Evening star., 1942-02-03
Democracy Wins in Chile

democracy wins IN NnIle
The long-awaited Chilean presi-
Dental election is over and has re-
suited in the choice of the popular
candidate, Juan Antonio Rios, by q
lead of nearly $4,000 votes out of q
total of about 100000 ballots. The
climax to a hotly contested cam
paign was orderly and the defeated
candidate, General Ibanez, has con-
ceded defeat without protest. So
the new administration seems
assured of a peaceful assumption of
power.
This happy outcome ends the
period of uncertainty precipitated
by the sudden death of President
Aguirre Cerda last November in the
middle of his six-year term of Office.
His election in 1888 was a landmark
in Chilean politics. For more than
a decade, Chile had suffered from
chronic political instability, compli-
Gated by economic depression. The
traditional rule of a conservative
oligarchy composed chiefly of great
landowners had been weakening be-
fore the rise of liberal middle class
and a radical labor element, but the
balance of power was too narrow for
either side to govern effectively.
Aguirre Cerda was the first President
to be elected with a clear majority
by a liberal-radical coalition known
as the Popular Front and pledged
to sweeping economic and social
reforms.
In Chile, as in other Latin
American nations, the outbreak OF
war in Europe sharpened political
lines on foreign issues. President
Cerda was frankly anti-Axis and in
favor of Pan-American c0-0pera-
ton. The same was true of Senior
Rios when he became the candidate
of the Popular Front coalition, now
known as the Democratic bloc.
Early in the campaign he an
nounced: The realities of the
moment demand full cooperation
with the United States. No other
course is possible for Chile" And
his party campaigned under such
slogans as: Death to Fascism!" and
Down With Hitler!"
The opposition candidate, General
Carlos Ibanez del Campo, repre-
sented a coalition of elements rang
ing from old-line conservatives to
reactionary and pro-AxiS groups.
The general himself denied pro-
Axis 1eanings and certainly was
friendly toward the United States
during his presidential term from
1927 to 1881. A soldierly figure, de-
voted to discipline and order, he
distrusted the political program Of
the Popular Front and campaigned
chiefly on an "anti-C Communist"
platform. Nevertheless, he did not
reject the support of pro-AxiS groups
and was decidedly vague on the
issue of Pan-American cooperation
against the Axis powers. His elec-
ton at the head of coalition so
markedly conservative undoubtedly
would have been interpreted as
a mandate for a foreign policy OF
isolation and rigid neutrality akin to
that of the present conservative gov
eminent of Argentina. This was the
reason why the Stop-gap government
of Chile, though itself drawn from
the Popular Front, did not wish to
commit Chile in advance OF the elec-
tions, and therefore declined to
break with the Axis at the Rio con-
ference
The result of the elections SEEM
ingly has decided that issue. One
of the first pronouncements made
by President-elect Rios was that his
success at the polls constitutes "a
triumph for the democratic ideal
and an annihilation of totalitarian
forces as we'll as a reaffirmation OF
the policy of continental collabora-
ton" When he takes office next
month, his government is expected
to break all relations with the Axis,
thus leaving Argentina the only
Latin American country which has
not fallen in line with the recon-
mendation passed by the Rio Con-
ference.
Both within and without, Chile
thus aligns itself with the demo-
cratic and progressive trend in the
Western Hemisphere. In principle,
Chile already had done so by the
Popular Front election Of 1888. The
present special election thus has
confirmed a stand temporarily COM
promised by the tragic death of its
former standard-bearer.