FORCE CAN DETAIN THE REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE
OF THE PEOPLES OF THE AMERICAS
The Yugoslav. spokesmen, obviously referring to us, repeat an argument employed by opportunists and traitors, to the effect that for the extremists, "a man with a gun is worth more than a combatant for revolutionary principles." Consistent revolutionaries, those of us. who combat reaction, traitors and opportunists, do not raise this contradiction. We reply to this fallacious argument by stating that, under certain definite conditions, such as those that exist in most Latin American countries, for example, the most valuable. combatant is the one who fights for revolutionary principles, and is also prepared to take up arms. In the same declaration, they insinuate that. we evade the debate on ideas, in order to open the way, exclusively, to armed struggle. First of all, in this respect, we would remind the Yugoslav spokesmen that revolutionary ideas are not simply the formal expedients nor stereotyped phrases of opportunists and traitors..There are some who confuse revolutionary ideas with hollow words. Individuals who live isolated from the necessities of the peoples.of the world, with no understanding of, and no interest in, the profound revolutionary changes which are taking place in our times, can never give us lessons in the value of ideas. Ideas have revolutionary value to the extent that they
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interpret: reality: and: transform it-in favor of the exploited classes. Those who have remained ‘historically congealed by passivity, inaction, opportunism and self-accommodation cannot teach us the value of political ideas. And that is the situation of the Yugoslav leaders. . Ll Violence . isthe Midwife of, History
Only, from an: anti-Marxist, opportunist and superficial : position can one support the- thesis ‘that armed insurrection implies . a renunciation of the ideological struggle. ;
‘Historically, the defenders of armed struggle and violent methods are those who have made the most important theoretical contributions.to the world revolutionary movement. Very few remember those “who conciliated in the different revolutionary periods. But. the names of Marx , Engels and Lenin cannot be forgotten-even by .-.our enemies. mo
The theoretical arsenal of Marxism-Leninism as a scientific theory of class struggle was developed by an analysis of the -. experiences of the great popular insurrections, and especially by a study of the European revolutions of 1848, the Paris Commune | of 1871. and the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and (1917.7
. Every Comfmnist knows that -- as Marx: ‘stated -~ "violence is the midwife of history," and that armed insurrection is the highest’ expression of class struggle. Whoever ignores this or tries to concéal it, is not a communist!
This truth originated from the irreconcilable’ nature | OF the contradictions between the interests of the oppressing classes and those of the oppressed classes. This is the ABC of Marxism-Leninism. It is not we, the revolutionaries, who engender violence. And- it is not, moreover, an artificial creation of our minds; Violence is* © an objective necessity deriving from'the system of* ‘exploitation | of man by man, from the division of society into antd&dgonistic classes and from. the brutal resistance of exploiters to any Social change ofa revolutionary nature.
- “Revolutionary armed struggle presupposes the ‘participation: of the exploited masses in the combat against their- oppressors. We do not deny that this should be complemented by other forms of” struggle. But it is important that the other forms not be permitted to hold back; and thus weaken, the prestige among the masses of ‘the gust and fundamental idea of armed struggle but, on the contrary, that ney. help to develop and advance the armed struggle.
TO. “accuse us of disparaging the importance of ideas shows . profouria. “ignorance of the Cuban Revolution, which precisely has demonstrated to Latin America the decisive importance of subjective factors and, consequently, ideological factors, in a revolution today -- the political preparation of a vanguard, revolutionary conviction and the decision to triumph or die in the battle.
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-aean. :iMhe Cuban Revolution has made an important ideological contribution to the theoretical and practical aspects of the Revolution in the Americas.
“In Fidel Castro! s historic speech while undergoing trial for the attack on the "Moncada" garrison, known as "History Will Absolve Me," in the First and Second Declarations of Havana, and in many other documents of the Cuban Revolution, we have been conducting “dn “intense ideological struggle in relation to fundamental prosvlems ‘of tactics, strategy and methods of struggle in cur times.
Bet thé Yugoslav spokesmen know that Cuban Communists fight in the arend of ideas with the same conviction and force with which we fight on thé field “of battle. Let these Yugoslav spokesmen also know'that by defending from Marxist-Leninist positions our criteria concerning armed struggle, we are waging a transcendental ideological battle in Latin America, and we will carry on this battle to its final practical consequences. Can They: ‘Show Us a Victorious Revolution without Violence?
The leadership of the so-called "League of Yugoslav Communists,".which has neither the knowledge nor the experience of Latin America that the Communist Party of Cuba possesses, has taken upon itself the right to expound on the nature of organizations, parties, and revolutionary forces in this Continent. From a distance of thousands of miles they have accused us of a lack of objectivity and realism. Light years away from the oppressed