V

For the purpose of any such investigation, the Committee on Internal Security, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit and act at such times and places within the United States, whether the House is in session, has recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, and to require, by subpena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the production of such books, records, correspondence, memorandums, papers, and documents, as it deems necessary. Subpenas may be issued under the signature of the chairman of the committee or any subcommittee, or by any member designated by any such chairman, and may be served by any person designated by any such chairman or member.

(1) its analysis, appraisal, and evaluation of the application, administration, and execution of the laws enacted by the Congress, and

(2) its formulation, consideration, and enactment of such modifications of or changes in those laws, and of such additional legislation, as may be necessary or appropriate,

each standing committee shall review and study, on a continuing basis, the application, administration, and execution of those laws, or parts of laws, the subject matter of which is within the jurisdiction of that committee.

The Committee on Internal Security met, pursuant to notice, at 11:45 a.m., in room 311, Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C., Hon. Richard H. Ichord (chairman) presiding.

Committee members present: Representatives Ichord of Missouri, John M. Ashbrook of Ohio, J. Herbert Burke of Florida, and Tennyson Guyer of Ohio.

Staff members present: DeWitt White, minority counsel; and James L. Gallagher, minority senior research analyst.

Chairman ICHORD. The hearing today is on the subject of the recent reversal of Marxist fortunes in Chile.

The testimony to be presented by the witness should be aptly suited to the committee's continuing investigation of the theory and practice of communism because the price he paid for his efforts in showing the contradictions between President Salvador Allende Gossens' words and actions was 28 trials and 5 jailings.

Mr. Raphael Otero, the witness, has been a Member of the Chamber of Deputies in Chile which is comparable to being a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

A native of the capital city, Santiago, which he represented in the Chamber and had previously represented as an elected councilman at the local level, Mr. Otero is by profession a journalist. He had been professor of journalism at the University of Chile and secretary of the Journalists Association of Chile. For the past 23 years, he has been a radio commentator on political and economic affairs in Chile.

The Chilean story is unique. One of my colleagues in the House, Representative Dan Flood, who has followed Latin American affairs for many years, recently stated that the current development in Chile represented the first major setback to the world revolutionary Marxist movement since its defeat in Spain in 1939.

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Its feuds notwithstanding, the world revolutionary movement today embraces 14 communist countries and was well along on its way to increasing that number to 15 with the addition of Chile. It seems to me that it is vitally important to the Congress to discover what really happened in Santiago. In the parlance of the intelligence community, Allende appears to have blown the operation. Although representing but 36 percent of the electorate, he had been, in fact, legally elected. Although he had candidly admitted that he would recast Chile in a Marxist mold, he had repeatedly vouched that his actions would be technically proper and that he would govern within a "bourgeois" framework.

Chile's Armed Forces-who are as proud of their professionalism as they are of their traditional distaste for matters political-reluctantly moved out of their campsites and marched on the Capitol, at the urging of the legislative branch and others in the private sector, to salvage the freedom Chile once cherished. Apparently this was not the typical Latin American coup led by military zealots. Civilian zeal sparked this coup, or to be more precise, this countercoup.

It behooves us to understand the mistakes of Marxism, as well as the problems of democracy. We expect to learn more about this today. Mr. Ashbrook?

Mr. ASHBROOK. Our witness is a very credible gentleman who can present us with firsthand documentation of the evidence of that particular situation and I welcome him to our hearings.

Chairman ICHORD. The Chair will add to the welcome of the gentleman from Ohio. It is a pleasure to have you before the committee. I have had the pleasure of reading some of your writings and we are looking forward to hearing from you.

Would you first arise and be sworn, sir. Will you raise your right hand?

Do you swear the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Mr. OTERO. I do.

Chairman ICHORD. Will you be seated, sir. And counsel is recognized to proceed.

TESTIMONY OF RAPHAEL OTERO, ACCOMPANIED BY DR. JUAN ANDRES LLITERAS, INTERPRETER

Mr. WHITE. Mr. Chairman, the witness this morning understands English quite well but he prefers to answer questions in Spanish. He is accompanied by Dr. Juan Andres Lliteras, doctor of law and of economics. He has offered to translate the proceedings this morning. Chairman ICHORD. It will be necessary to swear the interpreter. Dr. Lliteras, raise your right hand.

Do you solemnly swear you will correctly interpret the testimony given by Mr. Otero?

Dr. LLITERAS. I do.

Chairman ICHORD. Please be seated, sir.

Mr. WHITE. Mr. Otero, by way of introduction, will you briefly state your background.

Mr. OTERO. I am 50 years old. I am a newspaperman and I have been a radio commentator also, in my country. I was a professor of journalism at the University of Chile. In 1971, in April, I was elected

councilman, a member of the legislature of the city hall. In April of this year I was elected a Member of Congress, also, from Santiago. My basic activity has been in the field of journalism and I did not engage in political activities until 1970, when the government of Allende made the ordinary practice of journalism practically impossible in Chile. This compelled all the journalists to take advantage of whatever means they could in order to express their truth and their opinions and to carry the weight they thought they should.

Until October 1970, I was a commentator on three radio networks in Santiago. On the very day that Allende was inaugurated President, these radio chains were closed. In view of the law in Chile, which makes it compulsory to accept or allow propaganda by political candidates, I decided to become a candidate and run for office.

I would like to briefly present a background of Chilean history and the immediate past in order that you may better understand the present situation.

Chile has approximately 293,000 square miles. It has a population of 10 million inhabitants of whom, until the year 1966, 67 percent lived in the cities and 33 percent in the countryside. Presently, that situation has changed through a considerable influx of people from the countryside to the cities.

Due to the destruction of agricultural production in the country, in the rural areas, at this time, at this moment, 72 percent of the population lives in the cities, 23 percent in the rural areas, and the remainder in mining.

The Chilean coastline on the Pacific Ocean reaches a length of 2,635 miles. Chile further possesses a number of islands in the Pacific Ocean, some of them quite close, such as Easter Island which is midway between Chile and Australia. This confers on Chile a geopolitical situation of control in the southern Pacific area. This is one of the primary reasons which influenced the Soviet Union and in its having such a great interest in Chile after the election of President Allende.

In general, the country may be described as consisting of three zones: One, a desert zone in the north, rich in minerals such as copper and iron; a central zone of narrow valleys devoted mainly to agriculture, which is populated by 30-odd percent of the population; and a vast mountainous southern zone in which the sea and a land chain of mountains join together and which presents a topography which is very difficult and where the population is very scarce. The geographical facts have determined the nature of the economy of the country. These vast land properties which are found in other countries are called latifundio. The cultivation, for agricultural purposes, of the land in Chile has been the result of long and strenuous efforts on the part of the original frontiersmen who were mainly Germans, Swiss, and Italians, and who occupied the most fertile regions.

The country was conquered by the Spaniards in 1541 and for centuries the native civilization consisted of Araucanos Indians. These aboriginal Indians mixed with Europeans, sustained a war with Spain which lasted for centuries. This has given rise to a very odd situation in respect to the population which has been virtually isolated from the world by the great chain of mountains of Los Andes, and made possible the rise of a strong and homogeneous race.