[The following editorial appeared in the July 8-14 issue of Combate, the weekly newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR), the section of the Fourth International in Spain. The translation is by Intercontinental Press. J
The attendance of more than 50,000 people at the Anti-NATO Day meeting/festival in Madrid has unquestionably been the biggest mass demonstration to date against the government's intentions to join the Atlantic Pact.
This meeting had enormous significance. It shows that the revolutionary left, which has been behind this initiative from the start, is reaching tens of thousands of people who see the need to mobilize and cannot understand why the parliamentary left remains so passive on this question, even though it claims, at least verbally, that it is ready to challenge the UCD's intentions [the Democratic Center Union is the governing party in Spain].
The meeting was the result of the patient and united work of the forces in the Anti-NATO Commission, which already had an initial successful action with the March on [the U.S. air base at] Torrejón last January 25.
But now there has been a much greater leap forward than even the most optimistic among us would have projected. Despite the climate of fear that has existed since the February 23 attempted coup, it has been shown that broad sectors of the population still have a firm desire to break through the paralysis and mobilize against NATO and the bases, and are conscious that this is also a form of struggle against any coup.
The extent of participation, the enormous number of new members gained and the support won among the workers and residents of Madrid; among neighborhood organizations; ecological groups; youth, artistic, and professional associations; and many other sectors, have made the Anti-NATO Commission the main force bringing people together in the campaign, which must continue to grow in coming months.
We know that there were two notable absences from the meeting: the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Workers Party] and the PCE [Spanish Communist Party]. But this time, more than ever, it is important that we not confuse the sectarianism of their leaders with the attitude of many of their members.
Members of the PSOE and PCE felt they were represented there in the speeches made by Pablo Castellano, a PSOE member of parliament, and Laureano Cuerdo, who spoke in the name of the Provincial Executive Committee of the Workers Commissions [CCOO the union federation led by the CP]. The unconditional support of the ranks, and their active role in the meeting, showed that they knew that unity must be forged in those areas where there is a willingness to struggle and to mobilize effectively.
Now we must look toward the future. We must be conscious of our responsibility toward these tens of thousands of people who are waiting for new actions that can forge broader unity and, above all, that can move forward toward specific objectives that prevent Spain's entry into NATO and the renewal of the agreements
July 5 rally in Madrid.
regarding the Yankee military bases.
Activities have already been announced for other areas of the country: there will be a march on Arinaga in the Canary Islands on July 12; activities in Zaragoza after the city council's announcement of its opposition to the base; in Catalonia; in Cadiz.
Signatures are also being gathered all over for a referendum, using either the wording proposed by the Anti-NATO Commissions or other texts. Collecting 500,000 signatures is not such a difficult task when the polls themselves show that 69 percent of the population favors the referendum, as Cambio 16 pointed out a few weeks ago.
The support for this move by unions like the Workers Commissions, moreover, insures that important sectors of the working class will take part in this objective.
Meanwhile, the negotiations between the Calvo-Sotelo government and the United States are continuing in the greatest secrecy, although in principle September 21 is the deadline for renewal of the accord (unless the agreement is extended for a year to tie up the loose ends with the General Staff of the Atlantie Pact).
But whatever the final date, it is becoming increasingly clear that the government's haste to join NATO can only be fought by intensifying the campaign and bringing in new forces and sectors. If the parliamentary left extends its truce with the government to this question as well, the consequences will be even worse, precisely because the position that the majority of the right-wing parties in parliament hold on this question does not make any "commonality" possible.
For our part, as the LCR, we will spare no effort to reach agreement with the parliamentary left, now or later. But we are convinced, as are many workers, that only activities like the one last Sunday will enable us to force them to unite.
Nor do we hide the fact that, even among the forces that are now inside the Anti-NATO Commissions, there are differing points of view-differences regarding not only the reasons we oppose NATO, but also regarding alternative international policies.
These differences are greatest with parties like the PSOE, which openly state their support for the "Western Bloc." It would, however, be an error to try to get these united-front
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Country organizations to come out in favor of one or another position, since that would lead to a split.
Unity can be established around what was the most popular chant last Sunday: "No to NATO! Bases Out!" This slogan, and the demand for a referendum to implement it, can in the coming months be a battle cry for millions of people throughout Spain. The revolutionary left must show that it is ready to make this a reality, by taking on the responsibilities that the big parties of the left are not carrying out.
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