Let's consider some key sentences in the Transitional Program, one of our party's fundamental documents, written by Leon Trotsky:
"It is necessary to help the masses in the process of the daily struggle to find the bridge between present de mands and the socialist program of the revolution. This bridge should include a system of transitional demands, stemming from today's conditions and from today's consciousness of wide layers of the working class and unalterably leading to one final conclusion: the conquest of power by the proletariat."
Again: "It is necessary to establish this firm rule: self-isolation of the capitulationist variety from mass trade unions, which is tantamount to be trayal of the revolution, is incompatible with membership in the Fourth International."
Trotsky said this at a time when "Trade unions, even the most powerful, embrace no more than 20 to 25 Ill, embrace no more than 2u to 4o percent of the working class, and at that predominantly the more skilled and better paid layers." In other words, the trade-union movement was not as important as it is today.
In these words we see in a completely clear way how Trotskyism approaches the workers' struggle: It starts from the immediate, concrete problems of greatest concern to the masses; it starts from their present level of consciousness, in order to raise it to ever higher levels.
This ie not "aundipaliem " nor "ason.
This is not "syndicalism," nor "economism," since it does not engage in these struggles to become lost in them, since it utilizes them as a means of educating the masses, since it elevates them by degrees.
Nor is it spontanéism, since although it joins the "spontaneous" organizations, supports the "spontaneous" demands, the "spontaneous" struggles, it does not do so in order to follow spontanéism but to bring these organizations, these struggles, these demands, consciously to ever higher levels pointing toward a socialist revolution.
The Transitional Program thus re plies clearly to the fakery of the pettybourgeois propagandists who depreciate participation in the current struggles of the masses, in their current organizations; who depreciate the struggle for immediate demands over which the masses feel most concerned.
Thus Trotskyism replies to those who talk and talk about revolution without doing anything, those who elaborate and elaborate extremely ingenious plans for "armed struggle" but who disdain the daily struggle of the masses.
Peruvian Trotskyism, organized in the FIR [Frente de Izquierda Revolucionario - Revolutionary Left Front], repeats once again its slogan: To the factories and to the fields.
To the mass organizations, basically the unions and communities.
Start by paying attention to the curimmediate, concrete struggles. rent,
Mexico
Prisoners Appeal for Martin Dozal
Mexico City
Martin Dozal's comrades in Lecumberri prison have become alarmed over his physical condition as he continues his hunger strike.
On October 9 they made an urgent appeal to the judges in charge of his case to meet his demand; namely, a trial in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
Dozal, a twenty-five-year-old Polytechnic School teacher, was arrested in connection with the student protests in the summer of 1968 and has been held in prison for more than a year without being brought to trial or being sentenced.
The appeal for Dozal was signed by he members of the political prisoners' rotating press committee — the inter-
José
nationally famous novelist Revueltas, Martin del Campo, and Pablo Alvarado Barrera. The declaration gave the following description of Dozal's situation:
"Martin Dozal's physical condition has now deteriorated to an alarming degree. His liver is functioning abnor-
It has swollen considerably mally.
and indicates a danger of cirrhosis. There is frequent vomiting, acute and muscle and stomach gastritis, pains.
"Martin Dozal began his hunger strike on September 26 as a means of appealing to the judges responsible for his case, His Honor Eduardo Ferrer MacGregor and His Honor Benito Pliego y Pliego, to make a decision.
His case is still being held open. These judges have not even bothered to reply or even acknowledge receipt of his appeals.
"This state of affairs cannot continue. We appeal for a rapid solution. We appeal to these judges to grant a reply in the case of our compañero Martín Dozal. It would be criminal to permit any more delay, even for one day."
The political prisoners' press committee stressed that international protests were vitally needed in Dozal's case. The campaign in Mexico has been weakened by the fact that during this period the university and Polytechnic students are on vacation and scattered.
The committee asked that letters and telegrams supporting Dozal be sent to the following officials:
Lic. Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Presidente de México, Palacio Nacional, Mexico 1, D. F.; Lic. Alfonso Corona del
Regente del Distrito Federal, Rosal, Departamento Central (Zócalo), Mexico 1, D. F.; and Lic. Luis Echever-
Secretario de Gobernación, Av. ria, Bucareli y Calle General Prim, Mexico 1, D. F.
Mexico
A Sinister Provocation
Mexico City
One of the most sinister of the daily provocations to which the political prisoners in Mexico City have been subjected occurred in September. An anonymous declaration, disseminated by the American news agency UPI, was attributed to the political prisoners mentioned in it. The complete text of this declaration was as follows:
"WE DEMAND THE RELEASE OF THE FOLLOWING POLITICAL PRISONERS:
"1. CARLOS SEVILLA GONZALEZ
"2. ELI DE GORTARI
"3. JOSE REVUELTAS
"4. HEBERTO CASTILLO
"5. DEMETRIO VALLEJO
"6. VALENTIN CAMPA
"7. GILBERTO RINCON GALLAR-
DO
"8. VICTOR RICO GALAN
"9. OTHON SALAZAR
"10. RAFAEL ESTRADA VILLA
"11. ADAN NIETO
"12. DANZOS PALOMINO
"13. ROLF MEINERS HUEBNER
"14. LUIS TOMAS CERVANTES
CABEZA DE VACA
"UNLESS THESE POLITICAL PRISONERS ARE RELEASED BE- FORE OCTOBER 2 (TWO) OF THIS YEAR AND ALLOWED TO TAKE ASYLUM IN THE COUNTRY OF THEIR CHOICE, THOSE RESPON- SIBLE FOR THE MASSACRE OF TLATELOLCO, DIAZ ORDAZ, MAR- CELINO BARRAGAN, LUIS ECHE- VERRIA, CORONA DEL ROSAL, WILL SUFFER THE ACTION OF PEOPLE'S REVOLUTIONARY JUS TICE.
"SEPT. 69"*
Besides being disseminated by UPI, this little note turned up in the form of a letter in many homes in the Federal District, just as dozens of other "documents" slandering and defaming the student movement of last year were circulated by mail under pseudonyms which only slightly concealed the provocative machinations of the Diaz Ordaz regime's police forces.
A few days later, another note be gan circulating, apparently in reply to the first. The second note was signed by a clandestine "organization" calling itself the "Boinas Rojas de Netzahualcóyotl [the Red Berets of Netzahualcóyotl], in honor it would seem of the Aztec emperor and lawmaker. The crudest thing in all this was that the political prisoners also received a copy of the note from this organization. The text was as follows:
"IF THE THREATS IN THE ANONYMOUS NOTE THAT YOU SENT TO UPI, A COPY OF WHICH IS ATTACHED, ARE CARRIED OUT AND IF PRESIDENT DIAZ ORDAZ, GENERAL MARCELINO GARCIA BARRAGAN, DR. LUIS ECHEVER- RIA, DR. CORONA DEL ROSAL, OR ANY OTHER OFFICIAL OR THEIR FAMILIES SUFFER ANY HARM TO THEIR PERSONS OR PROPERTY, YOU, YOUR FAMILY, AND THE PERSONS LISTED AND THEIR FAMILIES WILL PAY THE PRICE YOUR ACTIONS DESERVE WITH- IN 24 HOURS."
This obvious and shameless provocation was probably motivated by the regime's fear of an occurrence like the kidnapping of the Yankee ambassador in Brazil and the subsequent release of fifteen political prisoners in that country.
The innumerable Mexican political forces, assisted by the CIA (judging from the style of the UPI involvement), wanted to move early to forestall any such action by issuing a warning that there would be harsh reprisals against the political prisoners and their families and friends.
The overwhelming majority of the prisoners in Lecumberri (102 out of 107) * immediately issued a news re-
DIAZ ORDAZ. Witch-hunter in chief.
lease advising the public of a number of pertinent facts. This release, dated October 1, said the following:
"The persons who 'will pay the price' are those who have visited the prisoners threatened and have been put down on the list attached to this cowardly warning. This is all the more obvious inasmuch as in some cases you can still read this heading in the photocopy we received - 'was visited by the following persons'! From this it can easily be deduced that those who sent this threat got their information and probably their orders from the police offices that receive copies of the lists of persons visiting the political prisoners.
"The political prisoners in Lecumberri categorically deny the imputation that they authored the anonymous note delivered to UPI and declared that this is the first time they ever heard of its existence.
In fact, everything indicates that both the anonymous note and the threat from the 'Boinas Rojas de Netzahualcóyotl' are simply part of a new provocation. We do not know what the objectives of this provocation are but they could very well be to pre pare the ground for some assault on our persons or. that of our relatives and friends.
"We demand that an investigation be opened to clarify the source and ob jectives of the threats that have been directed against us; that those persons who received information as to the names and addresses of our visitors be identified; that the relationship be established between those persons and the 'Boinas Rojas de Netzahualcóyotl'; that the activities of this strange organization and the various police forces of the country, including the military police be investigated; that the relation between this organization and the other foreign police and terrorist organizations like the CIA and the FBI be probed; that the relationship of this organization to the recent acts of provocation and terrorism which have taken place in this city be investigated; that it be investigated whether this organization had anything to do with drawing up the declarations which many of those imprisoned because of their participation in the student movement were forced to sign; that the re lationship be investigated between this organization and the manifold tortures many of the prisoners have been sub jected to; that the relationship between this organization and the acts of provocation carried out during the student movement, such as the machine-gunning of schools, the destruction of vehicles, etc., be investigated; that the relationship be probed between this organization and the gutter press, like El Sol de México, La Prensa, and El Heraldo, which have distorted the news, creating a climate of violence; that the relationship between this organization and the public officials encharged with our trials be investigated.
"We demand this investigation with the understanding that as long as these points are not entirely clarified, we will hold the officials of the various government bodies that received copies of our visitors' lists responsible for anything that might happen to our re latives, our friends, or ourselves."
The importance of the provocation lies in the fact that it indicates the emergence in embryonic form of a terrorist organization linked to the authorities. Only through such collusion could the terrorists have obtained the political prisoners' visitors list.
How such paramilitary organizations operate has been shown in Guatemala, where the Mano Blanca (White Hand] and similar organizations waged a campaign of violence and intimidation against the masses.
There is great danger that such a process will develop here unnoticed by the vanguard of the student move ment and its international allies.
Lebanon
Helou Stirs Up a Hornet's Nest
Reports October 26 indicated that Arab revolutionists were still holding three police stations in Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city. The New York Times carried a picture of a po lice station in Beirut flying the flag of the Palestinian freedom fighters.
The liberation forces were also reported to have seized the city of Bint Jbeil and the nearby village of Deir Mimass in the south of the country.
Police stations throughout the small Mideast state were reported isolated and heavily guarded.
Dispatches from
Western correspondents left no doubt that substantial sectors of the population had joined in the resistance of the Palestinian guerrillas, which the pro-
New Zealand
Call for Antiwar Actions November 15
Demonstrations have been scheduled in several New Zealand cities to coincide with the November 15 march on Washington against the Vietnam war.
The protests will focus on demands for the immediate withdrawal of New Zealand troops from Vietnam, the severing of ties with the U. S.-dominated SEATO and ANZUS military alliances, and the cancellation of proposed "Omega" installations for guiding U.S. Polaris submarines.
Socialist Action, a revolutionary-socialist fortnightly published in Wellington, reported October 15:
"In Christchurch the Progressive Youth Movement (PYM) and the Radical Students Alliance (RSA) are planning a rally on November 15 at the Student Union in the town, with folk singers, speakers and at least four blues bands. They are being helped by the University Fabian Society and the Ecological Revolutionary Association (ERA).
"In Wellington |the capital] the University Socialist Club is hoping to organise a similar activity, and will definitely hold a march to Parliament and imperialist government of President Charles Helou is attempting to suppress.
The Beirut government announced that it held Syria responsiblefor Fatah's occupation of the village of Yanta, six miles from the Lebanese border. Both the Israeli and U.S. governments have hinted that they would regard intervention from other Arab states as grounds for occupying the country.
Other Arab states denounced Helou's crackdown on the guerrillas. Moscow decried the U.S. threat of intervention. It was evident that an attempt to bolster the threatened Lebanese regime in its confrontation with Arab nationalist forces could extend and deepen the crisis.
a demonstration, in co-operation with the Wellington Committee on Vietnam. The COV is also planning to do a considerable amount of propagandising by means of letterboxed pamphlets and ads in the daily press. Also, the Wellington PYM has promised to help build November 15. The PYM has been picketing the D. I. C. building, which houses the Diplomatic Mission of the Saigon regime, every Friday night for the last four weeks.
"The candidate for the Socialist Action League, George Fyson, who isstanding in Wellington Central, is making Vietnam and November 15 the first point in his programme."
A call for the November Action, issued by the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam of the U.S., has been reprinted in the newsletter of the Medical Aid Committee for South Vietnamese People (NLF Areas), and is being circulated across the country. Socialist Action added:
"Reports of plans from Auckland and Dunedin have not yet reached Welling ton, though it is expected that demonstra tions will occur there also."
Notes
* This note was handwritten, all in capital letters, presumably in order to make it more difficult to identify the handwriting. -IP.
* Demetrio Vallejo and Valentin Campa did not sign the statement because they are being held in another prison in Santa Marta Acatlita.