The following is a translation of an article from Persian, published in Sholajwid # 17, June 2018.
A Glimpse at the Joint International Statement of the Eight Latin American Maoist Parties and Organizations
The Communist (Maoist) Party of
Afghanistan did not expect that this year the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist
parties and organizations would be unable to come to an agreement on a
joint international May Day statement, but unfortunately this was the
situation. This year, on international workers day, two separate joint
statements were issued, both with the slogan of “Proletariats of the
world, unite!” One of these statements was signed by the C(M)PA and the
other was the statement of eight South American Maoist parties and
organizations. Although both statements have multiple shortcomings, the
joint statement by the eight South American Maoist parties and
organizations was in terrible shape.
The following is a preliminary
review of the latter. In this preliminary review, shortcomings, errors,
and deviations have merely been highlighted and a brief commentary has
been provided.
- “In 200 years since the birth of our founder and 170 years
since the Manifesto, the world has never been in such turmoil and the
objective conditions been so ripe for the World Proletarian Revolution,
given the level of the socialization of production and the most
advanced degree of decomposition of capital – agonizing imperialism –
never seen before. And even though the proletariat has suffered heavily
with the capitalist restorations, where it had conquered Power and was
constructing socialism, the revolutionary proletariat has proven and
developed its scientific ideology Marxism, Leninism and Maoism as its
new, third and superior stage, equipping the class more than ever with
its almighty weapon to mobilize, politicize and organize the oppressed
masses of the world to struggle, defeat and sweep away imperialism, its
lackeys and all reaction from the face of earth, part by part,
combating revisionism and all opportunism in an implacable way and
inseparable from this struggle.”
A) There is no doubt about the
unprecedented ripeness of the objective conditions (social production)
for world proletarian revolution. However, the subjective condition for
world proletarian revolution is not only backwards but extremely so,
therefore we should fight against this subjective backwardness with all
our might so that it will be gradually eliminated.
For example, let us examine the formulation of Marxism, Leninism
and Maoism in the statement. The signatories consider themselves the
most advanced proletarian revolutionaries in the world and they insist
so much on this claim that they have justified their sectarianism with
the publication of a separate May Day statement, considering themselves
to be 100 per cent correct.
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism is an interconnected totality that
illustrates different phases of the construction and evolution of
proletarian ideology. Therefore, it is written and put into practice as
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism not as Marxism, Leninism and Maoism. Although
in other parts of the statement the formulation of
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism has been observed, this one single case should
be criticised because it demonstrates an incorrect understanding of MLM.
B) The Revolutionary Internationalist Movement at its 1993 Expanded
Meeting affirmed the international acceptance of
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. Despite that we are far away from its absolute
consolidation, far away.
C) At this moment claiming a further evolution of
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism is baseless, whether these claims are the
revisionism of “Prachanda Path” and “Avakian’s New Synthesis” or the
deviationism of “Gonzalo Thought.” Our party has always emphasized that
premature assertions
such as Gonzalo Thought, Prachanda Path, and the Avakianite New
Synthesis are historically responsible for the collapse of RIM.
Avakian’s New Sythesis at the level of post-MLM revisionism carries the
primary burden, Prachanda Path at the level of Prachanda’s revisionism
is secondary, and Gonzalo Thought is the third deviation that bears
the historical responsibility for this collapse. Although the first and
second errors have done their damage and then pursued their own
affairs, the third error is continuing to play a negative historical
role and was even behind the composition of a joint international
statement in celebration of international workers day to promote
sectarianism.
Therefore, it is necessary that––alongside the principled
theoretical, ideological and political struggles based on MLM against
Avakian’s New Synthesis and Prachanda Path revisionisms––a struggle
should also be waged against the deviation that has emerged as Gonzalo
Thought. The C(M)PA is no longer obliged to keep the struggles against
the latter internal but deems it totally necessary to begin carrying
out such a struggle at the international level.
D) Arming the working class with MLM is a task that remains and
needs to be deepened and expanded in the entire different phases of the
struggle: i) the struggle for the formation of MLM parties and
organizations; ii) the preparation for initiating and carrying forward
people’s war; iii) the initiation and promulgation of people’s war and
its different phases of strategic defensive, strategic equilibrium, and
strategic offensive; iv) the New Democratic Revolution and its
transition to socialism or Socialist Revolution; v) the construction of
socialism; vi) the continuation of revolution under the dictatorship
of the proletariat through multiple cultural revolutions until the
establishment of a classless communist world.
Now the international MLM movement in different countries is mostly
in the first and second stages of the struggle (struggle for the
formation, or re-formation, of MLM parties and organizations;
preparation for initiating, or re-initiating, and carrying forward
people’s war) and is facing serious challenges and dangers in their
struggle. Even the Communist Party of Brazil (Red Faction) which is the
largest force among the signatories of the statement in question, is at
the stage of preparation for initiating the people’s war and is
distant from arming the working class with the proletarian
revolutionary ideology (MLM) even at the level required to initiate
people’s war in Brazil. In this situation how can one declare that the
task of arming the working class with MLM as a task that has ended?
This kind of understanding would lead to nothing but negligence in the
task to increasingly connect MLM with the struggles of the workers and
the masses around the world.
On the other hand, internationally and in relation to
re-establishing a new MLM international organization to fill the gap of
RIM, at least a decade has passed, and we have not succeeded.
A serous step towards this re-establishment was the Special Meeting
of member parties and organizations of RIM. Unfortunately, the meeting
remained limited to three parties (Maoist Communist Party of Italy,
C(M)PA, and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Naxalbari). But
the resolutions of this meeting about the necessity of holding a new
international conference of MLM parties (including parties and
organizations that were members of RIM as well as parties and
organizations who had not been RIM members) for re-establishing RIM or
forming a new Maoist international organization replacing RIM was a
progressive and timely step that was further strengthened with the
merger of the two Indian Maoist parties into a single party
(CPI-Maoist). The unpleasant incident of the arrest of comrade Ajith by
Indian police was not only a serious blow for CPI-Maoist but was also a
serious blow for struggles in implementing the resolutions of the
Special Meeting of RIM.
In these circumstances at least, the publication of the joint
international May Day statement of the Maoist parties and organizations
should have continued. But this joint international Maoist effort has,
for many years, dealt with the occasional challenges by parties and
organizations that tend towards Gonzalo Thought. This challenge was
amplified this year as it was widened to include the eight parties and
organizations in Latin America. How can this short-sighted sectarianism
at the international level be justified?
Therefore, the struggles for arming the working class with MLM and
the struggle to formulate a line and orientation for the international
communist Maoist movement––forming an international Maoist conference
and forming an international communist Maoist organization––is a task
that needs to be pursued and should not be considered to have ended.
We are speaking of
MLM, not of
MLM-Avakian’s New Synthesis, not of
MLM-Prachanda Path, not of
MLM-Gonzalo Thought.
Deviationist efforts to impose formulations based on Gonzalo Thought
over the entire international Maoist movement will not have a positive
outcome. Previously the revisionist efforts to impose formulations
based on Prachanda Path and, particularly, Avakian’s New Synthesis over
the entire Maoist movement did not have positive results and reached
nowhere. These negative efforts more than others have harmed the
perpetrators and will also continue to do so in the future.
- The general crisis of decomposition of imperialism keeps
sharpening and in the next years and decades it will keep producing
disruptions of growing magnitudes, bringing unheard suffering to the
popular masses in the whole world and provoking, consequently, the most
ferocious resistance and justified rebellion. The drama of millions of
refugees afflicted by the wars of aggression and genocides shows the
true face of the imperialist “civilization”, imperialism is a cancer
and the peoples of the world do not need it. Imperialism has no other
destiny but to fail successively, as the people is condemned to triumph
inevitably. Thus it needs the proletarian vanguard to make it true as
soon as possible!
Absolute and unconditional mechanical determinism does not exist in MLM. In fact, not only is constant failure not
the unconditional, mechanical, and absolute fate of imperialism, but an
unavoidable, historically determined, and absolute mechanical and
unconditional victory of the people cannot exist either. Indeed, the
aforementioned failure and victory, based on the assertion of the
statement itself, “needs the proletarian vanguard to make it true as
soon as possible.”
Hence, in one sentence the statement asserts unconditional,
mechanical and absolute determinism, but in the next makes this
determinism relative, dialectical, and conditional.
Currently, the irrevocable task of the international MLM movement
is to struggle to eliminate the subjective backwardness of
revolutionaries in relation to the revolution’s objective factors.
Clearly this struggle is a conscious effort based on the principal
importance of revolutionary consciousness for the revolutionary
transformation of the world, that in the current circumstance should
consciously be carried out by MLM revolutionaries. In such
circumstances drumming up unconditional, mechanical, and absolute
determinism either would lead to rightist economism or leftist
adventurism.
- According to official data, the land concentration in Latin
America is even higher than before the decade of 1960, being the
highest in the world. In India and in the whole south of Asia great
contingents of hundreds of millions of peasants are rising in defense
of their lands, showing that their decisive role for the democratic
revolutions, which on the contrary to diminish, has elevated. Peasants
are practically half of the world population, they are the principal
force of the World Revolution.
There is no doubt that in countries
under imperialist domination that are colonial/semi-feudal, or
semi-feudal/semi-colonial, the peasantry is the principal force of
revolution, part of the New Democratic Revolution. But in other
countries dominated by imperialism, in which comprador capitalism has
become dominant, in which semi-feudalism is not the dominant condition,
the peasantry is not the principal force of revolution. Taiwan, South
Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Iran, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar,
and all the republics in Central Asia and Caucasus that have emerged
after the dissolution of Soviet social-imperialism and found themselves
in semi-colonial domination could be counted in this category.
Moreover, revisionist China has become a social-imperialist power
and is moving towards becoming a global superpower. This country is
currently the second economic power after the US, is the biggest
economic power in Asia, is the biggest investor of foreign capital in
Africa, and is moving towards becoming the biggest investor of foreign
capital in Asia. China is second to the US in terms of military
spending. Therefore, the economic system in this country is
social-imperialist capitalism with strong streaks of compradorism
coupled with remnants of semi-feudalism/semi-feudal relations. The
dominant social relations of production in China are not semi-feudal.
Thus, not only in the cities of China but also in the countryside
social-imperialist capitalist relations of production are dominant and
the semi-feudal relations of production have either been eliminated or
have been pushed to the margins. For this reason, in today’s China, the
peasantry is not the principal force of revolution, and the revolution
in that country would be a direct socialist revolution, which would at
the same time eliminate the remnants of semi-feudalism, and the strong
streaks of comprador capitalism that is represented by the relative
domination of Western and Japanese imperialist economic domination.
Therefore, it could be said that the peasantry does not form half
of the world’s population and is not forming the principal force of
revolution at the global level. It was more than a decade ago that city
dwellers overtook country dwellers for first time in human history,
and undoubtedly this global trend has continued. Therefore, currently
the peasantry does not form half of the world’s population.
Despite this the role of the peasant class in New Democratic
Revolution in all colonial/semi-feudal and semi-feudal/semi-colonial
countries is of prime importance and should be considered the principal
force of revolution in these societies.
- Yankee imperialism (“The fat dog”) as the sole hegemonic
superpower is the principal enemy of the peoples of the world, is the
one who heads, in contend and collusion with the Russian atomic
superpower (“the skinny dog”) and other imperialist powers, the wars of
aggression and plunder against the oppressed peoples and nations of
the world.
Yankee imperialism (“The fat dog”) is the sole global superpower but only the principal enemy of the majority of the peoples of the world, not the principal enemy of the all the peoples of the world, because it is in a situation of aggressive war against the majority of the oppressed peoples and nations of the world and not in a position of aggressive war against all
of them. This sole superpower is the principal enemy of the oppressed
nations and peoples of the world that it has invaded and occupied. But
the principal enemy of the oppressed peoples and nations of other
countries, that this sole superpower is dominating in semi-colonial
manner, is the domestic reactionary forces. For example, the principal
enemy of the people of Brazil and similarly the principal enemy of the
people of India is the reactionary feudal-comprador ruling classes in
those countries and the contradiction with imperialism, particularly
the contradiction with Yankee imperialism, does not constitute the
current principal contradiction in those countries.
Moreover, Yankee imperialism is not at the helm of all wars of
aggression against the oppressed peoples and nations of the world. For
example, the foreign imperialist military bases present in Tajikistan
are not Yankee because they belong to Russian imperialism. These forces
have a presence in Tajikistan with the agreement of the government of
Tajikistan but are in a situation of aggression against the people and
nation of Tajikistan. Yankee imperialism is not at the helm of the
imperialist war imposed on the peoples of Syria to the extent that it
is related to the aggressive occupying Russian military bases in Syria;
it even could be said that recently the Russian imperialist aggression
compared with the American imperialist aggression has been heavier.
Similarly, there are many aggressive occupying European imperialist
forces in countries in the African continent.
Russian imperialism (“the skinny dog”) is the principal enemy of
the oppressed peoples and nations that belonged to the sphere of Soviet
social-imperialism which are under actual Russian forces occupation.
The “skinniness” of this imperialist “dog” can be verified by the fact
that currently the annual military budget of China is more than the
annual military budget of Russia, and the annual military budget of
Saudi Arabia—after its aggression against Yemen—is more than the annual
military budget of Russia. In this way, based on the annual military
expenditure in the world: Yankee imperialism is number one, Chinese
social imperialism is number two, the reactionary Saudi state is number
three, and Russia is number four.
In this regard, the statement is silent about the role of Chinese
social-imperialism, the “fat dog” number two which is becoming a global
superpower. This “fat dog”, and the biggest atomic power of the world
after Russia, has recently invaded a big region in the South China Sea
and occupied all its islands. In fact, the statement still considers
Chinese social-imperialism as part of the “third world.”
Anyhow, according to the statement, Yankee imperialism is the first
world and the principal enemy of the people of the world; Russian
imperialism along with other imperialist powers is part of the second
world, and the rest of the countries, including China, are considered
part of the third world. This understanding has been described in
detail in a document of the Communist Party of Brazil-Red Faction,
published earlier. On the other hand, declaring the Yankee imperialism
the principal enemy of the people of the world, is in reality repeating
the mistake of the anti-Fascist popular front during the second world
war, which declared Nazism and Fascism as the principal enemy of the
people of the world.
We will postpone a detailed discussion of this issue for a later date.
- On the base of the increasingly deeper economic crisis of
the world imperialist system, from which the crisis of bureaucratic
capitalism in the oppressed countries is part of, the whole political
system of the old order enters an advanced degree of decomposition. The
political crisis expresses higher and growing contend between the
factions of the ruling classes, showing that the old reactionary States
have already reached an advanced stage of decomposition and sinking. A
revolutionary situation develops unevenly and persistently in it.
When does a revolutionary situation
come into being? When the authority of the old reactionary ruling
classes is in crisis and the masses of the people are no more willing
to accept that authority. In other words, a revolutionary situation
comes into being when the subjective and objective conditions of
revolution have materialised. In fact, since the subjective conditions
of revolution are lagging the objective conditions of revolution at the
global level and at the level of different countries, a revolutionary
situation will not emerge globally nor in different countries of the
world.
If we merely conclude by observing, in this situation, “that the
old reactionary States have already reached an advanced stage of
decomposition and sinking,” therefore, a “revolutionary situation
develops unevenly and persistently,” then we should ask what is the
role of revolutionary consciousness in creating a revolutionary
situation, and at what time does it begin? Indeed, it should firmly be
stated that the emergence of a revolutionary situation, besides
favourable objective conditions, requires the favourable subjective
conditions for the growth of the revolutionary movement. As Lenin has
stated a revolutionary movement cannot come into being without
revolutionary theory.
- The corruption scandals throughout the whole world, despite
pointing out the rotten nature of these governments, show the growing
personal unity among the representatives of big monopolist corporations
and the State power. The bourgeois elections, as means to legitimate
the old order, are increasingly discredited, without legitimacy and
wake the spontaneous rejection of the masses, showing the exhaustion of
the general offensive of the counterrevolution.
The “exhaustion of the general
offensive of the counterrevolution” is clear, but this offensive exists
and continues and, in relation to this situation, the revolution is in
general defensive, and is even in the situation of preparation for the
defensive. Years ago, the Communist Party of Peru saw the people’s war
under its leadership at the stage of strategic equilibrium, which was
the most advanced in the world, but was announcing the trend of
revolution at the stage of strategic offensive. Now this statement,
based on observing the de-legitimation of bourgeois elections, is
announcing the “exhaustion of the general offensive of the
counterrevolution” and the crisis of the ruling classes, and the
unprecedented and persistent growth of the revolutionary situation,
without noticing that no matter how rotten the reactionary old system
has become it will not go away until it has been defeated. We should
not forget Lenin’s maxim on this.
- The USA, headed by the arch-reactionary Trump, keeps
developing through its war of aggression for the partition and new
repartitions of the so-called Extended Middle East (West Asia), further
sharpening the principal contradiction in the current epoch and world,
between the oppressed nations on the one hand and the imperialist
superpowers and powers on the other.
“The USA…through its war of
aggression for the partition and new repartitions of the so-called
Extended Middle East” is not alone; several European imperialist powers
are active participants as the USA’s close allies. For example, the
aggressive British and French imperialist forces in recent missile and
air strikes on Syria, the British forces in the war of aggression and
occupation of Iraq, and also the imperialist forces of Britain, French
and Italy with their missile and air strikes on Libya. However, the
widest western imperialist alliance under the leadership of Yankee
imperialism was and still exists in the aggressive war and occupation
of Afghanistan.
Moreover, part of America’s aggressive imperialist war for the
partition and new repartitions of the greater Middle East, that
benefits its allies and satraps, is carried forward by the Israeli
Zionist state against Palestine and Syria, the reactionary Saudi state
against Yemen, and the reactionary Iranian regime against Iraq. In
addition, the aggressive war of Russian imperialists upon Syria is part
of this process of the greater Middle East’s partition/repartition.
The military role of aggressive Iranian forces alongside equally
aggressive Russian imperialism in the war upon Syria is clear.
These issues have also been underscored in the later sections of the statement.
Given this entire situation, it should be stated that Yankee
imperialism is not the only principal enemy of the people of the world,
and that the principal contradiction in the world is between the
oppressed peoples/nations and the imperialist powers––not merely
between the oppressed peoples/nations and Yankee imperialism.
- After the military defeats suffered in the field, the USA
persists on preparing a new escalation of aggressions against Syria and
in the whole Extended Middle East. And, in midst of the imperialist
contend and collusion, they increasingly use the lackey and subservient
forces of the region, like the latifundium-bureaucratic monarchy of
Saudi Arabia, the theocratic Republic of Iran, interventionist troops
of the reactionary Turkish State headed by Erdogan, complemented with
the aid of reactionary mercenary forces of various types, bringing more
and bigger genocides to the region.
As part of this war of aggression
and genocides we are witnessing the use of reactionary nationalist
movements to deviate the struggles of national liberation, like the one
headed by the opportunist landlord-bourgeois leadership of PKK, which
dragged part of the Kurdish masses into becoming pawns and cannon
fodder for the imperialist plans of occupation and plunder of the
region, serving the imperialist goals of the partition of Syria into
areas of influence.
We need to pause to consider a few issues raised above…
First: At least the last military failure of the US
and its allies in their aggression against Syria was mainly due to the
direct military confrontation with Russia. This fact indicates that
Russian imperialism should also be considered an effective force in the
entire imperialist aggressive and occupying war in the greater Middle
East.
Second: The Theocratic Republic in Iran has so far
been able to side with the American imperialists in the war and
occupation of Iraq as well as side with the Russian occupying forces in Syria.
Third: The stance of the statement against the
Kurdistan Workers Party and Kurdish forces allied with it in Syria,
that is their caputulationist politics in regard to the Yankee
imperialist war in Syria, is clear and defensible. What is unclear and
indefensible is the joint international May Day statement of 2017 and
2018 on this issue, which the Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan
did not agree with, though in general supported both statements and
signed them.
Fourth: The reactionary pan-Islamist forces such as
ISIS, al-Qaida, Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Taliban, as well as
Islamist movements reliant upon and close to these forces in other
countries in the greater Middle East, including in north Africa,
elsewhere in Africa and in central Asia representing the interests of
feudalism, and bourgeois comprador, either at war with imperialist
occupying forces or in connection with reactionary states in the
region, are also major players in the greater Middle East. However,
both joint Maoist international May Day statements this year were
either silent or unclear and ambiguous on this issue. Our party has an
obligation on this matter, which we will carry forward as soon as
possible.
- In the midst of hard class struggles against reaction and
imperialism and the struggle against revisionism and liquidationism,
the heroic proletariat of Turkey is forging the instruments capable of
developing the New Democracy Revolution through People’s War against
latifundium, the big bourgeoisie and imperialism and the old and lackey
latifundium-bureaucratic State with the absolutist and genocide regime
led by Erdogan – AKP. The communists of Turkey are struggling to unite
the Turkish and Kurdish peoples in the Revolutionary United Front led
absolutely by the Communist Party, to realize the New Democracy
Revolution through People’s War.
Here three points are worth examining:
First: We should not only talk of “forging the
instrument capable of developing the New Democratic Revolution” but we
should talk about the instruments capable of developing the New
Democratic Revolution. These three instruments, or three weapons,
include: the communist party, the people’s army, and the revolutionary
united front. It is not entirely clear which of these instruments the
statement refers to. Does it mean forging the communist party as the
most important weapon out of the three weapons of revolution, forging
the people’s army, or forging the united front?
However, currently there is no people’s war in Turkey. The C(M)PA
did not agree with the joint international May Day statement about the
existence of a people’s war in Turkey, neither previously nor this
year. Raising such baseless claims in an international statement will
damage the reputation of the statement and its signatories and benefits
no one. There is an Afghan proverb which says: “you cannot sweeten
your mouth by uttering/saying halva, halva…”
Second: Proposing the unity of the Turkish and
Kurdish people only within the revolutionary united front is incorrect.
Firstly, the entire revolutionary movement of Maoists in Turkey––
including Turkish, Kurdish, and Maoists of other nationalities, as
representatives of all the working class in Turkey––should unite in an
MLM communist party for all of Turkey. Following this, it is necessary
that a revolutionary army for all of Turkey should be established.
Thirdly, the oppressed peoples in Turkey, including Kurdish and other
oppressed peoples, should unite the Turkish people in the revolutionary
united front. In this regard the unity of the entire revolutionary
Maoist movement in Turkey in a unified MLM communist party is of
primary importance and only on this basis can the people’s army and the
revolutionary united front for all of Turkey be established.
Third: Absolute leadership of the communist party
over the revolutionary united front is unachievable, because all social
classes join the revolutionary united front for securing their class
interests and will never let go of their class interests. Thus, there
is always a struggle over the leadership among different political and
class forces within the revolutionary united front and the communist
party, from the beginning until the end, should strive to ensure,
develop, and expand proletarian leadership.
Even absolute proletarian leadership over the communist party
cannot always exist, because this leadership is condemned/forced to
constantly engage in two-line struggle to strive for retaining and
strengthening proletarian leadership over the party against
deviationist lines within the party. Indeed, since there cannot be a
monolithic party, a monolithic revolutionary united front will
definitely not exist.
There are two problems with the theoretical formulation of the
“unified/centralized leadership of the party, army and revolutionary
united front” in the theories of the Communist Party of Peru, as part
of Gonzalo Thought:
Firstly, this formulation considers the method of the leadership
over the people’s army applicable to leadership over the revolutionary
united front and over the party. In reality, ensuring proletarian
ideological and political leadership over the party, ensuring the
political leadership of the party over the revolutionary united front,
and ensuring the political-military leadership of the party over the
people’s army are essentially different from each other. We cannot call
the essence and form of the three levels of leadership in parity and
at the same level.
Secondly, this formulation is related to the theory of Jefatura in the Communist Party of Peru.
- Throughout all Latin America, the noticeable advances in the
reconstitution or constitution of militarized Maoist communist parties
ranges from Chile, passing through Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia until
Mexico and in Peru, in the heights of Vizcatan in VRAEM, it has its
highest and most shining point, where the Communist Party of Peru
advances in its general reorganization based on its First Congress and
in the defense of Chairman Gonzalo, to give a new and powerful impulse
to the People’s War.
Here it is worth pausing to
consider the existence of the people’s war in Peru. C(M)PA does not
agree that there currently exists a people’s war in Peru, a claim made
in both the previous Joint May Day statement and the two of this year.
In fact, it should be stated that the people’s war in Peru ended with
the arrest of Fylisano in 1999. Two decades have passed since then.
During these two decades to claim that there exists a people’s war in
Peru, as both May Day statements this year have done (the statement
that we signed and the statement under discussion), is erroneous. The
fact is that what exists in the “heights of Vizcatan” in Peru are party
and non-party armed groups. Such armed groups, either publicly or
underground, still exist in Nepal, but there is no people’s war in that
country.
It appears that the Communist Party of Peru after two decades since
the arrest of Gonzalo—which was the beginning of the end of the
people’s war in Peru, causing the serious weakening and then
fragmentation of the party into multiple factions—has not been able to
carry its principal duty of reorganizing the party. Such a
reorganization should be based on a deep evaluation of the
ideological-political and organizational factors for the victories of
the party and the people’s war in the 80s and then the subsequent
defeats of the party and the people’s war in the 90s. Without such a
deep and comprehensive evaluation/scrutiny the PCP cannot reorganize
and reverse its collapse. Therefore, how can it give “a new powerful
impulse” to the defeated people’s war and restart it? When, after the
passage of many years since the aforementioned defeats, such an
evaluation has not yet taken place, it could be said that the party has
been unable to fulfil this task.
C(M)PA is hopeful that the PCP will quickly change this weakness
into strength and firstly fulfil the task of reorganizing the party so
that it can give a powerful impulse to the people’s war by relaunching
it.
It should strongly be stated that without a comprehensive
evaluation of its past, including both the victories and failures of
the party and the peoples war, the PCP cannot reorganize itself and
cannot restart the people’s war. Towards this end the PCP should rely
on the positive achievements of the first congress of the party in
1986, but this alone is not enough. The party should identify the
shortcomings of the congress. Based on the comprehensive evaluation of
the positive and negative experiences of the past and deploying the
outcomes of this evaluation in revolutionary practice and formalizing
their results in the second congress of the party, the party should
form a new ideological-political and organizational basis for itself.
Relying on a 32 years old congress is clearly insufficient.
- Asia, Africa and Latin America, as said by Chairman Mao, are
the zones of revolutionary storms and the base of the World
revolution. Latin America, as the “backyard” of the USA, is a great
powder barrel and the initiation of more People’s Wars in the continent
will be a powerful spark of Maoism to burn all the prairie in great
fires of People’s War.
We think the theory of continental
revolution was wrong even during the time of Marx and Engels. The
short lifespan of the Paris Commune, since it remained alone, adequately
demonstrated this fact. Furthermore, the theory of continental
revolution is also wrong about Latin America. Two decades of the
people’s war in Peru, which remained alone and was finally defeated
alone, is clear evidence of this.
On the other hand, the theory of general insurrection leading to a
New Democratic Revolution is also incorrect. We should not ignore the
protracted nature of people’s war even at the level of a single
country. Mao Zedong has stated that a single spark can start a prairie
fire, but he did not mean that a single spark could ignite the fire of
people’s war across China. Mao Zedong insisted on the protracted nature
of people’s war, considering it an important characteristic.
As we noted above, currently there is no people’s war in Peru. For
this reason, if the if a people’s war starts in any other Latin
American country, it would not be counted as the second people’s war in
Latin America.
Latin America includes many countries, and despite most of it being
Spanish speaking, each country has its own particular political,
economic, social, and cultural conditions. Moreover, the biggest
country in Latin America (Brazil) is Portuguese speaking and this
characteristic makes it different from the rest of Latin America. The
Maoist forces in other countries of Latin America all have their own
characteristics. Given this situation the “great fires of people’s war”
that will burn the entire prairie will not immediately occur. The
start of a people’s war or people’s wars in Latin America will not
eliminate the uneven political, economic, social, cultural––and
particularly will not eliminate the uneven military development––that
exists between the countries of that continent, nor will it transform
the latter into a single country.
Here it is worth examining the situation in the Indian
subcontinent. The countries in this region have many historical,
cultural, economic and political similarities with countries in Latin
America, as well as their own particular characteristics. There have
been several decades of people’s war in India and also there was a
people’s war for several years in Nepal. However, even in Bangladesh,
which had a strong Maoist movement and for several years armed
revolutionary activities existed there, the fire of people’s war did
not ignite, nor has this fire even started in Pakistan that,
unfortunately so far, has lacked a genuine Maoist movement.
- In Europe, the struggles of July against the G20 in Hamburg,
Germany led by the communists were a complete victory for the ICM. The
communists raised the red flag of Maoism and did not allow it to be
taken down. The hideous campaign of witch hunt by the German
imperialist State will not be able to stop the march of the proletariat
in Germany in the reconstitution of its Communist Party. Also the
struggles of the proletariat of France, Austria and others against the
imperialist reaction in the year of 2017, showed how in the belly of
the imperialist beast there are advances in the application of Maoism,
and that the Maoist communist movement is strengthening and advancing
on the path of the constitution/reconstitution of militarized communist
parties to initiate the People’s War, quickly moving forward.
Essentially victory in a
demonstration, though, is not a victory that can be considered “a
complete victory of the international communist movement,” even if the
demonstration takes place under the leadership of the communists.
Clearly raising the flag of Maoism in a demonstration and preventing it
from being taken down is a victory that should not be ignored, but it
should not be exaggerated and declared “a complete victory” for the
international proletariat. Whether the German imperialist state can
stop the march of the proletariat in Germany for the reconstitution of a
communist party or not depends on many factors, including the maturity
and enlargement of the communist Maoist movement, as well as the
preparedness or lack of preparedness of the working class in Germany.
Prevention or progress of this march is not an immediate, absolute,
mechanical and unconditional objective determination of revolutionary
victory. We hope this historical march will succeed soon and all should
strive to aid in its advance.
Advancements in the implementation of Maoism within the bellies of
the imperialist beasts in Europe, for establishing or re-establishing
Maoist communist parties, exist in several European countries. However,
the great theoretical hurdle preventing their rapid progress is not
the issue of the strategy of people’s war in general, a strategy that
should be accepted by the entire international Maoist movement, but in
fact the problematic of the modality of people’s war in imperialist
countries that so far has not been resolved by the international Maoist
movement nor by the Maoist forces in imperialist countries. What has
been expressed at the level of the international Maoist movement, as
well as particular Maoist forces in imperialist countries, is to
question the 1917 October Revolution as a general model applicable to
imperialist countries, but without sketching a concrete theoretical
model of implementing people’s war in opposition to the October 1917
model.
We believe that providing such a clear theoretical model is the
task of an international Maoist conference and it should be resolved at
the international level. Sectarian formulations and actions that
result in the further dispersion of the international Maoist forces
will also not result in anything and will go nowhere practically.
- In North America, inside the USA itself, from south to north
and from east to west, Maoism flourishes with the emergence and growth
of true revolutionary organizations of Red Guards and other communist
Collectives. The reappearance of the communist movement in the USA,
united under the defense of the necessity to form the
Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Communist Party to Initiate the People’s War,
is a fierce blow against the Yankee imperialist reaction and the new
Avakianist revisionism of RCP.
The re-flourishing of Maoism in
the US is a positive development. This positive development at the
level of the reappearance of the communist movement in the US, the
understanding of the necessity to form an MLM communist party by this
newly emerged Maoist movement, should principally and rapidly grow to
the level of a party. Naturally this progress in its own way is a blow
to Yankee imperialism and post-MLM Avakianite revisionism.
But the real challenge in the path of forming a Maoist communist
party in the US, as well as other imperialist countries, was stated
earlier: to achieve at least a particular theoretical framework for the
strategic implementation of people’s war in these countries. Here two
points should be considered separately:
First: The Petrograd insurrection as a successful
example of revolution has not been repeated in the world, and the Russia
October revolution of 1917 until now is the only successful model in
an imperialist country.
Second: While it is a certain fact that the general
path of the strategy of people’s war applies to imperialist countries,
and particularly in an imperialist country like the US, the particular
strategic path of encircling the cities by the countryside is only
pursuable in colonial/semi-feudal or semi-feudal/semi-colonial
conditions.
For the formation of real Maoist communist parties in imperialist
countries, adopting only the general framework of people’s war is not
enough; the particular strategic path of people’s war should be
highlighted, otherwise the slogan of people’s war in these countries
would only remain a mere slogan, and the party or parties would remain
without a strategy to make people’s war.
- Thus, the world situation demonstrates an enormous potential
in which the communist movement is reappearing with renewed strength.
To transform this potential strength of the International Communist
Movement the World Proletarian Revolution needs the
constitution/reconstitution of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist communist
parties to transform the current armed struggles of national liberation
into People’s Wars, to make the revolution of New Democracy, unleash
new People’s Wars for the Revolution of New Democracy or Socialist
Revolution according to each case (oppressed countries and developed
capitalist countries respectively), and, through successive Proletarian
Cultural Revolutions, to transit the whole world into Shining
Communism.
The issue of transforming “the
current armed struggles of national liberation into people’s wars” is
worth pondering. The C(M)PA does not consider the armed struggles of the
Taliban against American occupiers and their puppet regime as armed
national liberation struggles but sees them as a reactionary war of
resistance that seeks to end the colonial situation of the country so
as to preserve a semi-colonial situation.
Therefore, it has never occurred to us “to transform the current
armed struggles of national liberation into people’s wars.” Rather, we
are carrying forward the struggle for preparation and initiating a
people’s revolutionary war of national resistance as the current
particular form of people’s war in Afghanistan.
A people’s revolutionary war of national resistance against
imperialist occupiers, the puppet regime, and the reactionary ISIS
occupiers is not and should not be an armed struggle on two fronts––one
front of armed struggle and war against imperialist occupiers, the
puppet regime and ISIS occupiers, and the other front an armed struggle
and war against Taliban’s reactionary resistance––but should be
attentive to active defence against the aggression of Taliban.
It is obvious to us that the armed struggles waged by the different
groups of al-Qaeda and ISIS against American and Russian forces in a
number of Arab countries are not “national liberation armed struggles”
but, rather, are reactionary resistance against them. Moreover, we do
not consider ISIS’s war in Afghanistan and similar countries even as a
reactionary war of resistance; we consider it an aggressive reactionary
and occupying war.
- The great Marx warned us that: “That all efforts aiming at
the great end hitherto failed from the want of solidarity between the
manifold divisions of labour in each country, and from the absence of a
fraternal bond of union between the working classes of different
countries”
The international proletariat needs
to fully overcome the current dispersion of forces – which began with
the counterrevolutionary coup of Teng Xiao-pings clique in China after
the death of Chairman Mao, sharpened by the liquidation of the RIM by
the new revisionism of Avakian, Prachanda and their adulator –, to
realize a Unified Maoist International Conference, to advance the
formulation of the General Line for the International Communist
Movement and the formation of a New International Organization of the
Proletariat, which serves the struggle to put Maoism in the command and
guide of the World Revolution.
The current dispersion of forces did not come about as only the
result of the disjunction between the working classes of different
countries, but it has also come about as a result of the disjunction
between the communist movements in majority of each particular country.
The dispersion of the forces of the international communist
movement started with Khrushchev’s revisionist coup and was intensified
by the revisionist coup of Deng Xiaoping. Later the revisionist
deviation of Envar Hoxha intensified this dispersion on another level.
There is no doubt that the liquidation of the RIM further intensified
this dispersion.
This liquidationism began with the RCP-USA’s post-MLM revisionism,
under the name of “Avakian’s New Synthesis,” because this party was
practically at the helm of the committee of RIM. The second order
negative role was played by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
which, by adopting Prachanda’s revisionism in the framework of Prachanda
Path, also adopted a counter-revolutionary path which lead the
people’s war towards defeat. Next, the Communist Party of Peru played a
third role in this liquidationism. The PCP adopted Gonzalo Thought
where, despite some correct ideas, there was raised a number of
deviationist and incorrect ideas as the application of MLM in the
particular circumstances of the revolution in Peru, even declaring some
of them to possess universal applicability. The creative application
of MLM in the particular circumstances of the revolution in Peru
resulted in victories for the PCP and the people’s war under its
leadership and lead to the formation of a “guiding line” in the PCP.
However, later incorrect formulations in the framework of Gonzalo
Thought found their way into the party, and practically lead the party
and the people’s war under its leadership towards failure.
We will pursue a detailed discussion on this issue at a later date.
Moreover, all other participants of RIM, their strengths and
weaknesses notwithstanding, are responsible for this liquidationism. No
one should raise the finger of criticism solely towards others. Only
by employing the principle of “criticism/self-criticism” can we sum up
and utilize the experience of a quarter of century of the struggles of
RIM.
Adulation of the deviationist views of the RCP-USA, CPN(Maoist),
and PCP have existed in particular periods amongst Maoist organizations
and parties within and outside of RIM. This was partly due to the
backwardness and lack of experience of these organizations and parties,
not to mention the fact that, among all the Maoist parties and
organizations of the world, the three parties being adulated performed
different leading roles at points in their history and the history of
the RIM. Now, amongst all Maoist organizations and parties of the
world, there is no adulation left for the CPN(Maoist) or the RCP-USA.
Only a one-dimensional/uncritical adulation of the PCP still exists
amongst some Maoist parties and organizations, particularly Latin
American parties and organizations, and this should also be eliminated
by ideological-political struggles.
- Marxism is opposed to all kind of imperialist chauvinism and
narrow nationalism. The Proletariat is one single international class
with indissolubly linked interests and destinies, for this the only
marxist principle for the International Communist Movement is the
proletarian internationalism. The revisionists accused the Marxists to
be dogmatic, in his time Khrushchev and Liu Shao-chi, and today
Prachanda and Avakian with their black lines against the proletarian
revolution. Chairman Mao Tsetung affirmed: “internationalism is the
spirit of communism.”
Marxism, precisely MLM, is opposed
to all forms of imperialist chauvinism and narrow nationalism. However,
in grasping the extent of this opposition its principal aspect and
non-principal aspect should be viewed separately and id does not suffice
to make general assertions in this regard. Such general statements
lead to an ultra-left behaviour against national movements.
Proletarian internationalism is an important principle of MLM for
the international communist movement, but the international communist
movement does not only rely on this one single principle at the expense
of other principles. MLM possesses multiple principles in its three
aspects: philosophical principles, economic principles, and political
principles. Proletarian internationalism is indeed one of its
principles, and indeed an important principle, with philosophical,
economic, and political aspects: in philosophy, political economy, and
scientific socialism. Has the statement under discussion only emphasised
proletarian internationalism without regards to MLM principles as
whole? Those who are writing an important statement, particularly at
the international level, should carefully review what they have
written.
It is true that Mao Zedong emphasised that “[Proletarian]
internationalism is the spirit of communism.” But why should Mao
Zedong’s this qoute become the basis of an incorrect understanding of
proletarian internationalism, an understanding based on which
proletarian internationalism be declared the only principle of MLM for international communist movement?
- Today, the international proletariat, in hard struggle to
sweep away imperialism and all the reaction from the face of earth,
needs an ICM and an International Organization that serves to defend
and spread Maoism as third, new and superior stage of development of
Marxism, that serves the proletariat in the constitution/reconstitution
of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Communist Parties to seize power and defend
it through People’s War in democratic and socialist revolutions, as
well as to raise the defense, support and dissemination of the ongoing
People’s Wars to organize the solidiarity with the popular struggles
and rebellions in the whole world.
The need for an international
proletariat mobilized for an ICM and Maoist communist international
organization, beside the need for Maoist communist movements and Maoist
communist parties in different countries, is not only a principled
necessity, but is also an immediate necessity.
Conquering political power through people’s war, for the military
and revolutionary strategy of the conquest of political power by the
masses under the leadership of the communist party, is an unavoidable
MLM principle that is primary. This conquest of power necessitates
other revolutionary instruments such as the revolutionary united front,
and this issue should not be forgotten.
Moreover, the defense of revolutionary political power achieved
through people’s war, and only through people’s war, is not enough. In
the revolutionary conditions that allow a proletarian dictatorship to
exist, the need will not emerge to defend this proletarian dictatorship
through people’s war. Indeed, in the Great Proletarian Cultural
Revolution under the leadership of CPC, that is under the leadership of
Mao Zedong, this defense took place through the proletarian Cultural
Revolution, which was a massive political and ideological mass movement,
and not through people’s war.
However, in situations when domestic counter-revolution promotes
wars to overthrow revolutionary political power, revolutionaries should
rely on people’s war to defend revolutionary political power. This
necessity emerged in confronting the 1976 revisionist coup, but the
revolutionary faction within the Communist Party of China could not
launch an effective people’s war against the revisionist coup. Thus,
the revolutionary faction was defeated, and the revisionists took
political power.
In a situation when revolutionary power is faced with foreign
imperialist aggression, the new democratic or socialist revolution
should be defended through people’s war. Such a necessity emerged
during World War II with the aggression of Nazi Germany against the
USSR, the latter being a socialist state under the leadership of the
Communist Party of Soviet Union itself under the leadership of Stalin.
The USSR engaged in a war against Nazi aggressors that was people’s war
in a real sense of the world.
- Revisionism is still the principal danger to the World
Revolution and the International Communist Movement. As such, one cannot
go a single step without combating it in an implacable way and
inseparable from the struggle against imperialism and all reaction.
Chairman Mao affirmed that the “history of the international communist
movement demonstrates that proletarian unity has been consolidated and
has developed through struggle against opportunism, revisionism and
splittism”. Therefore, only counting on ideological and political unity
can the proletariat achieve organizational cohesion and unity of
action.
Currently revisionism is not the
principal danger for world revolution and the international communist
movement. The principal danger facing world revolution and the
international communist movement is that which is posed by the principal
enemy; revisionism, though a dangerous enemy, is currently not the
principal enemy.
However, we do agree that between the two dangers of revisionism
and dogmatism, revisionism is the main danger for world revolution and
the international communist movement. In the experience of the
struggles of RIM, Avakianite and Prachanda revisionism in theory and
practice demonstrated the main danger of revisionism. At the same time,
though, it is also clear that the dogmatism of Gonzalo Thought and the
PCP, and to a lesser extent the dogmatism of other parties and
organizations within RIM, demonstrated itself to be a non-principal
danger, in comparison with the main danger of revisionism, during the
old days of the RIM. Dogmatism remains a danger confronting the efforts
for the formation of a new Maoist international organization, and it
showed itself to be thus with the sectarianism behind the publication
of this year’s international May Day statement. It should be noted that
the incorrect formulations of the PCP are not based on old/past
formulations of the international communist movement in opposition to
real and new developments in the ICM, but they are formulations based
on “new” and incorrect ideas that have been presented in opposition to
principled and correct ideas present in the ICM.
Certainly, it should be emphasised that only based on the
ideological and political unity of the proletariat, at the level of
different countries and at the international level, can we reach
organizational unity of the proletariat, at nationally and
internationally. Only by achieving ideological-political and
organizational unity at both levels can we channel all the streams of
peoples’ discontent that emanate from exploitation, imperialist and
reactionary oppression, towards the roaring sea of revolution.
- The opportunist plans for a broad unity, independently of
ideological and political unity, must be rejected. As affirmed by
Lenin, “It is not a question of numbers, but of giving correct
expression to the ideas and policies of the truly revolutionary
proletariat”.
The Communist movement needs a new
International Organization, strongly unified around Maoism and the
People’s War, that serves to put Maoism at the command and guide of the
world revolution, initiating and developing more People’s Wars.
“Broad unity, independently of ideological and political unity” is an
opportunist plan that “must be rejected.” At the same the international
Maoist movement for creating a broad political alignment and unity
with non-Maoist anti-imperialist and anti-reactionary forces needs to
strive based on their own strong ideological and political unity. As
much the ideological and political unity of the international Maoist
movement on the question of Maoism, including people’s war, would be
stronger to that extent the movement can put Maoism at the command of
world revolution, through helping the formation of new Maoist parties
in different countries and initiating more peoples wars in the world,
and at the same time can form broad political alignment and unity with
the non-Maoist anti-imperialist and anti-reactionary forces in
different countries of the world and lead them.
- Therefore, the unity of the communists at the world level
demands: 1) defense of Maoism as new, third and superior stage of
Marxism, against all kinds of revisionism, old and new, such as the
Right Opportunist Lines in Peru, Avakianism and Prachandism, 2) defense
of the People’s War as superior military strategy of the class, the
Military Line of the Proletariat, center of the General Political Line
for the International Communist Movement, as means to realize the new
democracy and socialists revolutions, to defeat the Imperialist World
War if it is imposed, opposing it with World People’s War.
The realization of a Unified Maoist
International Conference should be based on these ideological and
political principles, to advance the formulation of the General Line
for the International Communist Movement and give birth to a new
International Organization of the Proletariat capable of fulfilling
these tasks and goals that the World Proletarian Revolution demands,
serving as a great step forward in the reunification of the communists
in the whole world.
There are six points worth discussing briefly, though we will leave a detailed discussion for later.
First: The notion of the defense of Maoism.
Second: The notion of struggle against all forms of old and new revisionism.
Third: The notion of the defense of people’s war.
Fourth: The notion of the Maoist International conference.
Fifth: The notion of formulating a general line for the international communist movement.
Six: The notion of proletarian international organization.
1—The C(M)PA, in defence of Maoism as a new, third and highest stage
in the evolution of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (scientific communism),
currently does not see the entire ICM, and none of the communist
parties, in a position to either explicitly or implicitly claim to have
further developed the ideology and science of proletarian revolution.
2—The right opportunist line in Peru is a revisionist line, in the
way Avakian’s new synthesis and Prachanda Path are only openly
revisionist lines. The right opportunist line in Peru and Gonzalo
Thought, despite its particular deviations, are not the same. At the
same time, we should note that all of the factions that came from the
original PCP have similar views on particular issues.
3—The question of the defense of people’s war currently, “defense of
the People’s War as superior military strategy of the class, the
Military Line of the Proletariat, center of the General Political Line
for the International Communist Movement” is correct and principled.
However, defense of people’s war under the slogan of “people’s war
until communism” is incorrect and unprincipled. People’s war cannot
replace the multiple proletarian cultural revolutions in a socialist
society.
4—Currently what is principled and possible is holding an
international conference for writing and ratifying a new international
declaration/statement to replace the previous RIM declaration, creating
a new international to replace RIM and electing a new leadership
committee instead of the previous coRIM.
5—The international statement/declaration can—and must—lay the
foundation for formulating the general line of the international
communist movement. However, the ICM currently is not in a position to
formulate and ratify a general line in its first conference.
6—The new Maoist international organization that can and should be
established cannot be a fully formed new Maoist International, but can
only be pre-International international organization. This does not
mean broader unity without Maoist ideological and political unity, but
it does mean realizing the actual ideological-political and practical
condition of the Maoist communist international movement.
- The Communist Movement is reappearing with renewed strength,
today the objective and subjective situation for a Unified Maoist
International Conference and the formation of an International
Organization of the Proletariat are far better than when the RIM was
founded, enough to say that in its foundation meeting in 1984, the
participation of parties and organizations that opposed Maoism as the
new, third and superior stage of development of Marxism was
predominant, and it only adopted “Mao Tsetung Thought” and only much
later they accepted Maoism, even though it was only formally
In ratifying Maoism at the
international level the PCP indeed played a leading role. Later other
members of RIM, and finally RIM itself, approved this leading role,
following and ratifying MLM. In fact it was because of this leading
role played by RIM that today several parties and organizations in
Latin America call themselves Maoist. During the Expanded Meeting of
RIM in 1993, which ratified/accepted Maoism instead of Mao Zedong
Thought, the PCP and two factions of the Revolutionary Groups of
Columbia were present at the meeting as observers, and in that position
took a role in the ratification of Maoism.
On the fact that “today the objective and subjective situation for a
Unified Maoist International Conference and the formation of an
International Organization of the Proletariat are far better than when
the RIM was founded” there is no doubt. But the present subjective
situation is in reality the result of RIM’s role mentioned above, not
only the result of the positive role of the PCP.
This claim that ratifying Maoism at the Expanded Meeting of RIM 1993
was merely formal is baseless. The fact is that the Expanded Meeting
of RIM in 1993 was an unprecedented historic achievement in which
Maoism was ratified with the vote of the overwhelming majority of the
representatives of Maoist parties present, including the
observer-participant representative of PCP. The later negative
developments in RIM including the negative developments within the
PCP––whose seeds had existed in members of RIM, including the PCP,
previously––cannot and must not be the reason for denying the above
discussed leading role.
