1974-01-30

This is the Latin American Press Review, a weekly selection and analysis of news and events in Latin America as seen by leading world news sources, with special emphasis on the Latin American press. This program is produced by the Latin American Policy Alternatives Group of Austin, Texas. 

On January 10th, Peruvian president, Juan Velasco Alvarado, in calling for a conference of Peru's five neighboring countries, unveiled a proposal for their limitation of arms purchases. The proposal, which would include Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, and Ecuador, calls for the elimination of unnecessary military expenditures during the coming 10-year period. 

According to the Mexico City daily, Excelsior, Peru presently ranks fourth in total dollars spent on military armaments, behind Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela, respectively. Brazil, who easily heads the list of Latin American nations, spends almost twice as much on arms as second-ranked Argentina. Chile, over the past three years, however, has maintained the highest rate of military spending as a percentage of gross national product, that being 22.4%. The arms limitation proposal dubbed by President Velasco, The Pact of Honor, contends that by freezing arms purchases and postponing a needless arms race, great amounts of vital monies can be channeled into programs of economic, social, and educational development. 

Thus far, says Excelsior, the proposal has been thoroughly backed by both Colombia and Bolivia, virtually ignored by Ecuador, and all but rejected by Brazil. Chile, whose military chiefs have publicly voiced interest, has been clear, however, in expressing its feelings of skepticism and impracticality of the plan. This can be witnessed in a statement from El Mercurio, Chile's pro-government newspaper, which said that any disarmament at present would jeopardize Chile's security both internally as well as externally. Military circles in Brazil received the proposal with indifference. The Brazilian paper, Folha de Sao Paolo, pointed out that the Brazilian armed forces are the most powerful in South America because in 1973, they acquired large amounts of modern equipment and war material. 

In an editorial, Excelsior cites four possible motives for Peru's position. The first and rather dubious motive is that Ecuador, using its recent landslide oil revenue for armaments, might hope to reclaim the two oil rich Amazonian provinces, which it lost to Peru in 1941 as a result of a violent border dispute. Another theory based on continuing Peruvian publications is that Chile's arms purchases are a preparation for a preemptive strike against Southern Peru, thus adding Chile to the list of credible enemies. Thirdly, Brazil's expansionist tendencies have evoked fear throughout Peru, as well as throughout Brazil's other neighboring countries.

And lastly, amid speculation that somewhere in Latin America, there have already been purchases of ground-to-ground and ground-to-air missiles, Peru sees the escalation into missile weaponry as dangerous, as well as disastrously expensive. Regardless of what the motive, The Pact of Honor will certainly become the topic of great debate in the coming year, beginning in February at the Foreign Minister's Conference to be held in Mexico City. This report on Peru's proposed arms pact was compiled from Mexico City Daily, Excelsior, the Chilean daily, El Mercurio, and the Brazilian newspaper, Folha de Sao Paulo.

When Juan Perón returned to Argentina early last year after years of exile, he displayed a distinctly nationalist posture. Ever since his election to the presidency this fall, though, he has identified with foreign business interests and moving increasingly to the political right. As a result, many of the leftist forces, which worked so hard for his return, have been increasingly alienated. And social conflict between the right and left in Argentina has heightened. Hopes that things would quiet down were shattered two weeks ago when an Argentine army base 250 miles from Buenos Aires was attacked by 70 leftist guerrillas.

According to the Mexico City daily, Excelsior, the attack shattered a midnight calm and lasted seven hours. The guerrillas, six of whom were women, opened the assault with mortars and bazookas, managed to penetrate the perimeter of the base, and tied down approximately 1000 government troops for seven hours until reinforcements finally came and forced the guerrillas to retreat.

It was immediately thought that the attack was probably executed by the People's Revolutionary Army, more commonly known as the ERP, a major leftist group, which has been responsible for many kidnappings of foreign businessmen. Sure enough, the following day, the ERP claimed credit for the attack. The Uruguayan weekly, Marcha, noted that the attack had the predictable effect of increasing Peron's determination to wipe out the guerrillas.

His first action was to appear on television in the uniform of a lieutenant general with a firm promise to apply a hard counterinsurgency policy. A nationwide manhunt was launched. And the next day, 210 persons were arrested on suspicion of belonging to subversive organizations. Later in the week, the army claimed to have captured 22 members of the ERP, but both figures are open to question. Peron criticized the provincial administration, even hinting that there might've been complicity on the part of the authorities.

Although the Peronist Youth Group, a leftist element of the Peronist party which has considerable support, has maintained its opposition to stronger laws to deal with political crimes. Peron made it clear in a meeting with left-wing Peronist deputies that he would tolerate no opposition to the legislative measures and demanded their passage through congress within a week. Excelsior reported that the tougher laws were passed only four days after Peron's request. Marcha notes that the immediate military consequences of the attack are not particularly alarming. One sentry, two guerrillas, a colonel, and his wife were killed, and another colonel was kidnapped, but the ERP's aims must surely have been political rather than military.

The ERP strategy, says Marcha, is clear. By such a provocative attack on an army base, They hope to drive Peron into the arms of the hard line military, thus exposing him as the right-winger they have always said he is, leaving no room for leftists with Peronism. The next stage, the ERP hopes, would be the emergence of an anti-Peronist left with a genuinely popular base. Foreign interests, at least, seem to see the logic of this strategy since the Financial Times recently published an editorial warning Perón against total identification with the right wing of his movement.

Peron's administration is seemingly no more clever than its military predecessors at catching kidnappers. The government has been virtually powerless at stopping the string of ERP kidnappings. And recently, the ERP kidnapped the owner of a gun importing company and released him in exchange for telescopic sights and precision pistols. All indications are that the guerrillas are in better shape now than they were a year ago, and their growing strength will be soon Peron's number one problem, says Marcha. 

The weekly Latin America, reports that in recent months, not even the middle classes have been able to buy enough food in La Paz, Bolivia. Producers and merchants have found it far more profitable to smuggle their wares in military transport, according to some reports, across the frontier to Peru, Chile, Brazil, or Argentina, where prices were up to twice as high as in Bolivia. Bread has virtually disappeared from the shops, and what there was had an ever higher proportion of animal fodder mixed with the flour.

The problem has now been eliminated by raising prices to the levels prevailing in neighboring countries. This has been accompanied by a wage increase of $20 per month, perhaps an 80% rise for some industrial workers in La Paz. But the opposition to a 140% increase in the price of essential goods announced on January 21st has been paralyzing. The new measure threatens to lead to a replay of the events of October 1972 when Bolivian president, Banzer, devalued the Bolivian currency and froze wages. Unrest spread throughout the country, and Banzer sent troops and tanks to repress demonstrations in the streets.

Currently, as reported in Marcha of Montevideo, Uruguay, 14,000 industrial workers in La Paz and more than 40,000 miners went out on strike to protest the increases. Police guarded plants left idle as an estimated 100,000 workers joined in the strike. 12,000 workers held the largest protest demonstration in recent times at the La Paz Stadium. They demanded a minimum of $60 compensation per month to offset an increase in prices of food, transport, and other goods and services. Excelsior of Mexico City documents the strike, saying that union leaders declared that the government price increase is a true aggression against the working man's economy, and added that the wage of $20 fixed by the government is in no way a solution to the situation of hunger and misery into which working people are falling. 

The Bolivian Minister of Labor, referring to the workers' strike, said, "The workers have no reason to protest since the steps the government has taken are precisely aimed for them." Critics note that last year's price increases did nothing to halt inflation or scarcity. Bolivia, one of the poorest countries on the continent, had 60% inflation last year, and an increase of 6% per month is estimated for this year. 

Protest has broken out in other areas also, says Excelsior. In Cochabamba, where workers were protesting the price rise, five people were injured in a confrontation between police and workers. On one side of the conflict are the military and political forces that support the regime of President Banzer and his repressive tactics of annihilation of all subversive groups. And on the other are the majority of labor unions who are set on striking until the regime does something towards alleviating the soaring food prices. In another development in Cochabamba, according to Excelsior, the government sent tanks and infantry troops to dissuade 10,000 peasants who have blocked the highway from Santa Cruz to Cochabamba in protest of the high cost of living.

The peasants, many of whom are armed with ancient repeating rifles, have said they will not remove the barricade until the government rectifies its economic policy, which has caused a shortage of food supplies. Excelsior reports that an agrarian leader said, "We would rather die of their bullets than of hunger." When the troops came to break up the blockade, the peasants succeeded in kidnapping a high ranking military official who remains in their custody.

The strikes and protest, which also includes striking bank employees, construction workers, and bakers, are among the worst in the last 29 months of President Banzer's administration. Banzer has declared a state of martial law and has suspended all civil liberties. The Bolivian Catholic Church, in a strongly worded statement, has announced its support for the Bolivian strikers. The church declared that the people are going through a most difficult economic period and that it would be naive to attribute food shortages to purely internal causes. The government had prohibited the church from initiating or participating in any strikes. This report on striking Bolivian workers is compiled from Excelsior of Mexico City, the news weekly, Latin America, and the weekly, Marcha, from Montevideo, Uruguay. 

You are listening to the Latin American Press Review, a weekly selection and analysis of news and events in Latin America as seen by leading world news sources, with special emphasis on the Latin American press. This program is produced by the Latin American Policy Alternatives Group. Comments and suggestions are welcome and may be sent to the group at 2205 San Antonio Street, Austin, Texas. This program is distributed by Communication Center, the University of Texas at Austin.

The views expressed are solely those of the Latin American Policy Alternatives Group and its sources, and should not be considered as being endorsed by UT Austin or this station.

The feature this week is a report on recent developments in Chile under the leadership of the military junta, which came to power last September in a bloody coup overthrowing Salvador Allende's democratically elected Marxist government. The situation in Chile has been of central importance in the Latin American press for the last five months. This report is compiled from the New York Times, the Mexico City daily, Excelsior, Prensa Latina, Business Latin America, El Mercurio of Chile, and a report from the World Council of Churches. 

Excelsior reports that a representative of the International Democratic Federation of Women, who visited Santiago and other Chilean cities during the week of January 8th, told the United Nations that 80,000 people had been killed and that 150,000 people had been sent to concentration camps since the Junta came to power in September. Amnesty International had formerly estimated at least 15,000 killed and 30,000 jailed.

Amnesty International has stated more recently that despite Chilean President Pinochet's claims to have stopped the practice of torture, tortures continue each day. Prensa Latina reports that at least 25,000 students have been expelled from the universities, and an astounding 12% of the active Chilean workforce, over 200,000 people, have lost their jobs. All trade unions are forbidden. Political parties are outlawed. The right to petition is denied. The workweek has been extended. Wages remain frozen, and inflation has climbed to 800%.

The sudden drop in purchasing power and the specter of hunger in Chile have caused a dramatic shift in attitude toward the Junta, the New York Times reported late last month. Dozens of the same housewives and workers who once expressed support for the Junta are now openly critical of the new government's economic policies. A working couple with four children that earns a total of 8,000 escudos monthly, estimated that with post-coup inflation, they need 15,000 escudos a month just to feed their families.

Although the belt tightening has hit all economic classes, the Times said, it has become intolerable for the poorest Chileans who must contend with such increases as 255% for bread, 600% for cooking oil, and 800% for chicken. This month, reports Excelsior of Mexico City, the food shortage has increased so much that it is practically impossible to find bread, meat, oil, sugar, or cigarettes. Gasoline prices, meanwhile, have increased 200%.

Unemployment also continues to rise dramatically. In October 1973, there was an increase of 2,700 people without jobs. And according to statistics from the National Employment Service, unemployment grows at a rate of 1000 people per week. In public services, for example, 25% of the workers were fired. The New York Times reports that those workers who are considered politically suspect by the new government authorities and factory managers are the first to be fired. 

The result has been a severe economic hardship for workers in Chile who have no way to fight since the unions and their leaders have been outlawed. The World Council of Churches estimates that 65% of the 10 million Chilean population now simply do not earn enough to eat, 25% are able to cover basic necessities, and only 10% can afford manufactured goods. 

Excelsior of Mexico City reports that the Junta has responded to the economic crisis by promising to slash public spending, which means eliminating public sector programs in health, education, and housing instituted by the Popular Unity government. The Junta has also canceled the wage increase implemented under Allende's government. Last week, Pinochet called upon businessmen to fight inflation by stopping their unscrupulous practices. 

According to Prensa Latina, political repression in Chile appears to be entering a new stage now. In many ways, it is even more sinister than the previous terror, belying the apparent tranquility on the surface of life in Santiago. Instead of the haphazard mass slaughter of the first days, there is now a computer-like rationality and selectivity in political control and repression. Instead of dragnet operations, there is the knock on the door at midnight by the Chilean political police. Instead of the major political leaders, it is the middle level cadres who are now the hunted targets. Through the use of informers, torture, and truth drugs, Chilean military intelligence are extracting the names of local leaders and militants who are being hunted down with less fanfare, but increasing efficiency. 

Another priority of the new repression is education. Many who thought they had survived the worst period are now finding that the investigation and purge of universities and schools have just begun. Professors are being told they can either resign their posts or face military trials on absurd but dangerous charges such as inciting military mutiny. Secondary education is undergoing an equally severe purge with military principles appointed and dangerous subjects like the French Revolution eliminated from the curriculum. A similar purge is beginning in primary education while all the teachers colleges have been closed for, quote, restructuring. Teachers are being classified in permanent files with categories like, "Possibly ideologically dangerous." This will make political control easier in the future. 

While the persecution of intellectuals is accelerating, the workers who bore the brunt of the initial brutal repression, have not been spared. Again, it is the local leaders, the links between the mass base and any regional or national organization, who have become the targets of the repression. In Santiago, a sit-down strike of construction workers on the new subway to protest the tripling of prices with wages frozen was ended by a police action in which 14 of the leaders were seized and executed without a trial. In the huge [inaudible 00:20:28] cotton textile factory in Santiago, seven labor leaders were taken away by military intelligence because of verbal protests against low wages. Their fates are unknown. 

According to Prensa Latina, this new phase of political repression in Chile is featuring the crackdown on social interaction. Any party or gathering of friends carries with it the danger of a police raid and accusations of holding clandestine political meetings. The crackdown on the press continues. During the last week in January, the Junta passed a law demanding jail penalties of from 10 to 20 years for any press source publishing information on devaluation of money, shortages, and price increases or on any tendencies considered dangerous by authorities. 

Although there is no official estimate of the number of political prisoners in Chile at this time, more exact figures are available about the situation of those who sought refuge in embassies. According to a report of the World Council of Churches, some 3000 Chileans are still in UN camps, looking for countries to accept them. And many more thousands are waiting just to enter the crowded camps as the first step towards seeking asylum abroad. Even those people who were fortunate enough to take asylum in an embassy have a grim February 3rd deadline hanging over them.

If they are not out of Chile by that date, the Junta has declared that there will be no more assured safe conduct passes, and all United Nations and humanitarian refugee camps will be closed down. In the meantime, the Junta has limited the number of safe conduct passes issued. While internationally, most countries have refused to accept Chilean exiles, the United States, for example, has provided visas for one family, Great Britain for none.

The policies of the Junta continue to draw international criticism. Not only has the government received telegrams of condemnation from the World Council of Churches and the United Nations, Excelsior reports that the military government's repressive policies are now the subject of investigation by the Bertrand Russell Tribunal, an international body originally convened to investigate torture in Brazil. British trade unions have made a number of strong anti-Junta moves, including a decision not to unload Chilean goods. Also, the French government has prevented two French companies from selling tanks and electronic equipment to the Junta. 

A group of goodwill ambassadors from the Junta has been striking out all over Latin America and appears to have abandoned its tour after being expelled from Venezuela early this month. The group started by being refused visas to Mexico, which feared that its presence would provoke rioting there. The first stop was Bolivia, where the visitors broke up their own press conference because of hostile questions and insulted the journalists there. Shortly after landing in Caracas, the six ambassadors were declared undesirable visitors by the Venezuelan government and put on a plane for the Dominican Republic, according to Excelsior in Mexico City. 

International criticism and rejection of Junta representatives had led to a mounting anti-foreign campaign in the controlled Chilean press on December 5th. The front page headlines in El Mercurio proclaimed, "Chile is alone against the world." The news magazine, Ercia, recently attacked the New York Times and Newsweek, and other overseas publications it considers communist controlled, under the headline, "The False Image, Chile Abroad." Junta member, General Gustavo Leigh, wants the many military governments in Latin America to form a league for self-help and consultation. 

The only international groups trying to shore up the Juntas image are the banking and business communities. There has been a dramatic turnaround in the availability of private bank loans for Chile since the coup. Under Allende, credit had dried up and by mid-1973, was down to $30 million from a high under the previous administration of Christian Democrat Frei, of $300 million. Business Latin America states that the United States was the first to make financial overtures to the new government.

Within days of the coup, the United States Commodity Credit Corporation granted the Junta a $24 million credit line for wheat imports, followed immediately by an additional $28 million for corn. In exchange, the Junta has just announced that the banks nationalized under the Popular Unity, including the Bank of America and First National City Bank, will be returned to their private owners. Compensation will be paid to Kennecott and Anaconda, and Dow Chemical Corporation has already been handed back to petrochemical industries.

According to Prensa Latina, resistance in Chile is taking numerous and varied forms. Freshly painted forbidden slogans are appearing on the walls of Santiago. The practice of writing anti-Junta slogans on Chilean paper money has become so widespread that the Junta has declared the propagandized money illegal and valueless. Resistance is also taking more organized forms. The Jesuit wing of the Catholic Church has recently taken a public stand opposing the Junta. The major cities in Chile are presently experiencing a 60% work slowdown in opposition to the Junta. 

The major proponents of arms struggle are biding their time and preparing for the moment conditions are ripe. guerrilla warfare on a small scale, however, has already begun. Rural headquarters were established in two southern mountain regions, and the military admit to have captured only a small part of the left's arms. 

This report is compiled from the New York Times, the Mexico City daily, Excelsior, the Cuban news agency, Prensa Latina, Business Latin America, El Mercurio of Chile, and a report from the World Council of Churches. 

You have been listening to the Latin American Press Review, a weekly selection and analysis of news and events in Latin America, as seen by leading world news sources with special emphasis on the Latin American press. This program is produced by the Latin American Policy Alternatives Group. Comments and suggestions are welcome and may be sent to the group at 2205 San Antonio Street, Austin, Texas. This program is distributed by Communication Center, the University of Texas at Austin.

The views expressed are solely those of the Latin American Policy Alternatives Group and its sources, and should not be considered as being endorsed by UT Austin or this station.