HE CHILEAN Communist
Party faces a reality full
of possibilities and diffi-

culties. It is a party with a solid
proletarian base, true to Marx-
ism-Leninism and firmly united.
Proud to march under its ban-
her are the majority of Chilean
intellectuals and artists, many of
‘whose best ‘works are inspired
by the struggles of our people.

We have representatives on
almost every city council and
18 deputies and 5 senators in
our National Congress. The only
woman in the Sénate is a Com-
munist, Julieta Campusano.

In the 1964 election the uni-
ted forces of the Left received
1,000,000 votes for our Socialist
comrade, presidential candidate
Salvador Allende, as against
1,400,000 received by the Chris-
tian Democrats, now in power.

We know the aim of the Chris-
tian Democratic Party is to ob-
struct the people’s advances to
socialism. It is, however, a mul-
ti-class party that found itself
compelled during the elections
to promise changes in order to
win the favor of the masses. In
the year and a half it has been
in power contradictions within
that party have grown sharper.

On one hand rank-and-file
Christian Democrats are pro-
testing because the so-called
“revolution” they were promis-
ed does not materialize. On the
other hand United States im-
perialism and the ultra reaction-
aries are putting pressure on the
government not only to preserve,
but to increase their privileges.

The line of our party’s 13th
congress, adopted last October,
is based on the action of the
masses—with the working class
as their centre and driving force
—to achieve the revolutionary
changes called for in our pro-
gram. :

The Front of Popular Action
is founded on Socialist-Com-
munist unity, fundamental for
the advance toward an anti-im-
perialist government in Chile. It
is 10 years since this alliance
was formed. Experience demon-

aT aT

Maria Maluenda, a member of the central committee of the
Communist Party of Chile and deputy in the Chilean Parlia-
ment, was a fraternal delegate to the 19th convention of the
Communist Party of Canada, May 21-24. “I came to grasp your
hand and express to you the fraternal affection of Chilean Com-
munists,” she told the convention. Below is an abridgement of

her speech.

strates that it is the one and
only revolutionary alternative
for our country.

We are doing everything we
can to be where the masses of
the people are—in the forefront
of the defense of their interests,
searching out the answers to
their problems. We know that
only on this path can we achieve

revolutionary changes.

Unlike the traditional old-line
parties the Christian Democrats
work actively among the masses
and the forces of the left are in
competition with them for lead-
ership—a competition over. ori-
entation, on the basis of defense

‘of the unity of the people’s or-

ganizations.

The increase in the number of
“mothers’ centres” — groups of
mothers who take up commun-
ity issues—reflects the growing
participation of Chilean women
in the struggle for their rights.
In recent strike struggles wo-
men did a big job in organizing
committees of strikers’ wives.

The struggle for housing is
gathering strength through the
organization of the dwellers of
impoverished shack-towns.

Young Communists have crea-
ted. a broad, anti-imperialist
youth front which is united in
condemnation of Johnson’s war
policy, the aggression in Santo

‘Domingo, the criminal interven-

tion in Vietnam,

Youth of all political parties
except the extreme Right are
backing the struggle of the agri-
cultural workers for reform.
Twenty-two youth organizations
have set up a united front for
this purpose — young workers
and students working hand-in-
hand.

Farm laborers are organizing
unions and committees, waging
important struggles to take over
the land and win better wages.

Parliament is discussing the
government’s draft agrarian law.
We Communists and Socialists
support its main features as a
forward step and demand éits
speedy enactment. This is a most
deep-going change ripening: in
Chile, for very few are the own-
ers of most of the land and the
life of agricultural workers is
very hard. For example, 696
landowners. own about 55 per-
cent of all agricultural land.

The working class is fighting
against plans for a wage freeze
and is defending its right to or-
ganize and strike.

The imperialists and reaction
want to impose on Chile a policy
of the “firm hand’. They try.
to divide the working class.

The Kennecott and Anaconda
companies dream of destroying
with fire and bloodshed the
workers’ organizations in the
great copper mines. On March
11, for committing the crime of
conducting a sympathy strike in
support of the mihers at El Te-
niente, a massacre of miners

took place, killing six men and
two women, wounding 35 others,
in the. El Salvador mining camp
of the Andes Copper Company,
a subsidiary of Anaconda.

The cases of ammunition used
by the troops were stamped,
“Alliance for Progress” and the
cartridges bore the imprint of
NATO.

A few weeks later a govern-
ment-conducted union election
aimed at replacing those who
had led the strike resulted in the
doubling of the votes for the
candidates of the Communist
Party.

As a comrade of ours said:.

“This election is a blow to those
who want to make a deal with
imperialism by means of.an anti-
labor policy. We say to the
Christian Democrat workers: we
are not against you, we are class
brothers, the union is ours to-
gether, workers need to unite
now more than ever before.”

The words of that miner sum
up our policy. Our main enemy
is U.S. imperialism; our duty is
to unite all anti-imperialist for-
ces, inside or outside the gov-
ernment, whether supporters of
socialism or not.

Last year we had a significant
experience with Project -Came-
lot — an operation which the
U.S. State Department and Pen-
tagon tried to carry out in our
country under cover of sociolo-
gical research. Our party’s news-

‘paper played a large part in ex-

posure of Camelot.

As a result Parliament named

a special commission, of which |

I was a member, to investigate
the project. Then Parliament

_unanimously condemned this fla-

grant intervention in our affairs.
At the same time a protest was
registered against the notorious
Resolution 560 of the U.S. House
of Representatives, which seeks
to justify intervention anywhere
under the pretext of anti-Com-
munism,

There is taking place a con-
vergence of the struggles of all
peoples for freedom and national
independence against. one com-
mon enemy, U.S. imperialism,
which threatens all humanity.

We Chilean Communists are
working to intensify our actions
of ‘solidarity with the people of
Vietnam, in whose immense

battle is summed up all the hero-

ism of our time.

We are looking for the most
effective way to take fuller ad-
vantage of our opportunities, to
improve party organization and
increase the recruiting of new
members.

I would like to express our
longing for peace and unbreak-

‘able will to struggle in a few

lines, in Spanish, of our compa-
triot and comrade, Pablu Neru-
da. The sense of these verses is
this:

“Peace to the coming sunsets,
peace to the bridge, peace to the
wine, peace to the city in the
morning when the bread wakens,
peace to the Mississippi, river of
roots;

“Peace to all who live;

“Peace to all lands and to the
waters.

“You are beautiful and vast,
North America, what we love is
the sinew of your plowman, your
worker’s oil-stained hand.

“But if you arm your hosts,
North America, to destroy this

pure frontier, and bring the men ~

from the Chicago killing-floor to
rule over the music and ordec
that we love, then only one dark
outlook awaits you and only one
shout before you kill or die.”