Chile Prepares to Vote

...Joining the Socialists and Communists this time are the Radicals and three splinter groups—Accion Popular Indepen-diente (api), the Social Democrats, and the Movimiento Accion Popular Unitario (mapu), the last an offshoot of radical Christian Democrats led by Jacques Chonchol...

...But if the polls can be considered reasonably reliable, and present trends continue until the September balloting, then it is clear that no candidate will receive the majority necessary for direct popular election, as Frei did in 1964...

...In achieving the pdc nomination...

...If elected, he can be expected to press agrarian reform toward the original goal of settling 100,000 families...

...Some kind of political arrangement would therefore be necessary to elect a President, even assuming the unwritten tradition were continued...

...Patricio Ayl-win, the Christian Democratic party president, has said that his bloc's vote would depend upon the circumstances at the time...

...In the case of Chile's chief export, copper, Alessandri would probably continue the Frei government's "Chileanization" plan, involving joint private and state operation of the large U.S.-owned mines...

...Only Mario Arnello of the National party has stated that the election should go to the candidate with the most popular votes...

...There is increasing talk, however, that it might not be continued...

...A probably apocryphal story, in fact, has his father once introducing him: "And here's Jorge, who's practicing to be God...

...The public opinion polls taken in the greater Santiago area seemingly indicate a slow erosion of Alessandri's position as front runner—from an estimated 46 per cent of the vote in August 1969 to the mid-30s in June 1970...

...He proved not to be too independent, though, to accept the backing of the Rightist National party...

...Finally, a factor weighing on the minds of all Chileans is the increasing restiveness of the Army...

...A critical constitutional crisis, therefore, could be in the offing on October 24, when the Congress would meet to choose the new President...

...At one time, although the Presidency had long been his aspiration, he even announced his withdrawal from the race...

...If party lines alone were the determining factor—and party discipline generally is good—Allende could count on 81 votes (20 short of the 101 necessary for election) while Tomic, from the Christian Democrats, would have 75 and Alessandri, 43...

...Allende's feat in putting together the coalition is a tribute to his personal renown—his percentage of votes in each of the three previous Presidential races has risen steadily —to his political skill, and to the fact that no other candidate was acceptable to all factions of the Left...

...In October 1969, an elite regiment quartered in Santiago briefly rebelled, in protest against poor pay and outdated equipment...

...He prefers the complete nationalization, under law, of the copper industry, and feels that Cuba should be readmitted to the American family of nations, but only on the grounds of mutual respect (Fidel Castro has been a sharp critic of Frei...

...Resulting from a 1965 merger of the United Conservative and Liberal parties, this group includes both archreactionaries and moderate progressives...

...Tomic, by contrast, has come across well on television, and is an excellent stump speaker...

...An unwritten tradition provides that in such instances the candidate with the largest single total shall be elected...

...Alessandri does see himself as a man above politics...

...As for diplomatic relations with Cuba, Alessandri's position has been that Chile must follow the two-thirds-majority decision of the Organization of American States, the questionable legality of that ruling notwithstanding...

...He is, first of all, a son of twice-elected President Arturo Alessandri, who headed a liberal alliance that broke the political hold of the ultraconservative landholders in the 1920s and paved the way for a short-lived "Socialist Republic" in the 1930s...

...General Roberto Viaux, who led the October rising, received very light punishment and has recently been speaking at political meetings...

...Once termed the "White Knight" of Chilean politics, his detractors recently have taken to referring to him as "Mister Blah Blah," to reflect both his three years of service as Chile's ambassador in Washington and his occasional tendency toward inflated rhetoric...

...As in 1964, he calls for the immediate nationalization not only of the copper industry, but of iron, nitrate and coal, as well...

...In the provinces, the former President has faced strong heckling...

...With prices firm, foreign exchange earnings have already increased by 40 per cent since 1964 and, barring a major recession, should go considerably higher...

...His opponents are Radomiro Tomic, 56, candidate of the incumbent Christian Democratic party (pdc), and Salvador Allende, 62, a Socialist senator and loser in three previous Presidential tries...

...If Alessandri has the greatest popular vote, theoretically he could be denied the Presidency by a consolidation of the considerable forces of the Left...

...The poster, a relic from an earlier campaign, does much to explain why 74-year-old Jorge Alessandri, an independent supported by the conservative National party, is the leading contender in next month's Chilean Presidential election...

...Despite his wealth, he has been most strongly identified with the left wing of the party, and is noted for his support of a nebulous "communitarian" economic system, neither capitalist nor Marxist...

...Allende and Frei were both Cabinet ministers in the regime of Juan Antonio Rios...

...a new emphasis on state-controlled industry, including public utilities, transportation, communications, and banks...

...the Communists sent up a trial balloon for the poet Neruda...

...There are precedents for Communist participation in the government...

...Although the government has ignored his activities, several Left-leaning congressmen have insinuated a link between Viaux and Alessandri in an effort to discredit the front runner...

...Last November in a short television and radio speech announcing his decision to seek the Presidency again, he attacked all political parties, denouncing them as "sowers of illusions...

...Approximately 3 million Chileans are expected at the polls September 4 in what could lead to a major test of their country's sturdy democratic tradition (Venezuela, Colombia and Uruguay are the only other South American nations still adhering to some form of popular rule...

...His Administration sponsored socially responsible legislation on taxes, landholding, housing, education, and health...

...Alessandri's decline may be partly attributed to his poor showing on television—his hands appear to shake, underlining his advanced years ("the actuarial odds are not good," one observer remarked), and he has to refer to notes...

...Accordingly, Alessandri is directing his campaign to the Right and the Center (who in the 1964 election had essentially no choice but to support the relatively moderate Frei against the radical Allende...

...Thus his basic competition is with Tomic for the center Left, recognizing that he has to concede the far Left to Allende...

...Another scare came in late March, when the government announced the discovery of a plot, led by retired General Horacio Gamboa, to assassinate members of the government and take power...

...In that event, Chilean law provides that the two houses of Congress shall combine to make the decision, choosing from the two candidates with the largest number of votes...

...In any event, the talk of "coup" endemic to all of Latin America is in the air as Chile prepares to go to the polls...

...He is, nevertheless, a subtle and thoughtful figure deeply attached to the party...

...As the poster indicates, Jorge Alessandri has encouraged the image of himself as a sober, austere and superbly intelliJames Stanford Bradshaw, former AP Chile correspondent is now at Central Michigan University...

...Meanwhile, Tomic has increased his total from 23 to almost 30 per cent, and Allende has climbed four percentage points from an initial 18...

...Jorge Alessandri (another son, Fernando, was a Presidential aspirant in 1946), served as President in his own right in 1958-64, and largely pursued his father's course...

...And of the three candidates, Alessandri seems best to fulfill that requisite...

...Sooner than anyone thinks," he has been quoted as saying, "the right of force will surge up against the rule of law in Chile...

...But labels like Left and Right can be deceptive in Chile, where voters have always been less interested in parties than in the charismatic "leader" who promises to bring about national unity...

...Alessandri has promised not to undo Frei's social programs, notably the agrarian-reform legislation of 1967 that gave some 12.000 families their own land...

...But it is unlikely that he would terminate recently resumed trade relations between the two countries...

...gent figure, dedicated to democracy, his work and his people...

...Tomic had difficult obstacles to overcome, many within the partv itself...

...And Tomic could renew his bid for Communist party support...

...His partv was split three ways over policy, with well-defined right, center and left elements...

...Part of Alessandri's appeal is that he could make more efficient use of this added income, perhaps even slowing down Chile's chronic inflation—something Frei, despite his expressed intention, has been unable to do...

...greatly accelerated distribution of large landholdings...

...Allende's public meetings, too, regularly show evidence of ardent support...

...Communist party leader Luis Guastarino recalled that in 1958, when Allende trailed Alessandri by only 34,000 votes in a five-way race, the Communist congressional bloc voted for Allende...

...Allende is backed by a newly formed Leftist coalition, Unidad Popular, which includes the Socialists, the Communists, the Radicals, and three splinter groups...

...Curiously, a March sampling of public opinion on the Frei government showed 60 per cent rating it as "good to excellent," and another 30 per cent holding that its achievements were "fair...

...Allende, the third man in the race, is nominally a moderate Socialist who has been supported by the Communists in the last two Presidential elections...

...Tomic, who has Yugoslav-ancestors, is a millionaire businessman like Alessandri and, with Frei, was one of the founders of the Christian Democratic party...

...Allende continues to find some opposition in each of his supporting parties, and the largely student Movimiento Izquierdo Revolucionario—charged by the government with setting oft a wave of disorders in June and July—even has instructed its followers to abstain from voting September 4. But his platform is impeccably Leftist...

...Tomic, hoping for a union of the country's moderate Left around his candidacy, made overtures to the Communists (the traditionalists and moderates of the Left in the Chilean political spectrum), thereby precipitating bitter debates inside both the Christian Democratic and Communist parties...

...This—despite his more pronounced Leftist stance— has made him vulnerable to charges that his regime would be one of continuismo...

...Whether the story is true or not...

...The Radicals, for a time, sought to boost Alberto Baltra, a former minister of the economy...

...Eduardo Frei, the well-regarded Christian Democrat who succeeded him (and cannot this year succeed himself), benefited from the reform momentum of the Alessandri regime, broadening its scope with his "Revolution in Liberty...

...Just how the race stands at the moment is difficult to say...

...But the Alessandri mystique goes beyond family name...

...Not surprisingly, Tomic's platform is very similar to that on which the Christian Democrats rolled to victory in 1964...

...Implicit was the idea that only he could restore order and authority to his country, and he is running without party affiliation...

...Still, it is expected that an Alessandri-led government would slow the pace of expropriation and resettlement...

...and the api favored Senator Rafael Tarud, its head...

...and the immediate renewal of diplomatic relations with Cuba, which he has visited...

...Obviously there is no great flow of support to Tomic because of his party affiliation...

...It could be, however, that the Chilean Army—respectful of civilian rule for almost 40 years—is in the process of developing a nationalist and progressive position of its own...

...It presents an idealized rendering of a familiar head, over the simple legend: "Alessandri has the welfare of his people in mind...

...This is just beginning to bear fruit, and 1971 should see nearly a doubling of 1964 production levels...

...For should the Left manage an upset victory, the military may choose to enter the political picture...

...Ultimately, the Communists, who had hinted at the candidacy of their famed poet, Pablo Neruda, rejected his overtures and joined Unidad Popular behind Allende...