Chile Crackdown: Leftists Jailed, Troops Enter Slums : ‘War’ After Gun Attavk on Pinochet

Security forces, empowered with state-of-siege authority following an assassination attempt against President Augusto Pinochet, arrested leftist leaders today, entered some radical slums, sealed off others and cracked down on the opposition press.

“This is a war between Marxism and democracy,” Pinochet said at the presidential palace in Santiago, where he returned today after spending the night at a villa southeast of the capital.

“The country must decide between the chaos promoted by that flock of degenerate politicians and the government, which is seeking a logical road to democracy,” Pinochet told hundreds of cheering supporters.

Interior Minister Ricardo Garcia declared the state of siege Sunday night, hours after 15 suspected leftist rebels attacked Pinochet’s motorcade with machine-gun and rocket fire. Five security guards were killed and 10 were wounded. Pinochet was slightly wounded in his left hand.

Opposition Leaders Seized

The crackdown began during the night, when police arrested Socialist Party leaders Ricardo Lagos and German Correa in their homes, and troops sealed the slums ringing Santiago, traditional centers of anti-Pinochet unrest. Gunfire was reported.

Roman Catholic Church workers said troops raided two south slum areas, including the staunchly anti-Pinochet neighborhood of La Victoria, the scene of rioting during two days of demonstrations last week that claimed four lives.

“We have heard intermittent gunfire in La Victoria but nobody can get in or out,” said one church human rights worker, who spoke on the condition that he not be named.

All copies of the opposition magazine APSI were seized by security forces, and left-wing journalist Jose Carrasco was dragged from his home barefoot in the night, his wife said.

A Catholic priest, Rafael Marotto, a spokesman for a leftist guerrilla group, was also arrested for questioning by police, church officials said.

Sweeping Powers Granted

The new state of siege was the first in Chile since November, 1984, when Pinochet declared a siege in a bid to quell severe anti-government rioting. It lasted seven months, and hundreds of opposition members were jailed.

The declaration grants the security forces sweeping powers of arrest and detention and the authority to exile opponents, censor the press, tap phones and open private mail. Chile was already under a less stringent state of emergency.

The ambush came four days before Pinochet was to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the coup that lifted him from an army general to leader of the nation of 12 million people. The U.S.-supported coup toppled President Salvador Allende, the world’s first democratically elected Marxist president.

Authorities said 15 suspected leftist guerrillas ambushed the presidential motorcade Sunday evening as Pinochet drove back to Santiago with his grandson from a weekend retreat in the Andes, 30 miles southeast of the capital.

An escort car was hit by a rocket and burst into flames and two other cars overturned in the heavy submachine-gun fire. The rebels sprayed the 70-year-old president’s car with gunfire but the slugs failed to pierce the bulletproof glass and armor.

Pinochet was whisked back to his villa at El Melocoton, where he later appeared on television shaken and with his hand bandaged. Film of his damaged car was broadcast.

Contrary to official reports that Pinochet was safe at the presidential residence in Santiago, he spent the night at El Melocoton and was flown by helicopter to the capital this morning under heavy security.