THE BATTLE OF CHILE
The struggle of an unarmed people
Part Three THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE
a Patricio Guzmán Film
In memory of Jorge Müller Silva
Allende! Allende!
The left, united, will never be defeated!
Santiago de Chile, 1972.
In only 18 months
Salvador Allende's socialist government
has carried out a large part of its social change program.
Over a year and a half, it has nationalized
the big copper, iron, coal, nitrate and cement mines.
In this time, the State manages to control
most of Chile's principal monopolist companies.
Allende, we're with you, so hit the "mummies" hard!
It has also expropriated
6 million hectares of arable land
and nationalized almost all national and foreign banks.
During these 18 months, the North American government
and the internal opposition
have seriously hampered the government's work.
Despite this, Allende still receives firm support
from wide sectors of the population.
Allende, Allende, the people will defend you!
Towards the end of 1972
the toughest sector of the opposition
reaffirms its strategy.
The National Party insists on the need
to provoke the fall of the government
before the next parliamentary elections.
To do this, they encourage a truckers' strike
which spearheads a general collapse of the economy.
The scarcity of spare parts, fomented by the U.S.
creates ideal conditions for the National Party
to win control of the truck owners' organization.
If we, the means of mobilization
want an acceptable solution,
then we'll have no more tricks, no more zigzagging!
We are going after a solution
to the problems of tariffs and spare parts
of adequate reorganization.
We want more justice and less bureaucracy.
And so we're asking you
for your support so that our Board of Management
can work from this position.
We believe that the time has come when
as one single man, one single trucker
and along with the women
who are participating side by side in this
we have no alternative but to raise the banners
of an indefinite, decisive strike
whatever the consequences
If we have to perish in misery,
in bankruptcy and ruin
let's do it on our feet
vibrant, upright and proud
for that's the image of the poor Chilean
expressed through this organization! Thank you.
And that, gentlemen
was how the Confederation's Board
gave the necessary instructions
to all our fellow organizations
so that from yesterday, Tuesday, at midnight
all services in Chile would be paralyzed.
Therefore, we have fulfilled, gentlemen
the mandate which the national assembly
gave to the Board of this Confederation.
On October 11, 1972
the first transport strike begins.
The next day, the truckers get the support
of the National Agricultural Society
and of large and small storekeepers
who also call a stoppage.
On the night of October 14, the Christian Democrat party
also resolve to support the strike.
Urban and highway transport is a strategic sector
of the production chain.
The absence of vehicles
disrupts the supply of raw materials
and interrupts distribution on a national scale.
The New York Times would later reveal
that the main economic support for the strike
came from the U.S. Government.
The big employers
grouped in the Society for Manufacturing Development
also halt production
and begin an indefinite closure of their factories.
These sectors defend private companies
and reject any kind of socialization of the economy.
Chilean industry has grouped together
in the Society for Manufacturing Development
of which I am president.
This institution is the oldest of its kind in Latin America.
It was founded in 1883.
To date it has had 19 presidents
and I'm the 20th.
Historically, the Society for Manufacturing Development
is a mouthpiece for big national and foreign capital.
During the October strike
it represents the main industrialists.
We asked the industrialists to submit to this movement
and they submitted to it, as persons.
Industry was paralyzed in many places
and that was because
many groups of workers followed the movement
professional workers, such as engineers
bank employees, health workers
professionals such as lawyers and engineers.
And there were storekeepers
small and medium-sized industrialists.
Really, all of industry and commerce.
It was a movement which took in extremely wide sectors.
In Santiago, 70%% % of private buses
stop working.
The country's urban communications are in crisis.
The workers take factory trucks on the streets
and improvise minimum transport.
Given the emergency they fight the strike from the start.
In response to the government's call
the great majority of workers get to their jobs.
As soon as we heard
that the carriers had voted for the strike
we thought it was a maneuver against the government.
We had a meeting immediately to take precautions
for this is a state company and we have to look after it.
We worked every day, as normal.
We arrived late, but we got here.
How did you come?
In trucks, or whatever.
The factory put on trucks, and got private buses
and we came in them.
We're here to work, and give our support to the factory.
And how did you manage to get here?
We came in the bus, on foot, or whatever.
The important thing was to get here.
Some comrades who worked lent us their trucks
and we used those to get to work and go back home.
- Did the factory stop? - No, never.
Our attitude is that we'll always keep working
to cooperate with the government.
So we've done everything that's within our power
in order to be able to stand by the government.
We've never missed work during the strikes.
We've always been here, regular as clockwork.
- It's a seditious strike. - How did the workers respond?
By working as normal every day.
And there were even young mothers
who came to work with their babies in their arms
and even pregnant women turned up.
Meanwhile, in the center of Santiago
the opposition's agitators attack those buses
which haven't joined the strike.
In the residential areas
most industrial executives, engineers and technicians
stay at home, firmly supporting the strike.
At present
I am president
of the Confederation of Chilean Professionals
which has a membership of some 50,000 professionals
workers with professional qualifications
who work in various industries
or other companies in the country.
These kinds of associations, supposedly apolitical
work in close collaboration with the opposition parties.
We have great organization amongst our members.
People who are disciplined, aware, responsible.
The October strike showed that.
Gradually, these organizations start to behave
in an almost fascist way.
I don't believe in the myth
that a worker, just by being a worker, can do everything.
Well, the engineers left.
They went with the company executives.
They abandoned the company
and it was left in the hands of our manager comrades.
So we organized ourselves immediately
and, along with them, we've taken on this responsibity.
We're doing well now that our bosses have abandoned us
and we're carrying on ourselves.
They went off and left the factory to us
so we just carried on working as normal.
So far, we haven't had any problems.
We're getting on with things.
I think what they did was wrong.
They didn't even say anything to us.
Despite everything, we're more satisfied now
much better off
and I wish I could shake comrade Allende's hand.
We're doing perfectly well the way we're working now.
I think we're doing very well
with the new industrial reforms.
We're doing well, and working with more determination.
In the factories, the more experienced workers
take charge of the main operations.
The few engineers who support the government
Iook after various neighboring factories.
Thus, just one engineer can attend to the problems
of four or five companies.
In these first moments
industrial activity doesn't stop.
Meanwhile, in the Upper Chamber
ten senators issue a statement
saying that the government is overstepping the law.
This document, which has no legal force
damages Allende's constitutional image
in the eyes of the armed forces.
The ten signatories
include members of the Christian Democrat Party.
I think that, in this case, the Christian Democrats
are wrong in supporting the "mummies".
I used to be a Christian Democrat myself
and I think they're betraying our country
by supporting those people.
It was the bourgeoisie
who kept all the workers in ignorance.
Why do so many workers have no idea about politics?
They say they're "apolitical"
but they don't know that everything is political.
In order to organize, the workers had to unite.
But on what basis?
The organizations have functioned
on the basis of political parties.
And the parties which are with Popular Unity now
have always been with the workers.
The opposition parties only exploited the workers
and that's the case with the Christian Democracy.
They created that paternalism to use the workers.
Are there Christian Democrat workers?
Yes, of course.
- Any problems with them? - No.
- They work too? - We all work together.
There's no problem.
- Are there Christian Democrat workers? - Yes.
- They work too? - Yes.
Although the Christian Democracy
is supporting the strike
some of its militant workers carry on working.
In fact, these workers are at variance with their leaders.
They feel more identified with their fellow workers
than with the bosses.
You're not with Popular Unity. Who are you with?
I'm with the workers.
Who are the workers with?
With Popular Unity.
Did you work during the strike?
- Of course. - Why?
Because we have workers' awareness.
- Did you work too? - Yes.
- So you're with Popular Unity? - With the workers.
Because the "mummies" have never respected
the present government.
It's the people who respect the government.
They follow the government's orders.
But those rich guys
What do you call them?
The moneybag men
the men who are losing their interests.
They're the ones who are complaining.
They know that the people have to buy, and have to eat
and now they want to hide the things
that the people have to buy.
They're causing chaos so that the people
will turn against the government.
The opposition increases the hoarding
of essential items.
It's an attempt to create widespread shortages.
In reply, the government and the popular organizations
increase surveillance
to find where the goods are being secretly stored.
Despite everything, the population has problems
in obtaining products which are available.
Given the critical situation, the government declares
the capital and several provinces as emergency areas
This means that the armed forces
have to undertake police duties.
The opposition accuse Allende
of making political use of the military.
The opposition press start a campaign
to encourage disobedience to the government
among the military.
This is a very critical time for our country.
But I think that with unity among the workers
we'll get through.
What do you think of the present crisis?
- I think it's pretty bad. - And what should be done?
We have to stop what's happening
and try to rebuild the country.
Things are bad.
- What should we do? - Work and produce more.
- Say it louder. - Work and produce more.
Really, the situation is getting very serious.
The crisis? We have to tackle it
and everyone has to lend a hand.
- How? - By working more
producing more, and helping the President.
We mustn't pay any attention to the "mummies".
Their one and only interest is in stifling us, smothering us.
They're taking advantage of the fact
that the North Americans
want to trample on our dignity as Chileans.
They're doing the same, and we can't agree
as Chileans, as workers
as men who have been in our jobs for years
to act in accordance with their wishes. No!
Not now, not ever. Just the opposite.
Our intention will always be to fight for a new Chile
economically and politically free.
Some factories start selling their products
directly to the people.
The unions in the various industries join forces
to take the products to the neighborhoods.
Just now, we're working as inspectors, "ad honorem".
We're not doing our old jobs but we still get our salary.
The work that we're doing now involves coordinating
the market areas, as it were
that have to do with electrical gadgets.
Other factories send workers' pickets
to open shops that are closed.
These workers act as inspectors
on behalf of the government.
All the directors
of the various railway workers' associations
issued a statement
regarding yesterday's attack by fascist elements
against a passenger train
and said they will not tolerate further aggressions.
They defined yesterday's attack on a passenger train
as a criminal act against the rail workers
and against passengers
whose lives are in the hands of those workers.
Yes, there were two committees to guard the factory
day and night.
Two committees.
What did they do?
They guarded the factory, so no one would try to seize it.
We've got a vigilance committee here, comrade
and it watches the factory on Saturdays, Sundays
and public holidays.
It's never left unguarded for a single moment.
Yes, we thought of building four towers
one on each of the four sides of the building
and that way we'd have a much better view
when we were keeping watch over the factory.
Vigilance committees spring up daily
in Santiago's main manufacturing areas.
Tell the story of this truck.
Well, the comrades met in a workers' assembly
and agreed to cooperate with the government
on the best way of tackling and defeating
the transport strike.
And that was by making tankers for the transport of fuel
and making them as fast as we possibly could.
All in all, it took us just one week to do the job
and give the government ten tankers
like the ones you see here.
By mid-October, the workers' organizational capacity
has surpassed all expectations.
They manage to maintain relatively normal production
by making maximum use of reserve stocks.
The industries create a system among themselves
for exchanging resources.
In practice, we are seeing the start
of the so-called "industrial belts".
Each belt is an association of factories and companies
which coordinates the jobs of workers in the same areas.
They are the first seeds of popular power in Chile.
While government supporters seem to be beating the crisis,
the opposition's violent groups try to create
an image of chaos and lack of authority.
The efficient action by the police
and the mass mobilization of workers
who demonstrated their support
for the constitutional government
defeated the attempt today by fascist elements
to spark off a bloody disturbance
in the city of Santiago.
The fascist groups attacked the students and workers
who were showing their support for the government.
Stores were damaged
the Corporation for Urban Improvement was attacked
and looted by the mob
and shots were fired by unseen gunmen.
The presence of workers on the main streets
caused the dispersal of the groups of provokers
who were trying to create a climate of disorder.
Workers from the building industry
and the nationalized sectors
marched through the center
to prevent outrages by the fascist groups.
On October 29, the employers' movement
starts to show some signs of tiring.
In the factories, the workers' situation is also difficult
as reserve stocks are almost exhausted.
Given the situation
AIlende creates the political conditions
for an understanding with the Christian Democracy.
He brings the commanders-in- chief of the armed forces
into the government.
To create this civil-military cabinet
the president relies on Gen. Carlos Prats
natural leader of the officers
who respect the democratic system.
Backed by this sector
Allende reaches an agreement with the Christian Democracy
and negotiates a solution to the transport strike.
A wide sector of left-wing workers
interprets the presence of the military
as a chance to use a heavy hand against the opposition.
You like the idea of the military in the cabinet?
I agree with having the military in the cabinet.
It's the only way to control the "mummies".
They need a heavy hand.
What do you think of it?
They should have been there from the start.
Why?
To solve all the problems we've got.
What do you think of it?
I agree entirely with including the military.
They should have put more in the ministry.
Do you think they're with the people?
Yes, of course, they're all with the people now.
How do you know that?
We know because, in the first place
the reactionary forces couldn't overturn
all of the armed forces.
So we know that they're with the government and the people
After the statement that Gen. Prats made yesterday
we know perfectly well that it's a guarantee for us.
I don't like them in the government
simply because democratic systems
are inconsistent with the military.
So why has comrade Allende fallen back on them?
I guess because things are so serious at the moment
circumstances made it necessary to take that step
so as to impose order.
But I hope it isn't permanent, that it's for a short time.
I think that, at this moment
neither I nor anybody can say clearly
if there'll be a civil war.
It all depends on the armed forces.
If they continue to act as they've done so far
being loyal to the people and to order
and respecting the law
I don't think there'll be a confrontation.
The government will continue, with difficulty
but it'll continue.
What will have to be done if the strike is repeated?
The State should take over the trucks.
All the trucking should be taken over by the State
and then managed by the workers.
The trucks can't do anything without the workers.
And the workers are building the country.
We, the people, opened our eyes and realized.
We aren't like we used to be.
Before they tricked us all the time.
Because I think that throughout the world
they have to understand the worker.
Not just here in Chile, but everywhere.
On November 10, 1972, the civil-military cabinet
manages to put an end to the strike.
For the U.S. Government and the internal opposition
this means failure.
They've done great economic damage to the country
but haven't toppled the government, as they'd hoped.
For a wide sector of workers
this October experience will be a basis
for the growth of popular power.
A few days later, at a demonstration
to celebrate the end of the strike
the "Cerrillos Belt" makes its first appearance.
The organization, which didn't exist before the strike
takes in 250 companies from the south of Santiago.
Workers from the "Cerrillos Belt"
Present!
- Workers from "Fensa" - Present!
- "Sindelén" - Present!
- "Maestranza Cerrillos" - Present!
- Workers from "Ralco" - Present!
After the strike, almost all the base movements
are linked to popular power.
It is an initiative channeled by the government
but its origins don't lie there.
This power often causes consternation
in some left-wing parties
alarmed by certain spontaneous attitudes among the people
Let's create popular power!
After October, the slogan "Let's create popular power"
continues to be heard all over the country.
Let's create popular power!
Power to the workers!
Let's create popular power!
By the middle of 1973, 31 industrial belts
have been created in all of the country's main cities.
8 of these belong to Santiago.
When conflicts arise with the bosses
especially in small companies
the workers concerned receive immediate support
from the belt to which they belong.
This solidarity gives the small unions
greater backing in order to confront the bosses.
We've earned huge fortunes for those guys, the bosses.
But they won't do anything for the welfare of the workers.
And now they want to destroy us.
There's a great persecution of union leaders
but we union leaders are not alone.
We're supported by all our workers
and by the industrial belts.
And the industrial belts
cover the entire length of Chile, so we're powerful.
And they've failed once again.
Now we're all organized and we're all aware
and the workers have opened their eyes.
We're aware of a lot more things.
And we've got support.
The more united we are, the more powerful we'll be.
The enemy that we're facing, the right
is very powerful and well organized.
Why shouldn't we be organized?
Why shouldn't we take advantage of our numbers?
There are more workers than bosses.
It's easy to beat them, but we must be organized and united
What do you think of the industrial belts?
- They're very important. - Why?
Because I think that they're the real power
of the organized communes.
And I think that we should all be very clear
about the importance of the industrial belts
and how we should work to support and organize them.
Do you think they work in parallel to the government
or with the government?
A lot of people are scared of the industrial belts.
Yes, we've actually been able to feel that fear
because we've seen how, in the public services
they are really terrified about community participation
You see no danger in industrial belts?
Of course not.
I've got every confidence in the people's intelligence.
People who are organized are intelligent.
So how can you be afraid of a people's organization?
The workers occupy hundreds of factories all over the country
Some of these industries can be expropriated legally.
However, a great many of ther are in workers' hands
without any possibility of legal support.
They are the first symptoms that the State apparatus
is starting to be overwhelmed by reality.
Later, they start to organize "community commandos"
as another kind of popular power.
These commandos unite all the components of a commune
that is, students, housewives, workers
neighbors and peasants.
Have you heard of the community commandos?
Yes, I've heard a lot about them.
They're very well organized. We've got them here too.
They care a lot about the workers
especially now, when we're going through
this revolutionary period.
What do you think of the community commandos?
They are organizations of ordinary people
which are fighting.
It's something in which all the proletarian class
should be participating
because many proletarians are mistaken
and being fooled by people who say there are shortages.
That's being done by the right, by the bourgeoisie
by U.S. Imperialism and the Chilean bourgeoisie.
None of them are fighting for Chile.
We're fighting for Chile and for equality for all
so we can build a socialism
which belongs to the proletarian class.
What about the community commandos?
I think that at this particular moment
they are the organic solution
to the problem of provisioning
and also to that of uniting the proletarian class
in the communes and the provinces
both for a possible civil war
and the daily confrontation which we must face
and also for specific solutions to things such as
hygiene, health, vigilance against the bourgeoisie.
So what's needed there?
What's needed is an organization
which can provide guidance
for those sectors of the class which are marginalized.
Today they are the most explosive sectors
the ones who are really mobilizing
right across the country.
We are sending out a call to all neighbors
to organize however may be necessary
so that within a short time
with the leadership of the working class
with the leadership of the Cerrillos industrial belt
we may set up the community commando
which, tomorrow, will be power for the proletarian class
and won't be halted by bourgeois institutionalism
or reactionary elements.
Power to the workers!
Comrades
We have come to the center of Maipú
because we understand
that a basic tool for the task we have undertaken
is class alliance
The alliance that will allow us to overthrow the enemy
however powerful he is.
The alliance that will allow us to halt imperialist action.
carried out by its puppets in Chile.
The alliance that will allow us
to build and develop popular power.
The alliance that will allow us
to have the necessary strength to take power.
In practice, the community commandos
acquire real form from specific actions.
In this case, workers from the Cerrillos belt
and peasants from the town of Maipú
decide to occupy by force
39 badly exploited agricultural estates.
These lands could be one of the main sources of provisions
for the capital.
Each neighboring factory sends pickets
to support the action.
It's the first time that urban workers
will take part in a peasant mobilization.
This unitary action sets out the true basis
of a communal commando.
In the early hours of the morning
brigades of peasants and workers occupy the lands.
They set up permanent guard at these key positions.
- May I ask you a question? - All you want.
- What's your name? - Luis Gilberto Jerez.
- And the estate's name? - The "Santa Carolina" estate.
Why is it being occupied?
Because the owner didn't keep his word to his workers
to his employees.
The call went out and so we decided to occupy it.
We're united because we've come to help
our comrades here.
I'm on a committee which is in charge of the estate.
I'm one of the founders of that committee.
I strove for this.
I want our comrades to strive as well
for if we're united we can throw out the bosses.
- Where do you work? - In "Siam Di Tella".
- Where? - "Siam Di Tella".
- So you work in industry. - Yes, I run the Mackenna belt.
Why are you occupying this estate?
It's necessary to unite
the working class and the peasants
in order to fight the bosses together
because we've got common problems
and we have to look for a solution as a class.
How is the worker-peasant union working here in Maipú?
I think it's the first clear example
of how strong and effective the worker-peasant union is.
We've taken 39 estates, with the support of workers
from the Cerrillos sector and from Vicuña Mackenna.
The second step is to start exploiting the lands.
They also set up vigilance committees
to patrol the lands day and night to prevent
reprisals by the owners.
The occupiers demand
that the law on agrarian reform be applied
and call on government bureaucrats
to study the situation.
In short, our comrades are still at the mercy
of the judicial powers
with all these eviction orders
arrest warrants
and trials for crimes they've never committed
but these can be avoided with state intervention
and the assigning of credits to the supervisor
In general, the agrarian reform law
allows the expropriation of badly exploited lands.
But in this case
the estate doesn't meet the law's requirements.
This forces the peasants to defend firmly
the validity of their initiative.
We don't lie
and any comrade here who is lying
is immediately rejected by us. Why is that?
If we are asking for those 26 estates, it's for a reason.
If we were asking for 28, there'd be a reason.
Then there'll be some bit of bureaucratic trickery
to try to delay things and undermine us.
We're not going to accept any of that.
Why not? Because we don't lie.
They have to believe us.
If we're asking for those 26 estates
we're asking because our comrades
need to work those 26 estates.
We don't want someone from the Agrarian Reform Office
turning up here and trying to trick us.
We're not going to accept that!
So it's clear, if we're asking for 26 estates
there's a reason.
We're not lying or cheating to be able to expropriate them.
We've got a reason for asking
If we're saying they're badly exploited, they are.
The owners, in turn, have discovered a legal recourse
against the expropriations.
This resource is known as "precautionary measures"
and entails protecting the private property
for a period set by the Courts.
As the Courts are controlled by the right
there are lands which could take years to expropriate.
This recourse wrecks the peasants' initiative.
Comrade, I ask you, what possibilities would we have
if all the estates to be appropriated
had these "precautionary measures"?
How could we take possession of them?
This isn't a secret or anything.
The problem is
the Corporation for Agrarian Reform
has got lawyers to defend it in court.
The problem now
is the struggle going on in this country.
The Corporation is tied to a law in order to expropriate.
The bosses have their lawyers and they invent defenses.
And you all know the problem with the Courts.
CAR has got nothing to do with the "precautionary measures"
It's out of all our hands.
So your question is important, because some estates
may use those "precautionary measures".
In that case, you'll have to fight it in the Courts.
We have to occupy all the estates
But the peasants dare to confront state bureaucracy
with all their energy.
Backed up by the community commando
the peasants submit a government bureaucrat
to an authentic people's court.
I don't want to waste time.
I want to work and produce more.
That's our slogan.
I don't want to sit in an office somewhere, smoking
and doing paperwork.
I believe that if a person isn't capable
he should give up his position.
If, for example, some comrade tells me
that I'm no good at my job as a leader
then I would submit my resignation
and give my post to someone who was more capable than I.
I think that if we say it straight out to someone
that person will know how to defend himself.
But we're going to apply pressure.
If someone is manipulating things so he stays on
we'll find a way to get him out of there.
No one in the Maipú commune calls him comrade anymore
because he hasn't resolved a single problem
inside the Maipú estates.
And as the note says, we know we're short of potatoes
we're short of sugar
short of all those things the earth produces!
We know that we're short of foodstuffs
and the earth produces all that.
We also know that we're partly to blame
for the fact that there's a food shortage.
That's why we want to expropriate more land!
The reactionaries have often said
that we're "the weak ones".
But we're showing them that we're not weak at all.
We're producing food
because we know we have to defend this cause of ours.
That's all I have to say.
Our comrade may have something to say.
Yes, comrade. Firstly, I'd like to say the following.
I'm in a post which, as regards remuneration
doesn't bring me anything.
I wanted to say that. It's no cushy job.
But the main thing, comrades, is that I believe
and I'm being self-critical here
that I made the mistake of trusting too much
in the Council's work.
That's a responsibility which I have to accept.
I have to accept it, and I should learn from it as well.
I admit that to you all.
Now, apart from that
I think what you've said today is very important
because I believe that I'm a revolutionary.
And when a revolutionary thinks he's being
criticized
for a job which he thinks he's doing well, but isn't
that will undoubtedly be a lesson to him
and help improve his work.
If you want, we can talk about all this at another time
but I think you deserved an explanation.
- I think - Comrade, may I speak?
As a committed revolutionary and official
you shouldn't be clock watching on the job.
You should be committed to the peasant masses and work more.
Let's create popular power!
Fighting and creating popular power!
Let's create popular power!
Popular power also tackles the problem
of the supply of food.
During 1973, the U.S. Boycott
and the strong internal opposition have created the ideal climate
for the majority of storekeepers to be against the government.
They make larger profits by selling their goods illegally.
Even the small storekeeper
prefers to steer his produce to the black market.
To combat this, a "direct supply" system
is set up in the working class areas.
We'll have our delegate at the head
and we'll set up our distribution cooperative
for all the residents here.
We'll leave the storekeeper isolated
because, as our comrade has said
he's the origin of the merchandise
that gets sent to the black market.
So, we take responsibility for ourselves.
We have to join up with a delegate
and form a cooperative distribution center
for the people who live here.
And the idea is to supply all the necessities for a home.
To do that, we must struggle
and not give any more money to the storekeeper
for he got rich enough at our cost.
So therefore, join together!
Let's all join together, street by street.
We'll form a cooperative, and do without the storekeeper!
Power to the workers!
So then, when the people saw
that the supplies came directly from the state distributor
and then directly to them
they realized that many problems were over for them.
So we call on all the neighborhoods
and we call on every street to join up
and discuss the problems with its neighbors.
We want a "people's store"
where all the merchandise will arrive
and people will be served.
We want to set up a kind of supermarket.
That's what we want to suggest
and we want an answer from them so that we can do it.
The most important thing
is the residents' organization.
At present, lots of places
have got a people's store
and it's supplied by different companies
mainly by ones that are state-run.
I'd even say, exclusively by state-run companies.
So you have to ask for an effort
from the residents themselves.
The residents have to feel
that they've put something into it themselves.
They have to feel that they're responsible.
It hasn't been given to them, they did it themselves.
The people's store eliminates the commercial store.
Each area which decides to create a store
appoints certain neighbors to collect the merchandise.
This one?
The next one.
Clear the way, comrades. We only want workers here.
Come on, stand back, comrades. Where do I load this?
Is it for this truck?
What else is to be loaded?
Rice.
Onions.
Noodles. Matches. Flour.
The food is supplied by the National Distribution Company
DINAC, the only one controlled by the government.
Although 70% of the distribution business
is in the hands of Allende's enemies
this company manages to serve the most urgent needs
of the working class areas.
The neighbors hire a truck
to transport the goods to the selling point.
This operation is carried out once a week.
It's 8:00 p.m., and you must understand
that other comrades have to help us guard the store.
Anyone want to speak?
The women can stay until 12:00 or 1:00.
The men can come after that.
Comrades, tell me one thing.
Are you happy with this direct supply?
Yes!
In 1973, the people's stores
are feeding some 300,000 families in Santiago
more than half its total population.
In the different communes, these stores
distribute available products in an orderly way.
Semolina.
Five boxes of matches.
They get half a pound of tea
a pound of noodles
and two pounds of rice
and ten pounds of sugar.
Each family group has a card for collecting the goods.
This facilitates distribution planning
and adherence to official prices.
The store is run by the residents' collective
on the basis of volunteer work.
How do you manage to work in the people's store
and have a job at the same time?
For example
we're given the merchandise
they give it to us
on a Saturday or a Friday
so we do the store on a Saturday when I'm not working
And when I can't go, my wife goes
with other women from the neighborhood.
Is direct supply "popular power"?
At the moment, I think it is
because we're seeing how
with this business of direct supply
we're uniting the masses even more.
What do you think of the present situation?
- It's very difficult. - Why?
We can all see the reasons.
The government said yesterday
that the ones who were with Allende
told him to get tough.
But the government can't get tough
because it doesn't have a majority in Congress.
And that's the most serious problem
that our comrade president has at the present moment.
I'm going to defend our government
because we know that it's the people's government
and we have to defend it.
So that's why I say that I'm not afraid
because I've made my mind up.
And I said to my wife
You've got two children, they're grown up.
You'll finish rearing them
and if I have to die for some reason
I want to die defending our cause
as a worker
and because we've been exploited all our lives.
Let's create popular power!
Throughout 1973, the seeds of popular power
spread across the whole country.
Power to the workers!
Let's create popular power!
Meanwhile, in the centers of production
which are in government hands
other kinds of popular power appear.
In the saltpeter mines, the problem of worker control
becomes a kind of popular power.
Going beyond the vindictive fight
people want more transparency
and more efficiency.
If, at this moment, there's an imperialist blockade
and we don't receive raw material or spare parts
what do we have to do in industry?
We have to plan production
and provide organization and good administration
for the repair shops and for the foundries.
Without repair shops
you can't have industrial development in this country.
At this moment, the repair shops are the heart
which can keep the rest of the industry's machinery
alive and functioning
because the comrades here make spare parts.
These comrades invent the spare parts that we need.
They make them for us!
The worker doesn't understand intellectual abstractions.
The worker is fed up with listening to words.
The demands which our comrade made are very serious.
What is he demanding? Objectives, goals at work.
What is he demanding? A rational administration
of the repair shop
with production plans.
We can't carry on with little workshops in each section
because that means a lack of administration
and a division of resources.
And this qualified workforce will get tired and leave.
The comrades will get disillusioned.
There is no comrade here who supports fascism.
They're all workers
and they all have a great workers' awareness.
This is one of the things we've made here
because there's a blockade on importation
What we're seeing here are
circuit breakers which were made in the foundry here.
We used to import these, but as you and everyone know
there's a blockade
so we have to start making the parts.
Now that we're in this situation
where we're being blockade by imperialism
we're ready and determine to fulfill our government's plan
to produce more, to find the solution to the problems here.
Why? So we can make all the spare parts the industry needs
"Machinas" are the workers' answers
to the challenge of problems that arise.
They call them "machinas".
This is a "machina".
You see? We took two big ends and made a new one out of th
What's it for?
- For the locomotives in the mine. - How old are they?
These are from 1928. There aren't any parts for then.
In both the state-run mines and factories
the people want less bureaucracy
and more participation.
This opens a debate on the limitations
of the "peaceful road" towards socialism.
In practice, the struggle for participation
becomes an analysis of reality.
Right, comrades.
Popular Unity has been governing for two years
and specifically in this company
there has been no real, effective participation.
Why has there been no real, effective participation
and what has happened as a result?
Worker participation is a political problem.
Through participation
workers will be able to break
the capitalist structures of the companies.
Because this company still has a capitalist structure
within its organization.
We're not in possession of power.
We're in possession of the government.
And the companies which are within this government
also suffer the consequences of these contradictions
within the political process.
So participation will break the capitalist structures
and help the workers set up new organizations
in this transition to socialism.
That means the workers must plan
they must study, and they must organize the company.
So participation is planning, it's knowledge
and it's studying the company from within.
At the moment
Molino can grind, every day, 1,000 cartloads of nitrate.
But unfortunately, it's grinding 700 or 800 cartloads
which isn't in accordance with the production plans
which have been set out for that section.
Serious problems? Problems in the mine.
Problems in the production sector.
They've got no residue, and they've got no carts.
But there are 200 old carts dumped in the warehouse.
According to the workers and the production committees
out of those 200 carts
they can make two good car from three bad ones.
The workers have suggested this as a possible solution.
They took it to the Departmental Committee,
and they either get a negative reply
or no reply at all.
So how can we say that the worker is participating
if, when he suggests a way to solve a problem
and increase production, it's rejected?
I think that the only solution to this problem
the problem of acquisitions,
of spare parts that don't arrive of salaries
is for the workers to have direct control of production.
We're doing the producing
and we must control the whole company.
It's hard, but it can be done.
A lot of companies have achieved
direct control of production.
We thought that maybe there should be
an Administration Committee for each important plant.
The whole problem of participation
is being discussed.
Comrades, I therefore consider
that the union leaders should participate
because they will know
the industry's economic conditions.
And that would be essential
in order to be able to give the economic conditions
to the workers with all the facts
and not be fighting for fighting's sake
without really knowing what's going on.
When we say that Chile has a bourgeois capitalist state
let's remember the High Court which fires ministers
and let's remember the Legislative Power
which passes laws against the workers.
And not just that. It's also on a war footing
in a seditious way, against the popular government.
So what should the workers' participation be?
The planning of the economy via a direct participation
in which they elect the workers' participants
by a wide vote
as is done now in a democratic way.
And what should the unions do?
What they've always done throughout history.
They should defend the working class
and push for the destruction of the bourgeois state
as a revolutionary tool serving its class.
The workers' unease is shared by some company managers.
The contradictions in the process of changes
are laid bare in the daily work of these officials.
This is a revolutionary process but not a revolution.
And this isn't a proletarian state yet.
This is a bourgeois capitalist state.
And this is a nationalized company within that state
which hasn't changed.
Now, the problem for the workers here
isn't having to work 16 hours a day.
The problem is having to work 16 hours when
in terms of power or decision making capacity
things haven't really changed.
You can
ask it of the workers
demand a greater awareness from them
but you can appeal to the workers' awareness
if you give them answers.
But a new aspect has now appeared
at the level of the section worker
within this nationalized company.
The lack of raw materials and spare parts in the section
is threatening to limit the wage to a daily rate
because the bonus is directly linked to production.
For example, the welder goes to his section.
He's got work to do, and he's keen to work.
He can't do it, he's got no soldering iron.
And the only solution we can give at present
with the characteristics we announced
is precisely by planning supplies.
We have to plan transport.
If there's a strike by the truck owners tomorrow
and the fish trucks are stuck in Antofagasta
the fish will rot because we've got no means of transport.
We have to plan means of transport and of distribution.
What have we done about it here?
We've taken over bakeries, food stores
canteens, hospitals, guesthouses.
Because food is distributed through those organizations.
The problem is extremely serious.
We are nationalized companies.
It's true.
We can impose organization,
and we can set out some planning lines
but we come up against the big contradiction.
The character of the state
is the same.
We are nationalized areas within the structure
of a bourgeois capitalist state
where the means of oppression
are still in the hands of the bourgeoisie.
The government must provide an answer
to our supply needs, so we can plan ahead
with the means which the government controls.
How can you plan in this situation?
I'm not saying things will be resolved 100% .
But it's possible
to come up with an alternative answer.
We can't just sit back, and fold our arms
and let the corpse of imperialism pass in front of the house.
We have to move ahead and go on the offensive
and gradually take power with the masses
guaranteeing it with the masses.
We can't continue delegating the class problem
to executives, mayors, ministers, parliamentarians.
The right has a great advantage over us.
They imprison the executives, accuse the mayors
question the ministers.
And I've just learned that last week
they jailed the Secretary of State, Aníbal Palma.
So are we going to carry on?
What do we want? We've got 44% of the vote.
There's absolutely no chance that we'll ever get 60%.
It's impossible.
We must take advantage of the moment
of the ascent of the masses
to mobilize them for class objectives.
In the middle of 1973
the impatience of some popular sectors increases.
In the more aggressive workplaces
some workers are discussing some basic problems
of the transition to socialism.
Just now, I see that people are questioning
the Constitution and legality.
And if the working classes are questioning
the Judicial Power
the Constitution and the government
that means we are entering the stage
of the taking of power.
Because some things are no longer valid.
We have the industrial belts.
The growing popular power is surpassing the State itself.
The existing institutions are of no use to us anymore.
They can't fulfill their role.
So the workers are providing new institutions
because our class must us the government apparatus now
to crush the other class
the one which always crushed us.
Let the boot be on the other foot now.
A key feature of popular power is that it opens
a new horizon of political development for the masses.
This initiates a critical process within the left.
Many people sense a tragic ending
given the impossibility
of President Allende continuing to advance.
Tell me, comrade, what must be done?
Look, we're living through a very difficult time.
It's really a very difficult time.
We must have a real clean-up from top to bottom!
If the government can't shake off certain commitments
it's going to be liquidated.
The government has got no alternative
but to take things in hand.
Take things in hand.
The government has to do that and clean up the country.
It's for the homeland.
The homeland remains, we'll all pass on.
We'll reach such a delicate moment, there'll be a crisis.
Tell me, comrade.
Do you thank that it's time for a firm hand?
This is our opportunity. It's now or never.
The enemy is extremely well-prepared.
And he won't give us any respite.
Now is our chance to do it. We have to do it now or never
Because the enemy knows what's in store for him.
He knows that he'll never get back what he's lost
and he's like the devil.
We'll keep on going, comrade. See you, comrade.
- We'll be seeing you. - I hope so.
We have to make it, it's now or never.
We'll keep going, comrade.
See you, comrade.