CHILEAN POLITICS

Online Special: Politics in Chile Browse the NewsHour's coverage of Latin America   Chilean Embassy in Washington Chile's Executive Branch (in Spanish) Spotlight on Chile Pinochet Decision from Human Rights Watch	The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour -- October 3, 1988 TAKING IT TO THE POLLS Anticipation was high in the streets of Chile for a referendum on the 15-year rule of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Faced with massive protest and increased political activism, Pinochet allowed for a plebiscite -- a nation-wide vote of "yes" or "no" on whether Pinochet's administration should continue. Were Pinochet to lose, he would have to call for presidential and Congressional elections within a year. The referendum came after the general lifted a state of emergency -- in effect since he assumed power in 1973 -- that banned political activity. Some in Chile, like law student Hernan Zambrano, who was protesting Pinochet's government in the streets of Santiago, were looking for a return to a democratic government. "We want want democracy," Zambrano said. "We want economic freedom. We want political freedom. We want to live free. That's it." But others, like Maureen Cooper, said Pinochet's government brought economic stability to Chile -- and feared that prosperity would end without him in power. "We started from absolute rock bottom finances and we have gone up, up, up," Cooper said. "We only have to look around." The debate on the street also spilled onto Chile's airwaves, where "yes" and "no" activists each created elaborate advertising campaigns to get voters' attention.