTOP SOCIAL PROCESSES
WITH CRIME
OR WITH STRENGTH.
HISTORY IS OURS
AND IT IS MADE BY THE PEOPLE.
YOU MUST ALWAYS KNOW
THAT SOONER RATHER THAN LATER
THEY WILL OPEN THE GREAT AVENUES
WHERE MAN CAN WALK FREE
AND BUILD A BETTER SOCIETY.
THE BATTLE OF CHILE
THE STRUGGLE OF
AN UNARMED PEOPLE
PART TWO: THE COUP
A PATRICIO GUZMAN FILM
IN MEMORY OF JORGE MUELLER SILVA
Santiago de Chile.
June 29, 1973.
Unable to remove President
Allende constitutionally,
the U.S. government
and the Chilean opposition
opt for the strategy of a coup.
After its defeat in the presidential
elections in March, 1973,
the opposition sets the wheels
firmly in motion for a planned uprising.
On June 29,
at 09.00 a.m.,
a single regiment attacks the
government palace with six tanks.
Shortly after,
an Argentinian journalist
films his own death.
He also records, two
months before the final coup,
the true face of a sector
of the Chilean army.
For an hour,
the tanks exchange fire
with the presidential guard who
are inside the La Moneda Palace.
22 people die during
these first moments.
Parliament, the Judicial Power,
and the opposition
parties are silent.
However,
the rebel troops don't receive support
from the rest of the armed forces.
Perhaps thinking that conditions
are not yet right for a successful rising,
the other officers
don't join in this action.
Meanwhile,
loyal troops begin the first
counter-attack to break the siege.
Watch out! Over there!
Don't shoot, bastards!
At 10.30,
more loyal soldiers are
mobilized towards the city center.
Advancing on the
Panamerican road into the capital
are ten artillery regiment
troop transporters
from the city of San Felipe.
The civilian population
must stay calm.
After a brief confrontation,
the rebel tanks
begin to withdraw.
The Commander-in-Chief of
the Army, Gen. Carlos Prats,
directs the
operations personally.
At 11.00 a.m., with
fighting still going on,
the President of the
Republic goes into the palace.
Just then, another column
of loyal soldiers arrives,
headed by the Minister
of Defense, Jos Toha.
Young Communists of Chile!
Long live the
workers' president!
Fight and create popular power!
Fight and create popular power!
The situation is
being controlled,
but some troops have
not yet surrendered.
Even as they withdraw,
the tanks are still firing.
Jos Toha, Minister of Defense,
tries to instil calm in the
face of possible danger.
He is assisted in this
task by Gen. Pickering.
Minister,
if we don't control these
people, there'll be a massacre.
Help me, please.
Get out of here,
please! Move away!
If you don't move,
someone might get killed.
Generals Pickering,
Sepulveda and Prats
lead the officers most
determined to suppress the rising.
Other commanders, however,
merely wait expectantly.
Such is the case with Augusto Pinochet,
later Head of the Military Government,
who now joins in
with the loyal forces.
At 11.30,
Gen. Carlos Prats assures
the Minister of Defense
that the rebels
have surrendered,
and shows the positions
of his own troops.
On the south side of La Moneda
is the Warrant Officers School
and on the north side
is the Buin Regiment.
But Gen. Prats
will think it essential
to declare a State of
Emergency to control the situation.
We must request a State
of Emergency at once.
We can't control the
situation otherwise.
Allende, Allende,
the people will defend you!
At noon, with the defeat
of the rising confirmed,
the Christian Democrats
say that they support
the constitutional regime.
The other opposition
group, the National Party,
refuses to comment.
The leaders of the fascist
group "Homeland and Freedom"
take refuge in the
Ecuadorian embassy,
revealing themselves as
the authors of the putsch.
Use a heavy hand!
At 6.00 p.m.,
the presidential flag is lowered by
the guard who defended the palace.
For two hours, this
company, led by Lieut. Perez,
refused to hand over
the seat of government.
Along with Gen. Prats, they
are the heroes of the day.
The ease with which the
attempted coup was crushed
raises many questions.
The rising showed that some
officers were sympathetic,
and only the fear of having
to face other army units
prevented them from
joining the rebellion.
Consequently,
Allende relies on the
constitutionalist officers,
rejecting any action which may
weaken his government's legality.
We shall make the
revolutionary changes
in pluralism,
democracy and freedom,
which does not mean
tolerance
of anti-democrats,
tolerance
of subversives,
or tolerance of
fascists, comrades!
Close the National Congress!
But you must understand
what the real position
of this government is.
I will not, because
it would be absurd,
close
the Congress.
I'm not going to do it.
I said...
I said respect.
But if it's necessary...
If it's necessary,
I shall present
a bill to call a plebiscite
and let the people
resolve this question!
"Mummies", shits, the
street belongs to the left.
"Mummies", shits, the
street belongs to the left.
The next day,
Allende asks Congress to
declare a State of Emergency.
Meanwhile, from the
morning of June 29,
left-wing workers
take control of factories, companies,
mines and agricultural centers
throughout Chile.
Let's create popular power!
Comrades,
the conclusions of the 500
workers in the packing factory
are the following.
Strengthen the industrial belts.
Strengthen the
communal councils.
Strengthen the neighborhood
groups and the COPPs.
Strengthen all the
community organizations.
We must take advantage
of this opportunity
and go on the offensive
in terms of gaining new sectors
and nationalizing
new industries.
We, the workers, are
at our battle station,
our workplace,
building the necessary elements
to defend ourselves
against any attack by fascism,
or any further attempts
by the armed forces
to overthrow the government.
We believe we must
strengthen our battle station
which is, firstly,
here in the industries.
At the same time,
all forms of popular
power are strengthened,
especially the industrial belts.
Each belt is a group of
factories and companies
which coordinates the tasks
of workers in the same zone.
In the country's main cities,
31 industrial belts
have been set up.
Eight of these are in Santiago.
- Who do you represent?
- The "Macul" belt.
- And you?
- The "Macul" belt.
- And you?
- The "Cerrillos-Maipu" belt.
- And you?
- The "Cerrillos" belt.
- And you?
- The "Vicuna Mackenna" belt.
- And you?
- The "Vicuna Mackenna" belt.
- And you?
- The "O'Higgins" belt.
- And you?
- The Christian Left.
The Radical Party Union.
The Government, with
the support of the belts,
puts some strategically
important factories
under legal State control.
Comrades,
as we all know,
fascist groups tried to
overthrow the Government
and there are still
repercussions from that.
There is still a latent
danger against a process
which the working class
began and has taken in hand.
It has been resolved that,
given that the packaging
and aluminium company Alusa
has suspended
delivery of its products
which constitutes an
obstruction to distribution,
and in view of the
Supreme Decree no. 338
and Law no. 16,464, I resolve,
firstly,
the use of the industrial
establishment is hereby requisitioned,
along with machines
and other elements
necessary for the production
and/or distribution of the Alusa factory.
On July 2,
the law on the State of
Emergency proposed by Allende
is submitted to Parliament.
This law would grant the
President special powers,
enabling him to appoint,
transfer and dismiss
whatever military leaders
he thought advisable.
The floor is open to speakers.
The debate is over.
During the three
previous governments,
the State of Emergency
had been authorized twice.
Those deputies who reject
the proposal, raise their hands.
The State of Emergency, the chief
legal instrument for extreme situations,
is not authorized.
Result of the vote.
The number of
votes in favor, 52.
The number of votes against, 81.
The Executive's
proposal is rejected.
The Executive's initiative
doesn't convince Parliament.
The opposition parties
think it unjustified
to grant Allende special powers.
On July 2,
the same day as Congress
rejects the State of Emergency,
navy officers order their troops
to carry out a raid in Valparaiso.
A law on weapons control
passed the previous year
enables the military
to carry out
searches for weapons
without a judicial order or
government authorization.
Despite increasing terrorist
action by the extreme right,
this law has never before
been enforced by the military.
Each raid includes
besieging the factory,
the temporary
detention of the workers,
and their interrogation.
Thus, without
overstepping the law,
some officers start to act against
factory employees and workers.
In this first raid no
weapons are found.
Chile is suffering the aggression
of North American imperialism,
of a sector of the oligarchy,
which in October 1970
joined with ITT and the CIA
to overthrow this Government.
They want to repeat
a stupid attempt of that kind.
So the present struggle
has a patriotic and
national character.
Chile has got every
right to govern itself
in accordance with
the will of its people.
At the same time,
a series of revolutionary
transformations is in process,
the aim of which is to open
the way to a socialist society.
Faced with the threat of a coup,
the Communist Party
and a sector of the left
agree with President
Allende's ideas.
An armed confrontation
must be avoided
in what are
unfavorable conditions.
Therefore,
this sector decides to get
the support of the officers
who respect the
democratic system.
In the political area,
both Allende and this sector
want a minimum agreement
with the Christian Democracy.
This aims to reinforce the
stability of the government
and create a strong
front against civil war.
They've carried out a
campaign these last days.
A campaign in which
they are trying to show
that the Popular Government
is an illegal government.
I want to ask Mr. Victor
Garcia Garzena
what is the National
Party's opinion
of the rebellion of June 29
which ended in the death
of over 20 innocent people.
I want to know their opinion,
because the paper "La Tribuna",
on the day after that event,
said that it was a show.
While the seditious attack was
underway, the radio station "Agricultura"
was broadcasting
declarations such as,
"This is the day so many
Chileans longed for."
"The armed forces
are confronting
"this totalitarian,
Marxist government",
and other similar remarks.
That is a political crime.
That is an attack
against our people.
The most serious attack against
democracy and the constitutional regime
which they claim to defend.
This gentleman was
already jailed in 1967
by the Christian
Democrat government,
for seditious actions on
behalf of the National Party.
Good evening to all
our television viewers.
As you have all seen and heard,
the young student
has described me
as being seditious.
But I ask you to look
at him and look at me.
Look at his life
and look at mine.
I don't know how the cameras
haven't fallen with shame.
That's the truth.
He has devoted
his life to revolution.
He has worked at nothing
else except revolution.
And here am I, a man who
has worked for 35 years,
who was a university
professor for 25 years,
who has always
earned his salary.
And the young student says,
"Look at the troublemaker".
So, as it's quite ridiculous,
I'll move on.
The regime can't work without
virtues, without republican virtues.
That's my opinion,
and everyone knows it.
I've always practised it.
I don't condemn those
who are desperate.
I don't condemn people
like the poor truck driver
who picks up a stone.
And neither do I condemn those
people who clamor and who rebel.
I don't support, and I
never have, any rebellion.
I don't support coups
or other escapades.
But today, I fully understand
how an entire country
cannot live at peace
when its most urgent
and basic needs,
as we have heard here tonight,
can't be satisfied.
He's just described himself.
He has shown
the seditious face,
the rebellious face
of the National Party.
And here you have the chief
threat to the constitutional regime
and the democracy
you say you defend.
Mr. Garcia Garzena has said,
and the viewers heard him,
that he doesn't condemn
the rising of June 29,
perpetrated by a unit which
undoubtedly was traitorous
to the pure tradition
of our armed forces.
He doesn't condemn the
murder of over 22 people.
He doesn't. Just the opposite.
But he hasn't been frank
enough here to say he applauds it,
as it was applauded by his
National Agricultural Society radio,
or as it was applauded
by his paper, "La Tribuna",
which said the next day
that it was a self-coup,
a show put on by the
Popular Unity government.
Repeat that here, sir!
I didn't say I supported the
uprising. Don't distort my words!
Then make yourself clear.
I've done that, and now
I intend to ignore you!
I want to explain to
our television viewers
that our system
isn't one of class hatred
or of any kind of struggle.
It's what's called
national integration.
That's what we want.
We want everyone to feel
members of the same homeland.
- Like in Uruguay.
- So that we feel...
- Why are you confusing me?
- Or Bolivia.
- Why mention other countries?
- Or Brazil.
You're like a Bolivian!
Don't despair,
Don Victor Garcia.
Don't get hysterical.
Please, let me continue.
These are the problems.
What is the origin of the attacks
against democracy and freedom?
Their aim is to prevent dialogue
and finally take us
along the road to civil war.
The road sought by Don
Victor Garcia Garzena,
that dove of peace whom
we have seen here tonight,
who wants to set up a
fascist dictatorship here,
like that of Jos Maria
Bordaberry in Uruguay,
and, deny it if you can,
like those in Brazil and
in Bolivia. Exactly that.
On July 5,
Salvador Allende
forms a new cabinet
to tackle the crisis and
create favorable conditions
for a dialogue with the
Christian Democracy.
He tries to incorporate a
personality from that party.
I know perfectly well
that revolutionary processes
shake up and
convulse the people.
But I also know that here,
we wanted to do,
and are trying to do,
something that other
peoples didn't manage.
A revolution by
different channels,
in accordance with our history,
our tradition, and our reality.
I hope that we may be capable
of writing one more page,
to show that Chile
has its own creative will
and its noble decision to
make the homeland ever greater.
Please take
the oaths of loyalty.
Finally, let me
clarify that I called
the rector of the Catholic
University, Fernando Castillo,
and I asked him to
form part of the cabinet.
Regrettably,
he had obligations
which I respected.
I respected his reasons, and
even though he was most willing,
I couldn't have Fernando
Castillo's collaboration.
But I know the country
can rely on his collaboration
in any circumstances.
I wanted to inform
you fully of this,
and also to reiterate
that I am confident
that we shall overcome
the difficult hours
with everyone's help.
Thank you.
Why has this split occurred
when no one really wants it?
In my opinion,
it's because when the Popular
Unity sets out programs,
projects for Chile,
which could really mean
an accumulation of
interest in that objective,
Popular Unity first says,
"Let's see who would
supposedly be opposed to this."
They look for all
possible enemies,
find them, and then set
them up as a minority.
But I think that all
those great projects
for the transformation
of our society
are projects which,
if sent out properly
as a message,
seeking all those who can
come together as a force
which is really working
for Chile's objectives,
are a government's
most basic obligation.
But, influenced by its
more traditional wing,
the Christian Democrats
will not, for now,
talk with the Government.
Even so, Allende,
a sector of the left, and a
sector of Christian Democrats,
will strive for a dialogue
to modify the
correlation of forces
in case of a coup.
We must call, comrades,
on the good sense and patriotism
of the sectors of the
Christian Democracy
who think for themselves,
and don't follow
the dictates of the Pentagon, the
CIA, and the Chilean capitalists,
so that they show
their opposition
among the people, in
the unions, everywhere,
to the fascist,
reactionary offensive.
Because if fascism
manages to win through,
they won't ask the copper worker
if he's a communist, if he's
from MAPU, if he's a socialist,
or a Christian Democrat,
when they repress him.
On July 8,
the marines carry out
a raid in Valparaiso.
That same day,
the Air Force occupy
a cemetery in Santiago
with 3 helicopters.
200 soldiers search the graves
and niches looking for weapons.
In neither case
is anything found.
This is just incredible.
Look at what they're doing,
and it's going on every day!
Why would anyone
want to dig up the dead?
The dead don't have bullets or
anything. Why would they kill them?
Imagine digging
the poor things up!
All they could do was
throw their bones at them.
So tomorrow, or even
tonight, they'll send their planes.
They'll kill us all, because
we're defenseless.
- Should the people be armed?
- Yes, of course!
The Government have
to do that and very soon.
They have to, or else
it'll be impossible...
We're his strength.
Allende is the president
because we voted for him.
The rich will never
be on our side.
Whatever we have now, it's
because of this government.
Because we've
never had anything.
How could we not be
grateful to the government?
That's what we have to
make those others understand.
They aren't thinking straight.
They don't understand
all that's being done.
If you're out, moving
around all day,
you see what they're
doing for the workers.
What must we do to
defend this government?
- Unite, that's the first thing!
- And if they come with arms?
We should have arms
too, to defend ourselves.
That's what
everyone here thinks.
Nobody in this camp
has got a weapon.
And you can't do anything
with your hands or with sticks.
If they come with arms,
you can't do anything.
The workers have got
their defense organizations.
There are brigades which can
be mobilized at any moment.
But there are no popular
elements to defend the factories,
nor are there even any popular
elements to mobilize workers
in any formation for
combat or street fighting
against any military
sectors or fascist sectors
which have those elements.
We want a popular militia!
On July 12,
the Socialist party states its position
as regards the threatened coup.
The soldiers, sailors,
airmen and policemen
cannot lend
themselves at any time,
or under any circumstance,
to murder workers.
And if it should happen
that some officers rebel,
the officers, warrant
officers, N.C.O.s and soldiers
are not under any obligation
to obey them.
To be even clearer,
not only is it their duty
to refuse to obey orders which
would mean firing on the people,
or to participate in attempted coups
against the workers' government,
they must also
actively oppose them.
The bourgeoisie must
understand quite clearly
that it cannot
act with impunity.
Every subversive action,
every attack on Chile
and its government,
will invariably be
answered by the workers,
using every method,
with all the resources
which may be necessary.
Our party thinks
that the seizing of companies,
factories, lands,
is a legitimate response
by the working class
and the workers,
to the seditious,
mutinous attitude of the right.
We have said
that every step in this
reaction must be thought out.
I'd like to know
the party's position
as regards the raids by
the military in our factories
looking for arms.
I take it as an offense
against our class,
because I think
that if the workers
were ever to take
up arms at any time,
it would be to defend
their government.
So could you,
as a lawyer and as a jurist,
tell us when it is legal,
and when it is illegal?
There's a problem here.
We could be acting illegally
in trying to defend the
workers' government,
as workers ourselves,
if we took the precaution
of acquiring a weapon.
I think that the people,
to defend its government,
should use all the
means available.
The problem of arms
becomes tied in with that of
the occupation of companies.
For a sector of Popular
Unity, led by the communists,
the indiscriminate
expropriation of factories
only damages the
government's legal image.
But for the other sector,
led by the Socialist Party,
the occupation of industries
is a useful form of mobilization
which helps prepare
the coming struggle.
For them,
an armed clash with
the right is inevitable,
and the only way
to tackle a coup
is by organizing the masses
and strengthening popular power,
especially in the
industrial belts.
Another task for today, comrades,
to control the reactionaries
and to move forward
is the formation
of industrial belts
all over the country.
What is needed, comrades,
is that our union leaders
look on this task as
a priority for them.
That comrades from
other companies unite.
That they should tell
the leaders of other unions
of the need to connect
with workers from the next
block, or from further away.
And that way, comrades,
we shall build up
that popular force
which is the basis
for advancing,
and a rampart for
repelling reactionary attacks.
On July 19,
the Arauco regiment occupy
the Workers' Central
in the city of Osorno.
The next day,
navy personnel carry out
another raid in Concepcion.
In neither case are arms found.
On July 12,
the Revolutionary
Left Movement, MIR,
from outside Popular Unity,
states its position.
Throughout the entire country,
a single cry is heard
echoing in the factories,
estates, towns, and schools,
in the bastions of the people.
The call to create,
strengthen and
increase popular power,
the power of the
community commandoes,
the power of the
workers and the peasants.
The revolutionaries
and the workers
must immediately extend the
seizure of factories and estates,
increase defense preparations,
promote popular power
as local government,
independent of
the powers of state.
The warrant officers
and policemen
must disobey the
orders of fascist officers,
and in that way...
And in that way,
all forms of struggle
will be legitimate!
Then it really will be
true that the workers,
along with the soldiers,
the sailors, the police,
the warrant officers
and the loyal officers,
will have the right to
build their own army,
the people's army!
On July 19,
the workers from the Vicuna
Mackenna industrial belt
occupy the main
road in their area.
Why are you occupying the road?
It's in support of our comrades who
were evicted from the ICMETAL factory.
Will any government
representative be coming?
We hope some authority will
come and solve the problem.
The day before,
workers from the Cerrillos belt
had carried out a similar action.
The protest is directed
against government attempts
to hand back some industries
to facilitate a possible minimum
agreement with the Christian Democracy.
The contradictions
among the left
about what strategy
to use against the coup
explode publicly.
At 11.30,
the police chief orders
the road to be cleared.
The police can only
advance to the first barricade.
Beyond that are 4,000 workers
positioned along four miles.
At 11.45, the Intendant
of Santiago arrives.
Julio Estuardo is a
functionary of the Popular Unity
and the highest
authority of the province.
You wait here.
His mission is to
end the confrontation.
Please inform the Chief
that on my instructions
nothing is to be moved here and
you are to pull back two blocks.
So pull back the police forces,
preferably beyond Matta Avenue.
Tell the Prefect that
it's on my instructions.
Thank you.
The police have to withdraw.
But the problem of occupied
factories continues to be debated,
with the presence
of TUC delegates.
The TUC set up
a commission
to look at the cases
of the industries
which are in the
hands of the workers.
That commission is studying
those problems today,
through the corresponding
institutions, CORFO
and the Ministry of Economy.
There's one thing we
must have very clear.
There are a lot of industries
which have been taken over.
In Santiago, a huge number of
industries have been taken over,
but not all of them
can be nationalized,
for a variety of reasons.
What's more, when
the TUC issued the call
to take over the industries in
the case of any attempted coup,
that meant, in times of crisis,
stopping fascist activity.
But it didn't mean
that, indiscriminately,
all kinds of industries are
going to be nationalized.
There are some
problems there too,
with industries which
are totally unfinanced,
and if the State takes them over
it's really just taking
over a dead weight.
And that can't be.
So this is what
has been discussed
with our fellow workers in those
industries who would be affected.
What we want is a decision
from TUC, and soon.
It can be good or bad,
but we want a decision,
so that the TUC doesn't
just become an antibody
in the bosom of the workers.
The problem is that there
are other reasons here.
For instance, what about the
companies with Swiss capital?
There's a problem...
There's a problem of
international relations.
What do international
relations have to do
with the problems
of the workers?
A lot!
Because the Swiss government
is one of the chief members
of the "Club de Paris",
where Chile's external debt
is discussed and renegotiated.
You all know that after
this government came in,
and nationalized
copper, for example,
there was a Yankee boycott
and the country doesn't
have the foreign exchange
or the credits it used to have.
So that is all renegotiated
in the "Club de Paris",
and Chile has to
handle itself there
with a great deal of caution.
We're not talking about
international relations here.
We want to nationalize the
industries which interest us.
And without accepting
any compromises.
All the things that you're
explaining about international affairs
won't be understood by
the workers in general.
You have to give them
some more local reasons,
and use words that all of
us here can understand.
Can the workers
disobey the TUC leaders?
Well, I can answer that too.
Yes, there are answers
which are more
local, more Chilean.
Today, as you all
know, comrades,
we, the working class,
through this government,
have gained some power,
but we haven't
gained all the power.
The reactionaries
want the forces of order,
whether police or army,
to have a confrontation
with the workers
which will occur
if the workers don't obey
central management,
but take justice
into their own hands
and have a confrontation
with the police and army.
And then,
the right accuses the government
that there's no discipline
and that there's no authority.
And we're just a step away
from the President being impeached,
because that's what they want.
But the thing is,
we can see
everything clearly too.
They asked us, the
workers, to get organized,
and to set up the industrial belts
and to get organized on all fronts.
We organized ourselves
on the neighborhood fronts,
on the workers' fronts
and in the trade unions.
We organized ourselves
in the industrial belts.
And we're still hearing
the same old story.
It isn't the time,
there's a legislative
power and a judicial power.
They asked us to organize
from the people up
to the highest level,
and that's what we've done.
But the President still
keeps asking us to stay calm,
to keep acting this way
and to keep organizing. Why?
Why is there this fear
that we, the workers,
and all the people,
will call a general strike
and ask the President,
like any executive power,
to decide once and for
all what their battle plan is?
What is the plan they
have for us to fight the right?
And if it's necessary
to have a plebisicite
as those on the
right are demanding,
we'll have it from the
people up to the highest level
and I assure you that we'll
win from here to Rancagua.
We've got organization
inside the camps,
the industrial belts
and the unions.
And the TUC still carries
on, asking us to keep calm,
saying we can't do such-and-such
because this belongs to Queen Elizabeth,
or that belongs to Switzerland.
They just keep making things up.
The truth is, the
people are getting tired.
This is all bureaucracy!
We're fighting bureaucracy
amongst ourselves.
Within our own defenses,
within our own unions,
within our own
power like the TUC,
we still have bureaucracy.
Until when?
What I want to know
is if you have confidence
or not in popular power.
Does the TUC not have
faith in those workers
who marched past
comrade Allende on Friday
to shout their support for him?
Does the President not have
faith in our organizations?
Do the deputies up
there not have faith in us?
They sit and do nothing.
And what about the senators?
Instead of fighting
for the cause,
instead of doing
something for the workers,
whenever the right wing
deputies appear they all keep quiet.
I think we've had enough!
There's a reason that
we're meeting here tonight.
It's to ask the government
to expropriate the greatest
number of factories.
And we'll let the right have
the ones that are of no use.
If the government can't
take on those dead weights,
the right can do it,
and we'll keep fighting.
You go to the market and
see all the black market stuff.
And they still ask
us to stay calm.
Until when? We're
sick of all this.
Do you not know
the class composition
that exists today
in the armed forces?
Don't you know that
the majority of officers
are in favor of the coup?
Because here, comrades,
power isn't achieved
only through good organization.
There is good organization.
But we also need
to have some weight
to counter-balance the real
power of the reactionaries.
And that's why in the
Trades Union Council
we're talking about
protection committees.
And what are
protection committees?
Protection committees
for production industries
and also protection
committees for the war.
They're things
we can't talk about
or give details on,
because we mustn't
make that mistake.
But we, the workers,
have to be prepared
to go into battle on all fronts.
And the TUC is involved
in that struggle today.
I accept that there are
differences, comrades.
But the problem arises
when there is a desire
for organizations
which follow a direction
parallel to the
workers' organization.
That's where problems start.
And so I admit
that here there are many
comrades who ask questions,
not with any ill intention,
but they are things which have to
be discussed in much greater depth.
You can't just
unfoundedly catalogue
such-and-such an organization,
or such-and-such a leader,
as having some defect.
I believe that we all
make up the organizations,
and we all have some
degree of responsibility.
And you have your organization
for setting out this
kind of problem.
And we are in agreement
that we have to look for answers
to the problems which we
are setting out here today.
But let us not forget
that we've got a government
presided over by
comrade Allende,
and we have to
obey that leadership.
There is an organism
which is the workers,
and there are organisms
which are the class parties
and they too provide guidance.
On July 19,
the School of Infantry raids a
factory in the town of San Bernardo.
Every sector on the left
recognizes the need to prepare
the armed defense of the government.
But they are unable to agree
on the formulation of a joint plan.
On July 20, in view of the
growing wave of violence,
the Catholic church
issues a public call
in favor of peaceful
understanding.
This campaign,
led by Cardinal Silva Enriquez,
ends with the
countrywide celebration
of "Masses for Peace".
For the representatives
of the people,
that they may exercise the
public powers of the State.
That their competence,
aided by the wisdom and
prudence that comes from God,
may lead them always
to serve the homeland,
for the true good
of the communities.
- Lord hear us.
- Lord graciously hear us.
For the citizens
of our homeland,
so that in the diversity of
opinions and preferences,
God may enlighten
our consciences,
soothe passions,
and control partisan
resentments,
so that the common good
of the Chileans may prevail.
- Lord, hear us.
- Lord, graciously hear us.
The Church's
call for pacification
puts some leaders of
the Christian Democracy
in a difficult position.
For three weeks, they have
refused to have talks with Allende.
If they don't change
their position,
they will be opposing the
Church's public position.
A few days later,
Patricio Alwin and
Osvaldo Olguin,
the leaders of the
Christian Democracy,
arrive at the government palace
to speak with the President.
Aware of the discrepancies,
but convinced of his strategy,
Allende wants to reach
a minimum understanding
to avoid a
constitutional break-up.
A possible agreement
between Allende and the
Christian Democrat leadership
causes great unease
in the extreme right.
On July 27,
at 1.30 a.m.,
Commander Arturo Araya Peters,
President Allende's naval aide-de-camp,
is assassinated by a commando.
The violence extends
to an officer directly
linked to the President,
at the very moment
when the Christian Democracy
agrees to speak with Allende.
Commander Arturo Araya
had become the main link
between the government and
the constitutionalist navy officers.
That same day,
theaide-de-camp's remains are
taken to the La Moneda Palace.
They are later
transferred to Valparaiso,
to be buried with
military honors.
OFFICERS
Months later,
in exile in Buenos Aires, and
before being assassinated,
Gen. Carlos Prats
says that one of the reasons
for eliminating Commander Araya
was to prevent Allende from
knowing what was happening
in the military
circles in Valparaiso.
This is where a
sector of the officers
start to plan the coup,
with the advice of the
North American government.
The remains of Commander
Arturo Araya Peters are seen off
by the Commander-in-Chief
of the National Navy,
Admiral Raul Montero Cornejo,
and by a college
contemporary of his,
Sea Captain Guillermo
Aldonei Hansen.
And here in the cemetery,
we have two sections
of the Submarine School
and the band of the
Armaments School.
All here can remember
the brilliant navy career
of Commander
Arturo Araya Peters.
His Excellency the President,
Dr. Salvador Allende,
ministers of state,
heads of the armed forces...
The raids are intensified.
On August 3,
the army surrounds
one of the main factories
in Santiago's Cerrillos belt.
These operations
allow the army to
check the terrain
and study the
workers' reactions.
They officers accustom the troops
to confronting the civilian population,
and watch the behavior
of their own soldiers.
The next day,
the army occupies the
industrial area of Punta Arenas.
To date,
the army have carried out 27
raids throughout the country,
without finding any arms.
For the first time in an
operation, tanks are used.
During this week,
the transport operators
call an indefinite stoppage.
The extreme right wants
to provoke economic chaos
and sabotage the talks
between the Head of State
and the Christian Democracy.
The carriers assemble their
trucks at certain strategic points
to make a show of strength
and maintain internal cohesion.
As the "New York
Times" was to reveal later,
the strikers are
financed by $5 million
from the Central
Intelligence Agency, CIA.
Each of the operators
receives $4 a day,
at the black market
exchange rate.
Meanwhile, in the
gardens of Congress,
just as happened
with the copper strike,
the truckers' wives are
given money and provisions.
On July 31,
the government decrees
the legal resumption of work,
and sends tractors to tow
the paralyzed
vehicles to Santiago.
However, the operators
react with violence
and accuse the government
of attacking private property.
These events are filmed
by TV's Channel 13,
which sympathizes
with the strike.
AUGUST 7
A few days later,
a portion of Parliament transform
the incident into a scandal.
Congress asks Channel 13 to
re-broadcast their film of the events
to help the deputies
reach a judgement.
With the approval
of some senators,
these images are
retransmitted to the public
presenting them as
an official document.
This shows the opposition's
power within the media,
and the freedom of speech
tolerated by the government.
The opposition block controls
Santiago's leading station,
as well as 75% of
the radio stations
and 70% of the written press.
In this case,
the seizure of the trucks
fuels a campaign to
discredit the government.
While this is
happening in Parliament,
talks between Allende and the
Christian Democracy are deadlocked.
The leaders of that
party set three conditions.
The President must submit
to Congress' authority,
thus renouncing presidential
powers held by other Chilean leaders.
He must back down on
his nationalization policy.
Finally, he must grant
key government posts
to officers who are totally trusted
by the Christian Democracy.
In reply,
Allende is opposed
to this capitulation,
and the Christian
Democracy halts the talks.
This being so, the
entire opposition
joins the
anti-government escalade.
During July and August,
terrorist groups trained by North
American intelligence services,
carry out 250 attacks with
dynamite and fire bombs.
With this authority vacuum,
Allende gets the support of
the leaders of the armed forces,
and gets the military to
agree to share responsibilities.
A country
cannot live
submitted to threats
by the heartless.
The streets of Santiago
were strewn yesterday
with publications like this.
We must ask who
is paying for them,
where are they printed,
which are the companies
who are contributing
to these attacks
against national life,
against the government,
against the country.
"Eight measures to
depose the government".
That is how shameless they are.
This Cabinet
must put an end
to the fascist stoppage
by the carriers,
by deciding
to enforce the law implacably.
It has the support of the
vast majority of Chileans,
who want to avoid,
by all possible means,
a civil war in our homeland.
On August 9, the top military commanders
are incorporated into the government.
Gen. Prats, natural
leader of the loyal officers,
occupies the
Ministry of Defense.
Command of the army falls,
meanwhile, on Gen. Pinochet,
also considered
a constitutionalist.
This new cabinet is
received with discrepancies
by most of the politicians.
The right reject it.
The Christian Democracy
show a division of opinion.
The left has its doubts.
Only two days later,
the Communist and Socialist
parties support Allende's decision.
Thank you.
The session is over.
On August 11,
the new cabinet takes the
first steps to requisition trucks.
But the initiatives taken
by the commanders
displease most of the officers who
are sympathetic to the stoppage.
This shows that part
of the military apparatus
is also involved in the
anti-government offensive.
The U.S. press later revealed
that William Colby,
ex-director of the CIA,
was questioned by the House of
Representatives in Washington,
in October 1973.
He never denied
that CIA supported the preparation
and financial maintenance of the strike.
On August 12,
the Christian Democrat Party
officially announces
its support for the strike.
In factories,
raw materials are diminishing,
and in the country
seeds are scarce.
In these circumstances,
the civil-military
cabinet has failed.
But the popular response
to the strike continues.
The government
and its supporters
arrange for products to be
brought to distribution centers.
With shops closed,
part of the population
supports the Provisions Council
and strengthens
the "popular stores".
Each store is formed by
the neighbors in a sector.
It buys food directly from the
State, and sells it at cost price.
Soon, half of Santiago is
benefiting from direct provisioning.
Direct provisioning!
Direct provisioning!
In some areas,
the Industrial Belts
send workers' pickets
to oversee distribution
and open any closed shops.
At this moment, popular
power is ahead of the police
in maintaining public order
and controlling tradesmen.
That's enough for now.
Please move the kids away.
This isn't a workers' stoppage.
It's a stoppage by the truck owners.
I don't think there's one
worker with a truck on strike.
The ones on strike
have got fleets of trucks.
They're keeping this
useless strike going.
This stoppage
is clearly political.
And it is we, the people,
who are being harmed by it.
We're the ones who have to
put up with waiting in these lines.
If all the trucks
went back to work,
we wouldn't have
all these lines.
But the workers
went out on the street.
We went out and fought
and did our duty as workers,
defending our workplaces
and continuing production,
and loading goods
with our bare hands
so that the towns
didn't go short of food.
The workers showed that to
our President and the authorities.
Some of the carriers who
support the government
organize convoys
to distribute food
in the provinces.
The population also develops
a family supply system,
called "the people's basket".
No compromise on
defending the people's basket!
No compromise on
defending the people's basket!
How do you see the
government's attitude?
The government's attitude
has to be to maneuver.
If you were the government,
you'd have to do the same.
The government has to
walk a tightrope at times.
I believe that this isn't
the government's fault.
For me, as a Marxist socialist
from 1932 to the present,
because I was in the fight
for the Socialist Republic
and I knew comrade Grove
and he made one mistake.
When the people
asked him for arms,
he wouldn't give them any.
Of course, it would have been
an uncontrollable massacre.
And then what would
have happened?
Even now,
I think we're still far
from having a good front.
We just don't have one.
We've got anti-fascist organizations
and defense committees,
but we're lacking provincial
and national coordination
in order to act on one front.
We can't let what happened
in Spain happen here.
There was a party division,
the anarcho-syndicalists on one
side, the socialists on the other,
and Franco's
fascism got into power.
Meanwhile, in Valparaiso,
some sailors discover
the naval conspiracy
and inform several
left-wing leaders.
This action is discovered
by the commanders
and the sailers are jailed
and submitted to torture.
On August 22, in the
Chamber of Deputies,
the opposition breaks definitively
with the constitutional regime.
The Deputies argue that the government
"would be violating the Constitution"
and they give the go-ahead
for military intervention.
Supported by a simple
majority and without legal force,
this declaration justifies military
rebellion and legitimizes the coup.
From this point,
events occur rapidly.
A group of women
gather outside the house of Army
Commander Gen. Carlos Prats,
natural leader of the officers who
respect the democratic system.
The rally, in which the wives
of six generals take part,
is to show Carlos Prats
that he no longer has
the top military support.
The next day,
the Council of Generals
refuses to back him
and Carlos Prats
decides to resign.
- Faggots!
- Lousy faggots!
Generals Pickering and Sepulveda,
the main loyal commanders, also resign.
Augusto Pinochet,
seemingly a professional soldier
who respects the Constitution,
becomes the new
Commander-in-Chief.
While the conspiracy progresses,
the civilian opposition
begins the final offensive.
On August 14, in the
Catholic University,
the women from "Feminine Power"
meet to support
the transport strike.
That is why
this strike by the carriers,
which was avoided
in October 1972,
will, this time,
have to be a battle
to the final consequences.
This is how it is
seen by all of us
who support the carriers
in their just struggle.
CHILEAN UNIONS
DEMAND RESIGNATION
Days later,
the government's enemies ask
for the President's resignation.
Three years of economic war
have let the White House
and the internal opposition
win a large sector
of the middle class.
This is where the rebel
officers find the social support
for continuing with their plans.
September 4 is
the third anniversary
of Salvador Allende's
electoral triumph.
Despite the crisis,
government sympathizers organize
one of the biggest demonstrations
in the country's
political history.
From 5.00 p.m.,
more than 800,000 people file
past the President of the Republic.
Three days later, Allende
tells his collaborators that
he wants to hold a plebiscite
to resolve the government's
continuity in a democratic way.
The chosen date for
announcing the plebiscite
is September 11.
We'll cut the dick off the
"mummy" who speculates!
If that won't do, we'll
cut his balls off too.
Workers, let's go into
action and stop the rebellion!
Workers, let's go into
action and stop the rebellion!
Young Communists of Chile!
Allende, Allende,
the people will defend you!
Allende, Allende,
the people will defend you!
UNITY AND COMBAT AGAINSTHE COUP THE HOMELAND
Keep fighting, President!
- Hurrah for Allende!
- Hurrah!
Popular Unity, keep fighting!
We'll fight and we'll
create popular power!
We'll fight and we'll
create popular power!
The Socialist Party of Chile.
Socialist Youth!
The expropriated factories
will never be handed back!
The time for
conciliation is over!
It's time to fight!
People, awareness, arms!
- Louder!
- MAPU!
- Shout it louder!
- MAPU!
Allende, don't worry,
the people are with you!
Faced with the people,
mobilized but unarmed,
the internal opposition and
the U.S. State Department
decide to play their last card.
THE MORNING OF SEPTEMBER 11
THE VOICE OF PRESIDENT ALLENDE
Confirmed reports have said
that a sector of the navy
has isolated Valparaiso
and that the city is occupied.
In any case, I am here,
in the government palace
and I'll stay here, defending
the government I represent
by the will of the people.
On September 11,
the navy unleashes the
coup in the port of Valparaiso.
At the same time,
four North American destroyers
move close to the Chilean coast
to take part in
"Operation Unitas",
and maintain contact
with the mutineers.
At 7.30,
President Allende has arrived
at the palace to give instructions.
The situation is critical.
There is no joint plan for the
armed defense of the government.
During the early morning,
most of the constitutionalist
officers have been neutralized.
At 8.00 a.m.,
two Air Force planes
start to fly over the capital.
At 8.20,
the leaders of the uprising
demand the President's resignation,
and offer him a plane in
which to leave the country.
At 9.15,
the President prepares to fight
and speaks again by radio.
The Air Force has bombed
the masts
of "Radio Portales"
and "Radio Corporacion".
This being so,
it only remains for me
to say to the workers,
I am not going to give up.
Placed in an
historical transition,
I shall repay the loyalty
of the people with my life.
History is ours,
and it is made by the people.
Long live Chile!
Long live the people!
Long live the workers!
After a few hours of resistance,
the military send
Allende an ultimatum.
If he doesn't surrender, the
planes will begin bombing.
At this,
the President gives the
palace guard freedom of action,
and they abandon the building.
President Allende, who
refuses to surrender,
is accompanied by 40 civilians
prepared to face the attack.
Despite the bombardment,
the palace defenders
hold out for three hours.
At the same time, there are skirmishes
in parts of Santiago and the provinces.
At 2.15 p.m., President
Allende dies in La Moneda.
At 9.00 p.m.,
the leaders of the uprising
speak to the country.
The armed forces
have acted today
solely from the
patriotic inspiration
of saving the country
from the tremendous chaos
in which it was being plunged
by the Marxist government
of Salvador Allende.
The Junta will maintain
judicial power
and consultantship
of the Public Accounts Control.
The Chambers
will remain in recess
until further orders.
That is all.
It may be sad
to have broken a
democratic tradition
which on this continent
was of long standing.
But when the State
loses its qualities,
there are those
who, by mandate,
have to enforce them,
and take on that task.
We are doing that today.
We are sure that all of Chile
has to understand the
sacrifice that entails.
It isn't a matter of
squashing tendencies
or ideological trends,
or carrying out
personal revenge,
but, as I said, of
reestablishing public order,
and returning the country
to observance of the
Republic's Constitution and laws.
After three years
of suffering the Marxist cancer
which led us
to economic, moral
and social disaster,
and which could no
longer be tolerated
for the sacred interests
of the homeland,
we found ourselves obliged
to take on
the sad and painful mission
which we have undertaken.
We are not afraid.
We know the enormous responsibility
that will rest on our shoulders.
But we are convinced,
we are quite sure
that the vast majority
of the Chilean people
are with us.
They are willing to
fight against Marxism!
They are willing to stamp it out
down to the final consequences!
From September 11,
all the army's resources are used
to repress the popular movement,
with the compliance
of the U.S. government.
The initial armed resistance
by some industrial belts,
towns and agricultural centers
is quickly crushed
in an unequal fight.
Thousands of
people lose their lives,
and the main sports stadiums
are turned into concentration camps.
Latin America's longest
representative democracy.
has ceased to exist.
Nevertheless,
as of September 11,
the democratic forces
begin to reorganize,
and adopt numerous
forms of resistance.
The battle of Chile
is not over.
THEY HAVE THE STRENGTH.
THEY CAN SUBJUGATE US.
BUT THEY CANNOSTOP SOCIAL PROCESSES
WITH CRIME
OR WITH STRENGTH.
HISTORY IS OURS
AND IT IS MADE BY THE PEOPLE.
YOU MUST ALWAYS KNOW
THAT SOONER RATHER THAN LATER
THEY WILL OPEN THE GREAT AVENUES
WHERE MAN CAN WALK FREE
AND BUILD A BETTER SOCIETY.