Communist Party USA Condemns Attack on Chilean Communists

The Communist Party USA strongly denounces the brutal attack on the Communist Party of Chile and its members November 28 in Santiago, Chile.

The raid on the Party headquarters by over 300 national police armed with tear gas and water cannons resulted in the arrest of 40 people and injuries to 10 persons. One of those arrested was Party General Secretary Gladys Marin, who was also kept by police from speaking to her lawyers.

This attack is a desperate attempt to slow or stop the process of democratization in Chile just weeks before parliamentary elections in which the Communist Party of Chile is expected to gain a seat for the first time since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship. We are sure that this tactic will not work to intimidate the Party, its members or the progressive movement in Chile.

The Communist Party USA calls for a full investigation of this disgraceful and brutal violation of democratic rights by an independent body.

We stand together with our comrades in the Communist Party of Chile and the Young Communist League (JJCC), and with the Chilean people, as we always have against U.S. intervention, dictatorship, and the attack on democratic rights.