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48
a

Communist Party of Chile has
red on me the honor and also

it pleasure of representing it at
Oth Convention of the brother
of Canada, and of bringing cor-
ptings to the Communists, the
class and the people of Can-

long time, bonds of the warm-
ndship and solidarity have exist-
een the Communist.parties of
Canada in the common fight
t imperialism, bonds that day by
being strengthened and are
g us ever closer.

}actions of the people of Canada
darity with fighting Vietnam con-
a living example of proletarian
ttionalism, as manifested in the
of the Hemispheric Conference
d the War in Vietnam a few
} ago in Montreal, to whose suc-
he Communist Party of Canada
a valuable contribution, for
fraternally congratulate it.
es, permit me to acquaint the
on, in very general lines, with
ition that prevails in Chile.
Overwhelming majority of the
n le have become convinced
he domination of the oligarchy
imperialism, particularly United
imperialism, has become absolu-
mpatible with the sovereignty,
ndence and dignity of the coun-
nd with the peoples aspirations
onomic, social and cultural pro-

"present Christian Democratic
iment, that has ruled the destin-
‘the country since 1964, far from
j liquidated this dependence, has
ined and even increased the irri-
privilege and advantage enjoy-

national and foreign mono-
» Which severely injure the
al interest.

= revolution in liberty” promised
iS gOvernment has become a mere
ic and false slogan. Its policy
aligns itself according to the
of the International Monetary
not led to the growth of
my but instead to its stagna-
avating the profound crisis
ks the country and is eat-
ly at the standards of life of
masses. The increase of
debt, currency devaluation
m has created a sharp situa-
it is bringing into motion the
Sections of people. It is true
farmers and other groups of
have obtained some improve-
a timid agragrian reform
initiated that is very far from
uidated the large land-hold-
this has not changed the
described.

; face of these facts, our party
rtaken to promote the re-
of the anti-imperialist and

anti-oligarchic forces, under the leader-
ship of the working class, to open the
way to revolutionary transformations
of Chilean society, demanded by the
immense majority of the nation, gen-
erating a new power.

We, as Communists, foresee this new
power in the form of a government
truly popular and revolutionary, made
up of all the parties that are ready to
effect a common program that assures
democratic development to the coun-
try, ends dependence and under-devel-
opment and guarantees social justice
and full liberty.

These objectives require as a funda-
mental condition the unity of the work-
ing class. In this connection, we have
achieved significant progress. In fact,
the workers’ Trade Union Centre of
Chile, which is the one and only trade
union centre in Chile, at its Congress
last year, vigorously advanced on the
road toward complete trade union unity
of the proletariat, incorporating, be-
sides socialists and communists, Chris-
tian Democratic workers, radicals, the
Popular Socialist Union and indepen-
dents, democratically electing a united
leadership with a majority from the
Communist Party.

At this time, Chile is in the midst of
a powerful organized mass movement
that is changing the distribution of
social and political forces. The farmers
and agricultural workers—the so-called
“sleeping giant”—are joining in strug-
gle and are taking over the land of the
big landowners without waiting for the
arrival of state functionaries of the
agrarian reform. Families without

homes, tired of waiting for the fulfill-:

ment of the government’s housing plan,
are occupying vacant land and imme-

sch delivered by Carlos Contreros-

a, fraternal delegate from the Com-

+ Party of Chile to the 20th Convention
the Communist Party of Canada.

diately building their modest homes.
The students, professors and staff of
the state and Catholic universities are
pressing a profound reform that is be-
ing applied of course without waiting
for the passage of the respective law.
The women are fighting for children’s
nurseries, and against rising prices.
Small businessmen, tradesmen and
small and middle industrialists are pro-
testing against heavy taxes and the
lack of credit.

Apart from this, the Catholic Church
is being profoundly shaken by the up-
surge of a movement called “The
Young Church,” which proposes com-
ing closer to the workers and the poor,
and which, to emphasize its proposals,

‘occupied the most important cathedral

of the country, in a sit-in.

The government has tried to sup-
press with violence this broad popular
movement. In 4 years, 22 workers have
been killed and more than one hundred
have been wounded with bullets; but
the fight has not been stopped—instead
it is intensifying.

In the recent parliamentary elections

despite the virulent anti-communist
campaign by the right and by the
Christian Democratic Party, principally
in relation to the events in Czechoslo-
vakia, maligning our support of the ac-
tions of the Warsaw Pact countries,
and despite the deformities inherent in
bourgeois democracy — our party
increased its vote from 340,000 to
380,000. This represents an increase
from 14.4 to 16.6 percent of the popu-
lar vote, increasing the number of our
deputies from 18 to 22 and our senators
from 5 to 6. The Socialist Party main-
tained its representation. Altogether,
the left strengthened its positions.

The governing Christian Democratic
Party received 285,000 votes less than
in the previous parliamentary elections,
that is, its percentage of the popular
vote dropped from 42.3 to 29 percent.
As for the traditional right, the so-call-
ed National Party, formed by the fusion
of the old Liberal and Conservative
parties, it did not achieve the number
of votes that these two parties used to
get in previous elections, but it did
increase the number of its representa-
tives in Parliament.

Analysing these results, without
viewing the figures mechanically, our
party has estimated that it has the
duty to alert the people, with great
emphasis, to the grave danger that the
old right represents, which arises out of
the failures of the Christian Democratic
government and is stimulated by im-
perialism, which is deploying a great
campaign to return the old right to the
government. At the same time, our
party puts forward the greatest efforts
for the cohesion of the popular and left
forces, to confront and defeat this dan-
ger and prevent the coming to power
of a neo-fascist dictatorship.

The country is becoming aware of
this threat. Important changes are in
operation in the political parties. Thus,
in the Christian Democratic Party a
big section has expressed its disagree-
ment with the rightist orientation of its
government, which supports the plans
of reaction. This large section of the
ruling party supports the idea of the
“non-capitalist” way of development of
Chile. Some even come out in favor of
socialism. For its part, the leading body
of the Radical Party is seeking links
with the left, while a group of the same
party draws closer to the right. The
Popular Action Front, formed by the
Communists and Socialist Parties, des-
pite the differences between them, con-
tinues united and constitutes the foun-
dation of an alternative of an authentic
popular and revolutionary government,
with a perspective of socialism.

As is known, the chief characteristic
of the present epoch is the transition
of humanity from capitalism to social-
ism; the world imperialist system is in
the midst of a profound crisis and is
turning ever more aggressive. The
world socialist system is strengthening
and broadening its positions, the strug-
gles of the pegples for their national
liberation are aCquiring a higher level
and the capitalist countries are shaken
by the struggles of the working class,
the student youth, of all sections which
are victims of the rapacity of the mono-
polies.

The aggressiveness of imperialism is
made evident in its criminal assault
against the heroic Vietnamese people,
who have the solidarity of all progres-
sive humanity and the concrete and
firm support of the Soviet Union and
other socialist courifries.

There is no doubt that we could bet-
ter confront imperialism if all the Com-
munist parties would act ‘together

| 0th Convention Communist Party

CHILEANS FIGHT FOR
INDEPENDENCE, SOCIALISM

against the common enemy. Unfortun-
ately, the attitude of the leaders of the
Communist Party of China, who have
gone as far as an armed attack against
the Soviet Union, objectively favors the
plans of imperialism. Chilean Commun-
ists condemn with all their energy the
conduct of the Mao Tse-tung clique.

As well, right after the recent events
of Czechoslovakia, a diversity of posi-
tions emerged in the heart of our move-
ment. In this respect, the Communist
Party of Chile, faithful to its revolu-
tionary traditions and principles of pro-
letarian internationalism, decisively
asserted that it considered just and
necessary the action undertaken by the
Warsaw Pact countries, in defense of
the socialist gains of the Czechoslovak-
ion people, and of the cohesion of
socialist states, that is fundamental for
the revolutionary forces in the world.
At the same time, it declared in favor
of the socialist democratization in that
country under the leadership of the
working class and its party, without
making any concessions whatsoever to
the class enemies.

We, the Communists of Chile, are
fervent partisans of common action of
the Communist Parties and of all the
revolutionary forces in the fight against
imperialism.

Our party has actively participated
in the preparatory work of the Inter-
national Conference of Communist and
Workers’ Parties, that will be held in
Moscow next June.

We, the Communists of Chile, think
that the differences that exist among
the Communist Parties can, in some
measure, be an obstacle to common ac-
tion in the fight against imperialism,
for peace and socialism.

Now, toward the end of the work of
the Congress, let me dutifully and very
cordially thank you for the privilege
that has been conferred on us to attend
such an important event.

During your sessions we have seen
coming up to the platform the magnifi-
cent revolutionary cadres that the Par-
ty of Canada has: trade union and farm
leaders, leaders of the youth, women
and the brilliant Canadian intelligentsia.

Through the report of Comrade Kash-
tan gnd the contributions of the dele-
gates, it has been possible for us to
learn of the problems concerning the
building of the party, of the national
reality and the life and the fight of the
working masses, as/well as the best
road for the establishment of socialism
in Canada. ‘

Our presence at the convention has
permitted us to accumulate valuable.
experiences in the application of the
science of Marxism-Leninism to the
requirements of the _ revolutionary
struggle in Canada. These experiences
constitute a rich contribution to our
struggle for the revolution in Chile.

Thank you, many thanks, for this
extraordinary contribution. Also,
would like to thank you, for your fra-
ternal welcome.

Long live the 20th Convention of the
Communist Party of Canada.

Long live the friendship between the
Communists of Canada and Chile.

Long live the unity of the interna-
tional Communist movement.

Long live peace and socialism.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 18, 1969—Page 7