Unity
& Struggle 9, 2002Organ of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations
Unity
& Struggle 9, 2002By the Communist Party of Colombia (ML)
Homepage of PARTIDO COMUNISTA DE COLOMBIA (MARXISTA - LENINISTA)
The election carnival that came onto the agenda right in the middle of a deep economic crisis and a refuelled war gives a headache to the ruling classes and their masters in the White House.
A High level of poverty and misery affecting 34 million out of a total population of 43 million adds to the uneasiness of the people. The sweltering developments in the political, military, economic and social arenas; recession-crisis plans imposed by the IMF and other international financial circles which rule and drag the country towards the ALCA (American Independent Trade Region), excessive increase of public debts (about 53 per cent of the GDP) etc., all these make it increasingly difficult for the oligarchy to rule, and have damaging effects on the people and on national sovereignty.
We are witnessing a new revival of the guerrilla movement against the state terror intensified as a result of Pastrana's suspension of the dialogue with FARC in February 2002 and the declaration of a "total war". Prior to this, during the second half of 2001 the promises made to the ELN were not kept, and EPL's proposals through comrade Francisco Caraballo were refused. This new revival of the guerrilla movement has taken place as a result of this process.
These factors have also motivated the political struggle of the masses to a great extent. Political demands are increasingly being expressed both in the trade union movement and the popular movement. The revival of the mass movement, which began in late 1990s, is continuing and growing despite the genocide attempts against the workers' and the popular movement, and despite the opportunities provided to the bourgeoisie by the opportunist and social democrat bureaucrats of the mass organisations.
In this framework, as communists, we have decided to join our forces in action to carry out a political campaign with other revolutionary and democratic forces. The aims of this campaign are as follows:
Intensification of the struggle against the attacks of the national and international capital; building up forces to establish a National Constitutional Assembly defending the interests of the people; establishing a democratic and popular government through the existing popular struggle and leading this process into one that would crush the bourgeoisie.
This political campaign depends and relies on the strength and energy of the workers, peasants, women, youth and the progressive intellectuals of Colombia. It also draws strength from all those steps taken to turn the anti-imperialist unity into something concrete in this part of the world. Here, we want to draw particular attention to the importance of the Quito seminar called by the International Conference of ML Parties and Organisations, the Sao Paulo forum, and the anti-imperialist meeting organised by the Cuban government.
Large sections of Colombian people keep a close eye on the class struggles developing with a new momentum in the southern countries of the continent. They have great sympathy towards the popular struggles in Ecuador and Argentina. They do not share the joy of the Latin American bourgeoisie who supported the coup in Venezuela, nor do they support the imperialist embargo on Cuba. They also condemn the imperialist-Zionist aggression towards the Palestinian, Arab, Iraqi, and Afghan peoples.
Fraudulent elections under the shadow of the paramilitary forces
The illegitimacy of the regime has become even clearer following the March 10 parliamentary elections which resulted in a failure for the parties of the oligarchy despite the extensive fraud which was admitted officially, and despite the fact that the opposition had no guarantees.
After the colossal corruption cases involving the Senate, 75 per cent of its members have been re-elected, 35 per cent of whom have admitted to have been involved in paramilitary activities (and at the forthcoming presidential elections the paramilitary candidate Alvaro Uribe Velez is expected to win). All this proves the fact that the reactionary state is infected with cancer.
The degeneration of bourgeois parties and of the system has reached its peak. Bourgeois party leaders claim to reform their democracy which is imbedded in blood. To this end, there are people who even suggest that the senators resign and the senate be renewed. In other words, the bourgeoisie have not come out of these elections as renewed.
14 million people (60 per cent of the electorates) not going to the ballot box, and 2 million people using invalid votes show the extent of protest and rejection of the existing system by the people. The election results in fact reflect people's discontent and their resolve for struggle.
The manoeuvres to get people forget the illegitimacy of the regime using the "threat of boycott in the elections" did not work either. It was thought out by the members of the government, bourgeois politicians and the army in order to prove that "the people demonstrate their trust in the institutions and their opposition to violence by going to elections in mass". In reality there was no organisation calling for a "boycott". However, it is a government policy to use terror at any given opportunity. The terror atmosphere during the elections was part of the "total war" launched by Pastrana. In the name of fight against armed revolutionary groups, an attack has been launched against the people, against all those who fight for revolution and democracy.
No political surprise
The capitalist crisis has manifested that a fascist and militarist political stance is becoming stronger in the ranks of the oligarchy. This trend is being confirmed by facts such as the lining up of the fragmented parties of the oligarchy, the withdrawal of the conservative candidate in favour of Alvaro Uribe in the name of "authority, law and order", etc. It was also a requirement of this rightward trend that people like Horacio Serpa and Noemi Sanin supported Pastrana who, having terminated the dialogues with FARC, declared a total war.
Majority
of those who called themselves "independent" are social democrats and
friends of Horacio Serpa. They aim to gain a position, to deceive naïve people
and to gain privileges by favouring up with those who control the system.
It
is not surprising for anyone to see the presence in parliament of some of the
leftist elements that were not included in the 1998 re-assembly. They are an expression
of the aspirations of the popular movement. However, it is necessary to mention
that what really represents these aspirations is not those who are elected to
the Senate from the ranks of Political Social Front, but it is the struggle for
the unity of action and organisation of the working people and for their urgent
demands with a perspective of seizure of political power.
The conclusion from this panorama is the fact that a large section of the people will not vote for Uribe Velez, Serpa or Noemi. These individuals are the defenders of the interest of capital and they are the ones who were part of the former governments which have rooted neo-liberalism with all its bad consequences in Colombia.
The Political and Social Front
The Political and Social Front (FSP) (1) represents the hope for a broad anti-imperialist and democratic political movement becoming a concrete one. The results of the parliamentary elections verify this situation. The oligarchy is deliberately taking the results out of proportion. Pampering the leaders of the FSP they express their desire for a formation which would not question their system and which would play the role of a decoration for democracy.
The expectations of a large number of FSP members are, on the other hand, to do with overcoming parliamentarism, the roles of the individuals not being exaggerated, putting an end to solving problems by personal contacts with high rank individuals, and claiming the decisions of the Constitutional Congress of August 2001. A much broader rank and file people, on the other hand, expect the development of real alternative political stances uniting the working people against the Yankee imperialism, globalisation and neo-liberals attacks.
Despite the existing majority in the leadership, there are people in the FSP who believe that their work must be based on the rank and file, that the organisation must be built in the fire of the struggle, that the FSP must become an entity guarding the daily interests of the people and educating them with the perspective of coming to power. Moreover, there is still a great amount of work that it needs to carry out among the masses, as there is a large section of working people out there who are not members of the organisation and who are not participating in its political activities because either they do not know enough about it or have no trust in it.
The "Democratic Camp" and presidential candidates
The newly established "Democratic Camp" (2) is a hopeless alliance set up for the elections to support Lucho Garzon as a candidate for presidency. One should not be mistaken by the name camp or bloc, or assume that this is a formation with a clear programme with strategic aims. Its dominant ideology is social democracy, and it aims to bring together those sections which are terrorised and harmed by the attacks of capital, but which are not prepared for a harsh struggle to improve their situations.
The election platform of the Democratic Camp is a hurriedly set up one, which has no aim whatsoever to educate the people, organise or mobilize them, or help build strength to establish a democratic, patriotic and popular government. It does not even have a plan to broaden the mass struggle. The demands for political freedoms and national sovereignty are weak, lacking and even some are wrong. They have a very wavering attitude towards issues such as work, salary, pay, public service costs, etc. which is in harmony with the social state of the composition of the "Camp".
The majority of the elements of the "camp" consider themselves as the centre, and with a typical social democrat attitude they show great care not to startle imperialism and the bourgeois parties and to find common points to come to conciliation. In other words, they have that attitude trying to conciliate on main issues and raising their voices as much as they can on unimportant secondary ones.
In his party platform, Lucho Garzon states that he is for "a national sovereignty that is limited and agreed upon". In this way he shows that he does not oppose globalisation and quietly supports the American Free Trade Region (ALCA). He is being stupid enough to consider Plan Colombia not as a plan of the Yankee imperialism but as an initiative that will work in favour of the rebels. Without saying anything against the savage state terror, he calls for "an end to the war", etc. The political reform that he proposes involves some cosmetic changes without any reference to the constitution, blesses the "limited democracy", and aims to criminalize the struggle of the working people.
Armed war and peace
The struggle for peace and social justice is of great political value and continues to be the aspiration of the majority. However, they can have a different content in accordance with the interests of the class, and at times can turn into something that is unrelated to the one demanded by the people. This is the basis for the proposal for a constitutional assembly that defends the interests of the people and for a democratic, patriotic and popular government.
The regime and the opportunist forces want the people to believe that social, economic, political and armed conflict can be resolved by a new government and by bureaucrats that consider themselves as "civic society". Their foremost aim is to isolate the rebel movement from the masses and force it to surrender. They also want to turn popular masses into mere spectators of the process of dialogue and agreement.
After the announcement of total war, those who believed in bourgeois pacifism have proposed to "surround the guerrilla with agreement offers" and force them to disperse. However, the regime's opportunity to defend and implement the reformist proposals has seriously weakened. This is the reason for the tactic of holding over the social, political and economic demands of the ELN and gaining a temporary ceasefire.
Regime's attention has been concentrated on showing its capacity to defeat the guerrilla on the war front (we leave this possibility to a side). For this reason, military operations of the government and of paramilitary forces are being exaggerated, while the financial and political effects of the rebel movement are being overlooked. Guerrilla activities are being portrayed as terrorist actions, militarily unsuccessful, while sabotage is being presented as part of the art of war.
There are open talks of some provocative activity plans, similar to that of fascism, in order to dissolve the struggle of the people and their organisations, and to diminish the prestige of the guerrilla. On the other hand, contrary to government announcements, there is no regression or slowing down of the guerrilla movement. They just need time and attention to get ready for more effective and important activities.
At large, the guerrilla movement has consolidated its strength when the dialogues were in halt. The thesis has been verified that methods of struggle are not a matter of negotiation, that different methods of struggle can be used to fulfil social, economic and political demands for the people and the country. On the other hand, there are examples of the fact that, even though there was a dialogue, it is more effective if it was not limited between the government and the guerrilla alone, but people are also given the opportunity to participate in this process.
Footnotes:
(1) FSP's roots go back to that united effort which organised the 1999 strikes. It was set up in 2000 with the initiative of the CUT, the confederation of workers' unions, and this initiative was approved at the 5th Congress of the CUT in Cartagena.
(2) Democratic Camp is an election alliance that was set up following the March 2002 elections as a result of two politicians supporting Luis E. Garzon's candidacy for presidency. One of them is Antonio Navarro Wolf (One of the chiefs who dissolved the M-19 guerrilla group in 1990). His list received 210 thousand votes, and was able to nominate two senators. The other politician is Jaime Dussan who was the former leader of the teachers union and one of the founders of the Colombian Social Democratic Workers Party. He was re-elected as a senator with 90 thousand votes.
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