Unidad Popular

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Demonstration for Allende

The Unidad Popular ( UP ) was an electoral alliance of left Chilean parties and groups that was founded on December 17, 1969. Represented in the alliance were the Socialist Party of Chile (PS; Partido Socialista de Chile ), the Communist Party of Chile (PCCh; Partido Comunista de Chile ), the Radical Party ( Partido Radical ), the Social Democratic Party of Chile (PSD; Partido Social Democracia de Chile) ), the "Movement of the United People's Action" (MAPU; Movimiento de Acción Popular Unitaria ), the MAPU / OC, MAPU worker farmer (from 1972; MAPU Obrero Campesino), the "Independent Popular Action" (API; Acción Popular Independiente ) and the Christian Left Party of Chile (IC, from 1971; Partido Izquierda Cristiana de Chile ).

In the elections on September 4, 1970 , the UP became the strongest force with 36.3% of the vote. The UP candidate Salvador Allende was elected President of Chile by the National Congress on October 24, 1970 with the votes of the Christian Democratic Party .

The first forty measures of the Unidad Popular

The UP emblem

The planned "forty first measures" of the government of the Unidad Popular in Chile formed the emergency program of the government of Salvador Allende . They reflect the idea of ​​a necessary change in the state , which was borne by the left at the time and was also popular in the middle of the country's political spectrum. In some cases, the program only includes cosmetic measures, but also deep upheavals. It was created during Allende's (fourth) candidacy for the presidential election (1970) and was put into 40 catchy points for the election campaign.

  1. End of miracle wages: We will limit the salaries of the highest officials. We will end the accumulation of offices and salaries (advisory activities, supervisory board positions, interest groups). We're going to break up with the administrative managers and political managers.
  2. More consultants? No !: Every employee in the public service should receive a state salary and nobody should work outside the duties of a state official.
  3. Honesty in office: We will put an end to nepotism and unjustified transfers in the public service. There will be an employment guarantee for state employees. Nobody is persecuted for their political or religious ideas. Attention will be paid to efficiency, honesty and good interaction with the public on the part of government employees.
  4. No more luxury trips abroad: We will stop the foreign trips of government officials: Only trips that are indispensable for the interests of the state are excluded.
  5. No company cars on vacation: State vehicles should never be used for private purposes. Vehicles that are not required are used for service to the community, for example to transport schoolchildren, transport the sick to the housing estates or as service vehicles for the police.
  6. The state will not “make” new rich people: we will have rigorous control over the pensions and property of senior civil servants. The state apparatus will no longer be a factory for new empires.
  7. Fair pensions, no millionaire pensions: We will put an end to millionaire pensions, whether for MPs, in the private sector or in the public sector, and we will use the funds saved to improve the lowest pensions.
  8. Fair retirement benefits and early retirement: We will give all people the right to a pension who are over 60 years of age and who have not retired because no pension contributions have been paid for them.
  9. Pension for all: We will integrate small and medium-sized traders, farmers and traders, the self-employed, artisans, fishermen, small mine owners, miners and housewives into the pension system.
  10. Immediate payout for retirees: We will pay out pension increases to armed forces personnel immediately, and we will make the payout of social security pensions fair.
  11. Protection for the family: We will create a ministry to protect the family.
  12. Equality in child subsidies: We will set all child subsidies at the same level.
  13. Children are born to be happy: we will offer a completely free school; School books, exercise books and teaching materials will be free for all primary school children.
  14. Better nutrition for the child: We will be serving breakfast and lunch to all elementary and middle school students whose parents are unable to feed them adequately.
  15. Milk for all children of Chile: We will provide half a liter of milk as a ration for all children of Chile.
  16. Mother and child clinics in your neighborhood: We will set up mother and child clinics in all residential areas.
  17. Real vacation for all pupils and students: the best elementary school students from all over the country will be invited to the president's summer residence in Viña del Mar.
  18. Control of Drunkenness: We will fight alcoholism not through repressive measures, but through a better life, and we will end the illicit trafficking in alcoholic beverages.
  19. House, electricity, drinking water for everyone: we will implement an emergency plan for rapid housing construction and we will guarantee the supply of drinking water and electricity per block.
  20. No increase in repayment installments for state housing debtors: We will abolish increases in installments for paying state housing.
  21. No increase in rents: We will stipulate that a maximum of 10% of household income may be claimed to pay rent or housing debts.
  22. Unused state land no! Housing estates, yes !: We will release fallow state, semi-state or municipal land for housing construction.
  23. Property tax only for villas: We will exempt all apartments up to 80 m² where the owner lives permanently and which are not luxury or holiday homes from property tax.
  24. A real agrarian reform : we will deepen the agrarian reform, it will also benefit the medium-sized and small farmers, including the small landowners, tenants, employees and day laborers. We are going to expand the credit for agriculture. We will secure a market for all agricultural products.
  25. Medical care without bureaucracy: We will remove all bureaucratic and administrative restrictions that impede medical care for workers and the unemployed.
  26. Free care in hospitals: We will end the obligation to pay for medication and examinations in hospitals.
  27. No more excessive drug prices: We will drastically reduce drug prices by lowering the import tax on raw materials.
  28. Scholarships for Students: We will establish a right to scholarships for good students, depending on their achievements and the financial situation of their family.
  29. Physical education: We will promote physical education and we will build sports fields in schools and housing developments. Every school and every housing estate will have a sports field. We will organize and promote popular recreation.
  30. A new economy to put an end to inflation: we will increase the production of mass-produced items, control prices and keep inflation low by implementing the new economic policies immediately.
  31. No further pegging to the International Monetary Fund : We will terminate the contracts with the International Monetary Fund and end the scandalous devaluations of the Escudo .
  32. No more taxes on food: We'll put an end to the tax hikes on essentials.
  33. No more VAT: we will abolish VAT and replace it with a different, fairer and simpler system.
  34. No more speculation: we will severely punish white-collar crime.
  35. An end to the shortage: we will create jobs for all Chileans and prevent layoffs.
  36. Work for everyone: We will immediately create new jobs through housing and public works, new industries and new development projects.
  37. Dissolution of the riot police: we will guarantee order in the neighborhoods and residential areas and the personal safety of the people. Carabineros and the criminal police will only perform police duties to combat ordinary crime. We will disband the riot police (Grupo Móvil), their members will be used for police tasks.
  38. No more class justice: We are going to legal, fast and free procedures in cooperation with the neighborhood committees to discuss and decide on special incidents, such as arguments, coercion, runaways and domestic neglect of the children, disturbance of the peace.
  39. Legal advice in your neighborhood: We will offer legal advice in all neighborhoods.
  40. Creation of a National Institute for Art and Culture: We will create a National Institute for Art and Culture and schools for artistic education in all municipalities.

Allende's cabinet

Salvador Allende

In the local elections in 1971 the UP got 49.7% of the vote.

The conditional support of the Christian Democratic Party of Chile , which enabled Allende to be confirmed as president, soon came to nothing under the conditions of increasing political polarization. The MIR clashed with the conservative forces and agitated in the country for the violent expropriation of the latifundia. The right-wing forces had a parliamentary majority and were able to slow down or even block Allende's legislative initiatives.

The governing coalition Unidad Popular itself experienced internal differences of opinion. It should be noted that during this period both socialists and communists professed Marxism, but socialists pursued more radical policies. Salvador Allende, as well as a minority of the socialists, supported more moderate and parliamentary politics, whereby he came into conflict with the radical socialist general secretary Carlos Altamirano of the socialist party. In general, the Communist Party, the Radical Party and the later ( pro-communist ) splinter group MAPU Obrero Campesino promoted more legalist policies and gradual reforms, also seeking a compromise with the Christian Democratic Party. In contrast to this course stood the line of the radical majority of the Socialist Party and the radical wing of the Marxist-Leninist MAPU and the Izquierda Cristiana , who demanded a revolutionary breakthrough, were skeptical of parliamentary work and did not rule out violent actions.

Under the government of the UP, fundamental social reforms were introduced in Chile, which mainly benefited the previously underprivileged sections of the population. The rights of the workers and the rural population dependent on large landowners were strengthened. The health system was reformed and medical care and general basic supplies of essential goods were made easier for the poor. The literacy was promoted. Important key industries in Chile, such as the copper industry , until then mainly in the hands of US corporations , were nationalized. After the USA then imposed a trade embargo on Chile, there was an economic crisis with an inflation rate of over 60%. As a result, Allende declared a state of emergency in 1972 .

In the parliamentary elections on March 4, 1973 the UP came to a share of the vote of 43.9%. The Popular Front remained in the minority, but was able to take two seats in the Senate and six in the House of Representatives from the opposition. The two-thirds majority hoped for by the opposition parties, which would have enabled them to remove Allende from office, did not materialize. The socialists, who in 1969 had fewer seats than their communist and radical allies, were able to almost double their seats in the House of Representatives from 15 to 27, making the Socialist Party the strongest party in the left bloc. Your General Secretary Altamirano said, "we refuse any concession to the bourgeoisie".

After a call by parliament to drastically change government policy, the Allende government was overthrown in a coup on September 11, 1973 by the military, led by General Augusto Pinochet, who was supported by the US secret services . Allende was killed in the coup. After the military coup, Pinochet set up a military dictatorship under his leadership that reversed most of the UP reforms and largely restored the economic dominance of US corporations over key Chilean industries . Supporters of the Unidad Popular were murdered by the thousands. Many who escaped persecution by the military and DINA had to flee abroad to save their lives.

Unidad Popular as a popular front

Contemporary politicians as well as Marxist political scientists and historians often refer to this coalition as the “popular front”. The Unidad Popular differs fundamentally from the Frente Popular of 1936 in at least two respects .

  1. The FRAP / UP consisted only of left-wing parties and did not include any bourgeois groups. The Radical Party had been a member since 1969, but this left-wing course led to the right-wing split-off Democracia Radical , which some well-known party leaders joined.
  2. The UP was not founded in response to a fascist or Nazi threat to the country. Rather, it was about Chile's transition into a socialist society. The left undoubtedly saw the threat of a right-wing coup, but neither the last right-wing government ( Jorge Alessandri , 1958–64) nor the later dictatorship of Pinochet were typically fascist . In its systematic brutality and hatred of the “left”, however, the Pinochet regime resembles European fascisms of the 1930s and 1940s.

See also

literature

  • José Cademártori: Class alliances yesterday and today - the experiences in Chile , in: Yearbook for Research on the History of the Labor Movement , Volume III / 2003.
  • Helma Chrenko: Current Discussions on the History of the Communist Party of Chile , in: Yearbook for Research on the History of the Labor Movement, Issue III / 2003.
  • Olaf Kaltmeier: People's Unity and Ethnic Difference. Mapuche movement and comunidades during the government of Salvador Allende , in: Yearbook for Research on the History of the Labor Movement, Volume III / 2003.
  • Willi Baer , Karl-Heinz Dellwo (eds.): Salvador Allende and the Unidad Popular , Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-942281-64-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. Helma Chrenko: Current Discussions on the History of the Communist Party of Chile , in: Yearbook for Research on the History of the Labor Movement , Issue III / 2003
  2. On the cooperation between the different groups, cf. José Cademártori: Class alliances yesterday and today - the experiences in Chile , in: Yearbook for Research on the History of the Labor Movement, Volume III / 2003.
  3. See the original version in Spanish ( Memento of September 7, 2004 in the Internet Archive ).
  4. Until the 1980s, there were various pension funds for employment groups in Chile: for the private sector the "Caja de Empleados Particulares", for state employees the "Caja de Empleados Públicos", for the police the "Caja de Previsión de Carabineros" for workers "Servicio de Seguro Social", for the armed forces the "Caja de Previsión de las Fuerzas Armadas" etc. The amount of the pension varied. The delay with which the pensions were paid was notorious.
  5. Similar to the pension funds, the child allowances were dependent on the employment sector.
  6. The state-owned housing association CORVI (Corporación de la Vivienda) was responsible for planning, financing, building and debt collection in housing construction.
  7. There was an agrarian reform law in Chile since the early 1960s.
  8. The neighborhood committee (junta de vecinos) is an assembly of the residents of a neighborhood created during the reign of Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964–1970) to solve problems in the neighborhood.
  9. Kenneth M. Roberts: Deepening Democracy ?: The Modern Left and Social Movements in Chile and Peru . Stanford University Press, Stanford, California 1998, ISBN 978-0-8047-3194-2 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed May 7, 2016]).
  10. ^ Simon Collier, William F. Sater: A History of Chile, 1808-2002 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2004, ISBN 978-0-521-53484-0 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed May 7, 2016]).
  11. CHILE: Victory without consequences . In: Der Spiegel . No. 11 , 1973, p. 91-94 ( Online - Mar. 12, 1973 ).