File spoon-archives/marxism-general.archive/marxism-general_1997/marxism-general.9705, message 9


From: dr.bedggood-AT-auckland.ac.nz
To: marxism-international-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU
Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 23:03:11 +0000
Subject: M-G: Peru: 17 years of "people's war" Ist part.
CC: tumi-AT-kern.com, marxism-general-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU


Forwarded from Poder Obrero (Peru)

17 YEARS OF "PEOPLE'S WAR"  Part One:

On 17 may the "people's war" had its 17' aniversary. We aproach to that date 
with many critiques. We are not in the side of the Peruvian capitalist state 
and army. Neither we are unconditional apologists of what the Peruvian 
Communist Party _Sendero Luminoso is doing. The following document express 
our position on the "people's war".

THE CRISIS IN THE PCPCSL

In August 1993 one year after his capture, "President Gonzalo", the chairman 
of the Communist Party of Peru/ Shinning Path (PCP-SL) made a U-Turn. He 
decided to make the "new great decision" and to advocate the end of the 
people's war and a "peace agreement" with Fujimori.
He justified that shift writing that the PCP-SL without Gonzalo's leadership 
is not capable of wining the war. For Gonzalo only him could lead his party 
to the victory and because he was in jail for all his life and he was 
incapable of leading the party in the war, the PCPSL needs to avoid a 
serious defeat. He understood that the PCPSL couldn't win the and that the 
priority was to protect the life of thousands of political prisoners and of 
most the PCPSL leadership in jail. He offered Fujimori a deal. 
The destruction of the APRA, the United Left and "revisionism" is something 
that Gonzalo was happy and he congratulated Fujimori for achieving these and 
some reforms. A very secret deal is on the agenda. The pro-Gonzalo forces 
are progressively being liberated from prison and in the mass organisations 
they are becoming "left" supporters of the regime.
Gonzalo's shift is a complete contradiction of what he said in his speech 
when he was showed in a cage. Until 1992 the PCPSL considered that they 
achieved "strategic equilibrium" and that they have to prepare a war of 
movements and the military occupation of Lima and other cities. 
Before his capture Gonzalo moved to Lima and he lead a constant bomb 
campaign. Nearly every day the PCPSL put bombs in many places. They put 
bombs even in places in which many ordinary workers were walking. In Tarata 
(Miraflores) they kill more than ten innocent workers and street sellers. In 
the road between Callao and Lima they put bombs with injured or killed 
innocent passengers.
These actions create a panic in the society and many ordinary people was 
becoming alienated with the PCPSL who have a record of killing workers and 
popular leaders and of destroying electricity plants and factories. Gonzalo 
over-exaggerated the influence and capacity of the PCPSL. His move to Lima 
to prepare the final assault was  an adventure and he pay that with his 
capture.
One year later he realised that he couldn't do nothing in jail and that his 
party was defeated. The PCPSL didn't achieve the "strategic equilibrium" and 
it was very unpopular amongst the workers and poor people. The shanty towns 
were the bastions of the left and the PCPSL always wanted to expel the 
United Left from them. The PCPSL managed to help the army and Fujimori to 
destroy the left in the shanty towns and since the 1990s the overwhelmingly 
majority of the shanty towns became supporters of Fujimori who is giving 
them some order and some bits.
The Gonzalo's shift created a big problem amongst his comrades outside the 
jail. They didn't want to end the war. Some of them established a lucrative 
power inside the Huallaga river (world's cocaine main producer). Some of 
them were genuine fighters which wanted to continue the struggle. 
The Central Committee outside the jail (the so-call Feliciano's wing) 
decided to continue the "people's war". Gonzalo's made several presentations 
on TV and sent many of his handwritings everywhere showing his new position. 
Gonzalo's father and mother in law supported his new position. All the main 
PCPSL leaders in jail (Miriam, Morote, Meche, Cox, etc.) and more than 90% 
of the PCPSL political prisoners openly supported him. In the TV Gonzalo's 
lawyer (Crespo), Morote and other leaders gave presents to the Fujimorists 
and try to be nice to the people that before they condemn as "fascist rats 
which have to be killed". There are many pictures in which Gonzalo appears 
with many of these leaders. In Europe many pro-PCPSL Solidarity committees 
decided to support the "new great decision".
The PCPSL's Central Committee couldn't accept Gonzalo's betrayal but they 
also couldn't denounce him.   The PCPSL have a feudal structure. Gonzalo is 
consider a living god and the only basis of party's unity. For the PCPSL its 
ideology is "Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, Gonzalo's thought and principally 
Gonalo's though". Initially the Central Committee denied the Gonzalo's 
capitulation. It wrote that this was a farce or that Gonzalo was probably 
under drugs. Nevertheless, the pro-people's war Central Committee had to 
admit that there is a "black clique" around all former PCPSL leaders in jail 
(except Gonzalo) who have to be smashed because they are advocating a peace 
agreement with Fujimori. The Central Committee cannot try to ignore reality 
and cannot cover the sun with a finger.
So, the Central Committee is trying to separate the Gonzalo thought from the 
Gonzalo person. These is a kind of religious exercise.   Gonzalo's thought 
could leave for ever no matter than the real individual could renounce to 
it.
Gonzalo's capitulation created the first significant split of the PCP-SL. 
>From 1970 to 1993 Gonzalo was capable of expelling factions which doesn't 
have any later importance (like the Bolsheviks in mid-1970s or New Democracy 
in the early 1980s which opposed a premature and "Hoxhaite" starting of the 
people's war) . The "Great Decision" was the first big explosion. 
Nevertheless, the explosion continues.
The Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM), a Maoist international 
created around Aavakian's RCP (USA) which was the main international 
supporter of the PCPSL, adopted a contemplative position . For the RIM there 
was a battle of two lines. At the end the RIM decided to side with the 
faction which were continuing the war.
The pro-Feliciano supporters became very upset with that oscillations. The 
Maoist Internationalist Movement (a clandestine USA-base group) took the 
opportunity to oppose the RIM. The MIM have a lesbian symbol and are trying 
to became the most good defenders of the PCPSL's Central Committee while it 
is killing homosexuals as part of increasing the moral of the PCPSL's 
"liberated areas". 
The Peruvian supporters of the Feliciano's PCP-SL are divided between the 
pro-RIM, the pro-MIM and the "Red Flag" which is against both US Maoist 
internationals. 
The "Red Flag" claim to be the only representative of the PCPSL's Central 
Committee abroad. It is in charge of the PCP Web Page. It criticised the 
pro-MIM for fighting for the defence of Gonzalo and the political prisoners. 
They are against the defence of most of the PCPSL prisoners because they are 
supporting the "peace agreements". They are trying to separate Gonzalo 
thought from his body. The importance thing is to stress the militarist 
Gonzalo's though and the Central Committee who is now the only living 
incarnation of that though. For the "Red Flag" the Maoists who are 
supporting the people's war but also have some illusions in Gonzalo living 
person could end in a new peace agreement. The "Red Flag" accused Olaechea 
and Arce Borja as leaders which are trying to use the PCPSL struggle to 
build their own popularity.
The MIM and El Diario Internacional are denouncing the "red Flag" as a CIA 
plot like they denounce the rest of the left. Olaechea and Arce Borja are 
trying to be the only authority outside Peru in supporting the "people's 
war". They are trying to build a World Mobilisation Committee, which is in 
fact an attempt to create a new Maoist international around the MIM and some 
pro-Feliciano committees. 
The war between all these factions are based in slanders, accusations and 
verbal and physical violence. The pro-Feliciano forces openly congratulated 
their comrades when they kill members of the Gonzalo's pro-peace agreement 
faction. The different pro-Feliciano groups attack with any kind of slander 
or dirty accusation. Many supporters of the PCPSL are demoralise and outside 
this wars. 
The PCPSL is in a terminal crisis. Gonzalo decided to became a new Haya de 
la Torre. Haya was the founder of a mass petite bourgeois anti-imperialist 
party in 1924. In the eraly 1930s the APRA organised terrorist attacks and 
putchs.  Nevertheless, in the 1940s and 1950s it became an imperialist 
puppet. In the late 1950s and in the early 1960s Haya made the 
super-coexistence with Prado and Odria, wich were right wing anti-communist 
dictators which persecuted the APRA when they were in power. 
Gonzalo's capitulation is even worst than the terrible "convivence" which 
Haya de la Gonzalo wants to be like "Comandante Rolando", the leader of the 
Bolivian Maoism who launched a popular war against a left bourgeois 
nationalist regime in 1970, who became part of the establishment and 
minister of labour of very anti-working class regimes in the last years.
Today there is a dirty game between the two factions of the PCPSL (the 
pro-people's war and the pro-peace agreement). Gonzalo is playing with both. 
He use the militarist wing and his violent attacks to push Fujimori to make 
concessions to him. He try to press Fujimori to allow more freedoms for his 
pro-peace comrades with the aim to stop the militarists. When a significant 
pro-Feliciano militarist is capture, the army sent him to talk with Gonzalo 
and he would convince him or her to abandon Feliciano and to support him. 
This is creating problems around the Feliciano's supporters. Some will like 
a complete breakdown with the possibility of having any link with the peace 
agreement. Some will like to continue in armed struggle until Gonzalo could 
achieve more concessions from the regime.
Non of this factions would lead to a workers and peasant revolution. 
The PCPSL strategy is based in a complete rejection of Bolshevism.
Only a proletarian revolution made by workers and peasant councils and 
militias and lead by a MASS leninist-trotskyst party could abolish 
capitalism. The PCPSL is against the workers and peasants organisations, 
councils and militias because they are "fascist" or "revisionist". The PCPSL 
is against the building of a mass party using the electoral tribune and 
united front tactics. The PCPSL is against the general strikes, the soviets 
and the insurrections. They wanted a private war with the army in which the 
working class is a subordinate entity which have to abandon its programme 
and class interests and to follow the militarist petite bourgeoisie.
The electotalist stalinists (United Left) and the militarist stalinists 
(MRTA and PCPSL) blockaded the road to a proletarian revolution because they 
are against the creation of workers power and they are for a popular front 
with sections of the bourgeoisie. We defend every left group against 
repression and we are for the unconditional freedom of all their prisoners. 
We don't fight only for the release of our comrades and the crushing of the 
other left forces. We demand all the Peruvian left and unions to make a 
united front in ACTIONS with the aim to mobilise the workers and peasants 
against more privatisation, more militarism and more laws against the unions 
and the workers.  
In that fight the trotskyists form Poder Obrero and other groups should have 
to converge and to develop a new revolutionary party.



Dave Bedggood


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