PAGE 6 } ( OTHE R FEATURE ) \ rH OTHER PRESS FEBRUARY 16, 1983 The Resistance Lives On In Chile — By Eric Mills Written for CUP and Resistencia The church was packed. Perhaps 600 people gathered together to support a hunger strike by about 30. Bishops and parish priests spoke of love and peace, but also of land, hunger, unemployment and reppression. They echoed the strikers call for informat- ion about the hundreds of ‘‘di- sappeared,’’ people plucked out of their homes and off the streets by Chile’s police and military. An announcment: a court had ordered the return of their relatives of 14 bodies found in a lime grave near Santiago. The ‘‘Lonquen victims’’ famil- _ies had won a small victory over the state. Suddenly the church erupted with emotion. People embra- ced one another, many wept with joy, and the crowd filed out in high spirits. On the disappeared there was no ne- ws. But for a Canadian visitor to Chile a year ago, the mes- sage was clear: the Chilean people’s resistance to the dic- tatorship is alive and broad. The message came through several times that September, the month when independance from Spain is celebrated, and, since September 11, 1973, a time for mourning the military coup that ended the left-lean- ing government of Popular Unity. From the highest Cath- olic church levels to undergro- und army, the resistance was stirring. ; You could see why. In Santiago, life seemed comfor- table only in a few posh subu- tbs. The downtown business core teemed with activity, but much of it was street peddlars selling ties, candy, lottery tic- kets and anything else to make a few pesos. Free education had been severely cut back; - medicine now served only tho- se who could pay for it; lawye- rs the government didn’t like couldn’t get fair hearings or trials. The teachers,doctors and lawyers were among those peddling peanuts or laboring on large farms. The tourist can see the wealth promised in travel pos- ters. The snow-capped moun- tains, the multi;hued desert, fertile valleys and ocean views are spectacular. The fish is delicious, the wines (forbid- den fruit outside Chile, boyco- tted with every other export) full-bodied. The people are _ hospitable, the cities well-de- veloped and cultured. But the tourist can also see public money beautifying pub- lic streets while families crowd decaying buildings. A few pe- ople ride in expensive cars, many jam into rickety busses. The public train system is gr- ubby and declining while priv- ate companies thrive. At one of the world’s largest and mo- st modern copper mines, Chu- quicampta, in the north, wor- kers ask about emigrating to Canada despite having living standards above the Chilean average. Although most people avoid discussing politics, there is more debate and oppositon than a tourist expects. Even the pro-government daily E/ Mercurio occasionaly criticizes a judicial decision. The pro- Christian Democrat weekly magizine Hoy (Today) also ca- rries on a feisty quest for de- mocracy and reform, despite being closed at times. The most visible opposition comes from the church, and the most visible issue'is hum- an rights. Under the wing of Cardinal Raul Silva Henriquez lawyers in the special Vicari- ate of Solidarity try to prick the regime about the disap- peared. The church sponsor- ed committee’s of families of the disappeared and recently, in line with the ‘‘shepard call- ing his flock,’’ had formed committee’s to fight for exiles unconditional right to return. The church’s committment to social progress was expressed by constant criticism from the pulpit and works such as soup kitchens. It sponsors two of the most critical media publi-. shed in Chile, the Victarate’s forenightly Solidaridad (sold only in churches) and the Jes- uit monthlu Mensaje. , The church came close to confrontation on September 18 Independance Day. After co- nsultations throughout the ch- urch, Cardinal Silva Decided to openly criticize President Augusto Pinochet at the mass which Chile’s leader tradition- ally attends. However, Pinoc- chet got wind of the plan and, I was told, informed Silva that an open attack would start a government walkout and com- plete rupture with the church. As the church’s ability to aid the oppressed was already un- der pressure, Silva backed do- wn at the last moment. But he had the Junta worried: the us- ual radio broadcast of the ser- vice was cut off, and cabinet ministers arrived at the cath- edral without their families in case something broke out. Working with the church for democracy. and reform were the Socialist-Communist coali- tion Popular Unity (which go- verned from 1970-73) and cen- ' terist Christian Democrats (who originally supported Pin- ochet’s coup.) The first public speech by former Christian Democrat president Eduardo - Frei-who calls for change, but not ‘‘another Nicaragua’’-was widely reported but banned from being reprinted. Similarly, a group of 24 intellectuals trying to take ad- vantage of the government’s claim to want public discus- sion of a proposed constitition were prohibited from having a public meeting. The Junta was responding fo such internal and external pre- ssures with better public relat- ions, such as having the Lonq- uen victims’ bodies. An inves- tigating judge went as far as to indict eight policemen and se- cret service agents for the mu- - rder by torture of an alleged revolutionary. At the end of September the Supreme Court issued a long explanation of its much-delayed refusal to extr- adite three government agents who were wanted by the Unit- ed States for ordering the 1976 death, in Washington, of for- mer Chilean foreign affairs minister Orlando Letelier. E/ Mercurio reports in detail on Chile’s international image gloating over new foreign inv- estment and Britain's re-esta- blishment of diplomatis relat- ions. A large building was being constructed for the new embassy of China. The Cana- dian embassy is in the middle of the busines district. _ Other moves by the embassy that September, included a pl- anned mass ceremony: to cel- . ebrate the ‘‘new institutiona- lity’’ of military government. Ironically, it was rained out several times. Soccer was pl- ayed in the National Stadium for the first time since its’ infamous use as a concen- tration camp after the coup. But the people remember on September 11. A large rally marked the six years of reppr- ession. At a small service in the municipal cemetary, Letel- ier relatives attended the gr- aves of family members and a Popular Unity cabinet member. Further ba- ck, with the common people, the bodies of folk singer Victor Jara (tortured to death at the National Stadium) and Com- munist poet Pablo Neruda (dead of a heart attack shortly after the coup) were covered with flowers. (Only in the ce- metary was I aware of being followed.) Later in the month the German Chilean cultural centre was packed in a tribute to Neruda. Underground, things are happening too. A new social- democratic party was being formed by left Christian Dem- ocrats, radicals, and others, E/ Rebele, the news bulletin of the MIR (Revoloutionary Left Movement), clandestinly org- anized neighborhood commit- tee’s, labor militance and ar- med struggle. It eschews me- rely a return to formal democ- racy, seeing that as an invitat- ion to more military takeovers. MIR leaders were reported all back in Chile, and other radi- cal groups were also organi- zing. Even in Penas (folk clubs), where songs about love and freedom barely conceal their real meaning, the message is: Venceremos - we shall over- come. Wire freelance writer Eric Mills travelled in Latin America for 11 months in 1978-79. This is an account of four weeks in Chile, mostly in the capital of Santiago.