Annotations for Countries: Dominican Republic

This week's feature deals with one case study in the controversy between multinational corporations and Latin American nationalist governments, which pose a threat to corporate investments in Latin America. The ITT secret memorandums concerning its interventions in Chile, have made the headlines again recently, calling attention to the strong power these companies wield in Latin America.

Senate hearings in Washington this week have been delving into the activities of ITT's busy Washington office, this time involving its campaign to get Nixon Administration help in protecting ITT properties in Chile from Marxist President Salvador Allende. The Wall Street Journal reports that ITT officials bombarded the White House with letters and visits, called on the State Department, huddled with the US ambassador to Chile, and lunched often with a Central Intelligence Agency spy boss, known as "Our Man." What ITT wanted during this hectic pleading in 1970 and '71, was for Washington to threaten the newly elected Allende government with economic collapse, according to William Merriam, who was then head of the company's Washington office. "If Allende was faced with economic collapse, he might be more congenial toward paying us off", Mr. Merriam told a Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee. The Chilean government had expropriate the ITT-controlled Chile Telephone Company without, the company says, offering adequate compensation.

The Wall Street Journal goes on to say that the Senate subcommittee, chaired by Senator Frank Church, was created especially to investigate the influence of big multinational companies like ITT on US foreign policy. ITT's involvement in the 1970 Chilean presidential election, was first brought to light a year ago in columns by Jack Anderson, who had obtained a stack of memos, cable grams, and letters between ITT officials. So far, ITT has had little luck protecting its investments in Chile. It claims that the ITT-controlled telephone company that was intervened by the Allende government in September 1971, has a book value of $153 million. ITT has filed a claim for $92 million with the US government's Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which ensures American property against foreign expropriation. But OPIC has a rule against provocations or instigation by its insurance clients, unless the activity was requested by the US government. So the question of who took the lead in meddling in the 1970 Chilean election, ITT or the CIA, could determine whether the insurance claim is valid.

Mr. Merriam told Senator Church that ITT Chairman Harold Geneen introduced him in July of 1970 to William Broe, the CIA's Latin American Director for Clandestine Services. Mr. Merriam said he was instructed to stay in touch with Mr. Broe in the future. Without saying who initiated this meeting in the Washington Hotel, Mr. Miriam made it clear that the CIA was impressed with political reporting on the Chilean situation by ITT'S operatives in Latin America. He said Mr. Broe sent CIA messengers to his office to get the reports. The September 17th, 1970 cable from Bob Barella and Hal Hendrix, two ITT officials in Latin America, suggested Mr. Allende's election might be headed off with help from we and other US firms in Chile. The cable recommended that advertising funds be pumped into a financially shaky conservative newspaper in Chile. The cable also suggests, concludes the Wall Street Journal account, "that ITT bring what pressure we can on the US information service to circulate the newspaper's editorials in Latin America and Europe."

In a memo dated September 14th, 1970, an ITT operative in Chile wrote that he had spoken with the state department's Latin American advisor to Henry Kissinger. "I told him of Mr. Geneen's deep concern about the Chile situation, not only from the standpoint of our heavy investment, but also because of the threat to the entire hemisphere." The threat to its interest explains in a nutshell why ITT worked so hard in the period between September 4th and November 4th to prevent the Allende government from taking power in Chile. ITT had a great deal to lose in Chile.

Its holdings consisted of six affiliates, employing about 8,000 workers and worth around $200 million. It operated the Chilean Telephone Company, one of ITT's biggest earners abroad, had investments in telephone equipment, assembling and manufacturing, directory printing and international communications, and operated hotels. Among foreign investors in Chile, only the copper holdings of Anaconda and Kennecott exceeded the worth of ITT's Chilean subsidiaries. In 1969, the Frei administration agreed that the telephone company be guaranteed a minimum annual profit of 10%. Profits for ITT have further been augmented by special foreign exchange arrangements for the communications monopolies in Chile.

The following memos illustrate how far ITT was willing to go to keep these investments. They also reveal the close ties between ITT executives and the US government, including the Central Intelligence Agency. And in the relations between ITT and the Chilean right. ITT had access to the centers of Chilean domestic power as well, having recruited prominent Chileans through career and investment ties. The memos expose ITT as a corporate nation on which the sun never sets. As Jack Anderson summarized, "ITT operates its own worldwide foreign policy unit, foreign intelligence machinery, counterintelligence apparatus, communications network, classification system, and airliner fleet with total assets equal to the combined gross national products of Paraguay, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Haiti, Bolivia, and Chile. ITT can wield its power almost at will."

The key memoranda begin on September 17th, 1970, 6 Weeks prior to the historic presidential election, which placed the Allende government in power. ITT field officials, Hendrix and Barella, advised an ITT vice President, E.J. Gerrity about the Chilean presidential campaign, suggesting alternatives which could thwart Allende's election chances.

The report stated that, "The surface odds and foreign news media appear to indicate that Salvador Allende will be inaugurated as president November 4th. But there is now a strong possibility that he will not make it. The big push has begun in Chile to assure congressional victory for Jorge Alessandri on October 24th as part of what has been dubbed the Alessandri formula to prevent Chile from becoming a communist state. Late September 15th, US Ambassador Edward Korry finally received a message from State Department giving him the green light to move in the name of President Nixon. The message gave him maximum authority to do all possible, short of Dominican Republic type action, to keep Allende from taking power."

The report further contended that the Mercurio newspapers are another key factor. "Keeping them alive and publishing between now and October 24th is of extreme importance. They're the only remaining outspoken anti-communist voice in Chile and under severe pressure, especially in Santiago. This may well turn out to be the Achilles heel for the Allende crowd. The Allende effort more than likely will require some outside financial support. The degree of this assistance will be known better around October 1st. We have pledged our support if needed."

Then on September 29th, Vice President Gerrity cabled ITT President Harold Geneen in Brussels, giving more details of the measures being considered to induce economic collapse in Chile. The cable says, "Subsequent to your call yesterday, I heard from Washington and a representative called me this morning. He was the same man you met with Merriam some weeks ago. We discussed the situation in detail and he made suggestions based on recommendations from our representative on the scene, and analysis in Washington. The idea presented is to follow economic pressure. The suggestions follow. Banks should not renew credits or should delay in doing so. Companies should drag their feet in sending money. And making deliveries in shipping, spare parts, etc. Savings and loan companies there are in trouble. If pressure were applied, they should have to shut their doors, thereby creating stronger pressure. We should withdraw all technical help and should not promise any technical assistance in the future.

A list of companies was provided, and it was suggested that we should approach them as indicated. I was told that of all the companies involved, ours alone had been responsive and understood the problem. The visitor added that money was not a problem."

He indicated, the cable continued, "that certain steps were being taken, but that he was looking for additional help aimed at inducing economic collapse. I discussed the suggestions with Guilfoyle, another ITT vice president. He contacted a couple of companies who said they had been given advice, which is directly contrary to the suggestions I received. Realistically, I did not see how we can induce others involved to follow the plan suggested. We can contact key companies for their reactions and make suggestions in the hope that they might cooperate. Information we receive today from other sources indicates that there is a growing economic crisis in any case."

The Gerrity cable was followed by a memorandum, dated October 9th, from another of the ITT vice presidents, William Merriam to John McCone, Director of the CIA from 1962 to 1965, and now a director of ITT. Merriam concluded that, "Practically no progress has been made in trying to get Latin American business to cooperate in some way so as to bring on economic chaos." GM and Ford, for example, say that they have too much inventory on hand in Chile to take any chances. And that they keep hoping that everything will work out all right. Also, the Bank of America has agreed to close its doors in Santiago, but each day keeps postponing the inevitable. According to my source, we must continue to keep the pressure on business. I was rather surprised to learn that in this man's opinion, the Nixon Administration will take a very, very hard line when and if Allende is elected.

As soon as expropriations take place, and providing adequate compensation is not forthcoming, he believes that all sources of American monetary help either through aid or through the lending agencies here in Washington will be cut off. He assures me that the president has taken, at this time better late than never, I guess, a long, hard look at the situation and is prepared to move after the fact. We had heard previously from the lower level at the State Department that Hickenlooper would not be invoked. This policy has either changed or the lower echelon does not know of this change. This is the first heartening thing that I have heard because with few exceptions, Nixon has paid very little attention to Latin America."

Subsequent memos indicate that, although both ITT and the CIA, gave verbal assurances of material support to Chilean general Roberto Viaux, who was maneuvering inside the army to stage a possible coup in late October. The attempt failed to materialize. None of ITT's efforts were effective in preventing Allende's election on November 4th, 1970. Although the memos indicate that the ITT maneuverings fail, we know that in the one and one half years that have passed since the Popular Unity government assumed power, the Chilean right aided by the US government and US business interests has continued to engage in subversive activity against the Allende government. This activity has taken many forms, including assassination attempts against the Chilean president outright, but abortive military coups, manipulation of food and other resources to exacerbate scarcities and create economic chaos, and of course the withholding of aid and loans as a big stick to whip the government in line. All of these tactics were suggested in the secret memos.

ITT has struggled for a year to ring from the UP a generous compensation for its interest in the Chilean telephone company, Chi Telco, which the Allende government earmarked for expropriation immediately upon its inauguration. Chi Telco was ITT's most profitable Chilean asset. Throughout the first part of 1971, ITT bickered over the terms of the expropriation, and finally on September 30th, 1971, the government took over operation of Chi Telco, claiming its services were highly deficient. Since then, ITT and UP have continued to negotiate over how much the government should pay for ITT's 70% share in Chi Telco. ITT valued the company at $153 million, but the government claimed it was only worth $24 million. Based on its past experiences in other Latin American countries, ITT has every reason to believe that it would be reimbursed. In the past three years, the governments of Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil have all nationalized the ITT-owned telephone companies in their countries on terms extremely favorable to ITT.

The memorandum that cited earlier may destroy ITT's chances for compensation from the Allende government, and may lead to further nationalization of ITT properties in Chile. In order to appropriate a corporation, the Chilean Congress must pass a constitutional amendment in each case. Presumably, these documents are giving the government more fuel in its effort to regain control of Chile's industries from the North American investors. As nationalism grows in Latin America, the threat to US corporations abroad also grows. As the documents make clear, US corporations are urging the US government to take a firm stand against unfriendly acts of expropriation by Latin American government, and are prepared to resist this trend by actively interfering in the internal affairs of other nations to safeguard their interests.

Garcia of Santiago writes, "After months of relative lethargy, the guerrilla seemed to have reawakened at least in three Latin American countries. In different degrees, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Argentina have suffered violent incidents these past few months. Although the streets in the Dominican Republic are still being patrolled by the army, tanks have now disappeared from sight, leaving the country relatively quiet after the excitement over the Army's apprehension of a guerrilla group last month. In Venezuela on the other hand, there has been strong urban unrest in the past two weeks. In Caracas, the disturbances began as a student protest against the closing of the Central University."

In Argentina, according to La Prensa of Lima, "A kidnapped executive has been released after being imprisoned eight days by a guerrilla group. Sources close to the executive, who is in charge of a large metallurgical factory near Buenos Aires, said that he had paid a ransom of more than five million Pesos for his release." According to the industrialist, he was kept under guard of masked men who served him his meals and brought him books to read. The books, he complained bitterly, mostly had a leftist slant. That from La Prensa of Lima.

But the censorship was broken. São Paulo's channel five television station broadcast a news flash for which it has been punished under the national security law. More daring was the weekly Opinião, which has recently been increasing sales in leaps and bounds as the only publication that dares to criticize the government. Not only did it publish a brief report on the mass, as well as the security secretary's statement, but it also gave an interview with the cardinal in which he described the people of São Paulo as living in a situation of emergency in relation to wages, health, and public security.

Nemesis for Opinião was not slow in coming. The censorship has demanded that all its material must be submitted to the sensors 48 hours before going to press, effectively making publication impossible. This week's proposed edition, which it is understood, will not be appearing, had 8 of 24 pages completely censored. The censored pages contained material on wage problems, the political situation, and Brazilian investments in Bolivia. A protest has already been made by the Inter American Press Society to the Brazilian government while the Estela de São Paulo and Jornal da Tarde, two other newspapers, have announced that they will accept no government advertising nor government announcements for publication, as a protest against censorship. The government has banned live television reporting as dangerous, and all programs must in the future be prerecorded.

"But whatever happens to the press," concludes Latin America newsletter, "The real importance of the death of Alexandre Lemi is that the church has revealed a newfound and aggressive militancy. If, as it appears, the church is now on a collision course with the government, there is little doubt who will win in the end. The government may be able to suppress a handful of left-wing terrorists, but the Christian Church has for nearly 2000 years, thrived on persecution and martyrdom and always come out on top. All the signs are that Alexandre Lemi is to be presented as a martyr of the regime." This from Latin America.

Religious militancy is also appearing in the Dominican Republic. The Miami Herald reports that the country's Roman Catholic Church has denounced that there is no respect for human life in the Dominican Republic. In an Easter message before numerous government officials at Santo Domingo's Cathedral, a bishop said, "There is no respect for human life here. Human life is worth less than a cigarette in our country." The priest charged that inhumane punishments are being inflicted on inmates in Dominican jails, and that brutal assassinations occur frequently. He added that, "Hunger and misery affect most of the people in the country."

The series of revelations about illegal actions on the part of political and governmental officials in the United States, known as the Watergate affair, has received wide coverage in the Latin American press. Rio de Janeiro's Jornal do Brasil, for example, devotes a full page to it daily. The editorial comment has also been extensive. Today, we will review some of this commentary on Watergate, and also describe how the scandal is having political consequences in one Latin American country, namely Costa Rica.

President Nixon has never been a popular figure in Latin America and the Latin press has shown little sympathy for his plight because of Watergate. Most papers clearly doubt that Nixon knew nothing of the break-in plans or the coverup. Rio de Janeiro's Opinião, for example, asks if Nixon can honestly maintain himself as President. The Weekly sees Nixon retreating from one strategic position to another in his statements as new facts emerge. Opinião concludes by wondering if Nixon's defenses will be strong enough to resist whatever facts are revealed next. 

La Prensa of Lima also sees Watergate as Nixon's Waterloo. If Nixon is getting a bad press in Latin America, the same cannot be said for American institutions. The Congress, courts, and especially the American press, has received wide praise in Latin America for pursuing the investigation. As La Prensa of Lima notes, "This may be Nixon's Waterloo, but nobody is talking about a Waterloo of democracy. It is precisely thanks to democracy," La Prensa continues, "That the secret sins have been unveiled." The Lima daily then concludes that only through a free press and enlightened public opinion can a democracy remain healthy and this is the most positive sign of Watergate.

Siempre! Of Mexico City says one of the characteristics of a representative democracy is that the authorities are not immune to punishment for crimes which they commit in the performance of their duties. Siempre! sees Watergate as proof that American institutions function well. Opinião of Rio de Janeiro also sees the scandal as a sign of the strength of American institutions. However, some of the revelations which have come from the Senate investigations have infuriated Latin Americans. This is especially true in Mexico since the congressional hearings have revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency has been operating there. 

Excélsior of Mexico City notes that the White House asked the FBI not to investigate certain aspects of the transfer of campaign contributions from Mexico because it would lead to disclosures of clandestine operations of the CIA. Excélsior thinks that fact deserves Mexico's protest and immediate change in United States policy, which flagrantly violates the principle of nonintervention. Excélsior continues the participation of the CIA in the internal affairs of Chile, the sending of Green Berets to Bolivia to combat Che Guevara, the aggression against the Dominican Republic, the case of the Bay of Pigs invasion, the invasion of Guatemala in 1954 to overthrow the Arbenz regime, are only some of the precedents of the intervention of Watergate in the affairs of Latin America.

Excélsior continues by noting that the CIA, a White House spokesman, and President Nixon himself have denied any connection of the CIA with Watergate in Mexico, but all have implicitly admitted that the CIA previously carried out operations there. Excélsior concludes that the Mexican government may not make a formal protest because of the friendship which unites the United States to Mexico. However, it will be necessary to employ firmness to demand that Mexico's political sovereignty is no longer violated by the CIA. While secret CIA activities are highlighted in the Mexican press, a different sort of problem faces the government of Costa Rica, which has been splashed with some of the mud of the Watergate scandal. 

Latin America reports that several days ago serious charges were leveled at the President of Costa Rica, Jose Figueres, claiming that $325,000 had been deposited in his New York Bank account through a Vesco-linked company. Vesco, a wealthy Wall Street financier, has recently been indicted of embezzlement and has been linked to the Watergate scandal. The Costa Rican President vigorously denied the allegations and defended Vesco's conduct saying that in Costa Rica, if nowhere else, it had been honest. As in so many other areas of the Watergate scandal, a great deal of questions concerning the high level involvement remained to be answered, this from the British News Weekly Latin America. 

Chile Hoy carries a report by a North American correspondent who recently visited Nicaragua to see firsthand the aftermath of December's earthquake. His account of the corruption and misuse of the millions of dollars worth of goods donated from all over the hemisphere is harrowing. He was witness to the fact that the disaster relief destined for the victims of the earthquake never reached them. It was redirected instead to fill the bellies and line the pockets of Nicaragua's strong men, Tachito Samoza and his National Guard. 

The accounts tell of exclusive beaches and elegant residential neighborhoods lined with canvas tents from the United States, Canada, and Germany, while victims of the earthquake still homeless, huddle under trees are improvised cardboard lintos. It tells us stores operating out of private homes where the merchandise comes from cartons labeled, "Care. US Aid", "From the people of the Dominican Republic to the Nicaraguan People" and so on.

Canned goods, clothing, electric lanterns, water purifiers, tools, even blood transfusion units in Samsonite cases are for sale in such shops. The article notes that the transfusion units are generally valued only for the case which they come in. Other stores operate out of the residences of many members of the National Guard. These cell items sacked from the most elegant monogan doors after the guard had cordoned off a 400 block area. Anastasio Somoza III, son of the present dictator and grandson of Anastasio I, who was given control of the country by the US Marines in 1933, was in charge of this cleanup operation.

The article portrays US Ambassador Shelton as Samoza's personal counselor and most unwavering ally. As a close friend and former employee of Howard Hughes and the staunch Nixon man, Shelton has a lot to offer Samoza. For instance, the $2 million check he brought to Nicaragua from Washington after the quake has now made its way through a shady land deal to Tachito Samoza's personal bank account. This from the Santiago Weekly, Chile Hoy 

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. 

Excélsior also reports that the Bertrand Russell Tribunal declared last week in Rome that the governments of Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, and Bolivia were guilty of repeated and systematic violations of human rights. The president of the tribunal added that the accused governments constitute a continuing crime against humanity. 

The current Bertrand Russell Tribunal on repression in Brazil, Chile, and Latin America is a descendant of the Russell Tribunal on United States War crimes in Vietnam, which convened during the 1960's. The tribunal is an international jury composed of prominent intellectuals from Europe, Latin America, and the United States, including Jean Paul Sartre, former Dominican President, Juan Bosch, and Colombian writer, Gabriel García Márquez. During last week, it considered evidence presented by political refugees from Latin America. 

The tribunal concluded that civil law has been unknown in Brazil since the military coup in 1964, that there was political repression in Bolivia and that the Uruguayan military government used torture on its opponents. Concerning Chile, the tribunal's verdict labeled the current military government illegitimate. 

The tribunal stated that the Uruguayan regime has lost all respect for human rights and has arrested people without charge in order to terrorize the population. For example, the tribunal cited the case of banning the newspaper Marcha and the arrest of the prize-winning writer, Juan Carlos Onetti. 

The tribunal also affirmed that multinational companies, as well as what it called ruling classes in countries which are aligned with these firms are the major beneficiaries of these four regimes. The tribunal issued an appeal to the governments around the world to cut off all military and economic aid to these four South American countries and it urged a coordinated international campaign for the liberation of political prisoners. The tribunal will convene its next jury later this year to examine the role of the US government and multinational companies in Latin America, as well as to investigate cases of torture in other countries such as Paraguay, Guatemala, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. 

In addition to the findings of the Bertrand Russell Tribunal, Mexico City's Excélsior reports the following on similar actions taken by the London-based organization, Amnesty International. At its April 1st general meeting in the British capital, the group called on General Ernesto Geisel, the recently installed president of Brazil to free all of Brazil's political prisoners. 

Amnesty International is a prestigious organization which has defended political prisoners in both communist and non-communist countries throughout the world. Amnesty International's letter to President Geisel was made public on the 10th anniversary of the military coup in Brazil, which facilitated the present regime's assumption of power. The letter also asks that Geisel will release information on some 210 political prisoners who died under what was termed mysterious circumstances following their arrest. 

Amnesty International, continues Excélsior, has long defended in any country, political prisoners that have not employed acts of violence in opposing their governments. The London group recently presented the same list of prisoners to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. In closing its session, Amnesty International affirmed that it would continue to collect documentation, which would prove that the torture of political prisoners is still being carried out by the new Brazilian regime. That from the Mexico City daily, Excélsior.

The British news weekly Latin America recently carried this story about political refugees from Haiti, a tiny Latin American country which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. 

Latin America begins by telling the story of Mrs. Marie Sanon, a woman who recently fled Haiti to escape the fear of beatings and the threat of jail. Mrs. Sanon thought when she fled Haiti that she would find asylum in the United States. Instead, she's one of some 400 Haitians in the United States, over 100 of them in jail, who are faced with deportation as illegal aliens. 

Since there are no immigration quotas for the Western hemisphere countries, immigrants may be admitted when they meet certain qualifications or if they are political refugees. Tens of thousands of Cubans are in this country because they are the type of refugees acceptable to the State Department. US authorities claim that escapees like Ms. Sanon are not political refugees because, they say, there is no political repression on that Caribbean island. The State Department says that since the death of Papa Doc Duvalier three years ago, his son, Jean-Claude, has brought about a more liberalized regime. But, says Latin America, Ms. Sanon and many others have charged that nothing has changed in Haiti and that the reform is just a cosmetic device to attract tourists to the island.

Mrs. Sanon lived in Port-au-Prince Haiti with her parents and nine other brothers and sisters in a small house. To meet increasing family expenses, her father rented a room to a man they later learned was a member of the Duvalier secret police, the Leopards. Early last year, after months of not receiving any rent from their boarder, one of the sisters went to ask for it and was brutally beaten. When the father went to find out what happened, he was arrested. Later, her mother was arrested too, and both were kept in jail for a month. 

After their release, the family lived in constant fear of further beatings or arrests. One of Mrs. Sanon's brothers, a law student, refused to help plan national sovereignty day observance at the university and declared his opposition to the regime. One day, Mrs. Sanon's friends told her that the Leopards were going to arrest her and her brother that night. With another brother, they left Port-au-Prince and made their way to Cap-Haitien where they met others who also wanted to escape. 

38 of them, including 30 men, seven women and a 16-year-old boy jammed into a small 20-foot sailboat they found and set sail for freedom, Miami, 750 miles away. But after two days out, the rudder broke and Gulf Currents brought them to the Cuban shore. Cuban officials offered them asylum, but they refused saying they were not Communists. They made repairs and set out again. Days later, the rudder failed again and the boat floundered. 

After nine days of helpless drifting, they were cited by some fishermen who then radioed the US Coast Guard. They were soon picked up and brought to Miami. The group, of course, asked for political asylum, but the State Department refused since it holds the view that no political repression is practiced on the island. 

Yet, says Latin America, despite proclamations of the Duvalier government to the contrary, terror and imprisonment have been documented by a number of human rights groups such as Amnesty International. In a report issued last year, Amnesty said no real changes have taken place in Haiti, except for an increasing struggle for power, both within the Duvalier family itself and among the ministers and other officials. For many years, hardly any information about political prisoners seeped out of Haiti. Prisoners who were released or exiled did not dare speak for fear of reprisals on themselves or their families. 

United States government officials say that many Haitians have come to this country for purely economic reasons, and that 30% never request asylum. They also say that the refugees who can't establish that they will be subject to persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular group cannot remain in the United States. Why the State Department is treating Haitians differently than other refugees is a question that has been posed by many groups supporting the Haitians. 

In Miami, a former Justice Department attorney who represents 250 of the refugees says what it boils down to is that the United States is unwilling to accept the fact that people who come from right-wing countries are oppressed. People who flee to the United States from Communist countries are always granted political asylum, but we have a long history of refusing those from right-wing or Fascist dictatorships. That from the British newswekly, Latin America.

The Puerto Rican paper, Claridad, reports that Joaquín Balaguer has been declared the winner of recent presidential elections in the Dominican Republic, but his problems are not over. In the first place, the election itself was marked by insistent charges of electoral fraud. Most of the opposition candidates withdrew from the race before the election in protest. The main point of the charges is that the election tribunal, which drew up new election decrees, is heavily biased in favor of Balaguer. 

There is now a strong feeling in Santo Domingo that Balaguer's opponents, frustrated at the polls, will now turn to other tactics to do damage to the president and his policies. The leading opposition candidate intends to carry the charges of electoral fraud to the courts. Such an attempt would probably have little success, it was admitted, but a well-publicized case would focus continuing attention on the electoral fraud charges and could keep it in the news for a year or more. 

President Balaguer will thus be inaugurated for a third term with unresolved questions about the election's legitimacy. Meanwhile, Balaguer's opponents announced plans to stage demonstrations in opposition to the election results. This suggests that the Dominican Republic could go through another difficult period of civil unrest. Claridad notes that all of this comes as Mr. Balaguer faces growing economic pressures and social unrest. Balaguer campaigned on recent economic achievements. 

He cited the Dominican Republic's 10% annual growth rate and the number of new industries setting up in the Dominican Republic. But such statistics do not reflect the country's serious economic problems. Unemployment tops 30% and inflation is eating away at salaries and wages at an annual rate of 25%. Also, the Dominican Republic, like many other nations in the underdeveloped world, is suffering from the high cost of petroleum. The cost increases will probably boost the island nation's import bill some three times this year. This will add inflationary pressures to an already difficult economic picture. This report on the Dominican Republic was taken from Claridad, a Puerto Rican weekly. 

Finally, we have a reporter from the Christian Science Monitor's firsthand account of conditions in the Dominican Republic. "Every morning in Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic, a crowd of ragged poor wait patiently outside President Joaquin Balaguer's modest suburban home for handouts of food or anything else available. Soldiers and police with automatic rifles mingled with the crowd, keeping order and eavesdropping on conversations." 

Soon after 10:00 a.m., the crowds were pushed back and President Balaguer, his face hidden behind curtains in a huge black limousine, swept through the iron gates on his way to the national palace. There was scattered applause. Then the crowds moved slowly back to the shade of the almond trees and resumed their vigil for charity. Dr. Balaguer, who completely dominates local politics, was recently reelected to his third successive term as president of the Dominican Republic. 

It was not a popular decision. Dr. Balaguer is cool and aloof, a conservative in a country crying out for change, an autocratic ruler in a country that still remembers the brutal dictatorship of Raphael Trujillo between 1930 and '61. The Trujillo era, in fact, continues. The image is better and the instruments are less crude, but the same people are still in power. Dr. Balaguer himself first came to the fore as the immediate successor of General Trujillo, after the old dictator was assassinated by some of his closest aides in 1961, when the country was rapidly disintegrating. 

Within months, Dr. Balaguer was overthrown and forced into exile in New York. During his absence, the politics of chaos assumed complete control of the Dominican Republic. In perhaps the first free elections in the country's 120 years of independence, the left-leaning Juan Bosch won the presidency, but was ousted by the army within eight months. Then in April 1965, when a group of liberal army officers tried to reinstall him, a civil war broke out and the United States sent in a 24,000 man marine occupation force to prevent another Cuba. 

Throughout this period, Dr. Balaguer kept his hands clean, and he returned only when peace was restored more than a year later, to run against Professor Bosch in the June 1966 elections. Chosen by domestic conservatives and blessed by Washington, Dr. Balaguer won the election and has since been reelected twice, in 1970 and '74. His public image is paternalistic.

Rather than allowing institutions and ministries to function normally, he personally cares for the population like a worried grandfather, and rather than attacking the basic causes of poverty and underdevelopment, he gives out food, sewing machines, bicycles, and even money to the crowds that gather before his home. The armed forces, meanwhile, have remained loyal because of senior officers' privileges. 

Businessmen have also seen the economy booming and have smiled contentedly. Dr. Balaguer's reelection was therefore a foregone conclusion. But strangely, during the two months before the May 16th polls, discontent with the regime was not only awakened, but it took the shape of support for one of the opposition groups, a coalition of left and right known as the Santiago Agreement. Its candidate, a liberal cattle rancher called Antonio Guzman continued to draw ever-larger crowds. Soon the government became concerned and the armed forces were mobilized to campaign openly, illegally, and threateningly for the president. 

Finally, in a last minute move, the supposedly independent central electoral board revised the voting regulations in such a way that multiple voting by government supporters would be facilitated. Less than 12 hours before the polls opened, the Santiago agreement decided to boycott the elections and called for the abstention of its supporters, To demonstrate to the world that Balaguer was reelected illegitimately."

About 50% of the 2 million registered voters adhered to the boycott, while thousands of others spoiled their ballots in protest at the government. The boycott had been a success. Dr. Balaguer will nevertheless be sworn in for his third successive term on July the first. As in 1970, he has promised a government of, "National unity," and has publicly invited members of the opposition to collaborate with him, but this is considered more tactic than policy. 

This from the Christian Science Monitor.