At a time when countries in the Southern Cone of Latin America are returning to constitutional democracy (Argentina in 1983, Uruguay in 1984, and gradually Brazil, where indirect presidential elections are scheduled for January 15), the trend is being reversed in Chile. After eighteen months of protests by trade unions and opposition parties, Chile's military ruler, Augusto Pinochet, has imposed a state of siege, exiled hundreds of Chileans to remote areas of the country, heavily censored the press and radio, conducted police roundups and security checks of lower-class areas of Santiago, and, to repress a protest demonstration, called out the Army at the end of November. His interior minister has also taken action against a leading churchman, incurring the wrath of the newly appointed moderate archbishop of Santiago, Juan Francisco Fresno.