CHILEAN COMMUNISTS JOIN CAMPAIGN
October 19, 1989
SANTIAGO, CHILE
Sixteen years after Gen. Augusto Pinochet seized power and vowed to rid Chile of Marxism, his Communist foes have survived to make a bid for seats in Congress. Twenty-one known Communist Party members are among 600 candidates campaigning for the Dec. 14 election marking the end of military rule. The general was forced to call elections after losing a referendum a year ago on his continued rule.
The Communists are barred by law from using the party name in campaigning. Officially, they belong to the Broad Socialist Left Party, a political front for banned leftist parties. Chile's party is Latin America's oldest Communist organization. Its ranks were decimated by repression after the 1973 takeover.