The fifth congress of the Socialist Revolution Group (GRS), the Antilles section of the Fourth International, met for three days in late May on the French-ruled Caribbean island of Martinique. Delegates from Martinique, Guadeloupe, and from Antillean emigrant communities in France gathered in the town of Ajoupa-Bouillon, whose mayor is a member of the GRS.
The congress took particular note of the changes in the political situation in the Frenchruled Caribbean islands as a result of the victory of the Socialist Party in the French elections of May 1981.
The victory of the SP, according to a resolution unanimously adopted by the convention delegates, opened a new period in the Antilles. While the GRS has no illusions about the Willingness of the Mitterrand government to end colonial rule in Martinique and Guadeloupe, the organization recognizes that the SP government has not followed the same policies as former president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. In particular, there has been a decline in repression against anticolonial forces. Also, radio and television broadcasts have been opened up to anticolonialist forces, especially in Guadeloupe. The GRS, for example, now receives regular broadcast time.
The increased ability of anticolonial forces to function openly and to be heard by the population opens new political possibilities for those struggling for the independence of the islands. For decades the population has been subjected to constant propaganda from the colonial authorities, aimed at convincing them that the islands would not be viable as an independent state and that independence would result in a drastic fall in living standards.
This propaganda campaign has had an impact on the population. While most workers in the Antilles have increasingly asserted their own national identity, the majority have not yet been convinced that independence is essential if the islands are to escape the economic underdevelopment and unemployment fostered by their colonial status.
In recent years a number of local industries, including the important sugar industry, have steadily declined as a result of French government policies favoring French agricultural producers.
Since Mitterrand's election, a shift of political forces has been taking place in the Antilles. On the one hand, organizations calling for autonomy for the islands have grown, especially the Martinique Progressive Party (PPM) led by noted author Aimé Césaire, who is also mayor of Martinique's capital city Fort-de- France. The Communist Party of Martinique and the Communist Party of Guadeloupe have also gained ground. Like the French CP, which is parcipating in the Mitterrand government, the Antilles CPs call for autonomy within the French union instead of independence.
But there has also been growth of the proindependence political organizations and trade unions, and an increasing desire for anticolonial unity.
The fifth congress of the GRS addressed the question of anticolonial unity by proposing that anticolonial general assemblies be held to work out common attitudes and proposals.
The gathering also adopted a series of measures to improve the internal functioning of the GRS. These included the establishment of a full-time staff, and measures to strengthen the revolutionary youth organization, the Vanguard Youth (JAG). This summer the JAG is organizing trips by militants from Guadeloupe and Martinique to the nearby island of Grenada, where a workers and farmers government is in power.
The organization also decided to hold its sixth congress in November in order to go further into questions that were not sufficiently dealt with due to lack of time. Among these is the plan to establish an Antilles revolutionary party that will also respect the differences that exist between the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique.
The GRS has a significant following on both islands. While it has more members in Martinique, it has stronger presence in the tradeunion movement in Guadeloupe, where it plays a significant leadership role in the Movement of United Trade Union Action (MASU).
The congress delegates were confident that in the new situation that exists on the islands the organization can make a significant leap forward in size and influence.
Symptomatic of the change in the situation since the election of the Mitterrand government was the fact that the GRS congress received wide coverage on radio and television, where it was reported as the political event of the weekend."
Alain Krivine, a leader of the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR), the French section of the Fourth International, brought greetings to the gathering from the LCR and the Fourth International. During his week-long stay, he was widely interviewed on radio and television and addressed numerous meetings on both islands.