Chilean exile predicts rebellion
By LESLIE FARRIS
Of the Emerald
The Chilean vote last
September granting a 16-year
presidency to Augusto Pin
ochet, head of the military junta,
was a farce and only
encouraged a growing mass
rebellion.
So said Chilean exile Virginia
Alarcon in a Friday press
conference at the Eugene Pub
lic Library. The ex-political pri
soner’s visit was in honor of
International Women’s Day and
was sponsored by the African
Peoples Solidarity Committee.
Alarcon said the military junta
that seized power in a 1973
coup has tried to repress all
grassroots organizing. But
since 1978, many sectors of
Chilian society have been coor
dinating efforts leading to the
overthow of the military dicta
torship.
‘‘There has been a great
resurgence of the mass
movement in Chile throughout
many different sectors — even
those that have been absent
since the military coup,” said
Alarcon, speaking through a
translator. “That situation is
even more defined since last
year’s plebiscite.”
The mandatory September
plebiscite — or national election
— asked Chileans to approve a
proposed constitution. The
junta announced a six-month to
Photo by Dennis Tachibana
Virginia Ailarcon
three-year prison term and a
stiff fine for anyone not voting,
Alarcon said.
The constitution, which
granted Pinochet at least a
16-year term as president,
received 63-percent yes votes.
Alarcon said there was no proof
of falsification, but many voting
tables were staffed by upper
class supporters creating an
“environment of threat.”
Prior to the plebiscite,
Alarcon said, the traditional
left-wing parties of Chile and the
bourgeois opposition,
represented by the Christian
Democrat party, were working
toward a class alliance and an
alternative to the military dicta
torship.
“But the plebiscite caused
the different social forces within
Chile to polarize, and the great
majority of people have realized
the only way to get rid of the
military dictatorship is through
rebellion. The new constitution
— taking effect March 11 —
legitimizes an illegal
government."
Through 1978-79, the junta
tried to “institutionalize itself" in
all sectors of society, Alarcon
said. But the attempt failed
partly because of the
“extremely well-organized and
very well-received" popular
movement of resistance.
And the bourgeois opposi
tion, including the small bus
iness owners and manufac
turers, also may be moving
toward resistance because for
eign investors have closed their
markets, she said.
Last June, a group of shanty
town dwellers — homeless
people who settle unoccupied
land — were able to repel
attacks by police. They were
supported by the trade unions,
students, human rights groups
and groups of families of poli
tical prisoners, she said.
“After this period of intense
activity, the shanty-town
dwellers stepped back and the
Chma stresses productivity
but stays austere, expert says
By JEFF BAKER
Of the Emerald
Despite great leaps forward, China will
remain economically backward, a leading China
expert said Friday.
Ross Terrill, a research associate at Harvard
University and author of five books on China,
spoke on "The Problem of Mao and a Changing
China.”
"China will remain very austere for a long
time to come,” Terrill told about 200 people.
In outlining the four broad changes since
Mao’s death in 1976, Terrill said economics is
now the chief priority.
Chinese leaders discuss economics more
now than at any time since the 1949 revolution,
Terrill said. Productivity is emphasized, with
people told to "work hard and seek results."
An effort to rid China of Maoist ideology is the
second great change, Terrill said. Chinese
leaders are speaking in value-free terms, con
spicuously omitting Marxist-Leninist ideology, he
says.
"The science of management is big in China
now. Chinese leaders say the class struggle is
over.”
Terrill said he believes “Marxism is an id
eology that is dying in China."
Stepping away from the arbitrariness of the
Mao era is the third great change, Terrill said.
Constitutional democracy is not on the
agenda, but individual rights and responsibilities
are increasing, he said.
Many current Chinese leaders are victims of
the Mao era, Terrill said. Vice Premier Deng
Hsiao-ping's wife is opening an ombudsman’s
office to deal with victims of Maoist purges.
“There is a fragile but real feeling of fraternity
between the government and people of China."
A new degree of openness to non-Chinese
ideas that would "make Mao turn over in his
mauseleum" is the fourth great change, said
Terrill. Books and television are "almost cos
mopolitan by the standards of a decade ago.
"Mao himself was the architect of a pro
Western policy at a time (the mid-1960s) when
Deng disagreed."
The Chinese want to trade and are willing to
"open the door of culture and intellectual
freedom,” Terrill said.
West Germany and Japan are mentioned'
more often as economic models, he said.
"So long in its own world, China is now
reaching out its hand in the quest for ideas.”
The author of a recent biography of Chair
man Mao, Terrill devoted time to the man he
called “Marx, Lenin and Stalin rolled into one.”
"He was Marxist in his political analysis,
Leninist in his seizure of power, and Stalinist in
that he lived on for 27 years trying to implement
his vision.”
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human rights groups began
taking part in hunger strikes,
marches, demonstrations and
symbolic takeovers of
embassies,” Alarcon said.
“Again, all this activity was sup
ported by the other sectors.”
Then the trade unions began
striking and university students
refused to attend classes until
intelligence-gathering activities
ceased on campuses. Of
course, all this rebellion met
with increased repression, she
said.
Most universities were
closed, and the 11 that
remained open were made into
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soners were dispersed
throughout the country, violat
ing an agreement between Chile
and the United Nations, she
said.
Military tribunals were reac
tivated this year with Pinochet
serving as supreme judge.
"What bothers the authorities
most is the coordination
between the groups — the trade
unions, the students and the
human rights groups."
Alarcon has been imprisoned
and tortured twice for helping
political prisoners. She's a
member of a group composed
primarily of women called the
Organization of the Families of
Political Prisoners.
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