[The following statement was issued February 20 in Milan by the Political Bureau of the Gruppi Comunisti Rivoluzion-
(GCR-Revolutionary Communist ari Groups, the Italian section of the Fourth International). The translation is by Intercontinental Press.]
1. Some factory councils and other rankand-file workers groups have begun to call for banning the Movimento Sociale Italiano [MSI-Italian Social Movement, the neofascists]. This move is a response not simply to the widespread antifascist sentiment. In the face of the provocations and attacks by fascist commando groups and the sharpening police and judicial repression against the workers movement and the vanguard groups in the factories and schools, the need has become clearer and clearer for a broad united mobilization that could give an active expression to this antifascist feeling. Such a mobilization is necessary, moreover, as a specific campaign within the broader struggle of the working class against both the official and unofficial means the bourgeoisie is using to intimidate and demobilize the masses, that is, to reinforce its authority and its control over society. It is a necessary weapon in the fight to roll back the offensive launched by the bourgeoisie, who are taking advantage of the economic crisis to try to use the clubs of inflation and the threat of unemployment to wipe out the gains the working class has won in broad struggles over the past six years.
2. The need for a specific antifascist mobilization has become all the more evident in view of the fact that a whole series of moves by the courts have shown how ephemeral the bourgeois "antifascist campaign" in recent months has been. The indefinite postponement of the Piazza Fontana massacre trial, the release of the defendants in the case against Ordine Nuovo, and the attempt to put over the view that Bertoli was just an "anarchistic individualist" have given the fascists a breathing space and a chance to resume the initiative on a broad scale.
3. The trade-union bureaucracy has failed to respond adequately to the attack on the buying power of wages and salaries and on employment. As a result, there is a danger of disorientation among the workers, and particularly among the petty-bourgeois strata that feel especially hard hit by the crisis. At the same time, the threat of spreading unemployment can lead to demoralization and desperation, above all in regions that are beginning to see the return of thousands of emigrants. In these condi- March 31, 1975
Antifascist United Front tions, fascist demagogues may find greater opportunities and might be able to get the "classical model" of growth going, that is, create a pole of dissatisfaction that could attract sections of the petty-bourgeois masses and subproletariat, and involve these masses in demagogic antiestablishment campaigns where the real target would be the working class.
Therefore, it is essential to encourage and reinforce by every means possible a mobilization involving the decisive sections of the working class in militant opposition to any fascist moves, a struggle that can bring into motion masses of workers and students.
4. The concrete form that the call for a national antifascist campaign has taken suffers, however, from some fundamental defects. The slogan "Outlaw the MSI" is wrong-and not only because it sows illusions about the capacity of bourgeois "democracy" to wipe out the fascist gangs, the watchdogs of the bourgeoisie. The call for a popularly initiated bill for banning the MSI (a law that would have to be approved by both houses of the legislature!) deepens such illusions and gives them a clearly legalistic and parliamentary character.
Finally, in view of the manner in which some extraparliamentary left forces have begun to support this campaign, there is a suggestion that it will be extended to the democratic and antifascist sections of the bourgeoisie. As a result, there is a danger that popular-frontist positions will come to the fore-class-collaborationist antifascism in the style of the CP.
5. In view of these two factors, that is, (1) that a national antifascist campaign is needed, and (2) that the way in which the campaign has been launched is incorrect, revolutionary Marxists must make their position absolutely clear. In the first place, we do not think that the workers and students who are mobilizing in this campaign are motivated by legalistic and parliamentary objectives. Even if such attitudes exist in some sectors, they will be refuted by events as the campaign develops, and especially by the political vicissitudes the country will go through.
We believe, rather, that this mobilization expresses, if in a distorted way, a desire to take up the fight directly and in an effective way against the fascists and their protectors. Secondly, we think it should be made clear that all political forces in the working class, including the large traditional parties, must be involved in this mobilization. The so-called democratic and antifascist wings of the bourgeoisie, however, must be kept out. These elements say they are ready to oppose fascism. But they deny its class nature and even try to use their antifascism as a means to consolidate and reinforce the anti-working-class bourgeois class state. The only slogan that can effectively broaden the antifascist mobilization is the call for a working-class united front.
6. Training for self-defense must be an important part of the antifascist campaign. Response to the fascist attacks cannot be conceived of in the framework of minority initiatives, which are highly vulnerable to reprisals by the bourgeois state apparatus.
Self-defense cannot be left to spontaneity or improvisation. It must be based on teams of monitors formed by the organizations of the working-class movement, on factory and school picket groups. The No. 1 task will be to defend demonstrations, centers of political activity, headquarters, and activists in the most exposed positions. This task can in no way be delegated to the "regular" armed bodies of the bourgeoisie. You don't have to go very far back in history to see that the actions of the riot troopers, the police, and the courts have not effectively safeguarded the freedom and security of the workers and radicalized students. It is necessary, moreover, to assure that the tricks and provocations of the fascists do not go unpunished. The fascists want to demonstrate that they can act with impunity because it is through a show of force that they gain the prestige to attract, polarize, and activate sections of the petty bourgeoisie and subproletariat.
7. The Gruppi Comunisti Rivoluzionari, the Italian section of the Fourth International, will participate energetically in the antifascist campaign. We will not take part in the organizing committee because of the errors we have noted, and we will not participate in the illusory activity of collecting signatures. We will be present, however, in all the mobilizations and in all the rankand-file groups that are formed during the campaign, and we will push for the formation of such groups where we work, go to school, and are active politically. In these bodies, the revolutionary communists will put forward the slogan of a working-class united front as well as strive activela to promote organization for self-defense, and will take an active part in such work.
For a workers united front against fascism!
For workers self-defense against the armed gangs of the state!
The MSI's protectors won't outlaw it; we ourselves must impose a ban.
Argentine Peso Devalued
The Argentine government devalued the peso by 50 percent March 4, raising the official rate from ten pesos to a dollar to fifteen to a dollar. The devaluation is expected to aggravate the inflationary spiral in Argentina, where the cost of living rose 53 percent in 1974.