They forget that the agitprop of the Allende era was no better.

Once asked about the long lines Chileans had to suffer to get many basic items in the Allende era, he responded that in today's free-market economy "the rationing is in the pocketbook."

"Maybe we've been too prudent," says Miguel Vega, the burly, 42-year-old leader of the textile workers, the most combative union in the Allende era.

Radicals who were in their 20's during the Allende era became thirtysomething liberals with growing families to feed.

Leftists call for a return to something like the Allende era, which, for all the strife, brought hope to people traditionally on the bottom.

To avoid that possibility, the Pinochet campaign has launched an effort to turn back our memories 15 years, recalling the worst days of the Allende era.

Mr. Lagos's moderation through the campaign frustrated leftists in his own party and particularly angered Communist Party leaders who were allies of the Socialists during the Allende era.

Alegría's "Viva Chile Mierda", the most recited poem of the Allende era, was written in the 1960s.

An extensive Spanish-language site providing a day-by-day chronology of the Allende era.

She was named minister of health in 2000, when Chileans elected their first Socialist government since the Allende era.