[The following "open letter to members of the French Communist party" appeared in the July 13 issue of Rouge. It represents part of the ex- Ligue's political response to the CP's shift in policy on coming to the defense of the far-left organizations. The translation is by Intercontinental Press.]
Comrades,
We have noted, as you have, the intensification of the employers' and police repression against the workers struggles and the workers organizations: the layoffs at Renault, the attack by a CFT [Confédération Fran- çaise des Travailleurs - Confederation of French Workers, a company goon squad posing as a union commando at Peugeot, the police provocation at the Lip factory, the development of a racist campaign highlighted by the Fontanet memorandum [which tightened repressive laws on immigration), the Grasse demonstration [against immigrant workers], the June 21 Ordre Nouveau meeting, the murder of a Portuguese worker at Ivry.
If the employers and the government are seeking to cow, to divide the workers, it is because they are afraid of growing discontent, of the ongoing struggles that have gone so far as to "expropriate" an employer like Lip.
But to assure the victory of these struggles it is necessary to oppose the bourgeoisie's maneuvers and above all to respond to all its attacks with a solid united front of all workers, a nonexclusive united front of all workers organizations. The bourgeoisie knows who its enemy is: the working class and its organizations. So we also must save our blows for the common enemy.
Recall, comrades, that after the murder of the Maoist militant Pierre Overney, you refused to respond shoulder to shoulder with the "ultraleftists." A few months later, a gangster murdered Michel Labroche, a member of the French Communist party. Today, Marcellin dissolves the Ligue Communiste at the same time that fascist commandos attack a local CP office in St. Denis and a CP festival at Valde-Marne. So, in face of repression, there is one solution: the united front against repression.
On June 20, despite its being excluded, the Ligue Communiste marched with its own banners along with the CP, the CGT [Confédération Générale du Travail - General Confederation of Labor], and the PSU [Parti Socialiste Unifié - United Socialist party]. The Ligue Communiste called on all workers organizations to demand the banning of Ordre Nouveau's fascist meeting on June 21. Your only response was a short communiqué that appeared in l'Humanité on June 21 itself.
The Ligue Communiste therefore took the risk of demonstrating with only a part of the revolutionary far left and a few old members of the Resistance who had not forgotten. But today this point must be considered: If all the workers organizations had called for a demonstration on June
21 Marcellin's efforts would havecome to nothing. And there would have been no need for a meeting at the Cirque d'Hiver to protest the dissolution of the Ligue Communiste and to demand the freeing of Alain Krivine and Pierre Rousset.
Comrades, we congratulate you on the fact that the time has passed when l'Humanité treats revolutionists as "Marcellin ultraleftists" or as "left fascists." But you must go further, not only to divest yourselves permanently of all such slanders, but also to stop excluding the revolutionary far left. You cannot claim to be the "party of unity" and refuse to let a repre- 924
sentative of the ex-Ligue Communiste speak at a meeting protesting the dissolution of the Ligue!
That is indefensible, and it only benefited the bourgeoisie, which did not fail to pick up on your error in its press. We repeat: We have political differences; let's discuss them, but let's not forget that the only enemy is the bourgeoisie!
One of our basic differences is exactly on how to respond to the attacks of the bourgeoisie's armed bands. In l'Humanité G. Bouvard tells us that the only correct response is a mass response, and with this we can only agree. Without a mass response, nothing is possible. But it is not enough. Do you believe that a demonstration like the June 20 one is enough to prevent the CFT from attacking at Citroën, Simca, Peugeot, and from digging itself in with the complicity of the employers and the government at Berliet and elsewhere? If the CFT develops, it will be a significant curb on workers struggles. And the workers movement cannot count on the police and the judicial system, for these institutions are at the service of the bourgeoisie.
Remember the release of the murderer of Marc Lanvin! Remember the murder of Pierre Overney! Remember the CFT commando that attacked militants at Issy-les-Moulineaux - they were also released! Remember the CFT commando at Peugeot!
Certainly there are some policemen and judges who struggle against the role they are forced to play, and we must support them. But to rely on the police, the judicial system, or the army is a trap. Have you ever seen the police aid strikers against the employers? No! At Joint Français, at Fos, at Lip, etc., they always stand with the employers!
So, comrades, don't you think that it is not enough to protest, but that we must organize workers self-defense through formation of strike pickets and through mutual aid among the workers to repulse all attacks? Don't you think that it's not enough to demand that Marcellin, a protege of Pé- tain, ban the CDR [Comités de Dé- fense de la République - Committees to Defend the Republic, the SAC (Service d'Action Civique- Civic Action Servicel, and other gangster outfits, but that we must provide ourselves the means to prevent these groups from doing their damaging work? Must we tolerate that distribution at Citroën or Simca of leaflets of the CGT, the CFDT [Confédération Fran- çaise Démocratique du Travail - French Democratic Confederation of Labor], the SP, the CP, and the far left be impossible without risk?
We ourselves think -and the history of Germany and Spain backs us up -that the workers movement must crush fascism in the egg if it does not want to be devoured by it later. Blum and the Popular Front government were content to protest against Franco and Hitler, but then they were forced to give way to Pé- tain, and the same Chamber of Deputies that put Blum in power outlawed the Communist party three years later. The members of the Ligue Communiste may be younger than some others; but they have not forgotten.
Today the editorial board of the newspaper Rouge proposes to you and to the whole workers movement:
Let us jointly assure the defense of our salespeople in the market places against any fascist attack and against any provocation by Marcellin;
Let us jointly defend the distribution of leaflets of workers organizations at Citroën and Simca despite the CFT gangsters;
Let us not allow the murder of the Portuguese worker Fernando Ramos in Ivry to go unanswered;
Let us demand the immediate dissolution of the SAC, CDR, and CFT;
Let us struggle for the repeal of the dissolution of the Ligue Communiste, for the freeing of Alain Krivine and Pierre Rousset, for the dropping of all charges;
Let us demand the resignation of Marcellin.
The fight goes on.