Date: Thu, 23 Nov 1995 20:24:51 -0800
From: iwp.ilo-AT-ix.netcom.com (CEP )
Subject: Re: fascism and unions and the masses
You wrote:
>
>Carlos presented some very rough images of the political concrete
forms
>taken by this national process along the last 55 years. Some of them
can be
>helpful for people not in direct touch with Argentina;
Carlos Replies:
That was exactly the intention of my previous posting
Juan Inigo wrote:
the following one is
>an absurd:
>
>Communists supported Peronists unconditionally for a
> while (at the time of its decay during the early 80s) and so they
> gave him the mantle of "progressivenes" they needed to rcuperate
> their influence in the working class.
>
>The assertion that the Peronists needed to "recuperate" their
"influence"
>in the working class involves, to be polite, a double inversion.
Peronism
>massively _is_ the ideological and practical political expression of
the
>Argentine working class since 1945.
Carlos Replies:
"Ideological and practical political expression of the
Argentine working class"? Well, this is a discovery of
Juan Inigo. It is the basic theses of evey bourgeois
thinker in Argentina since aproximately 1949. This
is however, not true. Peronism represents the level
of consciousness of the argentine working class, and not
from 1945, but as a recurrent phenomenae. In 1945, this
consciousness advanced until the point of developing
a "laborParty" counsiousness. So Peron imprisoned the
leaders of the recently formed Labor Party and dissolved
its organization.
Ideological and practical political expresion? There were
many, since those ideological and political expressions were
determined by the prxis of the working class as a whole an/or
of its vanguard at different times.
That praxis suffered transformations and changes, evolutions
and regressions as the class struggle progressed or felt back.
From 1943 (not 1945!) until 1945 was anti-imperialist (and
Peronism was just a pehnomenoa in formation). The
tradeunionist and labor party stage, thenthe stage of "building
the contruland" on national bourgeois basis, national inddustry
and reproduction of capital by intensive labor which determined
its political ideology and practical actions around issues of
tradeunionism and nationalism. In 1951/54, around the time of
the Congress of Productivity, when Peron and Peronism wanted to
I believe, genuiniley advance in the capitalist transformation
with arcaic reproduction of intensive labor plus some
modernization, the troubles between Peronism and the working
class started, until 1954. The the conflicts with Peronism
of the Church and the oligarchy (landowners) deepened and
produced, still, another "ideological andpractical" praxis
of the working class: they wanted to advance in the struggle
against the Church and sectors of the bourgeoisie beyond the
desires of Peron. They radicalized.
After the gorilla coup d'etat, a bloody coup against peronism
orchestrated 'AGAINST THE WORKING CLASS AND NOT AGAINST PERON,
THE WORKING CLASS INITIATED WHAT IT WAS NAMED AS 'La
Resistencia', a democratic, tradeunion-centered, mass
mobilization that was led by an alliance of the left wing of
Peronism and sectors of the so called "emerging left" (non
traditional formation, including petit-bourgeois elements).
El Cordobazo, a working classs semi-insurrection, overthrew
one dictatorship and left non-Peronist left wing leaderships
in the most important sectors of the industrial working class.
This was an ideological and practical representation of the
working class hardly of the Peronist type.
The new military, "soft" government of Lanusse was forced to
call elections and negotiate with Peron "the great national
accord" in ORDER TO PREVENT, once again, the ideological and
practical ADVANCE OF THE WORKING CLASS beyond the control
of bourgeois politics. So Peron returned in 1973, but he did
when a "left-wing Peronist" government, led by Campora and
influenced heavily by "Montoneros" took over after winning the
elections. At his arrival at the Ezeiza Airport, over a
million people went tosee him. The right wing of Peronism
unleashed a military attack against the left-wing which costed
over 600 lives.
Peron forced the resignation of Campora, selected Isabel as his
mate, won re=election and started a process of bloody purges
in his own movement. Isabel created the Trple A (the anti-
communist Alliance) to assasinate leaders of the left, working
class opponents and started what it was called the "dirty war"
When Isabel and Peronism were incapable of stopping the working
class development, the military organized a coup d'etat and
continued the tasks of attacking the working class. Thousands
upon thousands of workers, intellectuals, journalists and left
wing activists were "dissappeared", murdered or imprisoned in
the period 1976-1982.
Then came the war with Britain over the Malvinas, the return of
Democracy with the victory, not of Peronism but of the UCR and
then, only then the return of Peronism.
My point being on all these accounts is that the "ideological
and practical" representations of the working class were many.
Why people like Juan believe that workers are just Peronists
and that is their only political ideology and practical repre-
sentation is more linked with the defeats suffered by the
working class by the bourgeoisie in Argentina.
But also by the reformism and capitulation of the left at
differen0t stages: 1) In 1945 they supported American
Imperialism and the Union Democratica against the working
class; 2) During the coup d'etat in 1955, they supported it and
some Communists and Socialdemocrats participated in the
military dictatoship government. One of them said referring
to the resistance put up by the working class: "The lesson
with blood will be learned" The only exception to this capi-
tulation were the Trotskyists who oppossed the coup d'etat
and fought in the streets agains the military; 3) During the
time of "La Resistencia" 1955-1965, the majoirty of the left
was either inactive, went to the guerrilla movement or the
National Liberation Movement (MLN) or directly supported the
different governments (military or "democratic). Again, the
only exception were the Trotskyists that participated in the
"Standing 62 Organizations", a tradeunion allaince of many
unions that organized strikes, rebellions and street agitation;
4) During 1969-1973 the traditional left (Communists and many
Socialists) supported critically Peronism in its "left wing
prevalent version" and oppossed the Maoists, Trotskyists and
independent radical tradeunionists emerging from "EL
Cordobazo"; 5) When Peron started purging the left wing from
Peronism, communists and other traditional leftists, split
between supporting Peronism or the left wing; 6) During the
"dirty war" Socialdemocrats and Communists traveled around the
world defending the "nationalistic" virtues of the military
dictatorship and "establishing" the exxagerations of the
accounts of reppression;only exception to this, again,
Trotskyists of the then PST and other smaller left-wing
formations and, of coursem, the residues of the guerrilla
movement (except that of Montoneros led by Firmenich that by
1979 was already making "deals" with the military).; 7) When
"Democracy" returned, Communists supported the most decomposed
sector of the Peronist Party and they LOST THE ELECTION TO THE
HANDS OF THE Radical Party; and so on, and on. As you can see
a very reformist, at times counter-revolutionary strategy of
Communists and Socialdemocrats and the physical defeat of the
working class through repression, coup d'etats and purges was
what Inigo call "the ideological and practical" representation
od the Argentina's working class. With all due respect, that's
is BS.
Juan Inigo Insist:
Peronism never needed the Communist
>party to acquire a "mantle of "progressivenes"" for whichever purpose.
In
>fact, one of its basic slogans, specially claimed by the main line
inside
>the unions, goes: "ni Yankees ni Marxistas, Peronistas!" It was the
>Communist party (which, by the way, is obviously far from including
>everyone that would call themselves communists here) that was running
>behind the Peronists, just to get kicked by them. In fact, the
Communist
>party is currently seen here (except by its members, of course) as
what we
>call a "pianta votos" (more or less, makes-votes-flee).
>
Carlos Replies:
Peron's first "theoreticians" as a "national bourgeois
progressive and revolutionary movement" came out of the
Communist Party and the left wing of the Radical Party
in 1945. Peron aseduced them to write and propagate the
myth of national revolution.
All the first cadre of Peronism came from the CP and the
Socialdemocracy when Peronism started. peron concessions
to the working class have, as a central design to attract
the support of the working class against his opponents in
some sectors of the bourgeoisie. iN ORDER TO DO THIS MADE
CONCESSIONS TO THE WORKERS AND NEEDED TO ATTRACT LEFT WING
TRADENUIONISTS (THEN THE DOMINANT FORCE IN THE TRADEUNION
MOVEMENT).
After the coup d'etat in 1955, Peron appealed to leftists
and dependend upon them to led the internal struggle in
Argentina agains the different military governments and
the fraudulent "democratic governments". Soon after 1969
he did all possible efforts to coopt the emerging, left wing
leaders of the tradeunion movement. So did, until 1973
when he gave them the finger and started to purge them. In
all these instances he did agreements with left wing
leaders, including sporadic agreements with the CP.
In the early 1980s, there were attempts to utilize the left
in order to compensdate the influence of the corrupt labor
bureaucracy (who were then the piantavotos).
"Neither Yankees nor Marxists" was the slogan of the right
wing of the labor bureaucracy when they were a minority in
the working class in late 60s. It was the slogan of the
right wing of Peronism when they fought the left wing of
Peronism in 1970s and it is now the slogan of the corrupt
right wing bureaucracy in some unions today. Was never the
slogan of the working class. The fact that the equivalent
of the AFL-CIO is now divided in three in Argentina and that
that slogan is theofficial slogan of only ONE FACTION OF
ONE OF THE THE THREE CENTRALS IS SOME INDICATIONS.
jUAN iNIGO WROTE:
>Still, the true limitation of Carlos' presentation of the concrete
>political forms taken by the Argentine process of capital accumulation
>lies, precisely, in that he has abstracted the former from its
>determinations by the specificity of the latter. This abstraction
>immediately shows when he ends up bringing down every determination to
>political "mistakes," "stupidity," "lack of understanding," or
cARLOS rEPLIES:
I was not trying to give a complete picture of peronism and
the reasons of its existence. I was just trying to deny the
"stupid" notion that Peronism was fascism.
Juan Inigo wrote:
>Hasn't Carlos ever thought that each process of capital accumulation
>produces the labor-power, therefore the working class, that it needs
to put
>into action according to its specific conditions? and that the
material
>specific form that this labor-power is thus determined to take,
develops
>itself by taking concrete shape in the political consciousness and
action,
>both of the working-class and the bourgeoisie? Where do "concessions
to the
>working class" get in here?
>
Carlos Replies:
Capital accumulation creates the conditions of development of the
working class but does not determine its scope of action as class
nor its conciousness. Your assertion on the contrary is not new,
it is the prevalent one among Peronists. What shape working class
counciousness is the class struggle. The fact that workers in
Argentina are still Peronists is the results of 30 years of
political and physical defeats.
An yes, together with these developments were some stupid things
done by many leftists, including the fact they theorize about
the Peronist counciousness of the working class instead of seeing
it a mediated, transitory, result of social and political
conditions and not an inescapable expresion of ideological and
practical representation of the working class. We had too many
peole killed as to accept this missrepresentation of Marxism.
Comradely,
Carlos
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