Document of the Committee of the Revolutionary Internationalist
Movement
Twists
and Turns in the Two-Line Struggle
The following is an
excerpt from a document circulated to the parties and organizations
of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement in November 1995.
It is being released in hopes of furthering the struggle against
the Right Opportunist Line. - AWTW
On the "About
Face" of Margie Clavo
As
you will recall, in late March of this year Margie Clavo was arrested
in Peru along with a number of others accused of being leaders or
members of the Communist Party of Peru. She was accused of being
"Comrade Nancy", a leading member of the PCP Central Committee.
Shortly after
her arrest, Clavo was presented to the press. At that time she called
on the Party and the masses to "Persist! Persist! Persist!" in the
People's War. She had been identified as a leading figure in the
PCP Central Committee which has vigourously opposed the call for
peace accords and has insisted on the need to carry the People's
War through to victory. CoRIM publicized Clavo's call to "Persist,
Persist Persist" and called upon the parties and organizations of
our Movement to defend her.
It is thus a most
unpleasant duty to inform comrades and friends that it appears that
Margie Clavo has abandoned her previously correct position and has
been won to support the call for a peace accord.
Of course, it
is impossible to know all of the conditions under which this "conversion"
took place. The bestiality of the Fujimori regime is well documented
and as we pointed out at the time of Clavo's arrest, the Peruvian
authorities said that "she was tougher than we thought" but that
they would "wrench it out of her". She, like Chairman Gonzalo and
a number of other prominent PCP prisoners, has been kept completely
cut off from lawyers, family and supporters and guarded in specially
constructed isolation cells. Under such circumstances, it is difficult
to consider such a position a product of her free will and reasoned
judgement. Nevertheless, the appearance of Clavo in a televised
interview in that country leaves little doubt that her position
has changed, regardless of the circumstances which brought it about.
An article appeared
in the Peruvian press which quotes at length from her interview.
Of particular note is Clavo's claim to have spoken on several occasions
with Chairman Gonzalo whom she "credits" with winning her to support
the peace accords.
In the aftermath
of the Clavo interview, supporters of the Right Opportunist Line
in the PCP of seeking a peace accord have circulated a leaflet claiming
that Chairman Gonzalo has issued another "instruction" to supporters
abroad commenting on the Clavo interview and including a paragraph
quoting Clavo which did not appear in the press accounts in which
she makes a "self criticism" for allegedly "deceiving RIM" about
the nature of the peace accords.
It is hardly necessary
to point to the seriousness of this situation. First of all, the
fact that a major leader of the Central Committee has changed her
position and is now supporting the Right Opportunist Line is itself
a significant blow to the Party leadership. Moreover, her claim
to have met with Chairman Gonzalo further strengthens suppositions
that Chairman Gonzalo is indeed proposing the line of seeking a
peace accord.
In the Call to
"Rally to the Defence of our Red Flag Flying in Peru", CoRIM took
a firm and unequivocal stand against the proposed negotiations for
a peace accord and in favour of continuing the People's War, through
whatever necessary steps, to nationwide victory. As noted above,
the entire RIM has endorsed this basic position. There is nothing
in the arguments presented by Clavo to cause the carefully considered
position of our Movement to be called into question.
Supporters of
the peace accords argue that Chairman Gonzalo's capture has made
it impossible for the People's War to continue to victory and that,
furthermore, his alleged support for the peace accords is proof
enough of the validity of this approach. Now, with the capitulation
of Margie Clavo and her claims to have spoken with Comrade Gonzalo,
we are seeing a new offensive by the supporters of the Right Opportunist
Line, hoping to breathe new life into the so-called "struggle for
a peace accord", undermine the authority of and discredit the Central
Committee of the Party, disorganize and demoralize the revolutionary
ranks and drive a wedge between the PCP and RIM. We fully expect
these efforts to continue and sharpen in the coming months.
Our fundamental
answer to this offensive of the Right Opportunist Line is to grasp
even more firmly the correct line adopted by CoRIM and the Movement
as concentrated in the Call of 28 March 1995 and to strive even
harder to carry out the measures indicated in that Call. The Call
(and together with it, the other important material of the two-line
struggle, notably the criticism of "Asumir" prepared by the Union
of Communists of Iran (Sarbedaran) in response to a request by CoRIM)
provides the basic orientation necessary to respond forcefully to
the Right Opportunist Line.
As for the claims
that Chairman Gonzalo is promoting the "struggle for a peace accord",
the 28 March Call is quite clear. It points out that, "It is important
to continue to try to determine Chairman Gonzalo's current views.
The key question, however, is the line, not its author." Furthermore,
the Call points out that, "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."
The tremendous
respect with which our entire Movement holds Chairman Gonzalo for
his far-sighted leadership in initiating and waging the People's
War, his contributions to the political and ideological development
of our Movement and the courageous stand he took upon his capture
in no way lessens our responsibility to make our political evaluation
based upon the concrete analysis of concrete conditions and in the
light of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. History has shown that even important
leaders of the proletariat who had made real and lasting contributions
to our struggle can become champions of a wrong line. While conclusive
proof of Chairman Gonzalo's support for the "struggle for a peace
accord" is still lacking, even if such proof were to reach us it
should not and will not push us off the path we have, in full consciousness,
elected.
The renewed offensive
of the Right Opportunist Line in the PCP and the increased possibility
of Chairman Gonzalo's involvement in this line does, however, require
that the whole Movement more vigourously take up this question.
We have noted that some tendencies still exist to underestimate
the importance of the two-line struggle in the PCP, to see it as
something of the past, or to believe that it is enough to passively
support the position of CoRIM. Comrades, this is dangerous thinking!
The Right Opportunist Line which, whatever its motives, would destroy
the great accomplishments of the People's War, is of immediate and
direct concern to our Movement in its entirety. The political issues
at stake in the two-line struggle in Peru are present throughout
our Movement as well, albeit in different forms. Furthermore, it
is not at all unlikely that the further repercussions of the two-line
struggle in Peru may raise questions even more sharply in the minds
of the revolutionary masses and cadres.
It is neither
possible nor correct to take an approach of "waiting for the storm
to blow over", that is, of avoiding directly confronting the different
questions of the two-line struggle including those that are difficult
or make us uncomfortable. We must follow the policy of advancing
through turbulent waters and we must maintain the orientation of
"turning a bad thing into a good thing": that is, defeating the
Right Opportunist Line and, as our Call puts it, using the furnace
of two-line struggle "as a great school of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism,
revealing the difference between real and sham Marxism and helping
the revolutionaries around the world to understand the necessities
of the hour and to fulfill them".
Our previous efforts
have not been enough, and, furthermore, new questions are emerging.
So we should redouble our efforts. We want to broaden our efforts
and take the issues of this struggle out beyond the ranks of our
participating parties and organizations to broader sections of the
revolutionary movements and the masses. This process is far from
over. New questions and problems are emerging and more are likely
to emerge in the coming months. Our own clarity and firm grasp of
the correct line and, on that basis, our solid resolution to support
the Central Committee of the PCP in carrying forward the two-line
struggle and the People's War, remain key.
We also hope that
comrades and friends will carry out a vigorous correspondence with
the Committee of RIM on all aspects of the two-line struggle and
that they will contribute to fulfilling our collective responsibilities.
Conclusion
In summary, it can
be said that the difficult situation that faces the Communist Party
of Peru and thus our whole Movement is far from resolved. The Report
of the 10th Party Congress of the Communist Party of China, under
Mao's leadership, stressed:
"Chairman Mao
teaches us that 'the correctness or incorrectness of the ideological
and political line decides everything'. If one's line is incorrect,
one's downfall is inevitable, even with the control of the central,
local and army leadership. If one's line is correct, even if one
has not a single soldier at first, there will be soldiers, and even
if there is no political power, political power will be gained.
This is borne out by the historical experience of our Party and
by that of the international communist movement since the time of
Marx....The crux of the matter is line. This is an irrefutable truth."
Today we can see
that in Peru the tremendous advances won through so many years of
struggle and sacrifice are threatened by the Right Opportunist Line
which would abandon the People's War. At the same time, it is the
victory of the correct line in the two-line struggle which will
enable the revolutionary forces in Peru to fully overcome the difficulties
posed by the capture of Chairman Gonzalo and the emergence of the
Right Opportunist Line and advance toward the nationwide seizure
of power. Our Movement is not a passive "observer" in this process
- we have an important role to play. The Committee calls once again
on all the participating parties and organizations of the Movement
and its supporters to carry out our pledge in our Call:
"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, to help 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 goal of communism, worldwide."
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