"Sovereign Right of Revolution"

On the walls of the tiny study in his modest home in Santiago's patrician Providencia district, Dr. Salvador Allende has hung the pictures of his revolutionary heroes. There, last week, surrounded by photographs of Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara--as well as one of Eleanor Roosevelt--Allende talked with TIME Correspondent David Lee.

Chile as "Another Cuba." We are not the mental colonists of anyone. What the Cubans have done is admirable; they have been able to turn their country from a floating house of prostitution into a land where there is a deep national feeling. But Chile is very different. Chile is the most politically developed country in Latin America. We have some problems similar to those of Cuba, but the methods we have chosen are very different. In Cuba there was a civil war. In Cuba there was a dictatorship. Here there is an elected government. I have been a candidate three times, and I have always accepted the results of the elections.

On the Danger of an Army Coup if He Comes to Power: There is no war here as there was in Cuba. The Cuban army was a pretorian guard in the service of a dictator. Here there is a constitutional armed force and a constitutional president. For many long years, the Chilean armed forces have demonstrated their respect for the constitution, the law and the popular will. I believe they will do so again.

His Political Philosophy: Marxism is a scientific method for interpreting history and the economic and social facts of the world. It is not a prescription for making a government. The Chilean Socialist Party has never been attached to any international association. I have read Marx, Engels and Lenin, but I have also read Lincoln, Jefferson and Washington. Kennedy's Inaugural Address was one of the best pieces of oratory I have ever read.

On the U.S.: There are always problems when people fight for their liberty. The United States fought against foreign forces that wanted to impede its development. That is why we read works by the founders of the U.S. There must be a large percentage of Americans who cannot forget their own struggle and who realize just what our struggle involves.

On His Country's Poverty: My conviction is that the developing countries will never overcome their backwardness if there is not a fundamental change in their social and economic structures. We are a potentially rich country, yet now we are very poor. We want our people to eat, to have work, to have homes, to have the guarantee of health.

On the Failings of Previous Regimes: It took twelve years for our congress to pass a bill giving medical assistance to workers' families. Chile is a mining country where workers are exposed to silicotuberculosis, yet it took 26 years to pass a bill providing compensation to a worker's family in case of accident or job-related disease. The medical school (at the University of Chile) burned down 19 years ago, but the new school is still not finished. There has been a total disregard for the human resources of Chile.

Prospects for Nationalization: It is logical to expect problems. You are witness to what is happening right now. How people are drawing their money from banks, how businessmen threaten to close down their operations and leave the country. It all shows clearly that there are unpatriotic Chileans. It demonstrates what can be done by a social class of parasites who have never worked a day in their lives and have lived instead solely on speculation.

Chile's Aspirations: In essence we want to be an economically independent country with the right to choose our own path. We are believers in self-determination of the people, and in nonintervention. We want to maintain the best relations with all the countries of the world, and we hope that the American Government will understand that. Our revolution is within the right of a sovereign state.

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