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N.Ojeda-

The Allende Years in Chile: synopsis of a picture book with text

Over the past three years the press has followed closely the unfolding of the Chilean drama where a Socialist Salvador Allende was elected on a Marxist platform that promised a peaceful transition to socialism.  Chile has had a long tradition of democracy with a constitution which vested executive authority in the President and legislative power in Congress.  The strong multi-party system had allowed both Marxists and Conservatives to be elected to office.  During the brief three years in office Allende sought to overthrow the bourgeois state by using certain legal provisions that would be employed by the Popular Unity coalition to create a new institutionality.  When Allende died in September, 1973 during the bloody military coup, many analysts commented on the lesson that had been learned from the tragic failure of Chilean experiment.  Revolution is only possible when there is an armed struggle against the ruling classes; therefore, the so=called peaceful road to socialism is theoretically and practically not feasible.

In order to grasp the full import of what happened in Chile and define the mechanics of this social and economic revolution one must understand the intricacies of the process itself.  This book attempts to combine a pictorial account of those years with a topical discussion of the major achievements, conflicts and contradictions that were characteristic of the socialist process of transformation in Chile.  Through the photographs one can grasp what the struggle was about the nature of class conflicts in Chile, the extent to which the people were mobilized to participate in their political system and the fabric of Chilean life as seen through its people and their activities.  Given the controversial nature of this topic and the conflicting views of what really happened in Chile, one must depend on the accuracy of photographs to document the cross-currents of politics in this shoe-string republic.  The text and pictures will be closely integrated.  Excerpts from worker interviews will be used to illustrate pictures, and the reader will be provided with a concise chronological account of the major social and economic reforms, the political struggle that led to the military coup and the breakdown of the traditional democratic system.  Chile was a society in ferment; the photographs and text should reflect this reality.  The spirit of exaltation and hope that characterize the people who worked for a socialist revolution in Chile was countered by despair and anger on behalf of opposition forces.  The military capacity to wipe out the Marxist helf [[half]] of society is based on repression and force.  The terror system has replaced a free flowing political system where change and innovation were the parameters of life.

The book can be organized in two ways: (1)a chronological journalistic account of the three year period or (2)a topical account of groups and themes.  Here is an outline of the two possibilities: