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Rally
to the Defence of Our Red Flag
Flying in Peru!
- A Call by the Committee
of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement to Step Up Support
for the Communist Party of Peru and the People's War
28 March 1995
For fourteen years
the Communist Party of Peru, a participating party of the Revolutionary
Internationalist Movement, has led broad masses to rise up in arms,
defy the rule of the reactionary classes and their imperialist overlords,
and wrest political power, bit by bit, for the proletariat and the
Peruvian people as part of the whole world proletarian revolution.
Those who yearn for an end to exploitation and oppression the world
over have correctly seen this People's War as a beacon pointing
the direction forward and as living proof of the truth, vitality
and power of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, especially when wielded by
a vanguard proletarian party and taken up by growing numbers of
masses transforming it into a tremendous material force.
These great accomplishments
of the revolutionary people of Peru, achievements wrenched from
the enemy through fierce struggle and great sacrifice and blood
of the communist fighters, workers and peasants of Peru, are under
attack, not only from the savage efforts of the reactionary regime
aided by international imperialism, but also from a line which emerged
from within the PCP itself calling for the abandonment of the People's
War.
We call upon the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist
parties and organizations, class conscious proletarians and all
revolutionary fighters to close ranks with the Revolutionary Internationalist
Movement and urgently step up their activities in support of the
People's War in Peru, to fight against the erroneous line, defend
the revolution in Peru from all attacks, and support the Central
Committee of the PCP, which has been leading the People's War, and
to even better fulfill our proletarian internationalist tasks.
The great advances
and the contributions of this People's War and of the PCP to the
world revolution struck telling blows at the reactionary ruling
class in Peru and its imperialist masters, in particular the Yankee
imperialists.
The enemies reacted
by intensifying their counterinsurgency against the People's War
and their repression of the masses of Peru. They carried this out
in genocidal dimensions - in massacres, as well as "disappearances",
of masses in the countryside and the cities and mass murders of
imprisoned revolutionary fighters. Still, the People's War continued
to advance, and by the early part of this decade the imperialists
and reactionaries began to speak openly of the danger, for them,
of this Maoist People's War actually winning complete victory and
seizing nationwide power in Peru. Reacting according to their nature,
the imperialists and the ruling classes in Peru, working through
the Fujimori regime, carried out a coup representing a further concentration
of reactionary state power in the hands of the executive and the
armed forces. They stepped up the repression of the masses and their
revolutionary leadership, as well as the exploitation of the workers
and peasants in general. This took concentrated form in the attempt
to decapitate the leadership of the PCP and the People's War. In
September of 1992, this led to the capture of Chairman Gonzalo,
the main leader of the PCP. A number of other important leaders
of the PCP have also been captured and/or killed in the last several
years. Chairman Gonzalo, in his historic and inspiring 24 September
1992 speech from the cage in which the Fujimori regime had presented
him to the world media, declared that his capture was but "a bend
in the road" in the revolutionary struggle and that the People's
War must continue until final victory, in the interests of the masses
in Peru and in the service of the world proletarian revolution.
He spoke to the importance of developing Marxist-Leninist-Maoist
parties around the world, called particular attention to the role
of RIM, and emphasized the prospect and the need for Maoism to be
the commander and guide of a gathering wave of world revolution.
Despite this bend in
the road, the People's War continued. Reaffirming the Party's basis
of unity and reinforced by Chairman Gonzalo's speech, the Communist
Party of Peru, led by its Central Committee, with firmness in principle
and flexibility in tactics, beat back the enemies' efforts to crush
the revolution, and developed the People's War under these new conditions,
maintaining the Party, the People's Liberation Army and the core
of the base areas. Internationally, RIM launched a worldwide campaign
to Defend the Life of Chairman Gonzalo which mobilized tens of thousands
of revolutionaries and progressives on all continents, whose actions
struck at the Fujimori regime and its U.S. masters and gave heart
to the struggling people of Peru.
It was in this context
that, one year later, a call was issued for negotiations to "reach
a peace accord to put an end to thirteen years of People's War",
which the Fujimori regime attributed to Chairman Gonzalo. The Central
Committee of the PCP pledged to carry forward the war and denounced
the regime for fabricating a hoax.1 A group of people historically
associated with the PCP, centred mainly in the prisons but finding
at least some support from PCP members and sympathizers outside
of prison and abroad, called upon the whole Party to "fight for
a peace accord". It thus quickly became apparent that a crucial
two-line struggle had erupted within the PCP, focusing on the question
of a peace accord but involving a whole series of questions facing
the revolution in Peru and the world. This initial evaluation was
further reinforced by the appearance of documents with alarming
arguments that went against basic Marxist-Leninist-Maoist principles
and against established positions of RIM.2
Since the communist
movement is always an international movement, the outbreak of the
two-line struggle affecting the most important struggle in the world
today could not help but have serious implications for RIM. This
is all the more true since the PCP has contributed greatly to the
political and ideological development of RIM itself, especially
in the recently culminated struggle to adopt and unite around Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Indeed, this two-line struggle represents the most important struggle
that our Movement had faced since its formation in 1984. A line
struggle whose resolution not only determines the future development
of the revolution in Peru but has great consequences for RIM and
the whole international communist movement.
In these circumstances,
it was incumbent upon RIM not only to continue its support for the
People's War in Peru but also to join this two-line struggle: to
undertake the necessary investigation, study, discussion and struggle
to achieve a correct and comprehensive understanding of all the
questions involved and on that basis render the most powerful support
to the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist line and the comrades carrying it
forward in Peru.
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism
had to be applied to the questions involved in the struggle. This
included a study of the history of negotiations in the international
communist movement - both positive and negative examples - as well
as a study of ways other than negotiations through which the communist
movement has responded to important twists and turns in the revolutionary
struggle. It has been necessary to deeply study and apply the basic
Marxist-Leninist-Maoist principles of people's war. On this basis,
the Committee of RIM (CoRIM) established the two basic criteria
for evaluating the call for a peace accord:
Do the proposed
negotiations serve the task of seizing political power through revolutionary
warfare, regardless of what stages or turns this warfare may go
through, or are they aimed at returning to the pre-war situation
of 1980 - a protracted period in which no revolutionary armed struggle
existed?
While certain compromises
may prove to be necessary, do the proposed negotiations safeguard
the "fundamental interests of the people" referred to by Mao, that
is, the essential core of people's power and the revolutionary armed
forces?3
With these two criteria
in mind, a many-sided investigation was undertaken, going as thoroughly
as possible into a number of questions:
- the objective situation
in Peru in the context of the world situation;
- the strengths and
weaknesses of the two contending forces in Peruvian society: the
masses and their revolutionary struggle taking its highest form
as the People's War led by the PCP, on the one side, and the
"three mountains" of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism
now ruling through the Fujimori regime, on the other;
- the developments
and struggle within the PCP itself;
- the actual role
and position of Chairman Gonzalo in relation to the call for a peace
accord, as well as his conditions of confinement and treatment at
the hands of the Fujimori regime;
- the content and
purpose of the call and the negotiated settlement which is its stated
goal.
This investigation
has aimed at determining whether any pro-negotiations position,
even if it should involve some kind of temporary and partial retreat
by the revolutionary forces and perhaps even some kind of formal
agreement with the other side, would not give up all the hard-won
gains of the People's War, would not disband the people's army and
would not give up all the base areas of the People's War, even if
certain areas had to be pulled back from temporarily. In short,
to see if such a position would not abandon the revolutionary road
but would be part of carrying forward the People's War overall,
through necessary twists and turns. It has been necessary to evaluate
both the subjective and objective aspects of this question: what
has been the intent of those promoting the call for negotiations;
and does this call in any case correspond to the objective situation,
to the needs of the masses and the revolutionary struggle at this
point, and is there any basis - in terms of the freedom and
necessity of the revolutionary camp on the one hand and the reactionary
camp on the other - for achieving a peace accord that would not
represent abandoning the revolutionary road and compromising away
the fundamental interests of the people?
Of great importance
has been learning and understanding more deeply the position
and analysis of the Central Committee of the PCP on the questions
involved.
CONCLUSIONS:
Through this process
the Committee of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement has
reached the following conclusions:
1. Objectively and
irrespective of the intentions of those who are arguing for it,
the call for negotiations to reach a peace accord and the arguments,
or rationalizations, put forward in defence and elaboration of this
call, do not represent a necessary and justified compromise but
rather a compromise of the fundamental interests of the people and
an abandonment of the People's War and the revolutionary road.
2. The specific terms
proposed for a peace accord, the "eleven point proposal", would
lead to the disarming of the People's Liberation Army and to the
dismantling of the Base Areas, effectively abandoning the fruits
of the revolution and leaving the masses at the mercy of the reactionary
classes and their armed forces.4
3. The argumentation,
or rationalizations, put forward in defence and in elaboration of
this call are arguments against the very possibility of maintaining
and carrying through to victory the People's War in Peru. These
arguments go against the fundamental teachings of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism
on the need and possibility for the protracted people's war to develop
and seize political power.5
4. In a fundamental
sense, revolutionary warfare led by the proletariat, once embarked
upon, must continue until one of the two opposing sides has been
defeated. It cannot be turned on and off at will as a mere pressure
tactic to achieve concessions from the reactionary state. The means
and goals of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist forces are fundamentally different
than those of the warfare of other classes, for even when such warfare
is opposed to the reactionary state, it does not and cannot aim
for the very destruction of that reactionary state and the establishment
of the rule of the masses.
The twists and turns
of the revolutionary struggle, the relative strengths and weaknesses
of the opposing camps, changes in the objective situation and so
forth sometimes make it necessary for Communists to make substantial
adjustments in their strategy and tactics, including retreats as
well as advances. In some cases, these necessary adjustments have
taken military expressions - such as the Long March led by Mao in
the course of the Chinese Revolution. At other times, communists
do not reject negotiations or even reaching possible agreements
with reactionary ruling classes as tactics which may be possible
and necessary as a result of concrete developments in the revolutionary
struggle and in the context of a correct revolutionary strategy
and perspective.6
However, in the
actual circumstances and given the relation of class forces at this
stage in Peru, there is, from the standpoint of the proletariat,
no need for and no correct basis for negotiations leading to the
end of the People's War. There is no basis - in terms of the freedom
and necessity of the revolutionary camp on the one hand and the
reactionary camp on the other - for achieving a peace accord that
would not represent abandoning the revolutionary road and compromising
away the fundamental interests of the people. Under these circumstances,
the only kind of peace accord which would be accepted by the Fujimori
regime - and more generally by the ruling classes in Peru and their
imperialist masters - is an agreement to end the war on a basis
that could not benefit but would harm the revolutionary process
in Peru. Therefore, a proposal for peace accords to end the war
could only lead to opportunism and must be combatted.
5. The present international
situation is not marked by a period of world peace and the settling
of conflicts. Peace agreements such as that reached in Palestine
reflect the imperialists' efforts to incorporate non-proletarian
forces (such as nationalists and revisionists) as gendarmes of U.S.
imperialism's self-proclaimed "new world order". These types of
peace accords are directed against the masses. Genuine revolutionary
struggle led by Marxist-Leninist-Maoists, which represents the fundamental
interests of the proletariat and the oppressed peoples, will continue
to be viciously opposed by world imperialism and reaction.
The current world situation,
despite contradictory features, is favourable for the initiating,
developing and advancing of the revolutionary armed struggle for
power. The collapse of the Soviet Union (and with it the East bloc)
is the collapse of a reactionary social-imperialist power, a great
enemy of the world proletarian revolution, and does not mean the
people must stop or suspend their revolutionary struggle.
6. The reactionary
Peruvian state represents imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat
capitalism in that country and is a tool of its Yankee overlords.
The reactionary state has no long-term solution to the crisis it
is facing and can only offer more exploitation, oppression and misery
to the masses of people. Only New Democratic Revolution and the
subsequent advance to socialism can save Peru.
7. Chairman Gonzalo
remains in extreme conditions of confinement at the hands of the
reactionary regime, denied contact with lawyers, kept in isolation,
refused the visits of five distinguished international delegations
and placed upon what the regime boasts is an "information diet".
The Fujimori regime is notorious for its murder, lies, manipulations
and physical and psychological abuse of prisoners of war. Under
these circumstances, one cannot accept indirect and unverifiable
communications attributed to Chairman Gonzalo as representative
of his thinking, and the fight must continue for an end to his isolation.
It is clear that the
negotiations line runs contrary to the basic line of the PCP which
has led the People's War forward and which was forged under the
leadership of Chairman Gonzalo. It is important to continue to try
to determine Chairman Gonzalo's current views. The key question,
however, is the line, not its author.
Chairman Gonzalo's
tremendous contributions in developing the PCP's line for the Peruvian
revolution have taken place in the course of concentrating the experience
and knowledge of the whole Party and leading it forward as part
of the international communist movement. The Marxist-Leninist-Maoist
line forged by the PCP under the leadership of Chairman Gonzalo
is both a product of the struggle of the masses in their millions
and, in turn, has further enabled the masses to take history into
their own hands and transform the world. It is precisely this process
of "from the masses, to the masses" and the Party's chain of knowledge
based on its system of democratic centralism that the regime is
severing through the isolation of Chairman Gonzalo. This is a major
reason why the battle to gain access to him must be carried through
to a victorious conclusion.
8. The CoRIM salutes
the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Peru for its firm,
vigourous and correct opposition to the right opportunist line,
which would bring defeat to the People's War in Peru and a serious
setback for the whole international communist movement. The Central
Committee has boldly and courageously carried forward the People's
War amidst the difficult conditions created by the capture of Chairman
Gonzalo and other blows to the Party. The greatest difficulty facing
the Party is the right opportunist line itself and the actions of
those who are promoting it.
It is the internationalist
duty of our Movement as a whole, as well as of the Committee as
the embryonic political centre of RIM, to contribute all we can
to the waging of the two-line struggle against the right opportunist
line of negotiations for a peace accord, to assisting the Central
Committee of the PCP in carrying out this two-line struggle on the
strongest basis and with the most powerful effect, and to helping
strengthen the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist leadership and line guiding
the People's War in Peru and carrying it forward on that basis,
through whatever twists and turns, toward the goal of nationwide
political power and the ultimate aim of communism, worldwide.
9. Since its formation
in 1984, the development of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement
has been inextricably linked with the Communist Party of Peru. The
PCP has been leading the most important revolutionary struggle in
the world today, illuminating the shining path of people's war for
the whole world to see. This has had an even more resounding echo
on all continents as the PCP has carried out its struggle consciously
and avowedly as part of the world proletariat's revolutionary march
toward communism and has done so as a vital part of the Revolutionary
Internationalist Movement, the emerging political centre of the
international communist movement.
The Revolutionary Internationalist
Movement, united on the basis of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, stands
even more firmly united with its comrades of the Communist Party
of Peru, reaffirming our support and determined to fulfill our responsibilities.
The CoRIM calls upon the entire Revolutionary Internationalist
Movement and the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist forces the world over to
take up the battle to defend the People's War in Peru and support
the comrades of the Communist Party of Peru in the struggle to preserve
the revolutionary achievements, defeat the right opportunist line
and march forward toward nationwide victory as part of the world
proletarian revolution.
Those who have been
confused by the right opportunist line or stumbled off the revolutionary
path should repudiate this line, oppose and counter the damage being
caused by this line and its adherents, and retake the revolutionary
road.
Let the fight against
the right opportunist line serve as a fiery cauldron forging even
greater unity of our movement and refining its steel to the highest
quality. Let this furnace of two-line struggle also serve as a great
school of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, revealing the difference between
real and sham Marxism, and helping revolutionaries around the world
to understand the necessities of the hour and to fulfill them.
Support the Central
Commitee of the PCP!
Long Live Marxism-Leninism-Maoism,
Down with the Right
Opportunist Line!
Support the People's
War in Peru!
Defend the Life
of Chairman Gonzalo, Fight to Break the Isolation!
Foot Notes
1 This 7 October 1993
statement is reprinted in this issue.
2 A number of articles
proposing the erroneous line of fighting for a peace accord have
appeared, the most notable being "Take Up and Fight for the New
Decision and New Definition" ("Asumir y Combatir por la Nueva
Decisión y Nueva Definición" in the original Spanish), reprinted
in this issue.
3 These two criteria
are taken from the circular of June 1994 reprinted elsewhere in
this issue.
4 The "eleven point
peace proposal" was widely distributed by pro-negotiation prisoners
in Peru. It has also been reprinted in a number of Peruvian publications,
and is reprinted in this issue.
5 The Union of Communists
of Iran (Sarbedaran) wrote an important criticism of the main arguments
contained in "Take Up and Fight for the New Decision and New Definition"
(Asumir) and other articles reflecting the same line. This
criticism was prepared at the request of the CoRIM, and is reprinted
in this issue.
6 See the aforementioned
June 1994 CoRIM circular and the UIC(S) article for a discussion
both of the historical experience of using negotiations and the
experience of the Long March in China.
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