Chilean Unrest Seen as Key in Plebiscite : Pinochet Supporters, Foes Maneuver for Votes as Protests Subside

SANTIAGO, Chile — By Chilean standards, the violence surrounding Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s presidential nomination Tuesday was not exceptional.

But in a supercharged political climate, with Pinochet’s supporters and foes maneuvering to portray themselves as the hope for a peaceful and stable future, both sides agree that such unrest could play a significant role in the five-week campaign.

Pinochet, the 72-year-old general who has led Chile since a bloody 1973 coup, was chosen by the military as the sole candidate in a yes-or-no plebiscite to be held Oct. 5. If he wins, he will serve for eight more years. If the No vote wins, multi-party presidential and congressional elections will be held in late 1989.

The violence began at noon Tuesday and persisted into early Wednesday. Three young protesters were killed, at least one of them reportedly shot by civilians from a car, and more than 800 were arrested in Santiago alone, according to police figures.

Amid the fumes of tear gas and the spray of water cannon, Pinochet supporters and opponents fought with fists and clubs just blocks from the nominating ceremony.

Each side immediately blamed the other for the unrest. But leaders of the No Command, an alliance of 16 parties seeking to defeat Pinochet, acknowledged that they have the most to lose if there is renewed conflict.

A fundamental premise of the Yes campaign is that Pinochet restored order after the confrontation, strikes and shortages during Marxist President Salvador Allende’s rule from 1970 to 1973, ending with the coup. The Yes campaign’s theme is “Yes or Chaos.”

Unrest May Frighten Voters

Whether caused by infiltrators, as alleged by some No supporters, or simply spontaneous expressions of anger by government foes, unrest could frighten the crucial bloc of undecided voters who receive daily government warnings on the dangers that a No vote poses to Chile’s stability.

Roberto Lewin, national youth secretary in the Yes campaign, said in an interview that leftist protests and street disorder “seek to terrorize our people. But what they really achieve is that those undecided voters who at one point considered voting for them are going to change their minds. . . . Marxism is not able to control violence.”

Pro-government newspapers and the government-run television network covered extensively the turmoil involving hundreds of protesters and thousands of sympathizers in the downtown area.

Interior Minister Sergio Fernandez, the behind-the-scenes leader of the Yes campaign, said in a statement Wednesday: “No Chilean should fool himself. Once more, extremist groups have sown death and fear. The guilty in these cases are clearly identified with the No (campaign). . . . It is indispensable that those authentic democrats in the opposition realize clearly the extremes to which their precarious alliance with Marxism can lead.”

Leaders of the No campaign appealed to their supporters to stay indoors Tuesday night to avoid clashes that could be exploited by Pinochet’s followers and not to create situations in which infiltrators could incite violence.

Patricio Aylwin, president of the Christian Democratic Party and the leader of the No Command, said of the violence, “I believe that in general the demonstrations by the youth were quite peaceful, but it worries me.

“Any act of violence serves Pinochet,” Aylwin said.

Ricardo Nunez, leader of a key Socialist Party faction in the No Command, said the protests were “nothing more than a natural response by people who feel their dignity has been trampled yet again. . . . “