Difficult Choices

Chileans last week braced for the most important presidential election in their republic's 152-year history. Practically every wall in Santiago was painted with campaign slogans, excited crowds surged to outdoor rallies, and loudspeakers blared political pitches late into the evening. No matter which of the three candidates they cast their ballots for, Chile's 3,500,000 voters risked provoking violent repercussions.

If they elected the Communist-backed candidate, Dr. Salvador Allende, to the presidency, he might turn the country into a dictatorial Marxist state and might even cancel the 1976 elections. Moreover, his election might lead to a coup d'etat by the frightened military. On the other hand, if the Chilean electorate voted for the rightist candidate, 74-year-old former President Jorge Al-essandri, his election might precipitate terrorist retaliation from the M.I.R. (Movement of the Revolutionary Left).

The popular retiring President, Eduardo Frei, who was forbidden by law from seeking a second consecutive term, warned that the danger of violence from the extreme left would be one of the country's biggest problems in the immediate post-election period. Cuban Premier Fidel Castro, worrying that violence would hurt Allende's chances at the polls, warned the Chilean terrorists to lay off until after the elections. But should Allende lose by a slim margin, the Miristas could become extremely hard to control. Allende, who was runner-up in the 1964 presidential race, had warned that he would not allow the election to be stolen from him.

Toss-Up Forecasts. The possible consequences of either an Allende or an Alessandri victory bolstered somewhat the candidacy of Radomiro Tomic, the candidate of Frei's Christian Democratic Party. The prospect of violence was less likely in his case. The army would probably be mollified if Tomic were elected, but the leftist terrorists might start trouble.

As election day approached, the candidates made their bids for support. Seeking to counter charges of Communist extremism, Allende, who heads a Communist-Socialist coalition, tried to reassure voters that he was not a reckless radical. He even managed to get his picture in the papers posing with a nun. Nonetheless, he told a street rally flatly, "I make no secret of my admiration for the Cuban revolution." He repeated his promise to nationalize copper, nitrates, banking and communications, and vowed to dissolve the Grupo Movil, the police riot squad that has been in open conflict with the leftist terrorists.

For his part, Alessandri, who is the law-and-order candidate, stressed the need for a return to security and appealed to the voters' concern about the current wave of bank robberies, assaults on army and police, wage riots and the growing danger of terrorism. Tomic, who had earlier criticized the Frei government for its failure to reduce the high rate of inflation (28% last year) and to nationalize the copper industry completely, made a final effort to identify himself with Frei by praising the record of the outgoing President.

His efforts were not successful. On election night last week, the Marxist Allende pulled into an early lead, with the conservative Alessandri running a close second and the moderate leftist Tomic an inauspicious third. The race between Allende and Alessandri was extremely close, but it appeared that Allende had emerged with a narrow popular victory. In any case, since no candidate won an absolute majority, the contest will not be settled until late next month, when the Chilean Congress will select one of the two top vote-getters--Allende or Alessandri--as the new President.

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