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CHILE: THE POPULAR UNITY'S PROGRAMME
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The following is the political programme presented by a coalition of six Chilean political parties led by the Socialist Party and the Communist Party to the presidential election in 1970. The presidential candidate was Salvador Allende. The coalition won the presidential election. Salvador Allende became president. After 34 months of conspiracies, terrorism, and criminal activities led by the Chilean capitalist class through their political parties, the Chilean generals (led by Pinochet, Merino, Leigh and Mendoza), and supported by the U.S. Government and its main criminal agencies, the C.I.A. and the Pentagon, succeeded in murdering Salvador Allende and bringing the Chilean working class to its knees through the systematic use of political assassinations and torture, opening the way to larger profits for transnational corporations and the Chilean oligarchy ( For an account of this period read my book "The Murder of Allende and the of the Chilean way to socialism", Harper&Row, N.Y, 1975). This political programme, in 1970, represented an alternative way for development, based on ECONOMIC GROWTH WITH EQUAL ACCESS TO ECONOMIC RESOURCES AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT WITH EQUAL ACCESS TO POLITICAL RESOURCES for the Chilean population. Students of development should take a close look to this text, because, today, more than thirty years since the murderers led by the White House and the Chilean generals killed Salvador Allende, still is a valid and consistent "programme for sustainable development" alternative to the capitalist model which exclude a large portion of society from the fruits of economic growth, and which also unleashes environmental destruction and unhuman development.

(Róbinson Rojas, 2003)



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THE POPULAR UNITY'S PROGRAMME

Programme presented to the Chilean people for the Presidential
Election campaign in 1970

INTRODUCTION

The parties and movements of which the Popular Unity's Coordinating Committee is composed, without prejudice to our individual philosophy and political delineations, fully agree on the following description of the national situation and on the programme proposals which are to constitute the basis of our common effort and which we now present for consideration by the whole nation.

Chile is going through a grave crisis, manifested by social and economic stagnation, widespread poverty and deprivation of all sorts suffered by workers, peasants(*), and other exploited classes as well as in the growing difficulties which confront white collar workers, professional people, small and medium businessmen, and in the very limited opportunities open to women and young people.

These problems can be resolved in Chile. Our country possesses great wealth such as copper and other minerals, a large hydro- electric potential, vast forests, a long coast rich in marine life, and more than sufficient land, etc. Chile also has a population with a will to work and progress and people with technical and professional skills.

WHY HAVE WE FAILED?

What has failed in Chile is the system - a system which does not correspond to present day requirements. Chile is a capitalist country, dependent on the imperialist nations and dominated by bourgeois groups who are structurally related to foreign capital and who cannot resolve the country's fundamental problems - problems which are clearly the result of class privilege which will never be given up voluntarily.

Moreover, as a direct consequence of the development of world capitalism, the submission of the national monopolistic bourgeoisie to imperialism daily furthers its role as junior partner to foreign capital, increasingly accentuating its dependent nature.

For a few people it is good business to sell off a piece of Chile each day. And every day this select few make decisions on behalf of all the rest of us. On the other hand, for the great majority of Chileans there is little to be gained from selling their labour and brain power and, in general, they are still deprived of the right to determine their own future.

The 'reformist' and 'developmentalist' solutions, which the Alliance for Progress promoted and which the Frei Government adopted, have not changed anything of importance in Chile. Basically, the Christian Democrat Government was nothing but a new government of the bourgeoisie, in the service of national and foreign capitalism, whose weak efforts to promote social change came to a sad end in economic stagnation, a rising cost of living, and violent repression of the people. This experience demonstrated once more that reformism cannot resolve the people's problems.

The development of monopoly capitalism prevents the extension of democracy and exacerbates violence against the people. As 'reformism' fails and the people's capacity to struggle increases, the most reactionary sectors of the dominant classes who, in the last analysis, have no recourse but to use force, become firmer in their position. The brutal forms of violence perpetrated by the Frei Government, such as the activities of the Riot Police Unit, the beating up of peasants and students, and the killing of shanty town dwellers and miners, are inseparable from other and no less brutal forms of violence which affect all Chileans. People living in luxurious houses while a large part of the population lives in unhealthy dwellings or has no shelter at all also constitutes violence; people who throw away food while others lack the means to feed themselves also commit violence.

Imperialist exploitation of backward economies takes place in a variety of ways: through investments in mining (copper, iron, etc), industrial, banking and commercial activities; through the control of technology which obliges us to pay exaggerated sums for equipment, licences and patents; through American loans with crippling conditions which require us to purchase from the U.S.A. and with the additional obligation to transport these purchases in North American ships. Just one example of imperialist exploitation is the fact that from 1952 to date, the U.S.A. invested US$ 7,473 million in Latin America and received back US$ 16,000 million.

Imperialism has taken resources from Chile equivalent to double the value of the capital accumulated in our country throughout its history. American monopolies, with the complicity of bourgeois governments, have succeeded in taking over nearly all of our copper, iron and nitrate resources. They control foreign trade and dictate economic policy through the International Monetary Fund and other organisations. They dominate important branches of industry and services, they enjoy statutory privileges while imposing monetary devaluation, the reduction of salaries and wages and the distortion of agricultural activities through their agricultural surpluses policy.

They also intervene in education, culture and in the communications media and they try to penetrate the Armed Forces, making use of military and political agreements.

The dominant classes, acting as accomplices in the process and unable to defend their own interests, have increased Chile's foreign indebtness over the last ten years. It was argued that the loans and arrangements with international bankers would increase economic development. But the only result is that today Chile holds the record of being one of the world's most indebted countries in proportion to its population.

In Chile government and legislation is for the benefit of the few -that is they only serve the large capitalists and their hangers-on, the companies which dominate our economy, and the large landholders whose power still remains almost intact.

The owners of capital are only interested in making more money and not in satisfying the needs of the Chilean people. For example, if it appears to be a good business proposition to produce and import expensive cars they use our economy's scarce resources for this purpose, ignoring the fact that only a minute percentage of Chileans have the means to purchase them and that there are far more urgent needs to be satisfied. The improvement of public transport and provision of machinery for agriculture are obvious examples of such urgent needs.

The groups of businessmen who control the economy, the press and other communications media, the existing political system, and the threats to the State, when it hints at intervention or refuses to favour all these interests, are an expensive burden on the Chilean people. For these groups to deign to continue 'working' - since only they can afford the luxury of working or not - the following conditions are necessary. They have to be provided with all kinds of assistance. Important businessmen pressure the State under the threat that, unless the help and guarantees they request are authorized, there will be no private investment. They have to be allowed to produce the products they want with money belonging to the whole Chilean people, instead of producing the goods needed by the great majority; and to transfer the profits obtained to their foreign bank accounts. They wish to be allowed to dismiss workers if they ask for better wages; and to be permitted to manipulate food distribution and stockpile food products in order to create artificial shortages and thereby raise prices in order to continue enriching themselves at the expense of the Chilean people.

Meanwhile, a large proportion of those people who actually produce face a difficult situation. Half a million families lack housing and as many or more live in appalling conditions lacking sewage, drinking water, light, and healthy conditions. The population's education and health requirements are insufficiently provided for. More than half of Chile's workers receive wages which are insufficient to cover their minimum vital needs. Every family suffers from unemployment and unstable employment. The chances of employment are impossible or uncertain for countless young people.

Imperialist capital and a privileged group not exceeding 10% of the population receive half of the National Income. This means that out of every hundred escudos produced by Chileans, 50 end up in the pockets of 10 of the oligarchy and the other 50 have to be shared among 90 Chileans from the poor and middle classes

The rising cost of living creates havoc in people's homes, especially for the housewife. According to official statistics, the cost of living has risen almost 1,000% in the last 10 years.

This means that every day Chileans who live from the proceeds of their work are robbed of part of their salaries or wages. The same happens to retired people, craftsmen, independent workers and small scale producers, whose meagre incomes are daily eroded by

inflation. Alessandri and Frei gave assurances that they would put an end to inflation. The results are there for all to see. The facts prove that inflation in Chile is the outcome of deeper causes which are related to the capitalist structure of our society and not to increases in incomes, as successive governments have tried to make us believe in order to justify the system and restrain workers' incomes.

On the other hand, the large capitalist can defend himself from inflation and what is more he profits from it. His property and his capital become more valuable, his construction contracts with the State are revalued, and the prices of his products always rise ahead of wage increases.

A large number of Chileans are underfed. According to official statistics, 50% of children under 15 years of age are undernourished. This affects their growth and limits their learning capacity. This shows that the economy in general and the agricultural system in particular are incapable of feeding Chile's population in spite of the fact that Chile could support a population of 30 million people right now - that is, three times the present population.

Yet, on the contrary, each year we must import hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of food products.

Most of the blame for the food supply and nutritional problems of the Chilean people can be attributed to the existence of LATIFUNDIA which are responsible for the backwardness and misery which characterize the Chilean countryside. Indices of infant and adult mortality, illiteracy, lack of housing and ill health in the rural areas are markedly higher than for the cities. The Christian Democrat Government's restricted Agrarian Reform Programme has not resolved these problems. Only the peasants' struggle, backed by the whole nation, will resolve them. The present struggle for land and the abolition of the latifundio is opening up new perspectives for the advance of the Chilean people.

The growth rate of our economy is minimal. In recent five year periods the average rate of growth has been scarcely 2% p.a. per capita; and since 1967 there has been no growth at all. On the contrary, we have moved backwards according to the Government Planning Office's figures. This means that in 1966 each Chilean had more goods than he has today, which explains why the majority are discontent and are looking for an alternative for our country.

The only alternative, which is a truly popular one, and one which therefore constitutes the Popular Government's main task, is to bring to an end the rule of the imperialists, the monopolists, and the landed oligarchy and to initiate the construction of socialism in Chile.

THE ORGANIZED PEOPLE IN UNITY AND ACTION

The growth in size and organization of the labour force and the growing struggle and consciousness of its own power reinforce and propagate criticism of the established order, the desire for profound change and conflicts with the established power structure. There are more than three million workers in our country whose productive efforts and enormous constructive capacity cannot be put to good use within the present system, which only exploits and subjects them.

These organized forces, in a common effort with the people to mobilize those who are not sold out to national and foreign reactionary interests, could destroy the present system and, by means of this united struggle on the part of the large majority of Chileans, progress could be made in the task of liberating themselves. The Popular Unity alliance has been formed precisely for this purpose.

The imperialists and the country's dominant classes will struggle against a united people and will try to deceive them once again. They will say that freedom is in danger, that violence is taking hold of the country, etc. But each day the popular masses are less and less taken by these lies. Social mobilization is growing daily, and is now reinforced and encouraged by the unity of the left wing groups.

In order to encourage and guide the mobilization of the Chilean people toward the conquest of power, we will set up Popular Unity Committees in every factory, farm, poor neighbourhood(**), office or school, to be run by the militants of the left wing movements and parties and to be composed of the thousands of Chileans who are in favour of fundamental change. These Popular Unity Committees will not only constitute electoral organizations. They will interpret and fight for the immediate claims of the masses and above all they will learn to exercise power.

This new form of power structure which Chile needs must begin to develop itself right now, wherever people need to be organized to fight over specific problems and wherever the need to exercise this power becomes apparent. This system involving a common effort will be a permanent dynamic method for developing our Programme, constituting a practical school for the masses and a concrete way of deepening the political content of the Popular Unity at all levels. At a given point in the campaign the essential contents of this Programme, enriched by discussion with and the support of the people, and together with a series of immediate government measures will be set out in a People's Act (Acta del Pueblo) which the new Popular Government and the Front which sustains it will regard as an unrenounceable mandate.

Support for the Popular Unity's candidate does not, therefore, only involve voting for a man, but also involves declaring oneself in favour of the urgent replacement of our present society, the basis of which is the power and control exercised by large national and foreign capitalists.

THE PROGRAMME

Popular Power

The revolutionary changes required by Chile can only be carried out if the people of Chile take power into their own hands and exercise it in a true and effective manner.

In the process of a long struggle, the Chilean people have achieved certain democratic liberties and guarantees which will require vigilance and constant battle if they are not to be lost.

The revolutionary and popular forces have not united to simply fight for the substitution of one President of the Republic by another, nor to replace one party by others in Government but, rather, to carry out the profound changes which are required by national circumstances, based on the transfer of power from the old dominant groups to the urban workers, rural population and progressive sectors of the urban and rural middle-classes. This popular triumph will therefore open up the way for the most democratic political government in the country's history.

As regards the political structure, the Popular Government has the double task of preserving and making more effective and real the democratic rights and achievements of the working classes, and transforming present institutions in order to install a new system of power in which the working classes and the people are the ones who really exercise power.

The strengthening of democracy and working class progress

The Popular Government will guarantee the exercise of democratic rights and will respect the social and individual liberties of all sectors of the population. The freedom of worship, speech, press and of assembly, the inviolability of the home, and the right to unionize will be made effective, removing the present obstacles put up by the dominant classes to limit them.

In order to put this into practice, the unions and social organizations formed by manual workers, white collar workers, peasants and rural workers, shanty town dwellers and inhabitants of low income neighbourhoods(***), housewives, students, professional people, intellectuals, craftsmen, small and medium businessmen, and other groups of workers, will be called upon to participate in government decision making at the relevant level. For example, in the social security institutions we will establish a system of management by the contributors themselves, ensuring that the government bodies are elected democratically and by secret ballot. As for firms in the public sector, their governing committees and production committees must include direct representation of manual and white collar workers.

The Neighbourhood Committees (Juntas de Vecinos) and other organized groups of inhabitants of poor neighbourhoods will have ways and means of controlling the activities of the pertinent national housing organizations and of participating in many aspects of their activities. It is not just a question of these particular examples, but of a new philosophy in which ordinary people achieve real and effective participation in the different organisms of the State.

Likewise, the Popular Government guarantees the right of workers to employment and to strike, and the right for all people to obtain a proper education and culture, fully respecting all ideas and religious beliefs and guaranteeing the freedom to practise them.

All democratic rights and guarantees will be extended, by granting to social organizations real means of exercising their rights and creating the mechanisms which will allow them to participate in the different levels of the State's administrative apparatus. The power and authority of the Popular Government will essentially be based on the support extended to it by the organized population. This is our notion of strong government - the very opposite of that held by the oligarchy and imperialists who identify authority with the use of coercion against the people.

The Popular Government will be a multiparty one, composed of all the revolutionary parties, movements and groups. The executive will therefore be truly democratic, representative and cohesive. The Popular Government will respect the rights of the opposition as long as they are exercised within the legal framework.

The Popular Government will immediately proceed to effectively decentralize the administration which, in conjunction with democratic and efficient planning, will eliminate the centralization of the bureaucracy, replacing it with real coordination between all parts of the administration.

The structure of the municipalities will be modernized according to the plans for coordinating the whole state administration, while granting them the authority due to them. They will become local organs of the new political organization, possessing sufficient finance and powers to enable them to deal with the problems of the local districts and their inhabitants, in conjunction and coordination with the Neighbourhood Committees. The Provincial Assemblies must begin to operate with the same purpose in mind.

The police must be reorganized so that they can never again be used as a repressive force against ordinary people but, instead, ensure that the population is protected from anti-social behaviour. Police procedures will be made more humane, effectively guaranteeing full respect for human dignity and physical integrity. The prison system and prison conditions at present constitute one of the worst aspects of the present judicial system and must be radically transformed with a view to reforming the lawbreaker.

A NEW INSTITUTIONAL ORGANIZATION: THE POPULAR STATE

Political Organization

The new power structure will be built up from grass roots by extending democracy at all levels and by organizing the mobilization of the masses.

A new political constitution will validate the massive incorporation of the people into governmental power. We shall create a unicameral form of government with national, regional and local levels, and in which the Popular Assembly will constitute the supreme power. This people's Assembly will be the only parliament, expressing the sovereignty of the people at national level and in which all the various currents of opinion will be expressed.

This system will enable us to root out the evils suffered in Chile under dictatorial presidencies and corrupt parliamentary rule. The powers and responsibilities of the President of the Republic, the ministers, Popular Assembly, regional and local government organizations and political parties will be precisely redefined and coordinated in order to ensure the functioning of the legislature, efficiency in government and above all respect for the will of the majority.

All elections will take place simultaneously in an orderly process so as to establish the necessary harmony between the different expressions of the popular will and to ensure that these are expressed coherently.

Organizations representing the people may only be created by means of secret and direct universal suffrage of men and women of over 18 years of age, including civilians and military personnel, and literate and illiterate people. The members of the Popular Assembly and other organizations representing the people will be subject to control by the electors through consultation procedures, which would also allow for their mandate to withdrawn. A rigorous code of conduct will be established requiring deputies or high level civil servants to lose their mandate or post if guilty of acting on behalf of private interests.

The economic policy instruments to be used by the Government will constitute a national system of planning, and they will be executive instruments to be used to direct, coordinate and rationalize government activities. The operational plan must be approved in the Popular Assembly, and workers' organizations will play a fundamental role in the planning system.

The regional and local organs of government in the new People's State will exercise authority in the relevant geographical areas and they will have economic, political and social powers. In addition they will be able to make proposals to and criticize the higher levels. However, in exercising their powers these regional and local bodies must work within the limits set by national laws and by the overall social and economic development plans. Social organizations with specific attributes will be integrated into each of the different levels of the Popular State. It will be their duty to share responsibilities and develop initiatives in their respective spheres of influence as well as analyze and solve the problems within their competence. These attributes will not in any way limit the complete independence and autonomy of these organizations.

From the very day the Popular Government assumes power it will provide ways of ensuring that the influence of the workers and people is brought to bear on the administrative decisions adopted and on the control over the operation of the state administrative machinery. These constitute decisive steps in the elimination of an overcentralized bureaucracy which characterizes the present administrative system.

The Organization of Justice

The organization and administration of justice must be based on the guaranteed principle of autonomy and on real economic independence.

We visualize the existence of a Supreme Court whose members are appointed by the People's Assembly, the only limitation being the natural suitability of the members. This Court will be free to determine the internal, personal or corporate powers of the judicial system.

It is our intention that the new administration and organization of justice will come to the aid of the popular classes; it will operate more rapidly and in a less burdensome fashion.

Under the Popular Government a whole new concept of the judicial process will replace the existing individualistic and bourgeois one.

National Defence

The Popular State will pay special attention to the preservation of national sovereignty, which it also views as being the duty of every citizen.

The Popular State will remain alert before those threats to our territorial integrity and the country's independence, which are encouraged by the imperialists and by those groups of the oligarchy in power in neighbouring countries who encourage expansionist and retaliatory pretensions as well as repressing their own people. The People's State will establish a modern, popular and patriotic concept of the nation's sovereignty based on the following principles:

(a) The guarantee of the national integrity of all branches of the Armed Forces. In this sense we reject the use of these forces to repress the people or their participation in activities of interest to foreign powers;

(b) The provision of technical training with contributions from any modern military science, as deemed convenient to Chile and in the interests of national independence and of peace and friendship among peoples;

(c) The integration of the Armed Forces into different aspects of national life and the increase of their contribution to social life.

The Popular State will find ways of making possible for the Armed Forces to contribute to the country's economic development without prejudice to its primary task of national defence.

Following these lines, it will be necessary to provide the Armed Forces with the necessary material and technical means and to establish a just and democratic system of remuneration, promotion and retirement, which guarantees economic security to personnel in all ranks while serving in the forces and on retirement, and which provides real possibilities for promotion through the ranks on the basis of individual merit.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW ECONOMY

The central policy objective of the united popular forces will be the search for a replacement for the present economic structure, doing away with the power of foreign and national monopoly capital and of the LATIFUNDIO in order to initiate the construction of socialism.

Planning will play a very important role in the new economy. The main planning organs will be at the highest administrative level, and the decisions, which will be democratically determined, will be executive in character.

The Socially Owned Sector

The process of transformation in our economy will begin with the application of a policy intended to create a dominant state sector, comprising those firms already owned by the state and the business which are to be expropriated. As a first step, we shall nationalize those basic resources like large scale copper, iron and nitrate mines, and others which are controlled by foreign capital and national monopolies. These nationalized sectors will thus be comprised of the following:

1. Large scale copper, nitrate, iodine, iron and coal mines.

2. The country's financial system, especially private banks and insurance companies.

3. Foreign trade.

4. Large distribution firms and monopolies.

5. Strategic industrial monopolies.

6. As a rule, all those activities which have a strong influence on the nation's social and economic development, such as the production and distribution of electric power, rail, air and sea transport, communications, the production, refining and distribution of petroleum and its by-products, including liquid gas, the iron and steel industry, cement, petrochemicals and heavy chemicals, cellulose and paper.

In carrying out these expropriations, the interests of small shareholders will be fully safeguarded.

The Privately Owned Sector

This area includes those sections of industry, mining, agriculture and services where private ownership of the means of production will remain in force.

In terms of numbers these enterprises will constitute the majority. Thus, for example, in 1967 out of 30,500 firms (including artisan establishments) just 150 firms monopolistically controlled the entire market, received most of the assistance from the State, and most of the bank credit, and exploited the rest of the country's businessmen by selling them raw materials at high prices while buying their output at low prices.

The firms which compose this sector will benefit from the overall planning of the national economy. The State will provide the necessary technical and financial assistance for the firms in this sector, enabling them to fulfil the important role which they play in the national economy, when the number of people they employ and the volume of output they generate is taken into account. In addition, the patenting system, the customs tariffs, and the social security and taxation systems will be simplified for these firms and they will be assured of adequate and just marketing of their products.

These firms must guarantee the rights of workers and employees to fair wages and working conditions. Both the State and the workers in the respective firms will make sure that these rights are respected.

The Mixed Sector

This sector will be termed mixed because it will be composed of enterprises combining both State and private capital.

The loans or credits granted to the firms in this sector by development agencies may take the form of contributions, thereby making the State a partner rather than a creditor. The same holds in those cases in which the firm obtains credits with the backing or guarantee of the State or one of its agencies.

Intensification and Extension of the Agrarian Reform

In our view the Agrarian Reform process should be complementary to, and simultaneous with, the overall transformation which we wish to promote in the country's social, political and economic structure, such that its implementation is inseparable from the rest of our overall policy. Existing experience in this matter has shown up gaps and inconsistencies which suggest a reformulation of the policy for the distribution and organization of land ownership on the basis of the following guidelines:

1. Acceleration of the Agrarian Reform process, expropriating the holdings which exceed the established maximum size according to the characteristics of the different regions, including orchards, vineyards and forests, without giving the landowner the priority right to select the area to be retained by him. The expropriation may include the whole or part of the expropriated farm's assets (machinery, tools, animals, etc.).

2. The immediate cultivation of abandoned and badly exploited state lands.

3. Expropriated land will be organized preferably on the basis of cooperative forms of ownership. The peasants will be given titles which confirm individual ownership of the house and garden allocated to them, and the corresponding rights over the indivisible land of the cooperative as long as they continue to be members. When the circumstances warrant it, land may be allocated to individual peasants, with the organization of work and marketing being promoted on the basis of mutual cooperation. In addition, lands will be allocated to create state agricultural enterprises using modern technology.

4. In certain qualified cases land will be allocated to small farmers, tenants, sharecroppers and trained agricultural workers.

5. Minifundia properties will be reorganized  by means of progressively cooperative forms of agricultural work.

6. Small and medium peasants will be given access to the advantages and services provided by the cooperatives operating in their geographical area.

7. The defence of the indigenous Indian communities which are threatened with usurpation of their land will be ensured, as will be the democratic conduct of these communities, the provision of sufficient land and appropriate technical assistance and credit to the Mapuche people and other indigenous groups.

Policy For Economic Development

The Government's economic policy will be carried out by means of a national system of economic planning and through control mechanisms, guidelines, production credit, technical assistance, tax and foreign trade policies, as well as through the management of the state sector of the economy.

The policy objectives will be:

1. To resolve the immediate problems of the working classes. In order to achieve this we shall divert that part of the nation's productive capacity at present used to produce expensive and unnecessary products for high income groups to the production of cheap, high quality mass consumption goods.

2. To guarantee work and adequate wages to all Chileans of working age. This will involve devising a policy which generates a lot of employment while making adequate use of national resources and adapting technology to national development requirements.

3. To free Chile from subordination to foreign capital. On the one hand, this means expropriating imperialist capital and implementing a policy for increasing our capacity to self-finance our activities and, on the other, it means that we must determine the conditions under which non-expropriated foreign capital may operate, and achieve a greater degree of technological independence and greater independence in international transport, etc.

4. To secure rapid and decentralized economic growth, which will develop the country's productive forces to a maximum, achieving the optimum use of the available human, natural, financial and technical resources in order to increase labour productivity and satisfy the need for greater independence in the development of the economy, as well as those needs and aspirations of the working population which are compatible with a dignified human life.

5. To implement a foreign trade policy which will tend to develop and diversify our exports, open up new markets, achieve growing financial and technological independence and put an end to the successive scandalous devaluations of our currency.

6. To take all necessary measures to achieve monetary stability. The fight against inflation is already implicit in the announced structural changes. But it must also include measures which adjust the money in circulation to the real needs of the market and include the control and redistribution of credit and efforts to keep interest rates low. Measures must also be taken to rationalize marketing and commerce, to stabilize prices and to prevent price increases which emanate from the demand structure and reflect expenditure patterns of the high income groups.

The achievement of these objectives is guaranteed by the fact that it will be the organized masses who will exercise economic and political power, a situation which is represented by the existence of the public sector and of the overall planning of the economy. Government by the people will ensure the fulfillment of the indicated targets.

SOCIAL TASKS

The Chilean people's social aspirations are both legitimate and possible to satisfy. For example, Chilean citizens want decent housing without crippling rent increases, schools and universities for their children, adequate wages, a once and for all end to increases in the cost of living, stable employment, appropriate medical atention, street lighting, sewers, drinking water, surfaced roads and pavements, a just and efficient social security system, which is not based on privilege and which does not provide starvation level pensions, telephones, police, nursery schools, sport fields, holidays, tourism and popular beach resorts.

The satisfaction of these rightful aspirations, which in fact constitute rights which society must recognize, will be the principle concern of the Popular Government.

The basic aspects of Government action will be:

(a) The definition of an income policy, with the immediate creation of committees, which, with the participation of workers, will determine what constitutes a subsistence wage and minimum wages in different regions of the country. As long as inflation continues, wage readjustments related to the cost of living will be decreed by law. These adjustments will be made every six months or whenever the cost of living rises by more than 5%.

High level salaries in all Government departments, and above all the salaries of those appointed directly by the President, will be limited to levels which are compatible with national circumstances. Within a certain technically determined period, we shall begin to set up a system of equal minimum wages and salaries for equal work, wherever the work is done. This policy will first be introduced in the public sector, gradually being extended to the rest of the economy respecting, however, the differences made possible by varying levels of productivity in different firms. In the same way we intend to eliminate wage and salary discrimination between men and women or for reasons of age.

(b) To unify, improve, and extend the social security system, maintaining all the legitimate advances made so far, eliminating the abuse of privilege, inefficiency and bureaucracy, improving and speeding up treatment and attention, extending social security to groups of workers not yet included, and making the contributors responsible for the administration of their Social Security Schemes, which should function within the overall planning framework.

(c) To provide all Chileans with preventive and curative dental and medical care financed by the State, by employers and by social security institutions. The whole population will join in the task of protecting public health. Medicines, etc. will be provided in sufficient quantities and at low cost, on the basis of a strict control of laboratory costs and the reationalization of production.

(d) Sufficient funds will be provided for a large housing programme. The industrialization of construction will be developed, controlling prices and limiting the amount of profits made by the private or mixed enterprises operating in this field. In emergency situations, plots of land will be allocated to those families requiring them, also providing them with technical and material assistance to build their own houses.

One aim of the Popular Government's housing policy is for every family to become a house owner. The system of readjustable rents will be eliminated. The monthly mortgage or loan repayment and rents, to be paid by house purchasers and tenants respectively, will not exceed 10% of family income as a general rule. We shall undertake the remodelling of cities and suburbs to prevent poor people being forced to the outskirts, respecting the interests of such inhabitants of redeveloped areas as small businessmen, by assuring them of a future in the same area.

(e) Full civil status of married women will be established, as will equal legal status for all children whether born in or out of wedlock, as well as adequate divorce legislation which dissolves legal ties and safeguards the woman's and children's rights.

(f) The legal distinction between workers and white collar employees will be ended, both being classed as workers in future and the right to unionize will be extended to all those who do not have this right at present.

CULTURE AND EDUCATION

A New Culture For Society

The social process, which will begin when the working class wins power, will develop a new culture which considers human labour with the highest regard, which emphasises the desire for national assertion and independence and which develops a critical understanding of present reality.

The profound changes which have to be undertaken require a socially conscious and united people, educated to exercise and defend their political power, and scientifically and technically prepared to develop the transitional economy towards socialism, and a people wide open to creativity and the enjoyment of a wide variety of artistic and intellectual activities.

If, today, the majority of intellectuals and artists fight against the cultural distortions of capitalist society and attempt to convey their creative efforts to the workers and link themselves to the same historical destiny then, in the new society, they will continue this effort but from a vanguard position. A new culture cannot be decreed. It will spring from the struggle for fraternity as opposed to individualism, for the appreciation rather than disdain of human labour, for national values rather than cultural colonization, and from the struggle of the popular masses for access to art, literature, and the communications media and the end of their commercialization.

This new State will involve the whole population in intellectual and artistic activities not only by means of a radically transformed educational system but also through the development of a national system to promote popular culture. A large network of Local Centres for Popular Culture will encourage ordinary people to organize themselves and exercise their rights to participate in and promote culture. This system of Popular Culture will stimulate literary and artistic creativity and it will multiply the links between writers and artists and a very much larger public than their existing one.

A Democratic, Integrated and Planned Educational System

Action by the new Government in this field will concentrate on providing the best and most extensive educational facilities possible.

Both the general improvement in the working classes' living conditions and the recognition of the responsibilities borne by teachers at different levels will influence the extent to which these proposals are fulfilled. Also, a National Scholarship Programme will be established which will be sufficiently broad as to ensure the inclusion and continued education of all Chilean children, especially the children from working class and peasant backgrounds.

Furthermore, the new Government will implement an emergency plan for the construction of schools, relying on contributions of national and local resources mobilized by grass roots organizations. Luxury buildings which are needed as premises for new schools and boarding schools will be expropriated. In this way, it is hoped to create at least one integrated school (both basic and middle levels****) in each rural district, and in each urban residential district and low income neighbourhood.

In order to provide the special requirements needed for the proper development of pre-school age children, and to facilitate the incorporation of women into productive work, we shall rapidly expand our nurseries and nursery school systems, granting priority to the most needy groups in our society. As a result of this policy, the children of urban and rural workers and peasants will be better prepared to start school and continue to benefit right through the normal school system.

To make the new teaching system a reality, new methods are required which put emphasis on the active and critical participation of students in their teaching, instead of perpetuating the passive attitudes they are expected to adopt at present.

In order to rapidly repair the widespread lack of culture and education resulting from the present system, we shall set in motion an extensive popular mobilization campaign aimed at the rapid elimination of illiteracy and the raising of the educational level of the adult population. Adult education will be mainly organized around work centres, until it is possible to have a permanent system of general, technical and social education for workers.

The  transformation of the educational system will not only be the task of technically qualified people. It is also a task requiring study, discussion, decision and implementation by teachers', workers', students' and parents' organizations within the general framework of national planning. Internally, the planning of the schools system will pay particular attention to the need for integration, continuity and diversification in teaching.

In the executive management of the educational system there must be real representation of the aforementioned social organizations, which will be integrated into the Local, Regional and National Education Committees.

In order to achieve effective educational planning and turn the idea of a unified national and democratic school system into a practical reality, the new Government will take over responsibility for private educational establishments, starting with those educational institutions which select their pupils according to criteria of social class, national origin, or religion. This will be done by integrating the staff and other resources of the private education sector into the state system.

Physical Education

The Popular Government will be constantly concerned to ensure that physical education and participation in all kinds of sports is possible right from the earliest years at school and in all youth and adult social organizations.

University Democracy and Autonomy and the Role of Universities

The Popular Unity Government will give strong backing to the University Reform process and it will resolutely push forward this reform. The democratic outcome of this reform process will constitute an important contribution by universities to the revolutionary development of Chile. On the other hand, the reorientation of academic teaching, research, and extension functions towards national problems will be encouraged by the Popular Government's own initiatives.

The State will allocate sufficient resources to the universities to ensure the fulfilment of their functions and to ensure that they become fully democratic public institutions. In line with this, the memebers and employees of the universities will be responsible for running their respective institutions.

As class privilege is eliminated from the whole of the educational system, it will be possible for children of working class background to enter university and for adults to gain access to higher education either by means of special scholarships or through a system which simultaneously combines study and work.

The Mass Media

The mass media (radio, publishing, television, the press and cinema) are fundamental in helping to develop a new culture and a new type of man. For this reason it is necessary to redefine their purpose, putting emphasis on their educative role and ending their commercialization, and to adopt measures which allow social organizations the use of these communications media, eliminating the harmful effects of the monopolies. The national system of popular culture will be particularly concerned with the development of the film industry and the preparation of social programmes for the mass media.

THE POPULAR GOVERNMENT'S FOREIGN POLICY

Aims

The main lines of emphasis of the Popular Government's Foreign Policy are:

The assertion of full political and economic autonomy for Chile.

The establishment of diplomatic relations with all countries, irrespective of their ideological and political position, on the basis of respect for self-determination and in the interests of the Chilean people.

Ties of friendship and solidarity will unite Chile with dependent or colonized countries, especially those who are fighting for their liberation and independence.

The promotion of strong interamerican  and anti-imperialist sentiments based on foreign policies which are the expression of entire nations rather than on policies formulated solely by foreign ministries.

Efforts by nations to achieve or maintain self-determination will be given decided support by the new Government as a basic condition for the existence of international peace and understanding. As a consequence, our policy will be one of alertness and action in defence of the principle of non-intervention and we shall resist any attempt by the imperialist nations to discriminate, pressure, invade or blockade. We shall reinforce our relationships, trade and cultural exchanges and friendship with socialist countries.

Greater National Independence

The active defence of Chilean independence means that we must denounce the present Organization of American States as an agent and tool of American imperialism, and fight against all forms of Panamericanism which are implicit in this organization. The Popular Government will attempt to create an organization which is really representative of Latin American countries.

It is considered absolutely necessary to review, denounce or renounce, as befits each case, those treaties or agreements which involve commitments limiting our sovereignty, and, in particular, treaties of reciprocal assisstance, pacts of mutual aid or other pacts which Chile signed with the U.S.A.

The Government will reject and denounce foreign aid and loans which are extended for political reasons, or involve conditions requiring the investments derived from those loans to be made in ways which prejudice our sovereignty and are against the people's interests. Likewise, we shall repudiate all types of foreign charges imposed on Latin American raw materials such as copper and the obstacles put in the way of free trade which, over time, have made it impossible to establish collective trade relations with all countries of the world.

International Solidarity

The Popular Government will demonstrate effective and militant solidarity with those struggles in which people are fighting for freedom and for the construction of a socialist society.

All forms of colonialism and neo-colonialism will be condemned and we will recognize the right of those peoples subjected to these systems to rebel. Likewise, we shall condemn all forms of economic, political and military aggression provoked by imperialist powers. Chile's foreign policy must be one of condemnation of North American aggression in VietNam, and one of recognition of an active solidarity with the heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people.

In the same way, the Chilean people will demonstrate meaningful solidarity with the Cuban Revolution, which is the vanguard of revolution and construction of socialism in Latin America.

The Middle Eastern Nations who are struggling against imperialism can count on the solidarity of the Popular Government, which supports the search for a peaceful solution based on the interests of both the Arab and Jewish peoples. We shall condemn all reactionary governments which promote or practise racial segregation and anti-semitism.

Policy For Latin America

With regard to Latin America, the Popular Government will advocate an international policy which asserts the identity of Latin America in the world.

It is our view that Latin-American integration must be built on the basis of economies which have liberated themselves from imperialist forms of dependency and exploitation. Nevertheless, we shall maintain an active policy of bilateral agreements in those matters of interest for the development of Chile.

The Popular Government will take action to resolve frontier problems which are still outstanding on the basis of negotiations which exclude imperialist and reactionary intrigues, and which take into account both the interests of Chile and the interests of the peoples in neighbouring countries.

Chilean foreign policy and its diplomatic expression must break away from its bureaucratic habits and lack of initiative. Moreover, our foreign policy must derive from the peoples of many nations with the double purpose of, on the one hand, taking up the lessons learned from their struggles for application in the construction of our socialist society and, on the other, of offering them our experience, in such a manner that it is in the very practice of the idea that we shall build up the international solidarity for which we are fighting.

THE POPULAR GOVERNMENT'S FIRST FORTY MEASURES

1. An End To Enormous Salaries! We shall put a limit on the high salaries earned by those appointed directly by the President. We shall not allow people to hold simultaneously various paid posts such as advisory posts, directorships, representatives.

We shall do away with administrative promoters and political mongerers who use their official positions to promote their own ends and the interests of their friends and business and political acquaintances.

2. More Advisors? No! All civil servants will belong to the normal staff grades and none will be exempted from the Administrative Statute's conditions. We will not have any more advisors in Chile.

3. Honest Administration. We shall put an end to favouritism and grade jumping in the Public Administration. It will not be possible to remove civil servants from their posts without due cause. Nobody will be persecuted for their political or religious beliefs. We shall ensure the efficiency and honesty of government officials and the civil treatment of the public.

4. No More Unnecessary Foreign Trips. Foreign journeys by government officials will not be allowed except for those which are really necessary in Chile's interests.

5. No More Use Of Government Cars For Pleasure. Under no circumstances will the government's cars be used for private purposes. Those vehicles which are available will be used in the service of the public: for transporting school children, for transporting people requiring medical attention from low income housing districts, or for police duties.

6. The Civil Service Will Not Enrich Its Employees. We shall establish strict control over the incomes and property of high level public officials. The Government will no longer allow public officials to use their position to enrich themselves.

7. Fair Pensions. We must put a stop to millionaire level pensions wether they be for parliamentarians or any other public or private group, using the resources to improve pensions at the lower end of the scale.

8. Fair And Timely Retirement. We will give retirement rights to all people over 60 years of age who have been unable to retire because their contributions have not been paid.

9. Social Security For Everyone. We shall incorporate into the Social Security system all people in small and medium scale commerce, industry and farming, and independent workers, artisans, fishermen, small scale miners and housewives.

10. Immediate And Full Payment Of Pensions And Benefits. We shall finally pay the increases in pensions due to retired members of the Armed Forces and we shall arrange for the proper and due payment of retirement pensions and widow's pensions under the Social Security System.

11. Protection Of The Family. We shall set up a Ministry for the protection of the family.

12. Equal Family Allowances. All family allowances will in future be fixed at the same level.

13. Children Are Born To Be Happy! We shall provide free education, books, materials, exercise books, etc. for all children throughout the basic level.

14. Better Meals For Children. We will provide breakfast for all children in the basic level and lunch for those children whose parents cannot provide it.

15. Milk For All Chilean Children. We guarantee a daily ration of half a litre of milk to all Chilean children.

16. Family Welfare Clinics In All Poor Areas. We shall set up family welfare clinics in all working class neighbourhoods, slums and squatter settlements.

17. Real Holidays For All Chilean Students. The best pupils selected from the basic educational level throughout the country will be invited to the Presidential Palace at Vina del Mar.

18. Control Of Alcoholism. We shall overcome alcoholism, by providing possibilities for a better life and not by repressive means. We shall stop abuse of the drinking laws and licensing regulations.

19. Housing, Lighting And Drinking Water For All Chileans. We shall undertake an emergency plan for the rapid building of houses. Also, we shall ensure the provision of drinking water and electric lighting in every block.

20. No More Readjustable 'CORVI' Payments. CORVI, the Housing Corporation's dividends and the loan repayments it receives will no longer be readjusted in line with rising prices.

21. Fixed Price Rents. We shall fix rents at an amount corresponding to 10% of family income as a maximum. Key rights will be abolished immediately.

22. Vacant Sites, No! Housing, Yes! We shall build on all disused public, semi-public and municipal sites.

23. Property Taxes On Mansions Only. We shall free from the payment of property taxes the owners of dwellings with a surface below 80 square metres as long as the owner lives there permanently and the house is neither a luxury house nor a beach villa.

24. A Real Agrarian Reform. We shall intensify Agrarian Reform, which will also benefit medium and small scale farmers, MINIFUNDIA holders, sharecroppers, employees and temporary rural labourers.

25. Medical Attention Without Bureaucracy. We shall eliminate all the bureaucratic and administrative obstacles which hinder or make difficult the provision of medical attention to contributors and unemployed people.

26. Free Medical Attention In Hospitals. We shall abolish payment for medicines and examinations in hospitals.

27. No More Artificially High Prices For Medicines. We shall drastically reduce the price of medicines by lowering the import duties and taxes on the raw materials.

28. Scholarships For Students. We shall establish the right of all good students to obtain a scholarship for the basic and middle school levels and university education, taking into account performance and the family's economic resources.

29. Physical Education And Popular Tourism And Holidays. We shall promote physical education and we shall establish sports fields in schools and all neighbourhoods. Every school and low income urban or rural housing district will have a sports field. We shall organize and promote low income tourism and holidays.

30. A New Economy To Put An End To Inflation. We shall increase the production of items of popular consumption. We shall control prices and prevent inflation by immediately setting up the new economic structure.

31. No More Links With The International Monetary Fund. We shall renege the  commitments with the International Monetary Fund. We shall put an end to the continual shameful devaluation of the escudo.

32. No More Taxes On Food. We shall stop increases in taxes which affect basic food necessities.

33. Abolition Of The Sales Tax. We shall abolish the sales tax and replace it by another more just and expedite tax system.

34. No More Speculation. We shall severely penalize economic crimes.

35. No More Unemployment. We shall ensure the right of all Chileans to work and we shall prevent unjustified dismissals.

36. Wor For All Chileans. We shall immediately create new sources of employmwent by implementing plans for public works and house building, by setting up new industries, and by carrying out development projects.

37. The Riot Police Unit Will Be Disbanded. We shall ensure law and order in lower and middle class residential areas and the protection of the individual. The police and detectives will be restricted to crime prevention duties. We shall disband the Riot Police Unit incorporating its members into the normal duties of police vigilance against delinquency.

38. An End To Class Justice. We shall set up a rapid and free legal procedure, in which the Neighbourhood Committees will cooperate, to examine and resolve special cases such as quarrels, ruffianism, abandonment of the home and acts which disturb the community.

39. Legal advice bodies in all neighbourhoods. We shall set up Legal Advice Bodies in all low income neighbourhoods and districts.

40. The Creation Of A National Institute Of Art And Culture. We shall create a National Institute of Art and Culture and schools for training in the arts in all districts.

THE TWENTY BASIC POINTS OF THE POPULAR UNITY GOVERNMENT'S AGRARIAN REFORM

ONE. Agrarian Reform and agricultural development will not be isolated factors, but will form an integral part of the overall plan for transforming the economy into one which serves the whole people. This implies that Agrarian Reform will not only involve the expropriation of all LATIFUNDIA, the distribution of land to peasant producers and rural labourers and the provision of the technical assistance and credits which are necessary to enable them to produce what Chile requires, but also includes the transformation of commercial and industrial relationships for the sale and purchase of products required by peasants for consumption and for production. The marketing and processing of agricultural output must be in the hands of the State or peasant or consumer cooperatives.

TWO. The benefits of Agrarian Reform will be extended to the groups of medium and small farmers, smallholders, employees, sharecroppers and temporary labourers who have so far been excluded from these benefits.

THREE. The peasantry, represented by unions, cooperatives and small scale farmers' organizations will replace the representatives of the large estates in all Government departments and agencies. The Popular Unity Government will only deal with these representatives of the rural population because it is they who are the true representatives of the 98% of the population which lives from agricultural activities or depends on an income from agriculture.

At the level of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, as it will then be called, under whose direct responsibility will be placed all branches of the State which deal with the agricultural sector, a National Peasant Council will be set up to advise the Minister and top civil servants and officials of the various government agencies. This Council will be democratically elected by the grass roots peasant organizations.

At the same time Regional Peasant Councils will be formed in each of the country's agricultural zones in which the officials responsible for the zone and the elected peasant representatives will participate on an equal footing. All the measures necessary for implementing Agrarian Reform and agricultural development, will be adopted in these National and Regional Peasant Councils - i.e. expropriations, land distribution, credits, marketing of products and inputs, etc.

FOUR. Agrarian Reform will no longer be implemented on a farm by farm basis but by areas and, in each of these areas, productive work will be guaranteed for all peasants and rural labourers in the area either in direct work on the land, or in the processing and distribution of the products, or in the provision of the general services required in production.

FIVE. We shall employ new legal concepts to help us to achieve integration and cooperation by the united action of the various rural organizations of wage earners, employees, sharecroppers, temporary labourers and small and medium scale farmers. This will involve an increase in the number of tasks to be carried out by the unions, agrarian reform settlements (ASENTAMIENTOS)*****, rural cooperatives, indigenous Indian communities, and other types and forms of small farmers' organizations, such as the small farmers' committees.

Furthermore, the Popular Government will end the present mockery of the law whereby agricultural employers refrain from paying the 2% employer's contribution required by the law governing peasant unions inducing the bankruptcy of the rural workers' trade unions.

SIX. Areas under forest will also be included in the Agrarian Reform.

SEVEN. Only small and medium scale farmers will be excluded from expropriation, and only those larger scale farmers whose social and economic contributions to agricultural production and rural community development are recognized by the peasants will have the right to retain some land. And in any case, the right to retain some land will not be accompanied by the preferential right to select this piece of land, since it may be necessary to offer other land so as facilitate the restructuring of peasant holdings.

EIGHT.  Working capital will be included in expropriations so that, right from the very beginning, expropriated holdings have the capital necessary for farming operations.

NINE. Technical assistance to peasants will be provided without charge and special credit, technical assistance and training programmes will be drawn up for the most backward groups especially the indigenous Indian communities.

TEN. Each peasant will have family rights to his house and garden. Production will be organized preferably under the cooperative system, though in special cases individual cultivation and ownership of land may be considered.

ELEVEN. By means of credit, technical assistance, regional and national planning, we shall orient production towards high priced products both for export and for the home market. Credits for certain types of labour intensive products, such as pigs and poultry, will be reserved for small farmers and other peasants to help increase their income and improve their social and economic situation.

TWELVE. At an early stage of the Popular Government the Agrarian Reform Law will be fully enforced, making use of all powers that the present Government does not wish to use or has not been able to use, such as allocating land to cooperatives, defending the interests of sharecroppers and tenants, reorganizing irrigation areas and systems, etc. The necessary amendments to the present Agrarian Reform Law will be discussed and approved by the National and Regional Peasant Councils before being sent to Parliament.

THIRTEEN. The State will guarantee the purchase of that part of the peasants' output which is not marketed at official prices through the normal channels, and gradually the State will make anticipatory contracts for all livestock and agricultural output which is planned according to the country's needs.

Advance credits for production will be granted to small peasants in cash only, and not in the form of credit notes as happens in most cases at present and which involves the further exploitation of those peasants who can only get their credit notes discounted at burdensome rates and on unfavourable terms.

FOURTEEN. Agriculture-based industries will preferably be located in the agricultural regions which at present suffer most severely from agricultural unemployment or underemployment.

FIFTEEN. The State will nationalize all monopolies controlling the marketing, preparation and processing of livestock and agricultural products of the necessary inputs for agricultural production. These enterprises will be either directly managed by the State, with advice from the Peasant Councils, or they will be handed over to rural cooperatives.

SIXTEEN. A national social security system for all rural workers will be set up, especially including those small farmers who are at present excluded from social security. In the same way, we shall ensure that social security arrangements for farmers and agrarian reform settlements will be continued.

SEVENTEEN. Special programmes will be undertaken to improve and to construct rural housing because, until now, peasants and rural workers have been excluded from all previous housing improvement programmes.

EIGHTEEN. We shall set up rural hostels in the principal towns in agricultural areas, so that passing migrants and temporary labourers or peasants on business in town have somewhere to lodge which also provides them with support and guidance in carrying out their tasks, especially in relation to public services, education, health, etc.

NINETEEN. A general policy for education will be developed through adult literacy programmes, publications of books, newspapers and radio programmes for the rural population, and through courses on agricultural technology in line with the region's production plans. At the same time, theatre, arte and other cultural activities will be promoted, which will help develop the character of rural communities.

TWENTY. A special effort will be made to push ahead with plans for the protection of natural resources, forestation plans, etc., and with plans for making better use of irrigated areas.

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NOTES:

(*) The word peasants and peasantry should be taken to include small proprietors, agricultural wage labourers, sharecroppers, migrant and temporary rural labourers, smallholders who rent their land and other types of agricultural workers. (The translator)

(**) The word used in the original Spanish text is 'poblacion' and refers to various types of low income housing areas in towns and villages. These include slums, illegally occupied squatter settlements, temporary shanty towns and permanent but poor housing developments promoted by the government and housing associations or constructed by means of self-help programmes in which technical and material assistance is provided by the government. In the rest of this document references to low income housing districts or low income neighbourhoods should be taken as referring to all these different low income housing areas. (The translator).

(***) The original Spanish text refers to 'pobladores' which generally means 'settlers'. But in this context reference is being made to both inhabitants of shanty towns and squatter settlements and to the inhabitants of new low income housing estates constructed for or with the aid of working class people who are often immigrants from the countryside. In the rest of the text the word 'pobladores' will usually be translated simply as inhabitants of poor neighbourhoods and should be read as including the various categories just listed. (The translator).

(****) The basic level of education lasts 8 years commencing at 6 years of age, and the middle level lasts 4 years, following completion of the basic level. (The translator)

(*****) ASENTAMIENTO. This was a transitional system adopted during the Christian Democrat Government and during the first year of the Popular Unity Government to manage the expropriated estates for a three to five year period. The ASENTAMIENTO coincides with the boundaries of the old estate and is run as a unit on a cooperative basis by the agrarian reform corporation and ASENTAMIENTO members. During the transitional period the peasants are trained to take over full management responsibilities and Government agencies provide technical assistance and credit. According to the law the peasants may decide whether the land will be divided into individual holdings or be organized and operated on a cooperative basis on the expiry of the ASENTAMIENTO period, though the Government may impose cooperative ownership operation if there are overriding technical reasons for doing so. (The Translator)

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end of Popular Unity's Programme (Chile, early 1970)
RRojas Research Unit/1997

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