[page 18]
As the fruit of decades of zig-zags and opportunism, decades of existence as a tool of Russian foreign policy, and with the overwhelming mass, especially of the TU organisations, turning towards the Labour Party; the Communist Party has been reduced to a shell of an organisation of the past. As a consequence of turning it into a more left version of the Labour Party, and with the disillusionment in Stalinism, the confusion engendered by the split between China and Russia, the old firm organisational control which the Stalinist machine possessed has disappeared. At the same time Social Democratic methods of organisation, coupled with cynicism and inertia have reduced the branches. This makes it extremely difficult, despite the more favourable atmosphere, for Militant to reach many It is only the work of their members in the industrial branches in the factories and factions in the unions trial and political 'Lefts' of the Labour Movement, in reality deprives them of all independent significance. fact that their programme is basically no different than that of the Left reformists deprives them of any real independent role. The Morning Star in its policies, is not fundamentally different from the Tribune. They make no criticisms of the policies and attitudes of the Left Trade Union leaders and of the Left parliamentarians, consequen- Nevertheless, they still retain powerful positions within some unions, and retain the support of some of the their membership. There is no longer the fanatical and uncritical support of the Party line that existed in the past. The CP does not automatically attract as in the past those elements looking for policies to the Left of the Labour Party, especially among the students. It is significant that the big demonstrations organised on the question of and of other issues were not organised by the CP or CP Front organisations, but by one or other However with the movement to the Left of raw masses, inevitable in the coming epoch, the CP will make big gains, though it seems virtually impossible that they could play the role of the Communist Parties of France and of But they will possibly become a secondary mass organisation, in a period of mass upsurge, what was their strongest card in the past, the link with Moscow, will become their Achilles heel. New crises in any of the countries of the Eastern Europe or of China, will have immediate repercussions in their ranks. In any event the blatant inconsistencies of their position make it possible even at the present time for the ideas of Militant to gain support. One of the main stumbling blocks being the SLL in particular, but also the other sects. The hooliganism and ignorant factionalism of the SLL repels CP workers from what they conceive as Stalinism remains a dangerous and pernicious influence on the lefts in the Labour Party, and the workers in the Labour Party turning to revolutionary ideas. They re-inforce the scepticism, cynicism and prejudices of the Left leaders, those ingrained for years and decades with the ideas of reformism, and those moving for the first time of thousands, in the trade unions and Labour Party, that are political fellow travellers of the Communist Party, even One of the main aims of our paper in the Unions and Labour Party, apart from combating capitalist ideology and its reformist reflections, is to combat the reformist ideology of Stalinism. This plays an extremely pernicious role, and with the revolutionisation of the ranks of the Labour Party and trade unions, in the coming epoch will be even more dangerous. Genuine Marxists must be amed with the history, methods and policy of Stalinism, nationally and internationally. Our press, especially when it is expanded, must have regular carefully worked out criticisms of the CP, of the Stalinist States, and of the current "line" of the Communist Parties of Britain and elsewhere. The present return to myth-making in regard to the Soviet Union, by the Morning Star, indicating that, for the moment, they have made their peace with the Russian Bureaucracy. provides Marxists with an opportunity to deal This tendency is incapable of learning, they stagger on empirically from one situation to the next. They will not escape even bigger blows in the future with the development of new crises in Russia and Eastern Europe, which JOMMUNIST The PARTY the viablity of the Communist Party.
active members of the Communist Party.
weapon of the daily Mornin; Star it would tend to crumble away.
which give the Communist Party a semblance of real significance.
tly pour all their propaganda efforts into their support.
best industrial militants in certain unions and industries.
Vietnam, of Ireland, of the sectarian Italy in the future.
"Trotskyi sm"
towards revolutionary or even Centrist ideas.
if they do not support them organisationally.
with them in the language of reality and facts.
will in turn provoke new convulsions in the Communist Party.
At the present time only a very small minority of the members are active in groupings to the left of the Communist Party.
Morning Star But the fire and the enthusiasm have been knocked out of 17
[page 19]
The radical student movement in which the sectarian tendencies have their main base, has suffered a decline in the past period. This was inevitable considering the ultra-Left tactics of the sects. However the reaction to the attack on the autonomy of student unions, led to the biggest demonstrations of students in the history of Britain. The students remain as fertile soil for the ideas of Marxism. The active support of many students; of the majority of some universities, of the miners' strike was a colourful reflection of the changes in British society since the Var. It is a reflection of the fact that large sections of middleclass youth are looking towards the Left at this time. The students remain a barometer of the moods developing in society, especially of the layers of petit-bourgeois and of the intellectual strata, of whom in this connection we must number the students. The more wild and woolly students, reflecting the tendency of ultra-radicalism when they break out, is attracted by the romantic ideas of Consequently the temporary successes of the sects, in attracting quite sizeable numbers of students to their ranks. The CP and Labour bureaucracy have not the power of attraction that they possessed in the The pull of the mass movement at a later stage, of course, will have its effects on the universities, as among character of student radicalism is more true of Britain now than of the SWP students of whom Trotsky was talking. In the atmosphere of windy and threadbare radicalism without content, perspectives or understanding, most of the students won by these tendencies will not stay for long. They are transient birds of passage, who as always will blame the workers for their own impotence, as they turn their backs on the movement. However, student comrades, educated in the basic ideas of Marxism and participation in the Labour movement, outside the artificial environment THE WHOLE OF BRITISH SOCIETY IS HEADING FOR A GIGANTIC EXPLOSION. THE REVOLUTIONARY EPOCH THAT IS OPENING UP BEFORE THE WORKERS IN EVERY PART OF THE GLOBE FINDS BRITISH CAPITALISM NO LONGER CUSHIONED AND INSULATED AGAINST ITS BLOWS, BUT VULNERABLE AND WEAK. A TREMENDOUS CHALLENGE IS POSED BEFORE THE BRITISH WORKING CLASS. IN TERMS OF ITS OBJEC- TIVE POWER, ANDIN TERMS OF THE CLEAR POLITICAL IDEAS WIT'T WHICH THE MARXISTS AROUND THE MILITANT MUST PERMEATE THE LABOUR MOVEMENT — THAT CHALLENGE WILL BE MET WITH CONFIDENCE. STUDENTS ROAD COLES This process will be further intensified in coming years.
other sections of the petit-bourgeoisie as well.
political oats in a trendy fashion. It is not of lasting significance.
of the Universities can form a valuable leaven of Marxism 18 The bulk of those joining the sects are only sowing their wild The point made by Trotsky of the ephemeral The Challenge Ahead
[page 20]
Mexico is no longer the model of political stability among the capitalist countries of Latin America. Strikes and independent workers' demonstrations, armed peasant rebellions, rural and urban guerrillaism have begunto cause rever- Between 22 December 1969 and 15 September 1971, there occured 24 bank assaults and innumerable raids on supermarkets, post-offices, bus terminal offices etc. Many (but not all) of these attacks were made by urban guerilla groups, operating in major cities in both North and South Mexico. Their most spectacular deeds were the series of kidnappings carried out at the end of last year. Some of those kidnapped and held for enormous ransom sums were: the daughter of Bernardo Quintana, one of Mexico's most powerful businessmen and a heavyweight in the government; Julio Hirschfield, director of airways, and equally influential in the government; the rector of the University of Guerrero, Jamie Castrejon, tied up with the big soft-drink industry in that area; a banker from Guerrero, Donaciano Luna; and a millionaire from Meanwhile the militancy of the peasants in the poverty - stricken state of Guerrero who are fighting for the restitution of their lands has not slackened off, in spite of the intervention of the army. Less spectacular but most significant of all, has been the revival of the independent workers' movement - for the first time in 12 years. The campaign led by Rafael Galvan in STERM (one of the two principal unions of the electricity throughout the country and given other sections of workers renewed confidence and audacity. Demetrio Vallejo, courageous and long-standing unofficial leader of the railway workers, has begun to intensify the battle against the government-bought leaders of the official union. In an incident in October, a railway worker was shot dead by thugs hired by these "leaders'; shortly afterwards Vallejo was imprisoned. Mass demonstrations outside the prison in Monclova, together with general popular indignation, forced the local authorities to release their prisoner - under direct orders railway workers union led by Vallejo), representatives of a whole number of independent unions came together to discuss their common problems and the current situation. They elected delegates to form a Liaison Committee for Trade Union struggle (Comision de Enlace de Insurgencia Sindical) with the task of bringing together all the independent sections in order to unify their struggle against 'charrismo' (corrupt trade union leadership) and for trade union democracy. Most important among the organisations represented were; the Authentic Labour Front (FAT) - controlled by the Latin American Christian Democratic Party, but with many members far to the left of this; the Free Workers' Unions (SOL); the Union of bakers of the state of Mexico; the Amphora Union; the representatives of the peasants, of the teachers and of the students. The "Communist" Party is strongly represented in some of these unions. The Committee immediately decided to draw up a manifesto and programme, and to organise a national workers' demonstration on Devember 14th. On that day by means of conferences, public meetings and marches, workers all over Mexico declared their solidarity with the electricity and railway workers, protested against the growing unemployment in Mexico, and demanded their democratic rights within the trade union movement, and the rights of all other workers. In Tampico, 7,000 workers participated, in Puebla, 3,000. In Monterrey, Veracruz, Chihuahua, Leon - in all, in 40 cities of the Republic demonstrations took place, nowhere of less than 1,000 workers. Many students also participated. A 'similar day of demonstrations and meetings took place in the middle of January 1972. Also in December and January an enormous strike of schoolteachers (for better wages and conditions) took place in Veracruz.
The government took no reprisals against the trade union demonstrations. Echiverria is Officially on the side of greater trade union democracy, and greater popular participation in political life in general. He is hoping to let out some of the steam which has been accumulating under the surface of economic, social and political life, and so to save the governing party (the PRI), the state structure and his class from an explosion the consequences of which they might not be able to control. So far the trade union movement has made no direct political threat; it has no political programme. Obviously, however its potential danger to the Mexican capitalist class is far greater than that of the desperate, often isolated, guerrillas.. Yet, as if as a warning to the whole population of what would be the results of any deviation from the 'legal road' to reform (the legal road in Mexico is the road of bribery and corruption and quiet murders), the government has jumped in to arrest and punish the guerrilla fighters with a viciousness which might surprise even some berations which the student movement by itself never could.
workers) for trade union rights and internal democracy has gathered momentum from President Echeverria - after a few days. On November 26, Bonapartism A report of developments by a Comrade in Mexico at the invitation of STERM and MSF (the independent 19
[page 21]
'Hired Thugs of the Regime' in Action Against Mexican Workers and Students
Official Terrorism
But the ground for this new wave of official terrorism began to be laid a long time ago. 1968 saw the beginnings In face of the power of the mass student movement of that year, the government machine set about elaborating a complex organisation of repression, which has functioned effectively ever since, and which consists of on the one hand, 'institutional' repression (by the police and army in uniform), and on the other hand, of the activity of paramilitary gangs (suct as the 'Halcones'), whose paid job consists of making attacks 'from inside' on members and supporters of left-wing organisations. Some members of these gangs have now formed themselves into pseudo-revolutionary groups, and it is impossible to know how many of the recent raids and kidnappings have actually been carried out by them -
- in the name of the revolution. What is certain is that the CIA has long considered the formation of these kind of groups as an essential part of their urban counter- insurgency tactics in many parts of the world. Various sectors of these gangster organisations have recently been getting out of the government's control; this explains the reason for the official 'campaign' against some of them last summer. (A few were actually arrested). Most notorious of these semi-fascist revolutionary' groups is CARA (Centre For Revolutionary Armed Action), headed formerl (before his arrest) by the well known Halcon nicknamed El Fish; another more recent, is GUIA (United Guard of Latin America). Obviously the purpose of the activities of these groups is simply to confuse completely in the mind of the general population thuggery with politicalprotest - something which, it must be said, some of the most sincere guerrilla groups, by the actions they have chosen, make it very easy for the government to do. The majority of working people in Mexico have no idea what are the aims of the revolutionary guerrillas. (they themselves do not all seem to be too certain either), and tend to see them as just one more of Mexico's problems, like the growing number of drug addicts. Most of the groups consist of just handfuls of people, each isolated from the other groups and completely isolated from the population. The government therefore feels it has nothing to lose by wiping out the groups as far as it can at this very
moment.
Since the beginning of January 1972 there has been a systematic attempt to round them all up and intimidate all possible sympathisers. Wives, children and brothers and sisters of known guerrillas have been taken for interrogation. Even distant acquaintances of guerrillas and members of other left-wing organisations not associated with guerrilla tactics have been summoned arbitrarily for police interrogation. More than 200 people are known to have been detained by the police in the numerous secret prisons of the Federal District, there subjected to solitary confinement and every kind of torture. Electric shocks are routine treatment, and only the beginning.
Vasquez Murdered
On February 2 1972 the famous guerrilla fighter from the state of Guerrero, Jenaro Vasquez Rojas, was killed, allegedly in a road accident, and his companions captured. A week earlier his wife, mother of 6 children, was detained in prison for interrogation. Since 1968 Vasquez had been an outlaw, and his wife had not seen him throughout those three years.
The week previous to Vasquez's death, the alleged kidnappers of Hirschfield (members of the Zapatista Urban Front - FUZ) were arrested.. Vasquez and his group were suspected of having carried out the kidnapping of the rector of the University of Guerrero. Vasquez was enormously well-known and popular throughout Mexico, through his long and courageous struggle beside the peasants of Guerrero. Hundreds of peasants attended his funeral. The government would have been seriously embarrassed at the prospect of bringing him to public trial and allowing him to become the focus of national attention. An accident was from their point of view much simpler and more effective than an arrest.
20
[page 22]
mistaken idealist. The government can forgive him now he's dead - and of course hopes to make political capital out of granting forgiveness just this once, playing,, as it often does, the role of a merciful but just father of the Mexican Continually trumpeting on the long-dead slogans of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, the Mexican ruling class has traditionally used the methods of stick and carrot - vicious repression of all independent movements, coupled with grandiose-sounding reforms, mostly remaining verbal, from above - in order to maintain the "class harmony" which has attracted so much foreign investment to Mexico since the war. But the monolithic structure of the PRI, the party which has ruled political life in Mexico, for 40 years, and which embraces in its tentacles the organisations of workers and peasants as well as employers, has, since 1968, begun to show signs of stress. The "reforming" character of the government of President Echeverria (inaugurated at the end of 1970), which as we have seen has gone hand-in-hand with more efficient methods of repression, is due not to a quirk of the President's character but to the necessities of the The contradictions of the economic system have reached such a crisis in Mexico that the future presents itself to bourgeois economists as full of problems which, if not resolved, will endanger Mexico's "stability" and its whole rhythmof development. And even the country's stillvery high annual growth rate of more than 6% cannot in itself provide The immediate, most pressing problem and the most obvious, is the enormous increase in the national debt, mostly on foreign loans, which in 1970 stood at more than 3,700,000,000 dollars (more than 5 times what it stood at in 1960).Recently the World Bank stated that if this trend continued, then between now and 1976 the debt would reach the figure of 7,100,000,000 dollars. These figures demonstrate the extent of the inherent weakness of the economy, its dependence, its poor export performance in relation to the advanced economies of the capitalist world. The particular problems are the narrowness of Mexico's internal market; the exaggerated growth of dependent industry (e.g. the manufacture of spare machine parts to be assembled - and the resulting product sold - in the United States), in relation to the growth of manufacturing industry in which everything, the final process included, is completed in Mexico; lack of investment in the industrial infrastructure of the economy; under-exploitation of existing industrial capacity and of the natural resources; lack of investment in and backwardness of the agricultural sector; and poor export performance. tive world economic system, under the dominance of the economy of the United States. Big, quick profits are to be made by fitting in with the requirements of United States industry rather than by trying to develop Mexico's own economy in an all-round way. Neither in Mexico nor anywhere else has the capitalist class, as composed of individual businessmen, put the interests of the economy as a whole before the fight for profits. Here the role of the state is evident as the servant of the generalised interests of capital. Using the money of the labouring classes (very few taxes are paid by the rich), the Mexican state steps in to develop the economy in those areas where private capital is not prepared to take any risks or make any large investment. Out of the 100 biggest industries in Mexico, only 36% have participation by foreign capital, but 20% have at least some state participation (all profits of course going to the private owners). The country's basic resources - petrol, mining, electricity, water, etc. are under state control or have strong state participation. But these enterprises don't operate in favour of the whole nation, but in favour of private interests. The administration of these industries enjoy enormous power and privileges; they also provide private investors (in particular, the big tinancial bourgeoisie) with new areas for industrialisation (as, for example, in the case of the state development of petroleum chemicals). The public industries are served by cheap labour, provide private industry with services at very cheap rates mass of the population only secondarily, if at all. (Millions of Mexicans still lack the most elementary services - water and electricity). Thus it is clear that the state is incapable of intervening in the economy in any way which might mean going against the most basic interests of the capitalist class. But to Echeverria amd other equally far-sighted members of the ruling class, state intervention of a more radical kind seems necessary to bring some order The daily increasing misery of the workers and peasants; the sustained inflation; the growing unemployment (approximately 4,000,000 throughout Mexico); the rush of desperate peasants to the industrial cities and the resultant chronic overcrowding; the rising crime rate - all these are to the capitalist class of course merely secondary problems. In more or less acute form, they have been problems for a long time. Only now is the government and the press beginning Quite simply, the reason is that these social problems have become a threat to the economic development of the "political stability". There will never be an expansion of the internal market as long as the vast majority of Mexicans live in extreme poverty, and as long as agriculture, which still occupies a majority of the population, remains as a whole the most backward sector of the economy. The skilled work-force necessary to further capitalist development can never be developed as long as millions of Mexicans (over 30%) remain illiterate and millions more lack even the most elementary training, let alone opportunities for higher education. The revolt among sections of the peasantry, the land occupations which have taken place in Guerrero and in the North of Mexico, are not a new pheno- - but now they are prompting the government to all kinds of "refors". Odd pieces of land have been returned to the peasants from whom they were originally stolen by speculators. No matter for the time being that the peasants entirely lack the credit and machinery necessary to work their plots. The aim is to placate the peasants as far as pos- Sible, then work out ways of improving the productivity of the lands of the big owners, the only lands which really count A heritage of the 1910 revolution is the ownershipby millions of individual peasants or peasant communities of divided against each other, and thrown into competition with the big owners, the vast majority of peasants will never be able to climb out of theirmisery as long as the capitalist system exists. That is why Echeverria's proposed agricultural One interesting thing is that the papers situation in which the Mexican ruling class finds itself.
In spite of having a strong native capitalist class, out of the present chaos.
Increasing Misery to shed crocodile tears over them. Why?
in the national economy .
the land still not yet monopolised by the big capitalist owners.
have been allowed to make Vasquez into a kind of hero - a tragically the Mexican economy finds itself, simply by reason of the objec- Completely lacking financial or technical resources,
[page 23]
"reforms" will remain almost entirely at the level of public meetings, conferences, government studies and newspaper won't help as long as the fundamental econemic and social conditions remain the same. "dynamic" agricultural policy is that some big farmers will get increased credit.
The movement in the electricity and railway workers' unions; last year's strikes such as that of the textile workers of the Ayotla Co. and of the employees of the Adams Chiclet Co., and many other small-scale movements- all these signs, however faint as yet, of growing working-class consciousness, have prompted the government to with the people". "Self Criticism" and "dialogue" are the watchwords ofEcheverria sregime. class recognises that a truly flexible, advanced economy requires a better-educated, less passive, working class, better able to take initiatives, to adapt to changes, and better skilled technologically.
Thus, for both economic and political motives, Echeverria has begun very cautiously to attack the rigidity of the , government stooges who control the unions, and to work for at least the appearance of greater democracy It is of course unthinkable that the government could ever allow the development of an independent trade union movement on a mass scale, as this would deal a mortal blow to the PRI, basing its power as it does on "the collaboration of all classes". But a little more flexibility, Echeverria hopes, would help get rid of some dangerous In the political field, Echeverria is taking the same line. In order to carry out even the modest social and economic reforms he has planned, he needs to root out the hard-liners within the PRI, and altogether "liberalise" political life not just within the PRI but within the country. One purpose of his much-publicised call for "public dialogue" is to re-legitimise the three central political structures, the PRI, the President and the constitution back the confidence of the intelligentsia as wellas the middle class in general, and use their support, together if possible with that of the working class, against the most reactionary wing of the ruling class which is still afraid of recognising This support cannot be won on the basis of mere demagogy. The success of a policy of demagogy consists in its being accompanied by real concessions - however minimal they may be - which are capable of rousing real hopes in the It is in this context that the idea has emerged among certain liberal intellectuals, headed by the ex-political prisoner Heberto Castillo, of forming a new political opposition party, For Castillo, evidence that there exists a genuine "democratic opening" (for the people, rather than merely for different sections of the bourgeoisie) is seen in the fact that he, Castillo himself, has been freely allowed to travel the country making propaganda for his views. is simply proof that the government has made an accurate estimate of the kind of role Castillo can play, and feels it can be useful. When Castillo complained publicly that the existing clectoral law made real political opposition impossible, Echeverria two months later - last November - obligingly announced a series of electoral and constitutional tensions for the ruling class.
especially since the massacre of students in 1968 the necessity for change.
good intentions of the regime.
Ciudad Juarez- USA •Chihua hua Monclova • Monterreye Mazatlan MEXICO articles as far as the vast majority of Mexicans are concerned.
Tampicod Mexico City • Puebla- QUERRERO Even increasing the number of schools and colleges -, and also, what is very important for the Echeverria faction, to win The most likely concrete "open a dialogue His faction of the ruling
[page 24]
reforms which would make Castillo's task easier. Castillo's group has announced that it bases itself on the Constitution and on the law, that it criticises the negative and supports the positive in Echeverria's government and programme; that it will fight for economic independence, social justice and political liberty. No attempt is made to explain the class basis of society and the class interests served by the government; no real political programme has been put forward. Together with its vagueness politically, the group's attitude to organisational work seems demagogic and non serious; members seem to have done little more than travel about the country making speeches and showing all the traits of paternalism, improvisation, impressionism and sectarianism. It is nevertheless pretty certain that this group will grow and have far more influence than it deserves this simply because at the national level it is the only political grouping which has been given mass publicity and which proposes an immediate alternative to the frustrated forces of opposition The Mexican "Communist" Party, the only other political grouping on the left which can be said to exist on a national scale, is weak numerically, numbering only a few hundred, and, what is far more important, has few real roots in the Mexican working class and a lack of political courage which makes it extremely unlikely that it will ever get such roots. From opportunist "critical support of Echeverria, the party leadership has, during the last year, swung around of struggle for a democratic coalition government composed of all "progressive forces" - as if such a government could anyway ever be elected in a political system like Mexico's - and as if such a formula took any account of the realities of the class struggle. In Mexico it is particularly glaringly evident that there are no "progressive forces" Echeverria's faction represents the interests of the main financial group concentrated in Mexico City; these groups favour greater economic centralisation and political efficiency, and so favour more centralised government. They have a direct part in the government, since many of their number are PRI ministers. Opposed to this faction are the big industrialists and financiers outside Mexico City who are interested first and foremost in their own immediate businesses, coming out into the open - as in June 1971, when Echeverria's enemies mobilised the state's bands of armed thugs the demonstrating students (killing dozens) - hoping thus to discredit the "popular" image the President was The divisions within the capitalist class sharply reflect the dilemma in which the class as a whole finds itself how to make the reforms which are now necessary for its survival without breaching the dam and losing all. Echeverria The stage has now been reached at which repression, far from stifling popular movements, can only give them new There can be absolutely no doubt that an independant mobilisation of workers on a mass scale would at this juncture, be sufficient to wipe out the whole demagogic farce of the democratic process. actions of the guerrilla fighters, however courageous, are irrelevant and perhaps even damaging to the achievement of The workers do not see the solution to their problems in the kidnapping of millionaires and the robbing And the government can freely persecute the guerrilla groups as long as they remain completely isolated from the working class, not only physically but also politically. The immediate task as recognised by serious revolutionaries is to forge solid links with the working class, in particular with its present vanguard in the in dependent unions, but also with the workers organised in the official unions and the millions still unorganised. Solid links with the peasantry are obviously extremely important, as are links with the peasant guerrilla movement, which has a mass base in several areas and is to be distinguished from the urban guerrillas. Simultaneously with this task goes the formulation of a clear Marxist revolutionary programme, which uncompromisingly separates itself from the ideas of the opportunist tendencies, and puts forward demands based on the concrete issues affecting the workers and peasants, while explaining the necessity for revolutionary Socialist solutions. A long period of preparation and many very difficult battles must lie ahead, but the Mexican working class has taken the first strides forward after many years, and it will not now turn back. It is not alone. Mass working class movements in the other countries of Latin America, most recently in Chile and Bolivia, have demonstrated to the world the direction that will be taken by the Latin American revolution in the period now opening up before us. to an equally opportunist "total opposition".
those - the poor peasantry and sections of the petty bourgeoisie class in the setting up of a workers state with workers' democracy.
The innovations being introduced by Echeverria's faction have from the most short-sighted and conservative sections of the capitalist class.
oppose all reform, and resent their lack of direct influence in the government.
trying to create for himself.
may never in fact be allowed by his enemies really to begin.
Revolutionary Tasks strength and determination.
The only alternative it puts forward is the, at present, universal CP formula who are prepared to follow the leadership of the working as already mentioned, met with bitter opposition This opposition is reflected within the Recently the faction fights have been 1972 23
[page 25]
Opposition Sells Out Latest reports from Mexico (November 1972) indicate that Echeverria has already actually succeededin doing a deal with the present leaders of the trade union movement for democracy.
At the end of October this year, the two unions of the electricity workers - the STERM, led by Galvan, and the other led by the notoriously ccrrupt Perez Rios - met with Echeverria to officially accept amalgamation of their two organisations. Since taking the initiative in the fight for trade union democracy early last year and challenging the right of Perez Rios/ stooge union to represent the electricity workers, STERM had been deprived of its contract with the state-owned electricity industry; and clearly Galvan has now finally succumbed - as do the vast majority of oppisition leaders in Mexico-to the enormous pressures put on him by the govern. Echeverria is playing a very clever game. In October he also went down to Veracruz to meet with the tobacco workers and with Vallejo, Castillo and other leaders of the popular opposition. Such friendly discussions took place that they resulted in Echeverria ordering the reinstatement of the 1,800 railway workers dismissed for their part in the great railway strike led by Vallejo in 1959 Instead of spitting on this proposal with the contempt it deserves, Vallejo-himself now getting old, and worn down by long years of imprisonment and persecution - wavered and accepted. Castillo went further, promising to follow the President 'arriba y ade lante' (upward and forward) as long as he continued with his present 'nationalist and anti-imperialist policies'. Nationalisation of the tobacco industry seems to be next on Echeverria's agenda. Further monopolisation of the economy is going hand in hand with increased state control over particular sectors (generally those related to the production of raw materials) the state intervening in the interests of the Mexican capitalist class as a whole - and it is this process which Echeverria represents as the 'next stage in the Mexican Revolution'. Simultaneously he tightens his grip over the workers' movement, by giving some well-timed concessions to the dissident factions, buying off the leaders, and further centralising the workers' organisations to keep them al! as far as possible under state control- but now sanctioned by the popular leaders.
The 'revolutionary intelligentsia', at the moment represented in their majority by the Heberto Castillo group, find to their surprise that they really do not have any alternative to this programme, and so end up meekly trotting behind Senor Presidente, father of all the Mexicans.
The apparent ease with which Echeverria has bought off the opposition at this stage indicates only that the radicalisation of the workers in Mexico must be a long process of advances, defeats, and further advances, and that we are witnessing just the beginning. The sell-out of the leaders who lack understanding of the class nature of the struggle is anyway inevitable sooner or later and surprises no-one, least of all the workers themselves. They have been betrayed so many times that they quite expect it, react with a shrug - 'Asi es la vida.' - "That's life'. - and return to the struggle. The leaders may get out of it, but they cannot. But what is significant in the present series of deals is that in no case has the leaders" sell out been accompanied by reprisals against the workers(as happened in the sell-outs of the 1950's and 1960's); on the contrary, the government has made real major concessions to the workers involved (dramatically improving wages and conditions for the railway and electricity workers this year). It is this fact which reveals the real balance, of class forces in Mexico today:Echeverria has to bribe the most advanced workers because he knows that at this point repress ion would bring the whole labour movement dramatically to its feet - and not in a mood of defence, but of As yet the workers are having to feel their way, and Echeverria is having to feel his Mexican capitalism can no longer march on The organisation of secret workers' committees is now taking place in factories in all the chief industrial cities - in Monterrey," in Chihuahua, in Cuernavaca, in Mexico City. It is in these committees - which are the organising force behind all strikes - that the workers are beginning to form their own genuine gerepresentative and class concious leadership. The workers may continue to participate openly in the 'de mocratic movement' of Castillo, Vajello, and Echeverria Inc. (that is if this movement does not itself wither away in the freezing embrace of the PRI); but their real movement will have to develop The strength of popular opposition to the regime has most recently been dramatically demonstrated in Chihuahua (Northern Mexico). In the city of Chihuahua, in May this year, a committe for Popular Defence was formed and its authority ratified by a Popular Assembly The Committee, made up of militant trade unionists and students, proposed the setting up of a National People's Tribunal to sit in judgment on the Mexican regime for its crimes of repression against the Mexican people over the last forty years, and particularly over the last four years(the notorious massacre of over five hundred demonstrators in Mexico City in 1968 has been followed by the assassination of hundreds of individuals, workers, peasants and students who have shown opposition to the regime in the years since). The jury of the People's Tribunal, which sat in September this year, was made up of one hundred and fifty seven militants; the Mexican ruling class was declared guilty of all the crimes of repression charged against it by the Mexican people, and was condemed to abolition The tribunal called on the working class, together with the peasants, students, and labouring people in general, to carry out the sentence through the seizure of political power, the destruction of the bourgeois state and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat for the revolutionary transformation of the existing society, Thousands supported the Tribunal, and its hearings became known nationally. Committees for Popular Defence have also been formed in other areas, and are most active in Ciudad, Juarez and in Monterrey The complexity of the situation in Mexico calls for a revolutionary leadership which is capable of intervening audaciously in ail the many varied forms which the revolutionary struggle is taking, and capable of the greatest flexibility over tactics and the greatest firmness and clarity over questions of policy. This leadership will certainly be forged- is already being forged- in today's battles. 24
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The last year has seen a mighty struggle aimed against one of the most vicious Tory governments the working class has seen this century. The dockers, railwaymen, miners and other key sections of the Labour movement have all replied to the Tories with massive strikes, shaking to its very foundations the ruling class in this country. The swift transformation of the MILITANT from a four-page monthly to an eight page weekly within the short space of a year is a real reflection of the way in which more and more working class men and women are realising the necessity of developing the industrial The ruling class and its shadows in the Labour Movement such as Jenkins and Co. were spreading the illusion not so long ago that gone forever were the days of class conflict and poverty - The eight page MILITANT apart from giving reports of the International and British Labour Movement will provide an indispensable theoretical analysis of the developments facing the working class in the next period. We will be carrying regutar feature articles; reports from the Labour and Trade Union movement and the Labour Party Young Socialists; international coverage; industrial working class and the need to link the struggle against the Industrial Relations Bill with that of the Housing Finance Bill and the other attacks on the working class. We will continue to do this. But the MILITANT was only able to make steps forward owing to the sacrifice of many working men and women and the youth who have consistently responded to our appeals for cash and to expand the Militant GiveS Fighting Lead reports and many more items.
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Socialist Literature WORKERS CONTROL AND NATIONALISATION OF INDUSTRY LENIN THE RAGGED TROUSERED PHILANTHROPISTS ROBERT TRESSELL CZECHOSLOVAKIA '68 (includes 2,000 Words statement) KARALASINGHAM LENIN & TROTSKY - WHAT THEY REALLY STOOD FOR A WGODS & E GRANT ALEXANDER SOLYHENITSYN, SOLDIER, PRISONER WRITER R WEERAKOON WORLD BOOKS 375 Cambridge Heath Road London E2 9RA WAGES, PRICE AND PROFIT MARX WAGE LABOUR AND CAPITAL MARX WHERE IS BRITAIN GOING? TROTSKY THE HOUSING QUESTION ENGELS SELECTED WORKS MARX & ENGELS THE STATE AND REVOLUTION LENIN ON LITERATURE AND ART LENIN REVOLUTION 3ETRAYED TROTSKY IN DEFENCE OF MARXISM TROTSKY GENERAL STRIKE 1926 TROTSKY LABOUR IN IRISH HISTORY CONNOLLY THE IRON HEEL JACK LONDON 1905 TROTSKY SOCIALIST SONG BOOK ON RELIGION MARX & ENGELS LENIN by TROTSKY ORDER FROM 26 MOOYU "LEFT WING' COMMUNISM - AN INFANTILE DISORDER LENIN FASCISM - WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO FIGHT IT TROTSKY FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS OF MARXISM PLEKHANOV LABOUR, NATIONALITY AND RELIGION CONNOLLY BUREAUCRATISM OR WORKERS POWER? SILVERMAN & GRANT THE CLASS, THE PARTY AND THE LEADERSHIP TROTSKY CONDITIONS OF THE WORKING CLASS IN ENGLAND ENGELS SEND CASH WITH ORDER AND PLEASE ADD 10% FOR POSTAGE WRITE FOR COMPLETE BOOK LIST 10p 10p 37p 15p £1.50 10p 10p 63p 50p £1.25p 75p 20p 20p £1.25 25p 12½p £1.25p 50p £4.95 12p 15p 120 75p 15p £1.00 5p 8p 50p 01-739 7176
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Titant FOR WORKERS UNITY AND SOCIALISM IRISH MONTHLY The MILITANT-IRISH MONTHLY is an invaluable source of facts, reports and analysis for the British Labour movement. The question of Ireland has loomed large in the history of the British Labour Movement and never more than today. The destinies of the Irish and British working classes are indissolubly linked. This is why every reader of the British MILITANT must have the opportunity We carry articles on the everyday life and struggles of the workers; we will analyse in detail the current situation in Ireland. We will carry important historical and theoretical articles which are indispensable to the understanding of the present problems and perspectives facing the Irish working We urge every seller and subscriber to take out a bulk order or subscription to MILITANT - IRISH of reading the MILITANT IRISH MONTHLY.
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