THE CRUCIAL CHOICE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73-00475R000401190002-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 24, 2014
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: April 17, 1964
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

TAI
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/03/24: CIA-RDP73-00475R000401190002-1
TIME
APR 1 7 '1964
CHILE
The Crucial Choice
Before World War II, an American
setting off on a trip to Chile could
? count on a three-week voyage by boat
. down South America's west coast. To-
day, Panagra's jets make it from New
York to the Santiago capital in 14
hours, but few Americans visit Chile.
? Yet in this faraway land of nitrates,
copper and wine, the most important
election in Latin America this year will .
take place on Sept. 4. There is a real
possibility that Chile, long democratic,
will become the first nation in the hemi-
? sphere to choose an avowed Marxist as
' its freely elected President.
, He is Salvador Allende, 53, the
shrewd and persuasive leader of the
far-left Popular Action Front (FRAP).
In 1958 Allende came within 29,000
. votes of beating Jorge Alessandri,
; Chile's dour and conservative incum-
bent President, who cannot succeed
himself. The anti-Communist opposition
' is stronger this time. But so is Allende.
In the past six years, 'Chile has made
little progress. The U.S.-owned mines
in Chile produce 11% of the world's
copper, but catastrophic 1960 earth-
quakes and rocketing inflation have eat-
en up much of the mineral wealth.
Since 1958 the price of a loaf of bread
has risen from 13? to 400; in the past
twelve months alone, the cost of living
' has climbed 50%. In Santiago last
week, 12,000 students staged a violent,
window-shattering riot, and 150,000 an-
gry workers walked out on a strike
i against the government's proposed 35%
wage increase. Labor said it needed
70% just to keep up with prices.
Friend of Fidel. Such is the discon-
tent that feeds Allende's candidacy. A
physician who turned to politics, Al-
lende prescribes massive reform for
Chile's ills: 1) a strict, centrally planned
_
.economy; 2) "authentic" land reform,
moaning the expropriation of all large
? barns; and 3) nationalization of the
J.S. copper companies. He terms Cas-
tro a,"political genius," has Fidel's pic-
ture on his office wall and a framed
blowup of the Declaration of Havana
hanging in the hall outside. He open-
ly calls himself a Marxist. "But I am
not a Communist," he says, "and that
is very important for the U.S. to re-
member." Nevertheless, Allende has the
wholehearted blessings of Chile's 30,000
card-carrying Communists.
Last month in a provincial by-elec-
tion, Allende's forces administered a
crushing defeat to the right-of-cen-*
ter, three-party Democratic front that
1
brought President Alessandri to power
in 1958. As a result, the front split wide
open and its candidate, Julio Duran, 46,
leader of the middle-road Radical Party,
resigned from the race in tears. To keep
his own party from dissolving, Duran
has now decided to re-enter the cam- ,
paign on the Radical ticket alone. But '
the best he can hope for is enough votes
to wield a balance of power in a close
election.
Fight for Democracy. The man with
the best chance of stopping Allende is
Eduardo Frei, 53, the able and eloquent
leader of Chile's fast-growing Christian
Democratic Party. Chileans are normal-
ly reserved about their politicians. But
the tall, gaunt, obviously dedicated Frei
has a charisma that sends his audience
into wild cheers; when he moves about,
crowds surround his car, chanting his
name, reaching in the window to shake
his hand. His party is only eight years
old, and yet it emerged from last year's
municipal elections with 23% of the
total vote to become Chile's largest sin-
gle political force.
"Chile Needs a Chance" is Lawyer
Frei's slogan. But he makes it clear that
he wants bold reform within the law.
"This is a fight for democracy and a
vital one," he says. "It must be won."
Frei would continue Chile's pro-Western
foreign policy while maintaining diplo-
matic ties with Cuba. He advocates a
sensible, productive land reform, argues
for easier credit for businessmen and
farmers, the creation of at least 50,000
new jobs, and more diversified industry
to expand the country's limited econo-
my. As for the big U.S. copper com-
panies, he wants a bigger share of the
business, but opposes nationalization.
If the election were held today, Frei
would be the odds-on favorite. What
worries him is Chile's uncontrolled infla-
tion that plays into the hands of the ex- ,
tremists. The U.S. makes no secret that
it favors Frei and would find Allende
hard to live with. Allende complains bit-
terly that the copper companies bank-
roll his opposition, that CIA agents
photograph everyone who visits his
campaign headquarters. U.S. diplomats
pointedly avoid contact with him. The
fiercely independent Chileans somehow
remain unconvinced that Allende would
take the country down the Cuban path.
But in the U.S. view, Allende at best
poses a grave risk to Chilean democra-
cy. At worst, he could turn into another
instrument of Communist subversion.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/03/24: CIA-RDP73-00475R000401190002-1