Pinochet Defies Rebels in Tough Speech

President Augusto Pinochet responded Friday with harsh defiance to the ransom demands of Communist guerrillas who are holding an army lieutenant colonel.

Calling the guerrillas terrorists and cowards, Pinochet declared: “To stop them, one cannot act with consideration. A tough hand is needed, the toughest possible.”

The 71-year-old general spoke in a ceremony marking the 14th anniversary of the 1973 coup that brought him to power. He emphasized his right-wing regime’s intention to “project” its ideas into the future while fighting what he said are efforts to bring the country “under Soviet dominion.”

“Their strategy of strikes and protests having failed definitively, they have tried to unleash wide-scale terrorist action,” he said. But he said terrorism increases government efforts “to eradicate this scourge from our country.”

Guerrilla Abduction

For the past 10 days, police and army troops have combed Santiago looking for the kidnapers of Lt. Col. Carlos Carreno. He was abducted by guerrillas disguised as waterworks employees as he left his home Sept. 1.

The Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front, an urban guerrilla organization with ties to the Communist Party, claimed responsibility for the kidnaping. This week, the Chilean press reported that the kidnapers’ demands include $2 million, the release of at least five prisoners held by the government, and the publication of guerrilla statements.

Officials have repeatedly rejected any deal with the kidnapers, and Pinochet’s tough remarks Friday reinforced that position.

“This will be an inflexible government,” he said.

Pinochet referred to a scheduled plebiscite to determine whether a candidate nominated by the armed forces will serve as president from 1989 to 1997, but he did not confirm widespread expectations that he will be the candidate.

As he has in past speeches, Pinochet ruled out competitive presidential elections in place of the plebiscite, which is expected to be held next year.

Issues Warning

He warned against returning to the political system of 1973. The elected government of Marxist President Salvador Allende had been in power for three turbulent years when the armed forces took over in a bloody coup.

Addressing Chileans who contend that the scheduled plebiscite will not be a free election, Pinochet said Friday, “What better expression of liberty than to choose freely between projecting the work already accomplished and destroying the country by turning backward?”

Pinochet expressed “conviction that the ties of friendship that exist between Chile and the United States will continue on the path of understanding and cooperation.” But he complained that unnamed officials of the Reagan Administration repeat accusations made by the Chilean opposition against his government.

Robert Gelbard, deputy assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, said on a visit to Chile in late August that “unfortunately, there still continue to be reports” of human rights abuses here. Gelbard also said he would welcome “an end to the informal pressures on the media to limit and control the information made available to the people of Chile.”