| The following is the text of an interview with a Chilean Trotskyist, taken in Santiago October 16. It was published in the October 26 issue of the Belgian Trotskyist weekly La Gauche. Translation from the French is by Intercontinental Press.]
Question. What is the importance of the MIR (Movimiento de la Izquierda Revolucionaria - Movement of the Revolutionary Left in the present situation in Chile?
Answer. To my knowledge, no other organization in the world among the new vanguard holds a place comparable to that which the MIR does in Chilean political life. It is with this in mind that we must consider the problem of the MIR, both as Chilean revolutionary Marxists and as militants of the Fourth International.
The MIR originated from two currents - first Castroism; and second Trotskyism, through the intermediary of some of our comrades who were to the MiR
among its founders. And obviously what shaped the MIR that we are acquainted with today was three years of an exceptionally rich experience of class struggle.
The present MIR has not broken with its Castroist origin. But, unlike organizations of similar origin, it has been confronted through its daily experience in the mass struggle with the central problems posed by the construction of a revolutionary party rooted in the worker and peasant masses. The answers posed by the MIR and by the leaders of its mass fronts never went beyond the empirical framework: They lacked a clear understanding of Stalinism as a historical phenomenon, with all the implications that has had in the Chilean context (the particular characteristics of the reformist program of the CP land of the UP] and, going beyond the UP, the nature of the workers bureaucracies and their relations with the working class). This empiricism was, and remains, especially blatant with respect to the internationalist practice 1326
of the MIR, whose incomprehension of the role and nature of the bureaucracies in power in the different workers states has led to a miseducating and paralyzing eclecticism. For all that, in its work of mobilizing and implanting itself in the worker and peasant masses of this country, the MIR has, in the course of the last three years, taken a series of initiatives going beyond the reformist framework imposed by the UP. These initiatives have often been correct. They must be analyzed in detail, not in this interview but in the course of further debate with the MIR.
That is why the MIR's practice and experience represent an essential achievement for the Chilean vanguard, despite the enormous limitations that the absence of any real democratic centralism and the absence of a real debate on strategy meant for its militants.
Q. What conclusions do you draw with respect to the activity of the revolutionary Marxists in Chile, today?
A. First, this achievement of the MIR is especially important because up to now it has successfully resisted the repression, and that is a first decisive test. The MIR and its leadership are thus confronted with considerable responsibilities. As everywhere else, building a revolutionary party with hegemony in the working class will be a long process, marked by crises and regroupments, directly linked with the development of the class struggle. The MIR will perhaps play a determining role in the tempos and forms of this process - whether as a motor force or a brake it is impossible to foresee exactly in advance.
But, as a result of the MIR's position, not only in the far left but in Chilean political life as a whole, the positions and activities of this organization have extensive repercussions for the immediate future. This fact is a decisive element in defining the revolutionary Marxist position.
The other element is our own political and organizational reality. There are few Chilean Trotskyist militants; we are a "Trotskyist nucleus" rather than an organization. We have made significant political and organizational gains in the last two years, but our forces are still very modest in comparison with the weight of the in comparison with the weight of the Chilean far left. Moreover, we have been hard hit by the repression: More than twenty of our members-22 to be precise —have been jailed; we have no news whatsoever of several of them.
Up to now the MIR has had an attitude not of hostility but indifference toward the many revolutionary groups. For it, political debate, both internally and with other groups, is essentially practical and is based on comparison of experiences. This is the positive side of its empiricism. It is therefore on the basis of our own experiences that we will be able to establish the conditions for a serious debate, for a necessary confrontation with the MIR.
Q. Going beyond your relations with the MIR, there is the question of your attitude and your perspectives in the present situation.
A. Of course. And there we start off with a considerable handicap. But at the risk of appearing too optimistic, I would say that the objective situation, for all its tragedy, creates a new situation: There are entire sectors of worker, student, and peasant militants who are searching amidst the present confusion for an overall, coherent explanation of what has happened. At Santiago and Valparaiso, where some of our members have sunk real roots, especially in the working class, some members of the left wing of the SP, the MAPU [Movimiento de Acción Popular Unitaria- Movement for United Popular Action], and sometimes even the CP, are asking questions and having discussions with us. The traumatic experience they have gone through in recent weeks has made them skeptical and distrustful; and this skepticism and distrust comes out especially in connection with their former leaders. It is up to us in the next period to win them over through our analyses, our proposals, and above all our responsible and audacious activities.
In relation to these central issues, I would like to add one thing in conclusion. The Chilean vanguard, whose most important component is the MIR, is characterized in part by a limited and superficial view of proletarian internationalism. In the situation we are in, its members can be sharply affected by that. There appears to be an important movement of solidarity with the Chilean people throughout the world, but this solidarity loses much of its effectiveness and value if material solidarity is not bolstered by a common orientation and political perspectives. All the more so, in that the bourgeoisie's international solidarity is a reality that is unfortunately all too powerful. All the more so, too, in that the solidarity of the CPs and the sectors linked to them is also substantial, and will weigh heavy in the balance. The Fourth International must be in the forefront of revolutionary solidarity actions, avoiding opportunism and sectarianism. It cannot be repeated too often: We will be judged and listened to on the basis of our concrete activity, in Chile as elsewhere. The organization of solidarity with the Chilean workers is a concrete activity, on which we will also be judged. Over and above the immediate results, this can add immeasurably to the clarification within the Chilean vanguard, which will be decisive in the outcome, and to the Chilean socialist revolution towards which we are marching without fail, despite the harsh defeat.