military sector of the movement than in the political sector, this would be a blow at their influence.
Because of its inade quacies the opposition has been hampered in its fight against the increasing drift of the movement to reformiam. This is illustrated by the presidential address of Tomas Mac Giolla. Polemicising against the opposition he said: .... a dangerous tendency lias developed .., to equate the nalional question with the border and British troops and to assume that if they were gone the national question was solved. We must therelore continuously re-emphasie what is the national question" and what is the "national strugele.? It THESE Bed Choi. is all about the ownership of the wealth of this country.
By rendering the question less precise, Mac Giolla retreats from identifying those key aspects of the national struggle in Ireland today which must be tackled if there is to by any genuine integration of the national and working class struggles. lE no distinction is made between different political tusks, it is then a simple matter lo counterpose economic issucs to the real probiems confronting the socialist revaluilion.
The border split the Irish working class North and South and consoldated the material basis of the split between catholic and protestant workers in the North, The intervention of the British Army in August 1969 cut short the process by which the resurgence of the miRomala daeman of Brav Urhan
This Sunday, forces from all over Europe will gather in Paris to demonstrate in solidarity with the Chilean resistano Below, we print an interview with two comrades of the Fourth International who have just returned The day after the coup d'etat, the Chilean junta announced that they would rapidly set the economy to rights again. By freezing wages at their April 1973 level and removing the limits on price increases once the working class resistance had been crushed, they created a very favourable situation for the Chilean capitalists-profits should have shot up, and their investments should have flourished along with those placed by the big imperialist powers. Have the "miracles" foreseen actually taken place?
On the contrary, the cconomic erisis is weaking unpatalleled havoc. Along with the continuing represen, it is the main concern of the junta. For their ciear Inebatty to recolre the economic crisis monks the manies fus refback a considerble sethack. which could have important political consequencos The reason for this is very simple: the junta tried to to remain at work, increases to theif manual workers. spite of this? ment and torn tho working class apart, throwing into compulsory anemploymenra consteroe percepter of its ranks, and as a rosalt, they have greatly redaced the purchasing power of those who have heen allowed In limiting purchasing power and therefore the ia lent, literally starving them, they crented the conditions for the present stagnation, which has simply come on lop of the provious total chaos Thus those who should have benefited the most The Council's response was to refuse to pollect the Increases due under the Act. They defied men, have in a certain sense become the victims of the over unthusiasm of their servants And the euphoria of the first few weeks has now been replaood by a certain disillusion and moodiness Before coming back to the problems of the Industrialists and businessmen, can you give us a brief outline of the present situation of the Chilean workers?
I spent several die's in a Santingo sabiacion, I could tell you of numerous conversations I had with boase wives, workers and their wives.
Bere's one for example: the case of a husband who still has hisjob. He works six days a wack in a mechanical engineering factory. He works the new bours laid down by the tunta-57 hoars a week, plus too or two and a hall hours daily spent travelling to and from work in deadful conditions. They have two chidren, They have not had any meat to cat since the coup. And they are not likely to, citber When the husband brings home his wages on Saturday hy Tuesday night the money has all gone. Or Wednewlay, Thursday and Friday they have to get hy on bread dipped in a thin soup. From time lor time they cannot munage even that by Friday, and for 24 or 36 hours they are left with empty stomachs wetil the wages arrive again on Saturday right. That is just one esample,., but the same thing is throughout Chile. And these a families who were able to feed and cloche themselves without uny real dilliculty under the Popalar Unity povcrement. Today there is obricusly no question of buying clothe rents will be put up, for that would mean tens of thousands of people cut in the street, without any accommodation -or else they would have to make do with still less food, even greater hardship. And the workers who have been sacked? In relation to these the family I have just described to you lives a privileged life.
Tens of thousands of workers hive been socked in Santiago alone. They are misiny an Litants, known for their trade union activity und their support for Popular Unity, Robbed of work in a situation Like this, they are alterally roduced to begging lE they are not to die of honger, Along with the classical methods of repression, the junta have discovered that this is the best way to further demoralise the workers: to starve direnz after their de leaz.
Harely can any regime have pursued such policie concerned, Whore should they chey?