INTERNATIONAL
ENGLISH - LANGUAGE EDITION OF THE THEORETICAL ORGAN OF THE
COMMITTEE OF
South-East Asia, the armed revolutionary opposition to the regime, despite the conmovement of the peasants continues to pro- tradictions and hesitations of their Peronist
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FOURTH
INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE Number 18
Editorial
Uninterrupted Struggles
THe political situation at the end of the year 1963 or the beginning of 1964 was characterised either by crises and turning points or by signs of new tendencies and noteworthy indications in various sectors of the world chess board, from the repercussions in American politics of the sination of Kennedy to the recognition of Peoples' China by France, from the deepening of the Sino-Soviet dispute to the developments in England on the eve of elections which could bring about the fall of the Conservative government. But it is once again the sector of the colonial and semi-colonial countries which is the theatre of the most spectacular events, the events of greatest immediate as well as long-range importance. If in certain sectors the particular contradictions of imperialism and capitalism in general remain latent, not taking a socially and politically explosive form, in the colonial world these contradictions concentrate and develop on an ever broader scale and at a very fast rhythm towards open and direct explosion.
In Asia, the Pathet Lao now controls decisive positions in Laos, while in South Vietnam the belated coup d'etat against Diem did not serve to redress the political equilibrium of the country even slightly, or to arouse more serious resistance to the liberationist struggle of the Viet Cong. The new coup d'etat will be just as ineffective. In this region, which is rightly considered to be a key area for the fate of the whole of
THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL June 1964 gress, obliging the imperialists and their puppets to make new retreats in spite of the size of the military build-up there during these past years.
In Indonesia,, after undeniably slowing down for a period, the mass movement is undergoing a new upsurge as an answer to the neo-colonialist operation which culminated in the creation of Malaysia. This was a further confirmation of the precarious situation in the country which, among other things, is suffering tension in the countryside -where Sukarno's "national democracy" has not undertaken the slightest agrarian reform—and increasingly dangerous inflation. The situation could be far more matured and the days of the very weak national bourgeoisie literally numbered, if the leadership of the Communist Party, allied to Sukarno, instead of curbing the revolutionary potential of the masses, had inspired it to the utmost on the basis of a correct orientation, squarely anti-capitalist and socialist.
In Latin America, the utter bankruptcy of the Alliance for Progress has been admitted so to say officially. American imperialism's operation has not had any substantial practical effects and has not been able in any country to help towards any social and economic stabilisation whatsoever. It is true that in Argentina the ruling classes have succeeded in surmounting the danger point of the prolonged crisis of decomposition in 1962 and the beginning of 1963 and that the working-class movement is passing through a phase of retreat. But the economic situation remains extremely precarious, the trade unions maintaining their strength and continuing to act as an
leaderships. In Brazil, Goulart has shown himself to be an unscrupulous manoeuverer, capable of backing several horses at one time, and operating in the final analysis as an ally of American imperialism. The right continues to exploit its strongholds. However, the economic and social situation of the country, constantly upset by inflation, far from improving, is progressively deteriorating, justifying completely the renuine anguish which the imperialists experience when they ask themselves what the Brazilian volcano might pour out in the next few years. The peasant movements in the North-East, stronghold of Francisco Juliao, are obviously not of a nature to quieten these fears.
In Venezuela, the partisans of imperialism have been able to congratulate themselves on the success—so far—of the relatively quiet operation of putting in a relief team for Betancourt with more limited response than had been expected to the appeal by the F.A.L.N. for an electoral boycott. In the workingclass and revolutionary movement of the country, discussion is taking place on the exact evaluation of the situation, of the real importance of the guerilla struggle at the present stage and of the orientation of large layers of the small peasants. In any case, it is clear that Leoni's victory is far from reassuring the imperialists about the fate of Venezuela, which remains shaken by a political and social crisis, of which the guerilla struggle, whatever its present dimensions, is a manifestation explosive in itself.
In the Dominican Republic, the overthrow of Bosch marked another defeat for Kennedy's policy, the policy of establishing so-called "democracy" in Latin America; a new dictatorship has been established in the country and at the same time, the Dominican vanguard has again passed over to forms of armed struggle against the state power.
Bolivia is now suffering an acute political crisis marked by a split between President Paz Estenssoro and Juan Lechin.
In Columbia, Nicaragua, Paraguay armed struggles are continuing to one degree or another. The sharpest outbursts in recent months, however, have occurred in Peru and Panama.
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In Peru, the "reformist" Belaunde has not been able to halt the mass struggles, in particular the occupation of land by the peasants; and the popularity of the revolutionary Marxist leader Hugo Blanco, still in prison, is greater than ever. This country remains one of the principal bases of the Latin-American revolution at this stage.
In Panama, American imperialism has been directly threatened in its canal enclave, and whatever the consequences of this in the short term, the movements of the Panamanian students and masses of people have tolled the knell of another rampart of old-style colonial domination.
But it is above all on the African continent that the colonial revolution has undergone development of very great importance on three distinct levels. In Algeria, thrust toward the establishment of a workers' state and the adoption of socialist solutions on an ever-increasing scale continues and has even been accentuated, in spite of inevitable obstacles, difficulties and conflicts. In Zanzibar, on the morrow of independence, the scaffolding set up to prolong the hegemony of a dominant layer as small as it was rapacious crumbled in the space of a few days, marking a victory for a mass movement among whose leaders were militants inspired by the most advanced experiences of the colonial revolution and whose political sympathies are clear. Without sorting to facile analogies, it is obvious that the Zanzibar movement represents another exceptional step forward for the African revolution, which has every possibility of experiencing even in the near future, new developments in Angola and Africa. the conflicts which have erupted in East Africa (Tanganyika, Uganda, Kenya) whose origin and nature are not completely clear at the moment, demonstrate the fragility of certain regimes upon which England counted for its longneo-colonialist operations, moreover had been carefully prepared. ( There is no doubt that the Tanganyikan, Ugandan and Kenyan leaders, in resorting to the use of British troops, emerged weakened from the test, their prestige injured in the eyes of the masses.
(Continued on Page 40)