Evening star., 1932-06-26
CHILE'S UPHEAVAL ASSUMES
REVOLUTION PROPORTIONS
Outbreak Is First of That Kind i'm Latin
America Since 1910, When Diaz
Was OverthrOwn i'm Mexico.

period Of economic distress. those who
had heard Of the long-standing feud
between the widely separated classes of
the Chilean society. knew that the
Chilean situation amounted to some
thing else than a mere substitution Of
persons in the government.
The proof Of this Is, precisely, in the
uncertainties and unexpected changes
which have accompanied the establish
ment of the first socialistic state in
Chile. The diSsensions among the
leaders Of the movement and the cor
responding struggle among their groups
tensity of the situation. And teStifying
to the fact that the Chilean revolution
has only started.
II this had been Just another Of the
periodical disturbances of the type
which Latin Americans have expert
enced recently, it would have ended
with the mere overthrow of the men
against whom it was directed.
But the socialistic upset in Chile did
more than simply ouSt from power the
conservative regime Of President Mon
tero. 1t set In motion a new force
the force of the masses, who had been
imbibing from the spring of socialistic
and communistic principles. Truly, .
revolutionary force.
And now that the force is in motion
the very leaders of the movement are
at odds to control It, While write
these lines the situation is so uncertain
and fun of complexities that it renders
futile any prediction as to the outcome.
This IS the danger of political move
mentS in which social forces have been
aroused and set in motion. These
forces sometimes become overwhelming
and carry down the stream the leaders
who intended to direct them. A sort
Of political re-enactment Of the Frank
enstein drama.
Two Tendencies in Conflict.
Right now the two tendencies which
follow the outbreak of any mAjox revo-
| luton are in conflict in Chile, The
moderate elements, advocates Of a mild
| state Socialism-with a compromising
attitude toward foreign capitalists-and
the extremists, Of req leanings, have
been alternatively In control Of the sit
uation.
When the socialistic government was
| first proclaimed three weeks ago and
| diplomatic assurances of respect to for
eign interests were cabled to Washing
| ton while violent outbursts of anti
foreign and anti-capitalistic sentiments
| we're taking place in Santiago, I said
| that such a status-quo, ambiguous and
! contradictory in itself, could not last
loEg. One of the two tendencies had
to prevail definitely over the other.
Either the moderates would succeed in
energetically checking the advances Of
/ the extremists and then, turning their
backs to their socialistic dreams, estab-
| lish strong government on the classic
| pattern, with only difference in name
and persons; or else, the radicals would
carry out the real principles Of the
revolution. And in the carrying out
the mcderates would have to be Sacri-
! feed.
This is still the case. A half social
istic regime as has been promised re-
| peatedly by optimistic correspondents in
Santiago cannot subsist any consider
able length of time. There are only
two ways out A sharp swing to the
right, with probably the establishment
Of new military dictatorship, In which
case the real revolution would have
been only postponed for a certain time.
Or an open acceptance Of radical meas
ures and political and economic ideas
Of revolutionary nature, In which case
a clash with foreign capitalistic in
terests appears unavoidable.
History Is Repeated.
History repeats itself. The struggle
Of mensheviks and bolsheViks Is being
restaged in Chile. II remains now to
be seen how long the Chilean Keren-
skys will last in power.
| But only when this question has been
answered will we be able to know the
true scope Of the Chilean revolution
the first real Latin American revolu-
ton since the Mexicans put an end to
the feudal dictatorial rule of DiaZ i'll
| 1910. And the Mexican revolution did
not end with the overthrow of Diaz.
It lasted several years. 1t is still on,
| in way.
Whatever the temporary outcome Of
the present Chilean imbroglio, the real
significance Of this first socialistic out
burst in South America will only be
| appreciated when 1t begins to reflect in
other Latin American countries. And
! this, am afraid, will not take long.
| Political and economic conditions in
most of the Latin American republics
lend themselves to facilitate the propa-
g1tion of the Chilean crisis. Tradi-
tionally, political trends have been more
or less uniform in that part of the
world. A common political origin, SIM
liar systems of government, similar Gus
toms, common language and COM
mon psychological denominator explain
such phenomenon.
Nothing indicates that the traditions
will be broken this time On the con-
trary, critical economic conditions and
worldwide wave of discomfort and
re-examination Of all values will only
| pave the way for contagion.
|