Chapter 655: Intense Criticism
Chile also attaches great importance to the first World Congress held in Latin America. Allende's support for the government is currently good. In fact, it is different from what ordinary people think. When he first served as president, Allende's own party, the Socialist Party had only a 30% support rate. In the year when Allende was a military coup, the Socialist Party had already accounted for more than 40% of the seats in parliamentary elections. If this situation continues, Allende can rule alone and does not need alliance parties.
Allende, in an economic crisis, has become increasingly supportive, and the turmoil has not weakened the power of the Socialist Party. This is why the United States ultimately supports the Chilean military and must launch a coup. With the arrival of delegations from various countries, after the arrival of the Soviet Union and Cuba delegations, Democratic Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Albania, Indonesia, Iraq, Sudan, and Vietnam in the war all sent high-standard delegations to attend the World Congress in Santiago.
In addition to these ruling parties, more than 90 ** and Workers' Party across all continents came to Santiago. As time continues, everyone in Chile is waiting for the convening of this conference. This is a good publicity opportunity for supporters of President Allende. Allende also took advantage of this conference and publicly expressed his willingness to accept the suggestions of any other brother parties to make Chile's development better and better.
With the government's support, the World Congress held in the local area attracted the attention of the whole country. Everyone's political enthusiasm was fully mobilized and they were patiently waiting for the convening of the conference. In front of the venue where the conference was held, more than a dozen flagpoles had already hung the flags of socialist countries, including the Chilean flag. Allende expressed his determination to follow the socialist path in this way.
This action made the Christian Democratic Party quite complain, but after the international event was held, I just mentioned it and didn't continue to say anything. Christian Democratic Party exists in most Western European countries and Latin American countries, but there are differences between the two regions. Most Christian Democratic Party in Western Europe and the Second International Social Party in Western Europe are in the center right and left positions respectively. Christian Democratic Party is a party that is biased towards the Conservative Party, while Christian Democratic Party in Latin America is usually more left-leaning and has a good relationship with the Socialist Party and the **. Otherwise, the Christian Democratic Party would not have formed an alliance with President Allende, although the alliance is about to break down now.
On October 8, amid the high expectations, the World Congress and Workers' Party were held. President Allende and Soviet General Secretary Brezhnev, Castro of Cuba, Erich Honak of Democratic Germany, Ceausescu of Romania, Zhivkov of Bulgaria, and leaders of many countries held a group photo at the venue. This photo will be the headline of Chile's national newspapers the next day.
"How could this smell of passion?" Shelov stood aside and muttered to himself. He really couldn't accept the posture of a group of big men holding hands and waving hands side by side. This posture would be acceptable if it appeared in the elementary school group.
After taking a photo with leaders of many countries and representatives of various countries, President Allende announced the official start of the conference. President Allende stood on the rostrum and delivered a speech first, "Comrades, friends: Today, we are here to celebrate the convening of the World Congress and the Workers' Party, review the glorious journey of the unremitting struggle of the world champions since 1918, and look forward to the bright prospects for the development of the socialist cause. This great historical contribution is the socialist revolution, the establishment of the basic socialist system, the elimination of all exploitation systems, and the promotion of socialist rulers.
The significance of this great historical contribution lies in the completion of the most extensive and profound social changes in world history, laying the fundamental political premise and institutional foundation for all development and progress in the contemporary world, and laying a solid foundation for the development, prosperity and prosperity of backward countries. Today, we are in Santiago, with a happy mood, welcome comrades from all over the world to come here. Hold a grand event for all the best in the world. Once again, I welcome Comrade Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Soviet Union, Comrade Erich Honak, General Secretary of the Democratic Germany, and Comrade Ceausescu of Romania..."
With President Allende's words, Brezhnev, Erich Honak, Ceausescu, Castro and others stood up and waved, which caused waves of applause from the venue. The conference just started was a very live scene, which also took place on TV in Chile and many countries.
Then, President Allende, as the host, first introduced the achievements of Chile's excessive socialist reforms, nationalized the copper, saltpeter, iron ore and coal mines operated by private capital controlled by the United States. Five copper mines controlled by the United States, including Chukikamata, Tenant, El Salvador, Andina, and Exotica controlled by the United States, were nationalized. At the same time, it was announced that the establishment of a copper mine court would be heard to hear various cases caused by the nationalization of copper mines.
Land reform. The Allende government accelerated the entry of land reform, and successively seized more than 8 million hectares of land from more than 4,000 large land owners, established state-owned farms, collective cooperatives, or directly distributed the land to farmers. There are also related issues such as improving industrial efficiency, eliminating illiteracy, etc., which shows Chile's achievements in this reform.
Then Brezhnev also talked about the Soviet Union's five-year plan, the progress of the new economic system, the improvement of efficiency and factory profits. Brezhnev's speaking speed was very slow, leaving enough time for the translator. Just like him, he was neither too slow but not a single introduction to the Soviet Union's situation, which showed the optimistic attitude of the Soviet Union, and did not mention the current high growth rate. After Brezhnev's speech, Ceausesku and Zhivkov introduced the country's construction issues in the economic field, as well as Indonesia, Iraq and Sudan, three newly-starting countries, introducing the situation of their own countries.
These people took several hours to speak, and such conferences are usually boring, but the time for such world-class conferences is uncertain, and many of them are the highest leaders of the country and the general secretary of various parties. All the people attending the conference have always been in a clear state and listened. Of course, many people whispered, far less than the serious atmosphere in the Soviet Union.
The first day's meeting was like a commendation meeting, and all countries introduced their best side. The experiences of each country occupied a large area of Chile's newspapers, but they also attracted some doubts. After all, Chile still has other parties, and they believe that everyone is talking about their best side, which is not objective.
But the next day's conference immediately changed suddenly. After discussing the situation of the world socialist movement, the Secretary of the Soviet Central Committee of the Soviet Union, Andropov, with a sincere attitude, solicited the consent of President Allende, began to criticize Chile's reforms, and his words were relatively unpolite. "The criminal behavior has not been curbed. There are many addicts in Chile. A normal person should not be controlled by drugs. This is my first impression of Chile."
"It seems to be a bit slapping me in the face." Andropov and Allend had no reaction yet. Shelov felt that this was coming for him, although Andropov might not know this. During his trip to Santiago, the two found that Chile's drug problem was very serious, and some people with serious poisoning were not uncommon. Back at the hotel, Slov specifically asked the cadres of the Latin American Office of the First General Administration, and asked how many markets were controlled by drug lords who had cooperative relations with the Latin American Division. The conclusion was shocked, and 65% of the Chilean market was.
Andropov only mentioned this issue because other problems are more serious. Including inflation, due to excessive demand, Chile has experienced a shortage of commodities, prices continue to rise, and the inflation rate is as high as 14%. The government adopted methods such as limited supply and freezing of prices have caused the prices of basic necessities such as rice, soybeans, sugar, and flour on the black market to soar. In terms of land reform, the contradiction between farmers and landlords has deepened and the conflict has become increasingly fierce.
After Andropov's speech, the atmosphere in the entire venue changed instantly, and everyone didn't understand. Is the Soviet Union going to criticize President Allende? Ceausescu of Romania immediately stood up to defend Chile. Bulgarian General Secretary Zhivkov wanted to express his intention not to attack Chile with such harsh words.
At this time, Selov walked towards the podium, making the atmosphere even more solidified. He himself forgot that the theory of limited sovereignty in time and space was proposed by him. In the eyes of some countries, he was much more hateful than Brezhnev.
Selov just criticized Chile's policy, but soon Brezhnev let him go and said to President Allende, "Comrade Andropov and Comrade Selov have recently visited some places in Chile and have discovered many problems. I believe President Allende will not deny some existing problems. Both comrades have relatively fierce personalities. One of them has been on the battlefield and the other is an important general of the military, so their words are a bit fierce. I hope President Allende can understand this."
"General Secretary Brezhnev, I am not a person who cannot accept criticism. Personally, I believe that the two comrades have no malice." President Allende was not angry with the criticism just now, because these are all problems in Chile.
Chapter completed!