FRONT HELPS BOLIVIAN REVOLUTIONISTS
(The following article has been translated by world Outlook > from:the April issue of Masas, the newspaper of the Bolivian Trotskyist movement. ]
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Toward the end:of 1965, the year of massacres, the constitution of a united front of left forces was achieved -- the Consejo .-:: Democratico del Pueblo [Democratic’ Council of the:People]. Excep-tionally favorable’ circumstances: permitted the realization of one: of the great popular aspirations, the unification of mass revolutionary forces ina single bloc, making it possible to attack the. fascist government now’ in power under a unified leadership, with.-:
good: prospects of success. For the first time in our history, it has been possible to construct an effective front of left forces,.in .... spite of the negative and reactionary attitude of two small.groups which make a great fanfare over the name "Communist.
"The Conse jo Democratico del Pueblo.is nothing less than the. organized expression of the response: of the people to the maneuvers of the reactionary forces whose unmistakable aim is: to keep.the mass murderers of the workers in the Quemado Palace. If this. great revo-.. lutionary response can be consolidated, it is destined to change the course oOf- politics in our country and set the present stagnant process 0.1 soeial.transformation in motion again. At the: same time, the united front of left forces ‘is.a touchstone by which to test all the so-called left parties. All of those who support it are with the .. people, and those who oppose it serve, directly or indirectly, the. mass murderer generals and imperialism. "
The front of left forces must begin by overcoming the hatreds and narrowness of sectarianism in order not to lose itself in impotence and byzantine disputes.’ The creation of another chapel in addition to the many already existing is not on the agenda, but rather . che setting in motion of an extremely broad movement embracing the | greater part of the country.
In order to achieve this objective, all ultimatism in organizational and ideological questions must be cast off...The problem con-. cerns coordinating Marxist-Leninist parties which have Similar. internal structures; the front of left forces in Bolivia must extend from nationalist organizations to those that base themselves on the Communist Manifesto.
In spite of this reality, the front must have a revolutionary program corresponding to the nature of the country as its point of departure.: The point of convergence of these various forces.that take a left position, the point of: convergence that explains the existence of the front, for the moment, is no.other than that of | seeking the means to carry the revolutionary ‘process forward .and of — dealing a hard blow to reaction. The Consejo Democratico del Pueblo: has inscribed in its program a struggle to the death against the . ‘fascist Military Junta. It has proclaimed. itself the political . leadership of the country to achieve this object, to struggle for. the implementation of democratic guarantees, for respect for the right to organize, for the social benefits won by past struggles, for the rights of unions, for freedom of expression,-.etc. The front of left forces realizes that it cannot fight against the foreign enemy in a real, and not merely rhetorical way, unless it takes the. same stand against its indigenous bourgeois instrument. To sum up,... anti-imperialism, which constitutes the basic plank of the front and together with it the determination to liquidate all traces of bossisn, forms part of the bridge that unites the various political tendencies.
The Consejo Demecratico del Pueblo: is an: unmistakably revolutionary force in both program and methods of struggle. It has. de- :. clared that it does not harbor the least confidence in an empty and
-.-capitulationist parliamentarianism but that;.it will use.the mobilization of the masses and the nethods ‘appropriate to it to realize. its ‘aspirations. - , Lk it,
"The government, the puppets of the ‘Yankees, and the nouth- “pieces of reaction have united in a chorus of direct opposition to ~ the Consejo Democratico;.del Pueblo..-This was inevitable and the dis- ““-eordant howling of this pack does nothing but emphasize the revolu- ~ Sionary essence of the front of left forces. Lasts “ONE . "The antipopular and treacherous attitude displayed by. the “cpight wings of. the MNR and PRIN (both parties are a part of the Con- ‘'sejo Democratico del Pueblo) was not unexpected either. These factions are fighting against the Consejo in their own parties. They fare fighting to destroy it because they believe that it constitutes the greatest danger to their treacherous policies, to their ties with the Military Junta, to their privileges."
‘The right wings of the MNR [Movimiento Nacionalista Revolu- “-i¢ionario] and the PRIN [Partido Revolucionario de Izquierda Nacionalista] justify their war on the Consejo with an argument that exposes their true reactionary essence: avoid all contact with the Marxist parties in order not to lose the confidence of the State Department. They are set on reaching power or thriving in the shadow -i-0f power, always with the approval or the aid of American imperialism. A pitiless struggle is being waged in the: PRIN and MNR between ‘the supporters and the enemies of the Consejo; i:e., between the “left and the right. We :revolutionists have the right and the obligation to aid those who are trying to advance the left front.
"We must alert the people. A new betrayal of the Bolivian people is about to be committed. The right wings of the PRIN and MNR are not only tools in the hands: of the State Department, but without any qualms they have concluded a sinister alliance with the fascist generals. Some encourage the presidential ambitions of the shameless ‘general, Barrientos, others are partners in the sinister and hypocritical game. of Ovando Candia. For the future of Bolivia, it is not a question of choosing between two mass murderers but of expelling the military boot from power. This must be kept clear. It means nothing to us: that the right PRINistas mascarade as ‘unionists, for when Ovando uses’ them as his puppets, they become vulgar toaitees
to the people."
If the right wins control of the PRIN and MNR, these parties may end by giving their.official support to the military; this tendency can already be perceived in the subterranean currents in the -political scene. The victory of the instruments of fascism would signify the most serious: defeat for the left front and for the revolution itself. This must be avoided.
To crush the murderers of the workers, the Conse jo Democratico “.-@el Pueblo must be strengthened. This organization is the road to the victory « of the people.