NEUE EINHEIT:

NEUE EINHEIT Extra Nr.30 from February 1997 Chairman Gonzalo of the PCP about MRTA and about efforts to trade upon the revolutionary party in Peru

The MRTA which has taken hostages in Lima in Dec. 1996 was severely denounced by the chairman of the PCP in 1988, when he gave a large interview touching also the experiences with this organization. His estimation was in many ways similar to our analysis and evaluation of their action. The Chairman Gonzalo was captured in Sept. 92 and since then he has been kept in prison under conditions of absolute isolation.

His teachings are still of great interest.

The MRTA was built up in 1984 as a competing party and competing armed units with regard to the PCP.

The Peruvian army in 1983/4 lead a very bloody offensive against the rebellion in the mountains, the PCP spoke of genocide. Perhaps the MRTA made use of some weak points of the armed struggle of the PCP when it attempted to establish itself as a competing force. It was quite clear that its creation closely corresponded to the APRA's grasp of power in the mid eighties. During all the following years there was a symbiosis between the whole system of increasing cultivation of coca, of APRA's regime and the real dictatorship of the US. The system of "two armed organizations" which spread disorientation and of a demagogic "anti-imperialist" government provided ground for the imperialists to develop their system of influence.

"When the armed forces did come in we had to wage an arduous struggle. They fought to re-establish the old order, and we fought to counter this re-establishment in order to again set up the New Power. An extremely bloody and absolutely merciless genocide took place. We fought fiercely. In 1984, the reaction, and in articular the armed forces, believed they had defeated us. Here I'm referring to documents that they are very familiar with, because they are theirs, in which it was even said that we were no longer a danger, but that MRTA was the danger. But what was the outcome? The People's Committees and the Base Areas multiplied, and later that led us to continue the development of Base Areas. That is what we are doing today."

"These are questions of Cubanism and its five characteristics: an insufficient class differentiation which demanded that saviors save the oppressed; socialist revolution or a caricature of revolution; united front but without the national bourgeoisie; no need for Base Areas; and as noted, no need for a Party. What we are seeing in Latin America today is just the development of these same positions, only more and more at the service of social-imperialism and its contention with Yankee imperialism for world hegemony. We can see this clearly in Central America. The MRTA, the little that we know of it, falls into the same category."

This indeed needs some commentation. Apparently, Gonzalo still saw social imperialism as being relatively strong. In 1988, however, it was already decomposing seriously. As it was validated subsequently, the USA at that time had its fingers in the whole Soviet system to a considerable extent. Thereupon the camp of détente policy more or less completely went over to the US which became the sole guarantee for what had previously been guaranteed by the so-called détente. It became the only world dominating power. Today this hegemonism is being covered all the more by almost the whole of revisionism. Looking at the MRTA which advocates pacifist slogans and simultaneously, significantly enough, for some time already and especially now at this hostage taking has been hitting above all the Japanese, one feels from where today the wind is blowing with this organization. For that reason this quotation is of interest, indeed, also for today's evaluation of the MRTA.

"The MRTA has positions that should make one think. For example, the truce they granted to APRA until, as they said, APRA attacked the people. But we all know that the same day that Garcia Perez assumed the presidency, he repressed the masses in the very capital of the republic. In October 1985 there was genocide at Lurigancho prison. Were the people being attacked or not? And how long did they wait to put an end to their truce? These are things one must ask oneself."

Quite close to these reflections in the section 'People's War' there is to be found one more very interesting passage in the Gonzalo interview. It also reflects critically the own role.

"We must be very clear on one thing: Insurrection is not a simple, spontaneous explosion. No, that would be dangerous. Nevertheless, this could happen, and that's why we must and do concern ourselves with insurrection, starting right now. We think there are those who might want to use the people's war for their own benefit. Some time ago, in a session of Central Committee, we analyzed the possibilities. And one of them is that the revisionists or others may provoke `insurrections', either to abort the process of development or to gain positions and serve their social-imperialist master - or whatever power directs them, since many centers could want to use us this way."

This shows that already then the matter of trading upon the revolutionary efforts in the interest of imperialist and bourgeoise forces was seen. This is very remarkable. The PCP derives the revolutionary people's war and also its concrete beginning from the history of the PCP and from the perennial suppression and the outlawry of the masses during several decades. They resolved at a time when, by the overthrow in China, the public propaganda manifested on a world wide level that revolution had well now come to an end. In this way, the PCP under difficult conditions already made an important contribution. At the same time this struggle necessarily is loaded with utmost difficulties as Peru is not only a semi colonial country, it is also not very large with regard to the population, and the opportunities of the USA to undertake concentrated moves against this revolution are relatively favorable ones because of several important deposits of raw materials, not the least also because of Peru's role as a coca grower. We have been knowing for a long time - even magazines like "Der Spiegel" comment on this - that the drug machinations are being covered by decisive circles within the rich countries, by the financial oligarchy. The drug machinations play their role in the putrefaction of the population in the whole world, they are a component of the suppression by the bourgeoisie of the whole world and by international imperialism. And what is even more: talking of anti drug squads and war against drugs the US in fact fight the revolutionary movements in the region and quite frequently collaborate with the militias of the drug traders. In the guise of alleged anti drug actions, in reality `anti-terrorism' is being practiced along with the permanent attempts to couple insurrectional movements with the drug machinations in order to create a completely desolate situation.

We do not agree with all points, in some points he has idealistic views which result also from the isolation of this revolution, from its relatively peripheral position, from the special conditions of this revolution. But nevertheless his teachings are important for the understanding of the situation.

And we are of the opinion that it is necessary not to fall behind this former analysis. His theories and political explanations are in this way a blow against those who try to veil the backgrounds and want to explain complex relations by simplified theories, for example by denying US-imperialist influence and acknowledging some justified motives of the members of the MRTA, as if this was a contradiction.

So much for now on the specific event.

In the beginning of February 97

Editorial Staff of NEUE EINHEIT