the working class in Chile. This is the message from the interview goes on to outline the tasks facing revolutionary militants inside pression in Chile today?
Aweapon. Mass raids are infrequent Mass repression is not the mair and irregular — they usually involve the popular quarters, and generally follow particular incidents such as the killing of Dagoberto Perez and the ambush of comrades Pascal and Gutierrez (all leaders of the MIR -Movement of the Revolutionary At the moment the Junta is concentrating on seleetive repression. Its aim is to prevent the political reorganisation of the left and of the revolubonaries, wnose activity even if it is still conducted among only small sections of the masses - is laying the basis for a solid movement of popular resistance. The isolation of the Junta also forces it to make the repression less dramatic and more easy to conceal - without making it any less sinister or bloody.
How far does this isolation Q extend?
It is one of the most obvious A aspects of the situation in Chile The policy of the Junta, reflecting the interests of big capital, inevitably clashes with the interests of the mass of the population. To give you one example of how far it extends -they had to use threats against teachers and school students to get any turn out at all for the celebration of the second anniversary of the coup. The Junta is based on repression nothing more.
So what is the situation inQ side the working class?
Unfortunately the overall politAical framework has not changed dramatically over the last two years. The general dynamic of the workers' movement is still the one imposed by the defeat of September 1973: dispersal, demoralisation, and a general retreat.
However, some signs of a change have appeared here and there over the last few months among the most advanced sectors, taking the form of trade union struggles, spontaneous demonstrations, the struggle against the "labour code' ete.
CONTAMINATION The United States has had to return to Chile whole assignments of prawns, mushrooms and fruit valued at over a million dollars. The reason: contamination with Can you be a bit more specQific about the struggle against the "labour code"?
The trade unions which now exAist are those accepted by the dietatorship. But that doesn't mean that they are all completely controlled by it. Certain unions are still headed by men who are in contact with the opposition, and who make use of the limited margin for manoeuvre they possess.
Thus for example several dozen trade union leaders openly rejected the attempt by the military to impose a new "labour code' of a corporatist nature, and expressed their 'concern' at the declining standard of living of the people, as well as their 'unease at the lack of For the first time since the coup of September 1973, there are growing signs of a new mood of resistance inside sections of below with a comrade of the Liga Comunista de Chile (sympathising organisation of the Fourth International), which also The following consists of extracts only from a much longer interview which will be appearing in a forthcoming issue of Many real guarantees for the expression of trade union rights.' On the question of the 'labour code' the Junta has had to retreat, deferring its adoption until there has been further diseussion. Qical pose the centre git- What are the central Comunista?
One of the reasons for the defeat A suffered by the Chilean working class was undoubtedly the absence of a revolutionary party rooted in the masses. Today we have to struggle for its construction, and that is our strategic aim. In this framework the struggle against the fascist dictatorship has for us a clearly anti-capitalist character. For us the struggle peoples' government.
FIGHTING LAY-OFFS
a policy of the anti-fascist united ion. practice.
• general orientation into practice? organisers. It is around them that we have developed the activity of the organisation in different fields ing class. the militants of the organisation -regular discussions.
distributors. Individually they will push copies wherever they have an opportunity brought out these journals over the last 18 months, the regular contact against the dictatorship must also mean the struggle for a workers and When we talk about anti-fascist unity, that must have a clearly defined class character. It must mean the unity of the exploited against that of the exploiters. Therefore the struggle against the dictatorVarious trade unions are fighting the threat of redundancies. Bata shoe-workers deriounced a plan to lay off 35 per pent of the workforce, forcing the basses to issue a statement that the workforce would not be reduced. A joint assembly hoods and so on.
of workers in the plastics industry, com prising 200 shop stewards, demanded that the Ministry of Labour halt any red uctions in the industry's workforce.
ship must be openly waged under the leadership of the working class and its organisations. We put forward front based on this general orientatFurthermore, we think it is necessary to establish in Chile a strategic alliance between the different revolutionary forces. This will lay the basis for regrouping those forces which are essential in order to put this conception of the anti-fascist struggle into How are you putting this Our main activity at the moment A is one of agitation and propaganda. Every month we publish two journals: Resistencia obrera y popular, which is of an agitational nature, and Combate, which is our central organ. These two publications act for us as 'collective of work. Resistencia is the main instrument for our work in the workHow is your press distributed?
The journals are distributed mainly important fruit. In this way we have built up a real network of regular readers, contacts, distributors of our press. They constitute an imp ortant periphery if you take into account our organisational limitations and above all the political situation in which we're working Is the work of the LC militants basically limited to distribution of your press?
Not al all. The Distribution of A our press is certainly the central task for each militant of our organ isation. But besides this task, be sides internal tasks (notably educ ation), the comrades are nearly all involved in mass work. Of course, "mass work' has a rather different meaning in Chile than elsewhere.
For us it means political and organisational work in the resistance committees or anti-fascist committees, which are very limited structures.
On a wider level - and one which is also more varied politically - our comrades are involved in local struetures aiming, for instance, to help the unemployed, to organise soup kitchens in working class neighbour- gre fide When it is possible - and when Tha it has any meaning, given the present acti state of the trade unions in Chile -they take part in union activity.
Finally, where possible they push forward partial and local struggles around immediate demands which are capable of involving the largest possible number of workers.
Could you describe some struggles in which the organisation has taken part?
Unfortunately I cannot give you
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Chile today. Inprecor