Original subtitles

THE BATTLE OF CHILE

THE STRUGGLE OF AN UNARMED PEOPLE

PART THREE: POPULAR POWER

A PATRICIO GUZMÁN FILM

IN MEMORY OF JORGE MUELLER SILVA

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 six million hectares of arable land

and nationalized almost all national and foreign banks.

On their part,

the North American government and the opposition

have seriously hampered the government's work.

Despite this,

Allende still receives firm support

from wide sectors of the population.

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 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 here 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

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 responsibility.

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

look 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.

This is obvious.

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 increase 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.

In the meantime. 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 travelers,

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.

Day after day,

vigilance committees spring up 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 23,

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,

Allende creates the political conditions

for an understanding with the Christian Democracy.

He does so

by bringing 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.

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 channel led 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.

Power to the workers!

WORKERS, FIRM HAND AND ATTACK!

By the middle of 1973,

31 industrial belts have been created in all of the country's main cities.

Eight 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 about 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.

WORKER-MANAGED COMPANY

Some of these industries can be expropriated legally.

However,

a great many of them 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 is 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

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.

PRIVATE GROUNDS ENTRY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED

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 and the peasants on the estate.

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.

But...

We have to occupy all the estates

due to be expropriated soon.

But the occupants 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,

I think...

That person can defend themselves. But we'll 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.

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 that

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,

don't clock watch 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.

Algas.

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 companion 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 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 growing 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.

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 alive and functioning the rest of the industry's machinery

because the comrades here make spare parts.

They plan and make the spare parts when we need them.

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 blockaded by imperialism,

we're ready and determined 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 problems that arise.

They call them "machinas".

This is a "machina".

We took two big ends and made a new one out of them.

- What's it for? - For the locomotives in the mine.

How old are they?

These are from 1928. There aren't any parts for them.

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, 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 carts 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

is 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 it has now appeared, at the level of the section worker,

within this nationalized company,

a new aspect.

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 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 them.

We can't continue delegating the class problem

to executives, intendants, ministers, parliamentarians.

The right has a great advantage over us.

They imprison the executives,

accuse the intendants, 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 use 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.

Given the impossibility of Allende continuing to advance,

many people sense a tragic ending.

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-out, 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 think 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.

THE END