One of the main objectives of the Unidad Popular ('Popular Unity')
Govern- ment was to attain Chile's evolution towards more advanced forms
of social organization within the framework of strictly respected
democracy. This objective, which is deeply inherent in every human being
and conse- quently present under alI conditions and in alI parts of the
world, is not weakened by temporary defeats or transient retreats.
History proves this, and current events in many parts ofthe world fully
confirm it. One of the areas in which this struggle for progress takes
place most in- tensively is economics. Here, c1ashes take place between
the forces which work towards social progress, and those which oppose it
and aim to maintain a sys- tem of intolerable priveleges. The
ideological and material resources available to the forces which attempt
to re strain social progress are not small, and under given
circumstances they overcome the forces by which the majority tries to
realize a better future. This is expressed very c1early in the
relationships which link the internal dynamics of social development
with the great economic and political forces operating at the
internationallevel. Consequently, analysis of the social trans-
formation process in such countries as Chile, in the context of the
political and economic reactions these processes unleach at the
internationallevel, is of key importance.