DRAW YOUR OWN
CONCLUSIONS
As noted at various times in World Outlook during the past year, the Cuban government has made some very cogent criticisms of the Frei regime in Chile, which is currently serving as a display case for the State Department in Latin America. The attitude of the Cuban government toward Frei was one of the main indicators in determining how false was the judgment offered by certain ultraleftists that the Tricontinental Conference in January 1966 marked a “turn to the right" for Castro.
In contrast to the principled stand of the Cubans in defense of the Chilean workers when they were attacked by the Frei regime, Brezhnev—Kosygin have displayed a different attitude. This culminated recently in a very generous gesture toward the Chilean president.
Granma, the official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist party of Cuba, reported the news in a rather wry way. In the January 29 issue of the English edition, a box of exactly 34 lines, under the heading “USSR AND CHILEAN GOVERNMENT TO COLLABORATE," said:
"MOSCOW, January (TASS). -- Agreements providing an important basis for commercial and economic relations between the Soviet Union and Chile are expected to be signed this week in Moscow.
"It appears that for the success of this economic collaboration, Soviet credit is to be given to Chile under advantageous conditions.
"One of the agreements has to do with the construction projects for industrial enterprises in Chile. The Soviet delegation, which visited this Latin American country several months ago, has stated that the collaboration may cover several branches of the Chilean economy.
"The Soviet Union will supply machinery EDUARDO FREI MONTALVA and equipment for the plants to be constructed with Soviet technical cooperation. The Chilean representatives had already expressed their readiness to purchase machinery and equipment from the Soviet Union amounting to sixty million dollars.
"Trade relations between Chile and the USSR will also be increased. To date the USSR had purchased raw materials (mainly wool) from Chile. It is expected that the Soviet imports from Chile will in the future increase the percentage corresponding to finished and semi-finished items."
At the opposite side of the same page, in an equally prominent position, was another box, also exactly 34 lines in length. Under the headline, "WHAT IS THE FREI GOV- ERNMENT?" this item read:
"Frei's government represents the oligarchic, and pro-imperialist interests that oppose revolution and social-political transformations in the brother country of Chile.
"It is a government at the service of the exploiting classes. Frei designated himself a 'reformist' during the presidential campaign but has carried out no social change whatsoever. On the contrary, he has opposed every type of change in favor of the workers and peasants, and has supported the owners and employers, unleashing a wave of savage repression against strikes and popular protest movements. On the international scene, he maintains a policy of subservience to the dictates of the United States government. Defenders of the so-called ‘Alliance for Progress' support Eduardo Frei. His 'reformism' and the 'Alliance' are, in truth, one and the same aspect of imperialist policy in Latin America. That is why Frei and his government are considered one of the principal allies of imperialism.
EDUARDO FREI MONTALVA
"Frei defends the interests that oppose the working classes.
"In regard to Cuba, Frei is, in addition, an accomplice to the criminal imperialist blockade against our economy. For that reason, he is repudiated by every sincere revolutionary on this continent."
CHEN YI