My friends,
Surely this will be the
last opportunity for me to address you. The
Air Force has bombed the antennas of Radio Magallanes.
My
words do not have bitterness but disappointment. May they be a moral
punishment for those who have betrayed their oath: soldiers of Chile,
titular commanders in chief, Admiral Merino, who has designated
himself Commander of the Navy, and Mr. Mendoza, the despicable
general who only yesterday pledged his fidelity and loyalty to the
Government, and who also has appointed himself Chief of the
Carabineros [paramilitary police].
Given these facts, the only
thing left for me is to say to workers: I am not going to resign!
Placed in a historic transition, I will pay for loyalty to the people
with my life. And I say to them that I am certain that the seeds
which we have planted in the good conscience of thousands and
thousands of Chileans will not be shriveled forever.
They have
force and will be able to dominate us, but social processes can be
arrested by neither crime nor force. History is ours, and people make
history.
Workers of my country: I want to thank you for the
loyalty that you always had, the confidence that you deposited in a
man who was only an interpreter of great yearnings for justice, who
gave his word that he would respect the Constitution and the law and
did just that. At this definitive moment, the last moment when I can
address you, I wish you to take advantage of the lesson: foreign
capital, imperialism, together with the reaction, created the climate
in which the Armed Forces
broke their tradition, the tradition taught by General Schneider and
reaffirmed by Commander Araya, victims of the same social sector who
today are hoping, with foreign assistance, to re-conquer the power to
continue defending their profits and their privileges.
I
address you, above all, the modest woman of our land, the campesina
who believed in us, the mother who knew our concern for children. I
address professionals of Chile, patriotic professionals who continued
working against the sedition that was supported by professional
associations, classist associations that also defended the advantages
of capitalist society. I address the youth, those who sang and gave
us their joy and their spirit of struggle. I address the man of
Chile, the worker, the farmer, the intellectual, those who will be
persecuted, because in our country fascism has been already present
for many hours -- in terrorist attacks, blowing up the bridges,
cutting the railroad tracks, destroying the oil and gas pipelines, in
the face of the silence of those who had the obligation to act. They
were committed. History will judge them.
Surely Radio
Magallanes will be silenced, and the calm metal instrument of my
voice will no longer reach you. It does not matter. You will continue
hearing it. I will always be next to you. At least my memory will be
that of a man of dignity who was loyal to his country.
The
people must defend themselves, but they must not sacrifice
themselves. The people must not let themselves be destroyed or
riddled with bullets, but they cannot be humiliated either.
Workers
of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will
overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail.
Go forward knowing that, sooner rather than later, the great avenues
will open again and free men will walk through them to construct a
better society.
Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long
live the workers!
These are my last words, and I am certain
that my sacrifice will not be in vain, I am certain that, at the very
least, it will be a moral lesson that will punish felony, cowardice,
and treason.
Santiago de Chile, 11 September 1973