Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-08-24
Chile Cleans House of Reds

The drastic measures taken by Presi-
dent Gabriel Gonzalez Videla to protect
Chile from Communist revolutionary &C
tivities have far more than local signif1-
canoe. Here is perhaps the most striking
illustration yet recorded of what is coming
to be a self-evident truth. This virtual
axiom is that you cannot play ball with
Communists in any capacity. Wherever
they are admitted to any organization,
whether it be government, a trade union,
or even literary or religious association
seemingly nonpolitical in character, the
Communist element will play politics,
propaganda, and precipitate intolerable
situations if they cannot gain control.
The result of much bitter experience is
general trend to expel these Communist
irreconcilables from organizations of every
kind. We in the United States are not
alone in resolutely tackling this thorny
problem. Several European governments
have rid themselves of their former Com
munist colleagues, and now it Is Chiles
turn to take action. The circumstances
are of special interest because of the
background against which this official
Gabriel Gonzalez Videla was elected to
the presidency of Chile last autumn as the
head of left-wing coalition wherein the
Communists were admittedly the most i'm
portant element. Though not himself a
Communist, Senior Videla welcomed Com
munist support, allowed his Communist
supporters to make promises of radical
economic and social reforms, and gave
Communists important posts in the cabinet
and other branches of the administration.
Indeed, this was the first time Communists
had shared control of the government in
any Latin American nation The expert
ment has therefore been watched with
special interest
Now the experiment has clearly failed.
President Videla has ousted virtually all
high Communist officials and is asking
the Chilean Congress for emergency pow
ers to deal with the revolutionary strikes"
fomented by the Communists. These
walkouts, including a tieup of the rail-
roads and some major industries, threaten
Chile's economic life with paralysis
During the past year the Communists
have gained control over the Federation
of Chilean Workers. formerly under mod
crate Socialist leadership, and are now
using their authority for revolutionary
political ends
OF course, the Communists deny this
claiming that the strikes are a "spon-
taneous" protest of the workers at
recent official decision permitting an in
crease IN the price of bread. But the
evidence tends to substantiate the govern
ment's charge that this is a pretext for
revolutionary ends.
At any rate, President Videla is now
breaking with his former Communist as
sociateS and is calling on Congress for
emergency powers to handle the current
crisis. The chances are that Congress will
consent, because that body is overwhelm-
ingly non-C Communist. Videla was elected
by only small plurality, the result being
due to split between the Conservative
and Liberal Parties, and to the fact that
the Socialist candidate was weak. But all
those parties are we'll represented in Con-
gress Now that Videlas radicals have
broken their Communist alliance, the
Communists are reduced to their own
strength. That, to be sure, is considerable.
owing to their hold over organized labor.
But, in a showdown between the Com
munists and the rest of the nation, the
outcome should not be long in doubt.