TIME Correspondent Charles Eisendrath was in Santiago during the September coup that overthrew the Marxist government of Salvador Allende Gossens; last week he returned to see what changes had been made by the new military junta. His report:
Signs of change begin at Santiago's Pudahuel airport. There are taxis now. In the chaotic days before the coup, just getting to town took a feat of near legerdemain, since cab drivers, like many other businessmen, were on strike against Allende's plans to nationalize many sectors of the economy, including transportation. Another obvious change: the multicolored graffiti that turned the walls of Santiago's buildings into checkered political billboards have been whitewashed by junta order.
In bars where journalists, politicians and diplomats used to meet and chat, the leftist hangers-on and exiles are gone. Most of them have been expelled from the country, are under arrest or are languishing in embassies and "safe havens" to avoid prison.
The most promising change has taken place in Chile's economy, which Allende left a shambles. After the coup, General Gustavo Leigh Buzman, chief of the air force and a junta member, prescribed a spartan program of "work, work, work." It has helped. The copper industry, which accounts for 80% of Chile's foreign earnings, had been nationalized, poorly managed, and so riven with strikes that production plummeted. But under the junta copper production rose to 61,000 tons during October, compared with a monthly average of under 50,000 tons during Allende's last months in office. With food prices up by 300%, the farmers are again tilling their land. Increased crops will reduce by nearly $100 million the need for the huge food imports (some $700 million) ordered by Allende.
Harsh Decrees. Two weeks ago, the government announced that 115 companies that had been nationalized by Allende would be returned to their former owners. The junta also said it was willing to discuss compensation for the U.S. copper mines, with assets of $500 to $700 million, that were taken over by Allende. All this has raised the government's stock in the eyes of foreign investors. American banks have offered Chile short-term loans of $ 150 million. Canadian, British and German banks are negotiating similar arrangements. By contrast, practically no foreign credit was available to Allende during his last month.
The bright signs are counterbalanced by harsh decrees. The removal of Allende's subsidization of many consumer items has caused prices to soar so high that few shoppers can afford to buy. Though wages have risen 70% under the junta, the cost of living has jumped 120%. Bread is up 350%, cooking oil 400%, gasoline 700%. Many poor Chileans are going hungry.
There is still a depressing mood of fear in Chile. Armed troops patrol Santiago's streets, and gunfire is frequently heard at night. Most observers now believe that the death toll is around 2,000, not 675 as the junta claims. Executions continue, though indiscriminate killings apparently have ceased. Several thousand political leftists are still being held in military prisons without trial. Political parties have been banned, and the junta indicates that the earliest it might allow elections would be in two years.