CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS AND THE PROBLEM OF AGRARIAN REFORM IN CHILE

The main reforms & changes carried out by the Chilean gov during the presidency of Eduardo Frei are examined. It is noted that following the Christian-Democrats' advent to power in 1964, Chile became the only Latin-Amer country in which a serious attempt was made to secure the continued existence of the bourgeois system, not only through resort to the state machinery of suppression & violence, but also via a number of econ & soc transformations designed to win the masses over to the side of the Christian-Democrats. The focus is primarily on the agrarian reform, which is of paramount importance in the Christian Democrats' program of modification of the traditional pattern of Chilean society. A detailed analysis of the appropriate legislation, the progress made in the practical implementation of the agrarian reform & the pol'al struggle over it, leads to the conclusion that the agrarian reform did not change the pattern of production relationships in Chilean agriculture because the Christian-Democrats did not rely on the masses in the struggle against the big landowners. Nevertheless, this struggle could lead to a decisive victory over the latifundists & help to carry the agrarian reform into a phase of practical implementation. It is stressed that the agrarian reform of Christian Democrats merely represents a further development & radicalization of the traditional policy of agrarian change pursued in Chile over the last 30 years. Modified HA.