THE CHILEAN ECONOMY: ALLENDE'S INHERITANCE AND PROBABLE ACTIONS

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CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4
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RIPPUB
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C
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18
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December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
October 24, 2011
Sequence Number: 
149
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Publication Date: 
October 1, 1970
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IM
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31 : CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Cold ? 25X1 Intelligence Memorandum The Chilean Economy: Allende's Inheritance And Probable Actions a. 1 Wong wwwassful ER IM 70-148 October 19.70 Copy No. S1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 WARNING This document contains information affecting the national defense of the United States, within the meaning of Title 18, sections 793 and 794, of the US Code, as amended, Its transmission or revelation of its contents to or re- ceipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited by law. GROUP I CMclud?d 1,om .Womo]ie Jownciodinp and dedosdfeolion Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4_, Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 CONFIDENTIAL Foreword The listing at the end of this memorandum is UNCLASSIFIED and may be removed for more convenient use. iii - CONFIDENTIAL Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 CONFIDENTIAL CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Directorate of Intelligence October 1970 INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM The Chilean Econom : Allende's Inheritance And Probable Actions Introduction On 24 October the Chilean Congress ratified the electorate's recent minority choice of a Marxist president who has piedged to create a "revolutionary, nationalistic, and socialist society." Scheduled to begin a six- ve-i term on 3 November, Salvador Allende will be working with an economy where private enterprise already is weak and the government's role large. Moreover, Allende's Socialist-Communist coalition will inherit an economy strengthened in recent years by high copper prices and large investments in copper and other foreign-financed development projects. At the same time, the new administra- tion will be confronted with rapidly rising popular expectations, sluggish output growth, a deeply engrained. inflation mentality, and an economy badly shaken by the very fact of his election. This memorandum discusses the economy Allende will inherit, those factors fairoring achievement of his economic goals, and those that will work again:lt him. Note: This memorandum was produced solely by CIA. It was prepared by the Office of Economic Research and was coordinated with the Office of Current Inte ZZigenee. CONFIDENTIAL 25X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 CONFIDENTIAL Chile's Mixed Economy 1. Chile is already a long way down the economic path Allende intends to follow. By almost any measure, the states economic role is large and has been growing rapidly. Central government revenues equal 27% of gross national product (GNP) -- by far the highest proportion in Latin America, excluding Cuba -- and compulsory social security contributions increase this to more than 35%. Total public sector spanding approaches one-half of GNP. Public expenditures make up 80%-85% of total fixed investment. 2. The government employs about 15% of the labor force and participates directly or indirectly in nearly every economic activity. Its role as a commercial.producer of goods and services has in- creased substantially over the ]last three decades. particularly during the Frei administration (1964-70).,which expanded some state enterprises, created new industries, and nationalized various firma. The state now owns wholly or in part more than 90 'enterprises, including most of the country's larger ones (see the attached, unclassified listing).. It dominates not only electric power, transportation, and communications but also the copper, steel, petro- leum, chemical,,and cellulose industries. Moreover, the government is the only major domestic source of medium- and long-term industrial credit. Thus, investment during the Frei years has gono mainly into the state-owned industries or into joint ven- tures with private foreign or domestic capital. 3. Chile's private enterprise system -- already distorted by three decades of rapid inflation and government intervention prior to 1964 -- thus has_ been further weakened during the six years of Christian Democratic Party (PDC) leadership. Although Frei and his more conservative supporters had hoped to maintain private investment while expanding the state's economic role, his govern- ment's policies actually strongly discouraged private initiative. Ever-increasing tax and wage bills squeezed profits, credit for private indus- trial expansion generally was tight, and investor confidence was eroded by increasingly vocal attacks on the capitalist system by PDC leftists as well as - 2 - CONFIDENTIAL Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 CONFIDENTIAL openly Marxist forces. As a result, private industry almost certainly suffered net disinvest- ment in recent years. Precedent of Frei's Moderate Social Revolution 4. Far-reaching social reform achieved con- siderable momentum under the Frei government. His administration gave a high priority to income re- distribution and expanded social services to lower- income groups. The problem has been that the PDC program unleashed further economic demands and political pressures for radical change, and rapid reform itself had economic costs that limited capabilities. As a result, the gap between expec- tations and fulfillment widened considerably as Frei's administration neared its end. 5. Although the administration's agrarian reform program* fell far short of its goals, it markedly changed land tenure patterns in some key agricultural areas and had a revolutionary impact on attitudes regarding private property rights. As with industry, Frei failed in his intention to preserve private farmers' investment incentives. Despite his reassurances that efficient producers would not lose their property, the program pro- ceeded as much in a spirit of vengeance as reform. It is doubtful that any sizable landowner without close PDC contacts felt safe from expropriation during the administration's later years. Moreover, implementing agencies have shown a marked prefer- ence for socialized agriculture, with the result that most if not all families settled are organized into communal farms. 6. The Christian Democrats did accomplish their basic goal of achieving a social "revolution in liberty," and the Presidential election -- in which two out of three voters chose markedly leftist candidates -- showed that most Chileans are not disposed to turn back. Large segments of the urban and rural poor participated in national life for the first time. Organized into unions, CONFIDENTIAL Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 CONFIDENTIAL cooperatives, and various community action groups, many were awakened to their economic-political potential. Although the PDC fostered their politi- cization, it clearly did not gain their full voting support, because social revolution brought polit- ical polarization as well. The incoming Allende administration nevertheless can, with some justi- fication view the 1970 election as a mandate for further and more radical change. Economic Advantages Accruing to Allende 7. Among other economic advantages, the Allende government is fortuitously assuming power just as the large copper expansion program nears completion.* The largely US-financed program. begun in 1967 involves an investment of about $600 million and will increase the large mines' output from 650,000 short tons to almost one million tons in 1971. It also will more than double refining capacity and permit three-fourths of the expanded mining output to be refined domestically. In 1970, Chilean government tax and equity returns from the lard companies' operations probably will be more than double their 1967 level and will average 85% of gross profits. If world cropper prices average about 58 cents a pound** and output increases as planned, * The Gran Mineria (the three large mines owned and operated by Anaconda and Kenneeott) accounted for 86% of Chilean copper output before their in- vestment program was initiated in 1967. In addi- tion to expanding these three mines and related refining facilities, the program involved opening two new mines -- one by Anaconda and the other by Cerro Corporation. Since mid-1966, Chilean copper has been sold at London Metal Exchange (LME) prices which averaged 69 cents a pound in 1966, 51 cents in 1967, 56 cents in 1968, and 67 cents in 1969. After holding strong at 74 cents a pound during the first half of 1970, LME copper prices began to decline and broke below the 50 cents level in mid-October. Despite [footnote continued on p. 5] CONFIDENTIAL 25X1 25X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 CONFIDENTIAL the large mines' copper exports will approximate $1 billion in 1971. 8. Certain other industries are now consider- ably more developed and better able to meet Chilean needs than when Frei took office. Using its own resources as well as foreign aid, the government substantially expanded such industries as steel, petrochemicals, lumber, paper, and cellulose. Private foreign capital also has been encouraged to enter these fields, sometimes on a joint venture basis,, and also to establish automotive assembly plants. 9. Allende will also inherit record-high for- eign reserves. Thanks to prolonged high copper prices, foreign assistance receipts averaging nearly $210 million annually, and capital inflow for copper development, gross reserves rose from $90 million in 1964 to an estimated $500 million in October 1970. To he sure, the public foreign debt considerably more than doubled during the same period and now approximates $1.5 billion, but Allende already has signaled that repayment sched- ules will not be honored. Major Economic Weaknesses 10. In deciding on the precise nature and timing of his initiatives, Allende presumably will take some account of other, less favorable economic circumstances. Chile's economic growth recently has been sluggish, averaging little more than 3% during 1967-70. Even without disruptive social change, accelerated growth would be ham- pered by inadequate investment' during the Frei years. Rising public investment has been partly offset by declining private investment, and total investment has declined as a share of GNP. In- deed, by 1969, total fixed investment excluding the foreign-financed copper program was no higher than in 1964 -- itself a low. year because of political uncertainties preceding Frei's election. new additions to mining capacity in Chile and ex- pected elsewhere in 1971, soft copper prices could prove to be temporaz-y. CONFIDENTIAL 25X1 25X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 ftft~~~ 111 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 CONFIDENTIAL 11. The Allende government will inherit an economy wracked by rapid inflation -- a problem that has resisted stale-ilizaton efforts for more than three decades. The Frei government succeeded in slowing inflation during its first two years. But by 1967 the combination.of rapidly rising real wages, greatly increased government spending, excessive monetary expansion, and stagnating out- put caused price rises to accelerate. Although the official consumer price index registered an average increase of 25% annually during 1967-69, current and constant price measures of private consumption in official national income accounts indicate the rate was nearer 33% -- and this per- haps is still understated. Inflation in 1970 could be considerably more than 40%. 12. The crisis of confidence in Chile since Allende's electoral victory on 4 September may cause serious difficultiec3 for the new administra- tion, at least in the shc,::t run. Sharply reduced consumer demand and inventory reduction by appre- hensive dealers have caused widespread declines in industrial orders,. sales, and production. Despite Chile's highly protective labor legisla- tion, industrial unemployment could rise substan- tially in the next month or so as a result of bankruptcies. The Frei administration issued large amounts of new currency during the financial panic following the 4 September election to pre- vent commercial bank failures, and, because of continuing economic deterioration, it printed still more money in early October to cover a short- fall in government revenues and to maintain bank liquidity. The new administration will have to cope with the inflationary impact of massively increased money supply while trying to get the economy moving again. Allende's Prospective Economic Actions 13. Allende'and his Popular Unity Front have left no doubt that their basic goal is to estab- lish a state-controlled socialist economy. The only question is how fast his government will move to eradicate capitalism and restructure Chilean society along socialist lines. Some disagreement is apparent within the Front on the CONFIDENTIAL Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 CONFIDENTIAL timetable and question of compensation for expro- priated resources. 1t is reasonable to assume, however, that Allende -,'iill move as quickly as his administration's capabi".ities permit and offer as little compensation as possible. 14. Spokesmen for the Popular Unity Front say they want to form three broad economic sectors: A dominant, state sector of existing state enterprises and new ones to be expropriated -- notably the large copper, nitrate, iodine, iron ore, and coal mines; financial institu- tions, especially banks and insurance companies; foreign trade enterprises; marketing organizations; and all other activities that "condition Gcoaomic and social development" (that is, all sizable producers of goods and services). -- A private.sector consisting of service establishments and other small enter- prises, which also will be subject to state planning. -- A joint state-private sector in which enterprises will give the government equity participation in exchange for loans. Although Allende has been brandishing a list of some 160 large companies earmarked for early expropriation, he almost certainly will move first against the copper companies and banks.* The 160 companies represent a very large share of Chile's private industry, both foreign and domesticaZZy owned. A 1967 census indicated that there were only some 300 enterprises with more than 200 workers, including the 90 alread owned wholl or partly by the government. CONFIDENTIAL 25X1 25X1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 ~ Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 WIN P IULNTIAL 15. The government will face a delicate timing problem in establishing an elaborate state control mechanism. 'To minimize economic dislocation and avoid coalescing effective political opposition, Allende's administration will want to move promptly -- but not recklessly. Prompt action will be facilitated by the already extensive state apparatus, weaknesses in Chile's capitalist insti- tutions, broad acceptance of socialist ideology, and -- perhaps most important -- the Communist Party's organizational abilities. Nevertheless, despite the intention to establish a planned economy as quickly as possible, Allende's advisers apparently have not yet drawn up detailed blue- prints and seem at least temporarily awed by the prospect of assuming government responsibility in the midst of economic difficulties. 16. With few exceptions, Chile has suff-cient expertise to operate the companies now wholly or partly foreign-owned. The copper industry, for example, relies largely on Chilean technicians and managers at the mines, and the Allende government should have little trouble in assuming marketing functions. It would have difficulty, however, in maintaining some technologically advanced opera- tions and investment programs in such fields as telecommunications, unless West European and Japanese firms were willing to replace the US companies now involved. In any event, one of the Allende government's most serious problems will be holding onto indigenous skilled manpower. Post- election emigration already has involved some "brain-drain," and Allende apparently has drawn up plans to restrict it. 17. Agrarian reform will be markedly accel- erated. Jacques Chonchol, a leading official in Prei's reform program and now a key figure in Allende's coalition, already has drawn up a 20-' point program aimed at rapidly completing agri- culture's transformation. All remaining large and medium-sized holdings will be expropriated and organized into large collective or state farms, and small farmers will be integrated into collectives or cooperatives. The state or state- controlled collectives will take over marketing. Terror tactics will probably minimize effective - 8 - CONFIDENTIAL Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 CONFIDENTIAL landowner opposition. Perhaps the major constraint on Allende's agrarian actions will come from peasant groups with kulak tendencies. 18. Allende's counter-inflationary program invludes nationalizing all activities required for economic growth and enforcing and expanding an already elaborate price control system even if private profits are squeezed severely. He may also use the orthodox Communist weapon of cur- rency reform to sop up additional purchasing power pumped into the economy before and during the interregnum. Against the backdrop of previous administrations' failures in trying to slow price increases, Allende claims that a "people's govern- ment is the only one capable of reducing if not ending the scourge of inflation." But much de- pends on his budget, credit, and wage policies. Short-term difficulties in achieving price sta- bility will be severe, particularly if the regime is unable to contain workers' demands for higher pay and other benefits expected from an Allende victory. And even in the longer run, unless aggregate supply and demand are brought into reasonable balance, Allende's controls would merely suppress continuing inflation and neces- sitate rationing, subsidies, multiple exchange rates, and other mechanisms designed to insulate the economy from reality. CONFIDENTIAL Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Productive Enterprises with Chilean Government Participation Percent of Government Sector and Enterprise Ownership Agriculture, Forestry and Hunting Servicio de Equipos Mecanizados (SEAM) 100.0 Sociedad Agricola CORFO Ltda. (SACOR) 100.0 Forestal Pilpilco S.A. 100.0 Hacienda Concon Bajo Ltda. 100.0 Industrias Forestales S.A. 50,10 Empresa Nacional de Semillas S.A. (ENDS) 100.0 Forestal Arauco S.A. N.A. Forestal Lebu S.A. N.A. Fishing Marco Chilena S.A.S. 84.7 Pesqueras U2idas Horizonte 55.0 Sociedad de Terminates Pesqueros Ltda. 99.7 Compaflia Pesquera Arauco S.A. 100.0 Empresa Pesquera,Tarapaca S.A. 98.5 Pesquera Coloso 39.8 Pesquera Guanaye 37.9 Pesquera Iquique 49.0 Pesquera Indo 47.4 Coal Mining Compaftia Carbonera Colico Sur 99.9 Compatiia Carbonera de Pilpi__-o 58.5 Compatia Carbonera Victoria de Lebu 99.9 Iron Mining Compatiia de Acero del Pacifico S.A. (mine) E. Copper Mining Empresa Nacional de Mineria (ENAMI) 100.0 Sociedad Minera El Teniente S.A. 51.0 Compat>tia de Cobre Chuquicamata S.A. 51.0 Compaf! a de Cobre Salvador S.A. 51.0 Compafi a Minera Cerro Negro 77.4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Sector and Enterprise Percent of Government Ownership Compaflia Minera Chaflaral y Taltal S.A. 84.2 CompafiCa Minera Tamaya 30.0 Empresa Minera de Mantos Blancos 5.7 Compafira Minera Maipu Ltda. Compafira Minera Carolina de Michilla S.A. N.A. 25.0 Compafia Minera Loica Ltda. 33.3 Compalia Minera Andina S.A. 30.0 Compa?fa Minera Exotica S.A. 25,0 Compafiia Andnima Cuprifera de Sagasca 25.0 F. Other Mining Activities Empresa Minera de Aysen (EMA) 100.0 Empresa Nacional de Petroleo (ENAP) 100..0 Sociedad Geotermica del Tatio 51.0 Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SOQUIMICH) 37.5 G. Food Products, Beverages & Tobacco Industries Pesqueras Unidas Horizonte S.A. 55.0 Marco Chilena S.A.I. 84.7 Industria Azucarera Nacional S.A. (IANSA) 96.?6 Sociedad Lechera Nacional Ltda. 100.0 Empresa Pesquera Tarapaca 98.5 Cooperativa Agricola y Lechera Osorno Ltda. (CALO) 60.0 Cooperativa Agricola y Lechera Victoria Ltda. 100.0 Pesquera Coloso 39.8 Pesquera Guanaye 37.9 Pesquera Iquique 49.0 Pesquera Indo 47,4 ,Ii.. Wood Products & Cork, Furniture, Paper & Cellulose Papelera del Pacifico 60.0 Impregnadort de Maderas S.A. (IMPREGMA) 76.7 Industria'Celulosa Arauco S.A. 60.0 Industria Celulosa Constitu io c n S.A. 66.7 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Percent of Government Sector and Enterprise Ownership Laninadora de Maderas S.A. Maderas y Sint4ticos S.A. (MASISA) 1. Rubber Products, Chemicals, Petrochemicals and Coal Derivatives Empresa Nacional de Petroleo (ENAP) 100.0 Fabrica de Acido Sul?urico S.A. (FASSA; 99.6 Sociedad Chilena de Fertilizantes (SOCHIF) 93.8 Compafi(a Sudamericana de Fosfatos S.A. 100.0 Petroquimica Chilena S.A. 100.0 Petrodow S.A. 30.0 Quimica Alquil S.A. 20.0 J. Non-Metallic Minerals, Primary Metals Compafiia de Acero del Pac(fico S.A. (Steel mill) 55.1 Vibrocret S.A. 30.5 Industria Nacional de Cemento S.A. N.A. K. Fabricated Metal Products, Non- electrical Machinery, Electrical Gear, Transportation Equipment & Others Astilleros y Maestranzas de la Armada (ASMAR) 100.0 Fabrica y Maestranzas del Ejercito (FAMAF) 100.0 Maestranza y Fundicibn Antofagasta S.A.I.C. 100.0 Ransomes Chilena 60.0 Marco Chilena S.A.I. 84.7 Empresa Electronica Nacional S.A. 80.0 Industria de Conjuntos Mecdnicos Aconcaqua S.A. 80.0 Corporacion de Radio de Chile S.A. 33.3 L. Construction Corporacion de Mejoramiento Urbano (CORMU) 100.0 Corporacion de Obras Urbanas (COU) 100.0 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Sector and Enterprise Percent of Government Ownership Corporacidn do la Viviorida (CORVI) 100.0 Corpporac16n de Servicios Habitacionales (CORHABIT) 100.0 Sociedad Constructora do Establ. Educacionales 100.0 Sociedad Constructora do Establ. Hospitalarios 100.0 Sociedad de Construccion y Operaciones Agropecuarias (SOCOAGRO) 100.0 M. Electricity, Gas, Water & Sanitary Services Empresa de Agua Potable de Santiago 100.0 Empresa Nacional de Petroleo (SNAP) 100.0 Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (ENDFSA) 100.0 N. Transportation Empresa Maritima del Estado (EMPREMAR) 100.0 Empresa Transport Colectivo del Estado (ETC) 100.0 Ferrocarriles del Estado (FF.CC.) 100.0 Linea Area Nacional (LAN) 100.0 0. Commerce, Warehousing, and Communi- cations Empresa Portuaria de Chile (EMPORCHI) 100.0 Empresa Nacional de Frigorificos (ENAFRI) 100.0 Empresa de Comercio Agr1cola 100.0 Empresa Nacional de Tele- comunicaciones (ENTEL) 100.0 Compat(a Chilena de Telefonos S.A. 0.3 P. Banking, Insurance and Real Estate Instituto de Seguros del Estado (ISE) 100.0 Banco del Estado de Chile lnO n Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4 Rector and Enterprise 0. Sorvicon Percent of Government Ownern hit Entudion Cinematograficon do Chile S.A. 87.1 Hotolora Nacional S.A. (1IONSA) 100.0 Emprena National do T.V. 100.0 Emprona do Servicioa do Computation JEMCOi 100.0 Sociodad Inmo,;biliaria do Exponicionen 38.6 Socio 1i d Inmobiliaria de Portillo S.A. 0.2 Sociodad Inmobiliaria San Crintabal 48.8 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030149-4