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“That boy will be called Jaime,” former President Salvador Allende told him on the afternoon of January 30, 1973, while both were sitting in his office in La Moneda.
The socialist deputy Jaime Tohá was preparing to become a father for the first time and his role as a collaborator of the Popular Unity government prevented him from accompanying his wife Moira.
Tohá assures that his paternity was important, but even more so the destinies of the social transformations that were attempted in that period overlapped. Commitment and loyalty that, according to the former Minister of Agriculture, was reflected in all collaborators close to Allende.
It is 50 years since the arrival to the presidential chair of “Chicho” Allende, this Friday, September 4, and Tohá from the Congress looks like the last ex-member of his Cabinet that remains active, after five decades, as part of the first political line that leads the country.
“It was historic for Chile and the world, that a socialist came to the Presidency by way of suffrage. That day the people felt what it was like to go from being an object to being a subject. Allende’s fidelity to his program, the dignity of his rank, great achievements such as the agrarian reform, the nationalization of copper, a pint of milk, the comprehensive health and housing program, are many things that are not talked about in those thousand days de Allende, ”says Jaime Tohá, recalling that piece of history.
The parliamentarian for Bío Bío took over as Minister of Agriculture in July 1973, in charge of the resisted agrarian reform, an experience that culminated two months later with the coup d’état and the installation of the Military Government Junta, led by Augusto Pinochet.
-50 years have passed. As Allende’s former Minister of Agriculture, what is your feeling?
They are so different times, the Chile of that time has very little to do with today. Fortunately, poverty has been overcome, there are citizen rights that did not exist at that time, but there are issues that persist over time. The consequence, the adherence to the word committed, the irreducible defense of democracy, respect for minorities that were great values that led Allende to offer his life to defend them, are fully valid today, especially when politics is so discredited.
-How was the government of Salvador Allende on the inside, in the everyday, the relationship between president and minister?
It was a very troubled time, especially in 1973, when I had to join the cabinet. Every day there was a major conflict or difficulty, so it was highly mobile and it was difficult for the cabinet to function regularly. There were stoppages of truckers, with internal sabotage, with pressure from the US government. In particular, trying to reconcile the agrarian reform process, with the purpose of increasing agricultural production, with a view to the harvests of that spring. Much upheaval, but above all the serenity of the president, whom I never saw lose his composure and that was an attitude that inspired us all to fight until the last day.
Routines with commitment
-How was your appointment as Allende’s minister generated?
-It was surprising, being 35 years old at that time, they are not the same as now, they represent 22 or 23 years of the days we live. I had some doubts, if in that more complex moment, my abilities were sufficient. I spoke with my brother José (Allende’s Minister of the Interior and Defense, who died as a result of torture at the beginning of the dictatorship) and he told me: “Point A, you cannot say no to President Allende”. Having said that and heard that, knowing quite possibly the outcome, I did not hesitate to make myself available to him.
-There was a lot of convulsion, did you not consider what could come?
In order to understand the situation, one must understand the level of commitment that Allende had instilled in all of his work teams and that there were unavoidable issues for the good of the country. In that sense, we were aware that there was a high probability of an outcome not as tragic as it was, but I knew that. On September 11, she had no obligation to go to the Palacio de La Moneda and be with President Allende, even remaining there for several hours after his immolation. So that was the spirit, not only mine, but of all of us who were collaborators of Allende. Salvador Allende within minutes of the bombing asked us to withdraw from La Moneda, because we were young and necessary for the future, but no one did. We were all willing to offer our lives together with our president.
I miss in politics virtues like those that Salvador Allende had. His courage, consequence, loyalty to his word, his oratory, signify a quality in politics that is largely absent today, with few exceptions.
– Jaime Tohá, former Allende minister
-Within work routines, what was President Allende like?
The perception was very different for those of us who knew them for years, than for those who were knowing him at that time. He was a very grim person, very energetic, which was the way he managed to positively influence people’s commitment. But those of us who knew him knew what he was very human, who listened a lot, in that the opinions of his collaborators were necessary. But, in the meetings he showed an energy and he was had a lot of respect, for the way he expressed himself and because any saying of him had deep content.
Allende yesterday and Allende today
-The social outbreak occurred last year, do you consider that what was lived and is lived is related to the continuation of a social and political process that began 50 years ago?
Undoubtedly, there are issues that were of great concern in the government of Salvador Allende that remain in force today. The effort to place public health and education as rights, the prohibition that profit was a fundamental element in health, that pensions were social security and not a business, in which profit is essential. There is still injustice, there is still inequality. By the way, there are factors that are common, but by the way it is a different Chile, where there is substantial material progress, so that there are common points and great differences. In all countries there are stages and the stage inaugurated by the president Allende remains current, in terms of giving people dignity.
-In the midst of a political crisis, with a country that today is polarized, do you think that a political figure like Allende could have led the process that Chile is experiencing today?
The question is very complex, but just see, why is Salvador Allende so alive in the memory of Chileans? And not only in Chile, but in other parts of the world. Why does the PS have Allende as a fundamental icon of its present and its future? I miss in politics virtues like those that Salvador Allende had. His courage, consequence, loyalty to his word, his oratory, which was manifested in fundamental pieces such as the speech at the UN or at the University of Guadalajara, signify a quality in politics that today is very absent, with few exceptions.
-So, Salvador Allende would have a place as leader in Chile today?
I have no doubt that it is. Intellectually Allende would understand what the challenges of today are and would show a leadership that is one of the elements that is lacking so that the progressive forces can show that majority, among other things because of those leaderships as virtuous and lucid as Salvador Allende was.
-It is said that 50 years in a good period of time for a good historical analysis of what happened in the seventies, do you consider that history today is being fair with former President Allende?
Those people who, from an intellectual point of view, with historical capacity, especially outside Chile, analyze the importance of this feat of their government, continue to value it in a fundamental way. In Chile I believe that there are those who, and I hope to be among them, continue to defend fundamental values, equality, dignity, the end of abuses, the defense of the basic wealth of the country. In that sense Allende was a forerunner of this way of acting in politics. Salvador Allende has and continues to have, especially in his youth, a gratitude and admiration that will remain eternally in the history of the country.
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