THE COUNTERREV OLUTION IN INDONESIA
TAKES OFF THE MASK
By Henri ‘Vallin.
From the time of the. counterrevolutionary coup d' état October 1, 1965, up to March 11, 1966, when General Suharto won full power, the counterrevolution in Indonesia sought to keep wearing the mask of anti-imperialism and even. anti- Americanism. It was a matter of deluding the peasant and urban masses.who were unquestionably , stunned by the anti-Communist repression and the lack of a clear line from the Indonesian Communist party [PKI] although their genuine. feelings: were. absolutely unmistakable -
‘Since: ‘the heads of the Indonesian reaction now have full oe power in their hands, they no longer hesitate at dropping a mask — that was becoming more and more of an impediment.
' “On April - 4. the minister of : foreign affairs, the renegade | Adam Malik, declared ina press conference that rélations with the United: States ought. to be: improved.:A spokesman: of..the State Depart~ ment responded at once: that the. administration in Washington shared Malik's hope of bringing about a substantial improvement in rela-: tions between the two countries.
And: to “indicate that. Wall ‘Street means ‘business in Indonesia, Washington decided to. ignore, the halting of all economic. aid to. Indonesia, which was. decided on:in 1965, and send a. preliminary . shipment. of 50,000 tons.of rice in.order to combat. the ° hunger. that. is endemic in certain regions of the archipelago.
Japan, collaborating: with American imperialism. while at the same time: pursuing. its own objective. of trade expansion throughout Asia, decided to grant. immediate aid. to. Indonesia amounting to $2 , 500, OOO. And on April 18 the Japanese government sent a message ° to General Suharto, joneste.. him that it was meady to grant “urgent long-term" aid to Indonesia.
For. ‘its: part. the counterrevolutionary regime in Djakarta made the necessary gestures:.to show Washington and Tokyo: that it was —_ worthy of confidence. It released American missionaries who had been arrested before October. 1, 1965. It readmitted American journalists who had been expelled from. the country. It. released from prison a series of reactionary and pro-imperialist. leaders, who met together in Djakarta on April 19 on the occasion of the ‘funeral services for the rightist Social Democratic leader Sutan Sjarir. For the first ~ time in many years, Mohamed Hatta, the head of the "historic" Indonesian rightists, spoke in public the same day to demand freedom for all the political prisoners arrested before October 1, 1965. The list includes the head of the reactionary Mas jumi party and the leaders of the ultraright insurrections in Sumatra and Celebes.
At the same time, the counterrevolutionaries in power in Djakarta indicated their determination to end the "confrontation"
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with Greater ‘Malaysia. Conferences .to reestablish good trade relations with Singapore are already underway.
'It‘was ‘easy to forecast this entire development, just as it is éasy to forecast that. Washington°and Tokyo: will grant Djakarta “éonsiderably moréeconomic aid than the first presents.sent in. . recent weeks. Indonesia constitutes one of the key. countries of Asia and the success won by imperialism in getting it to swing openly .into. its camp . is well worth paying for.
In- addition; 4t must: be. done quickly because. the ‘economic situation in Indonesia is becoming worse and worse. In a press conférence - which he :held-in Djakarta. April .12,-the vice-president of the ‘Indonesian’ governrient, ! the: good: right arm of the. Suharto- Nasution clique, Hamengku Buwono, the sultan of Djokjakarta,. admit= ted that after prices jumped 500 percent in 1965, it could be expected that they would- fise’ about: 1,000°: percent. in 1966. Inflation is the basic cause for the: constantly: rising public: expenditures ~~ during the first quarter of” 1966 the. state: disbursed as: mach as during. 1 the whole year of 1905. — oN a
This raging inflation, - as: well as “the. fact. that Indonesia _ owes the countries’that: trade: with it $2,400,000,000 which it cannot pay, no longer permits. the country: to: import: commodities on credit, Everything must be paid for in: cash. Due.to:.this,' the country. has. had to severely limit imports of machines, “spare parts and raw... materials. This in turn has led to a serious drop in industrial production. With the help of speculation, basic. necessities. are becoming scarcer and scarcer... In March, the rice ration of eight _ kilos Lone. kilo = 2.2:-1bs.]. could not be met; ; only 1.5. kilos. per. ; person were distributed. ae ee
The counterrevolutionary ‘leaders are counting ‘exclusively. on foreign | aid to meet this tragic situation.
Meanwhile the two. wings of the "official" Communist movement -- ‘the Khrushchevists and the -pro-Chinese ‘-- -continue to. abstain. from any serious analysis of the causes and the :nature of the. disaster which the movement just suffered in Indonesia. The Chinese press denounces "the rightist military regime" in power in Djakarta, “put does not explain ‘how it was able to gain power. As for the Khrushchevists, they seem: to be preparing: to. form a. new. Indonesian Communist party, still further to the right, by -denouncing the . "adventurist" line of the old one under its leader D.N.Aidit.