Businessmen and Investments in Chile

The moral blindness of corporate chairman John Wright of the St. Joe Minerals Corp. (a subsidiary of Fluor Corp. was startlingly revealed when he spoke Nov. 4 before the World Trade Assn. of Orange County.

As quoted by The Times, he said, “We Americans don’t like military governments but (Gen. Auguste) Pinochet has done a remarkable job of bringing order. He’s eliminated the Communist problem and brought stability. . . . With insurrection quelled and free elections off in the distant future, the business climate there should be good. Today is a good time to invest in Chile. There will be five or six years of relative peace there.”

Ah yes, where have we heard that before? That’s right, it was the businessmen who applauded Benito Mussolini for bringing order to Italy and making the trains run on time. Then it was Adolf Hitler who brought stability to Germany and solved the Communist problem, for a while. Both of these strutting Fascists in uniform were good role models for August Pinochet and his macabre administration of torture, political murder and ruthless oppression of the Chilean people.

Apparently some of us have learned nothing. When American businessmen rush in to make a profit under the umbrella of these monsters, they identify our country with them. They involve our country with the financing and support of fascism.

It’s sad but the best argument for Marxism south of our border is a businessman like John Wright. As long as we keep coming up with the likes of him it will never go away.

ROGER WEST

Seal Beach