Political Bureau of the Liga Comunista R
League) issued the following statement anal response to it.
There were tens of thousands of us in the streets of
Madrid today. We were all together, chanting together, marching in the streets together, expressing our common rage and our common strength, demonstrating this strength for all who cared to see, and for ourselves as well. More, hundreds of thousands of workers went on strike throughout the country in an immense demonstration of pain and fury. Probably, the majority of them also wanted to take to the streets, to unite in the streets with the other comrades to demand justice, rights, and freedom. But they did not do so, as they did not do so on November 12, 1976, because the leaderships in whom they trust told them that it was a provocation to take to the streets, just os they did in November.
A provocation? To whom? To the workers and the people? Certainly not, for it was the workers and people who were demonstrating, it was the workers and people who applauded from the sidewalks, took up the chants, and raised their clenched fists. A provocation to the fascist murderers then? No, not even that, for when in the history of the workers movement have the fascists been "provoked" - that is, stimulated or emboldened by the demonstrations of strength of the workers? What has in fact occurred, unfortunately many times, is exactly the opposite. The demobilization, demoralization, disunity, and passivity of the workers,
IN
S WILL WIN!
elatively satisfied on the eve of January y a honeymoon atmosphere. The pending ossemblies seemed secure.
• gle, in spite of the enormous difficulties ity leoderships and the passivity of the vement continued to mobilize thousands, rusted the promises of the government on political prisoners called the people of e government. In spite of the ban, the ed as usual, along with the official police uffered brutal attacks that lasted for hours.
by the fascists.
sual. That same Sunday a general strike lemonstrations on Monday. During one of ent, was murdered by the police: a tearwll. Shortly after come the slaughter of that shook the country. On January 27 ondria (LCR-Revolutionary Communist e situation and offering a revolutionary brought about by the cowardice of their leaders, have strengthened fascism. Is it time to forget Chile? More to the point, is it time to forget March 11, 1975, in
Portugal, when the explesive street mobilization of the workers succeeded in aborting a reactionary coup?
In the end, then, exactly who was "provoked"? The government? Maybe this is the answer, but it is a particularly cynical one, for the struggles of the workers always "provoke" bourgeois governments, especially governments as reactionary as the one we endure.
A government that has just offered a truly exemplary response to the "favors" and praises that have been bestowed on it by the "opposition." Thus, the government has just elevated the recommendation that action in the streets be avoided" to the status of law, prohibiting any sort of demonstration. It has announced that the
"anti-terrorist" decree-law, whose "vigorous" application will, as always, be directed against the revolutionary organizations, will remain in force, and it has given
4,000 million pesetas more to the repressive bodies, undoubtedly a bonus for their intervention during these past days.
But let us look ahead. While sfill feeling our grief for the deod comrodes, our indignation against their murderers, our shame for those who could have stimuhopes in the thousands of workers who struggled against fascist terrorism in one form or another, it is now necessary to think about the situation and to offer a revolutionary response. And to do this it is necessary to rethink the history of past months. These months during which, we have been told, we have entered "a process of democratic normalization. The "process of democratic normalization" In a little less than a year of Francoist monarchy we have experienced more workers and people's struggles than in any comparable period since 1939. These struggles succeeded in demolishing the first version of the government reform, but they were none the less unab le to demolish the second. Why? The Arias government was a Francoist government. Its real objective, regardless of the demagogy now being engaged in by some of its former members (former Minister of the Inferior Fraga's "rightist" demagogy, Areilza's "center" demagogy), was to introduce the minimum possible reforms in the system as regards the economic, political, and social interests that lay at the base of Francoism. Once the dictator was dead, however, this project no longer made sense. Only a minimum and inevitable extension of the "tolerance" of the mass movement was necessary before the activity of the workers reached frightening proportions throughout the country. The January 1976 strikes in Modrid and the struggles for amnesty throughout the state (Vitoria, Montejurra, and elsewhere) showed that a workers movement, in spite of its being "illegal" and in spite of mounting repression, was capable of organizing and asserting its own interests, of struggling with uncontrollable determination for demands that went beyond the ability of the bourgeoisie to make concessions. The country was polarized: Day by day the interests of the bourgeoisie and the interests of the workers appeared Increasingly irreconcilable. The monarchy itself tottered. Then the king himself, in a maneuver of "self-defense, " had to enter the political arena actively, going over the head of the government. With the advice of imperialism received during his visit to the United States, after his interviews with members of the "opposition, " and following consultations with military and financial circles, the king altered the goals and course of the reform. The Suárez government is a bourgeois government. Its objective is to bring about a controlled evolution toward a state of "truncated" democracy, a "strong state" based on an untouchable monarchy and army, a complexity of "legal labyrinths" within the new parlianent (which eliminates the risks of a Constituent Assembly and assures the maximum of constitutional stability), a reorganization of the bourgeois political forces that establishes a "center" parliamentary majority, and a stabilization plan negotiated with
SPAIN among which an attempt is being made to shift the relationship of forces in favor of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE - Spanish Socialist Workers party, Social Democratic) and against the Communist party of Spain (PCE). The achievement of this project requires one decisive precondition: that the activity and radicalization of the masses be reduced and worn down. To bring this about, workers and people's organizations and actions must remain illegal and therefore subject to repression. By means of a well-known decree-law, arbitration was established as the "natural" and Immediate outcome of the majority of wage negotiations. And above all, the government began "negotiating" with the opposition. Naturally, the "democratic opposition" also felt the impact of the social polarization of the country. The phure negeiad with fant the "negotiated form in which it responded was the "negotiated break" (ruptura negociada) with Francoism, accompanied by an obsession with maintaining the paralysis of the mass movement, Given these conditions, the obvious consequence was that the government laid down the rules and limits of the negotiations without resistance. When we said that "the negotiated break amounts to hitching the mass movement to the wagon of the reform, " we knew what we were talking about. The combativity of the workers overcame a thousand obstacles to drive forward the great struggles of past months, during which it was demonstrated for the umpteenth time that when a clear political objective exists (as in the general strikes of September in Tenerife, Madrid, and Euzkadi, and as is the case now) and when the passivity of the reformist leaderships can be overcome, or when they are forced into united action, the potential for combat and resistance can be immense (November 12, Roca, Valencia, the construction industry, etc.). But the mass movement lacks a political alterative of its own, a political project with which it can confront the government, a project worthy of the arduousness of the struggle, The formation of the "commission of 9(1) meant that the entire "bourgeois" opposition and the reformist workers parties would limit their "program" to haggling on the basis of the government project. The majority of the "united organizations of the opposition" are experiencing an inevitable and virtually irreversible crisis: For one decisive year now they have played their role of curbing the mass movement and fostering false illusions within it. As January 23 drew near, it was clear that the fundamental task of revolutionaries was to build this political alternative. For in the final analysis, we are not living through any sort of "process of democratic normalization, " unless "normalizing democracy" means keeping the prisoners in jail, transforming the democratic and national rights and freedoms of our peoples into a farce, worsening the living conditions of the workers, keeping the workers movement illegal, and, as a "culmination" of the whole project, holding unfree 18 elections to parliaments and not constituent assemblies. All this has nothing to do with the democracy and freedom for which we have been struggling for so many years. We shall continue this struggle, day by day. January 23 was one of the days of this struggle. The government prohibited the demonstration and sent its repressive forces into the streets to savagely repress the demonstrators, relying, as always, on the collaboration of the fascists. Thus began the tragedy of past days. The strategy of tension For almost Forty years the fascists have been cosily ensconced in the Francoist apparatus, They took over the Movimiento Nacional and the hierarchy of the CNS (the official "trode-union" Federation) and occupied key posts in the courts, the army, and the repressive bodies. Some of them made considerable fortunes, and we find many of them sitting on boards of directors, in the management of national and private companies. And so it continues. After the death of the dictator, this sinister network of economic and political Interests felt threatened, and the "strategy of tension" was set in motion. A strategy whose protagonists need not be sought in Croatia, Argentina, or Italy, but right here, well within. Protagonists who must not be confused with those who may not be among them. The aim of this bloodletting is, in the first place, to demoralize and disorganize the workers movement, so that the workers come to believe that on their own they are incapable of responding to the agression. The second aim, which is based on the first, is to advance the immediate interests of that sector of big capital which has most directly benefited from Francoism and which fears that any political change would seriously weaken its positions. Third, the fascists represent the reserve card of the entire bourgeoisie, which is prepared, should it be necessary again, to opt for the "Final solution." It is in this way, and not on the basis of "international conspiracies, * that the strategy of tension must be understood. With this characterization, we must confront those who hold up the immediate specter of a "coup" ", utilizing it as an excuse for their own capitulations. For it must be said at the outset that a coup is highly improbable, for one fundamental reason: the combativity and strength of the workers. The bourgeoisie knows that to defeat the workers militarily they must first be defeated politically, so that they lose confidence in their own strength, renounce realization of their class program, and become divided among themselves. The Spanish bourgeoisie possesses weapons with which to try to inflict this political defeat, the weapons of the strong state and of "class collaboration. " The most likely variant is that the bourgeoisie will use these weapons to the hilt and will not risk the unity of its army in a putschist adventure that would meet fierce resistance from our people.
But let us odmit the possibility. How should we confront a reactionary coup? By keeping the workers in the factories, leaving the streets free, relying on one group of generals to disarm the others, relying on the goverment to send out its police to keep itself in power? This "tactic" has cost literally hundreds of thousands of proletarian lives and has resulted in the worst defeats in the history of the workers movement. What must be done is exactly the opposite: Call upon the workers to unite, place themselves at the head of the entire population, lead this population politically and militarily, draw all the comrodes in uniform to their side and prepare to crush fascist barbarism once and for all, and with it capitalist exploitation in all its forms. To fight the strategy of tension a strategy of revolution is needed. It is necessary to prepare ourselves and the working class for such a strategy through daily struggles In each concrete situation. You cannot fight the fascists by negotiating with those who neither can nor want to deprive them of their impunity. The strategy of negotiation On January 24 Felipe González (leader of the PSOE) declared: "The best response to extremist violence is to continue negotiating." All criticism of the government vanished from the mouths of the opposition. " Instead, all its efforts were concentrated on prettifying the government: "Adolfo Suárez is maintaining great serenity and has the situation under control. " This total capitulation to the government was openly manifested in the attitude of the entire "democratic opposition" throughout these days. Popular indignation grew rapidly after the murder of Arturo Ruiz. New demonstrations followed one after the other. A general strike was called for January 26. The Coordinación Democrática had been dead for many weeks; if was carrying on no activity. And at this point the "oppostion" decided to resurrect it. To strengthen and coordinate this popular indignation? No, just the opposite. To hold it back. During the meeting this body held January 24 the PSOE and ID (2) vetoed the presence of the LCR with observer status. Thus, a workers organization, the PSOE, prefered on agreement with the ID and negotiation with Suárez rather than an alliance with a revolutionary organization. In reality, this meeting was merely a fraud aimed at restricting and holding back the activity of the mass movement. The Coordinación Democrática opposed any organization of struggle and simply decreed a day of mourning. The same night, the so-called Triple A savagely murdered five militants of the Workers Commissions, members of the PCE. Once again, the reaction of the mass movement was explosive. The immense majority of the Factories of Madrid went on strike. There were strikes in Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville, and other cities. The mass movement initiated a general strike to put an end once and for all to a regime whose continued existence is the cause of new murders every day. Up to this point, the PCE had participated in various united committees and initiatives to prepare a day of struggle for January 26. But just then, when unity and organization were most necessary, the PCE made a 180 degree turn and withdrew from the committees, initiating a campaign of general demobilization. The Workers Commissions, which in many centers had already begun organizing struggle, curbed their activity and were used instead to extinguish the indignation of the workers. The COS called for holding back the struggle, for preventing it from taking to the streets. And once again the Coordinación Democrática was used for this demobilization. A state-wide meeting of this body was called for January 26. The PTE, ORT, and MC(3) decided to hold off on united accords we hod proposed to them, preferring to wait for this meeting. But the night before, the opposition, * From Carrillo to Ariza, agreed to call for demobilization. Thus, the entire "policy of negotiation" was reduced to a single objective: hold back the mobilization and thus free the government's hand, not only right now, but in the long term as well, preventing the regime from losing the "political initiative" (which means preventing this initiative from passing clearly to the mass movement), allowing and aiding all the measures needed to "control" the working class and the people. And the Council of Ministers did in fact take these measures. Fortunately, the masses hod moved into struggle in spite of all the obstacles. And they insisted on continuing. The only hope of bringing down the Francoist monarchy, along with its repressive corps and fascism, is rooted precisely among the masses, in their action. Aiso fortunately, the reformist parties are workers parties and therefore came under pressure and were outFlanked by thousands of Communist and Socialist Fighters who are members of them. Now in particular, we address ourselves to them, as well as to the comrades of the ORT, PTE, and MC who have long relied on collaboration with the bourgeoisie, on the Coordinación Democrática, on negotiation with the government: Comrades, we have not struggled for forty years in order to bow before our class enemies or before a murderous government, nor in order to accept truncated freedom. We want complete freedom. And there is a way, a strategy, to achieve it and to combat all the "strategies of tension" and "strategies of negotiation" that have been placed before us. The strategy of revolution This strategy aims at a single objective, which is to make sure that the workers always draw the same conclusion from the concrete experiences of all their struggles: that to assure and extend democratic rights, to guarantee the rights of the workers and people, to win all their demands, capitalism must be destroyed. This is the fundamental content and orientation of the revolutionary strategy, which must be transformed into
19
SPAIN effective and practical terms in each concrete situation. The bourgeoisie in our country today has a political project it considers credible and consistent: the project of the Suárez government for a "strong state" monarchy. As against this project, there is a consistent and credible revolutionary alternative, which can be summed up in five points, like the five fingers of a fist. We will fight for the working class to make this project its own. The first point: Carry the destruction of Francoism, the truggle tor democrac through to the end. Win comlete amnesty and full democratic rights, most espe cially the right of self-determination for the nationalities. Demand the dissolution of the repressive bodies and the purge of the army, the courts, and the odministration; exact responsibility for the crimes committed against the workers and people. Demand a break with all pacts with imperialism, with all their consequences. Struggle for free elections to a Constituent Assembly that will sweep away Francoism and proclaim the Republic. The second: Fight against any form of social pact. ReFuse to bear the burden of the capitalist crisis. Struggle for decent living conditions (housing, health, education, transit, etc.) and decent working conditions (wages, workweek, work pace, security). The third: Organize, for the strength of the workers lies in their united and democratic organization. Struggle with all possible strength for a united trade-union, for a trade-union congress to constitute a united class trode-union. Struggle for higher forms of workers democracy: bodies composed of delegates elected in rank-and-file assemblies and revocable by those assemblies. Coordinate and centralize them. Create the necessary special organs: particularly today, antifascist and self-defense vigilance committees. The fourth: Toward the general strike, because the independent, united, and centralized action of the masses is the only way to fight against exploitation and for freedom. The fifth: For a government of the workers parties, for only the working class is capable of leading the struggle of the entire people for their economic, political, and social demands. Only the working class is capable of consistently confronting all forms of resistance from the bourgeoisie. When, in face of the crisis of the Suárez government, the prospect of governments of interclass coalition begins to loom on the horizon, governments which are instruments for capitulation and demoralization of the workers, it is necessary to show the working class that it is the workers themselves who have the answer to the problems of society, that it is the parties in which the workers have placed their trust that must govern, basing themselves on the organizations of the workers and responsible before the workers for putting all the demands of the workers and people into practice. 20
With this fist we can confront the complex and difficult situation now opening. With this fist we can fight against Francoism, the remnants of Francoism, and truncated democracy and for freedom in the full sense, against the social pact and for the self-organization of the workers and workers democracy. What a situation for those who believe that the revolution is a series of perfectly separate and distinct stages! In this situation, it will be necessary to be able to maintain the class independence of the workers come what may; every opportunity for united action that strengthens workers consciousness and combativity will have to be seized upon. We shall join this battle and we call upon all the workers parties to join it with us, and especially the militant and revolutionary workers organizations that are now rejecting the "strategy of negotiation" and are ready to fight consistently for the demands of the workers. Let us forge unity in action together, let us fight for the workers united front. We shall join this battle tirelessly, without renouncing a single point of our program, seizing upon every opportunity to make this program come alive in the daily actions of the masses. They have called us "provocateurs. " We knew they would and we were prepared for if. In the whole history of the workers movement not a single revolutionary organization has escaped this charge. Lenin, Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg, Liebknecht, Nin - they were all called "provocateurs. " So we are in good company. Above all, we are in the company of the working class. And since the working class will win, we also will win. Political Bureau of the Liga Comunista Revolucionaria January 26, 1977 1. The "commission of 9" is a body composed of six representatives of parties and political currents (liberals, Christian Democrats, Social Democratic federation, Socialists, and Communists) plus three representatives of nationalities (Galicia, Euzkadi, Catalonia), It is charged with representing the entire "democratic opposition" before the government. It has recently become the commission of 10 with the addition of a representative of the COS, a coordinating body including representatives of the Workers Commissions, the Socialistled UGT union federation, and the Christian Democratic influenced union grouping, the USO. 2. ID: Izquierda Democrática (Democratic Left) a left Christian Democratic grouping led by Ruiz Gimenez, 3. ORT: Organización Revolucionaria de los Trabajadores (Revolutionary Workers Organization). PTE: Partido del Trabajo de España (Labor party of Spain). MC: Movimiento Comunista (Communist Movement).