Swing to the Right

Five years ago, Chile's Eduardo Frei and his Christian Democratic Party capitalized on widespread fear of a Communist election victory to capture the presidency and, in the process, polled the biggest vote ever garnered by a Chilean political party. In two subsequent elections, however, the party's appeal has skidded sharply from the 55% of the vote it drew in 1964. Last week, in the last congressional elections before the 1970 presidential campaign, the Christian Democrats slipped even farther, polling less than a third of the vote. Surprisingly, the biggest beneficiary was not Chile's active extreme left, but the right-wing National Party, a coalition of long-derided conservatives.

When all the ballots were counted last week, Frei's ruling party, which got 31% of the popular vote, had lost 27 of its 82 seats in the 150-member lower house--and its majority The Nationalists, jumping from eight to 34 seats, won 21% of the vote.

Revolution in Liberty. Frei was quick to belittle rightist gains, claiming that the National Party's one-fifth of the vote merely reflected the normal but limited strength of right-wing causes the world over. Still, there was no denying that thousands of Chileans had rebuffed his "Democratic left." While the capable and well-intentioned Frei has been able to push through some agrarian and economic reforms, his campaign slogan of 1964, "Revolution in Liberty," never really caught on.

It was not entirely Frei's fault. From the beginning of his six-year term, the elements seemed to combine against him in one calamity after another. Chile was racked by destructive earthquakes and storms; now it is suffering the worst drought in its recorded history (TIME, Jan. 24). Inflation has spiraled: last year alone the cost of living rose by more than 30%. The rise, accompanied by higher taxes, upset Chile's sizable middle class. Also, many Chileans were disturbed by what they considered the leftward drift of the Christian Democrats. Frei has had to contend with a militant left fringe in his party that advocates more far-reaching reforms and an essentially socialist economic system.

The Courted Radicals. In the short run, the election losses will impede Frei's efforts toward further reforms in his remaining 19 months in office (under Chilean law, he cannot run for a second successive term). More important, the Christian Democrats will now have to find allies for the bigger stakes, the presidential race next year. The most likely seem to be the centrists of the Radical Party, who polled 13% of the vote last week. What will make such maneuvering doubly interesting is that the rightist National Party, its presidential hopes inspired by last week's gains, will probably court the Radicals for the same purpose.

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