CHILE: LEGACY OF THE ALLENDE YEARS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP09T00207R001000020037-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2011
• Sequence Number: 37
• Publication Date: September 25, 1974
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09TOO207RO01000020037-3
C1U ISTIa,
25SEP1974
,Chile: Legacy of the Allende years
No Peaceful Way: Chile's Struggle for
Dignity, by Gary MacEoln. New
York: Sheed and Ward. $8.95.
Revolution and Counter-Revolution in
Chile, edited by Paul M. Sweezy
and Harry Magdoff. New York:
Monthly Review Press. $7.50.
By James Nelson Goodsell
Verdicts on Salvador Allende Gos-
sens' three year of Marxist-leaning
-rule in Chile are coming in. Like the
government itself when it was in
power (1970-1973), opinions are di-
vided.
But the authors of "No Peaceful
Way" and "Revolution and Counter-
Revolution In Chile" leave no doubt
that they consider Allende's over-
throw as 'a tragedy. The thwarted
hopes of the. workers and peasants
will make it extremely difficult for
the present military leaders to gov-
ern, they believe.
In fact, Mir. MacEoin, from his long
experience with both Latin America
and his native Ireland, worries that
Chile might become "another North-
ern Ireland."
MacEoln's book, with its wise schol-
arship, able marshaling of facts, and
clear writing, is easily the better
book. It chronicles the years of Al-
lende rule and his efforts to nudge
Chile toward socialism, providing a
solid look at his successes and failures
(there were plenty of both), and the
obstacles he encountered.
Chile was a heady place under
Allende. "As a politician pursuing
unconventional objectives by con-
ventional means, he had few peers,"
MacEoin writes. -
"Even when his overwhelmingly
powerful enemies in Congress aban-
doned the role of a loyal opposition,
without which representational de-
mocracy cannot function, and when
the judiciary dropped its mask of
objectivity to become an integral part
with Congress of the openly disloyal
opposition, he refused consistently to
play by their rules."
There are readers who may quarrel
with this view, but MacEoln docu-
ments the evidence and makes a
fairly strong case. Some of his most
telling analysis concerns what hap-
pened immediately before the mili-
tary coup upset Allende's con-
stitutional government just a year
ago.
Role-of the CIA
In some prescient passages, he
takes a hard look at the United States'
role in the ouster. Writing before the
Central: Intelligence Agency's at-
tempts. to,"destabilize" the Allende
government were disclosed this
month, MacEoln documents the
agency's penetration of Chilean politi-
cal parties, its support of anti-Allende
demonstrations, and its financing of
opposition newspapers. It is a grim
tale.
The Sweezy-Magdoff book is a com-
pilation of articles which have ap-
peared in Monthly Review and other
publications. All have a partisan
Marxist tone and should be read with
this in mind: But precisely because of
their bias they have some value.
In the opening essay, Mr. Sweezy
analyzes Allende's overthrow, ar-
guing that "The Chilean tragedy
confirms what should have been, and
to many was, obvious all along, that
there is no such thing as a peaceful
road to socialism."
Editor Sweezy contends that Al-
lende's Unidad Popular (UP) govern-
ment - which was composed of the
President's own Socialists, the Com-
munists, and other left-leaning par-
ties - made a series of mistakes once
it had achieved power.
Toward socialism
For instance, he says that the UP
should have followed up the success-
ful municipal elections by wresting
"complete control of the state appa-
ratus from the bourgeoisie" which
was then in disarray. Failure to
attempt at least to consolidate its
power was, in Mr. Sweezy's opiniori
the fatal error of the Allende govern-
ment.
Both the MacEoin and the Sweezy-
Magdoff books suggest some of the
forces which will be at work in Chile
during the years ahead. Mr. MacEoin
is correct in observing that "the
meaning of UP's attempt to lead Chile
toward socialism by constitutional
methods must be sought less in the
president than in the social move-
ments on which he depended and
within which he had to maneuver.
"As a corollary, his death did not
alter radically the fundamental equa-
tions. The circumstances in which it
occurred will undoubtedly-influence
future strategy, but the forces
through which he worked are the
same today as yesterday."
The Allende years in Chile are
ended, but not the desire of millions of
Chileans for some of the things Al-
lende seemed to promise them. In a
sense, the forces he unleashed are as
real today as when he headed the
government.
James Goodsell is the Monitor's
correspondent in Latin America.
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Approved For Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09TOO207RO01000020037-3