DOMINICAN COMMUNISTS DENOUNCE ESCALANTE GROUP
By Antonio Valdés
The Dominican Communist party (PCD) has issued a statement distinguishing itself from the position and activities of the Anibal Escalante "microfactional" group in Cuba. The question of contacts by Dominican Communists with the Escalante group and of their possible sympathy with Escalante's views was raised in the report by Major Rail Castro to the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist party. (See World Outlook, March 1, 1968, pp. 188-189, for the relevant passages of Rail Castro's report.)
The report stated that during the Seminar of Latin-American Journalists held in Havana a Dominican journalist by the name of José Amado Camillo had contacted Escalante's former secretary, Yolanda Pulido, who made possible a twohour interview between Escalante and Camillo. Escalante had reportedly suggested that Camillo send Dominican Communist party material to Pulido's house.
Rail Castro's report also quoted the following remark by a supporter of Escalante, Orlando Olivera, at a luncheon with two Soviet citizens:
"The economic resources...that we have, that are obtained in dollars, are invested to subsidize, to give anti- Communist orientation throughout Latin America and on other continents, to attack the Soviet Union and the Communist Parties of every country. It is not that we hold these ideas, but recently we spoke with two members of the Central Committee of the Dominican Communist Party -- one of them is Justino del Orbe -and they told us that in their country there are two organizations that are anti-Communist but call themselves Marxist: the 14th of Jume Movement and the MPD."
Olivera implied, not necessarily correctly, that Cuba was giving its support only to the June 14th Movement and the MPD [Movimiento Popular Dominicano -- Dominican Popular Movement], both Maoist oriented, and not to the PCD. This is not likely, at least not any longer, since the MPD has recently expressed its Maoism in the form of attacks on the Cuban line, denouncing "Debrayism" as "petty bourgeois" in a manner that echoes the Escaiante group itself.
The Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Dominican Communist party issued its statement on the Escalante case in its paper El Popular. This statement was reprinted in the February 8 issue of Bohemia, published in Havana. The reprint was datelined "Santo Domingo, January 30." The quotes in the present article are translated from Bohemia.
Noting that Ravl Castro's report had mentioned meetings of PCD leaders with the "microfaction," the PCD statement declared:
"The secretariat of our party wants to make clear that it has no knowledge of such meetings and that if they took place, it was as a result of a unilateral decision by the alleged two members of our leadership, without consultation."
The PCD stated emphatically, "We do not support the position of Escalante and his factional group, nor do we support their activities. The positions presented by the PCD at the first conference of the Organization of Latin-American Solidarity [OLAS], held in Havana, and all our other positions in regard to fundamental problems of national and international policy clearly differentiate us from then."
The PCD, which participated in the Dominican delegation to the OLAS conference together with the MPD and June 14th groups, took a line divergent from most of the Latin-American CPs. It supported the line of armed struggle, called for socialist revolution, and opposed the alliance with the national bourgeoisie. (See World Outlook, October 20, 1967, p. 833.
Differentiating itself from both "pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese groups," the PCD statement in Bohemia proclaimed: "Our international policy coincides most closely with the positions of the Communist parties of Cuba, Vietnam, Korea, Guatemala, and Haiti." This statement was written previous to the public break by the Guatemalan Rebel Armed Forces from the rightist elements controlling the Guatemalan CP leadership; therefore, it is not clear what attitude the PCD presently takes on the Guatemalan CP's positions.
"We feel no partisan identification," the PCD statement continued, "with the pseudorevolutionaries who have set themselves the task of discrediting the Cuban Revolution and tarnishing the menmory of Che Guevara."
The statement clarified to some extent the background to the Dominican CP's evolution in recent years away from the class-collaborationist "peaceful coexistence" line of most Latin-American CPs:
"As far as we know, the Escalante
group has rightist positions similar to those of our former leadership, headed by Juan and Feliservio Daucoudray, which was expelled in December 1965 precisely because the party militants and the present leadership did not hold their conciliatory positions."
The statement indicated the possible source of the confusion over alleged PCD contacts with Escalante:
"We do not rule out the possibility that the factional group that left our ranks, which today constitutes the PSP [Partido Socialista Popular -- Popular Socialist party, ironically the same name as the old CP of Cuba], used our name to carry on these activities against the present leadership of the Cuban Communist party. This is quite possible because José Amado Camillo...was also expelled from our party for supporting the position of the previously expelled group."
The PCD statement did not identify
CZECHOSLOVAK REGIME UNDER
The apprehensions among the conservative bureaucrats in Moscow, Warsaw and East Germany caused by the political upheaval in Czechoslovakia which culminated in the removal of President Novotny and scores of his supporters led to the sudden summoning of an extraordinary Communist summit meeting in Dresden over the weekend of March 23. This meeting, requested by the East German and’*Polish governments, was attended by the Soviet, Polish, East German, Hungarian and Bulgarian leaders.
As the March 25 New York Times commented: "There is no parallel in the history of the Communist movement for this.confrontation, because at no time before were the parties in power in Europe able to act more or less as equals. Until recently they were subservient to Moscow."
The Kremlin fears that Prague may loosen its military and economic links with the Soviet bloc. Gomulka and Ulbricht are concerned lest Czechoslovakia's economic needs and reassertion of national independence lead the Dubcek regime, like Yugoslavia and Rumania before it, to turn toward West Germany. The price for trade and aid from that source would be diplomatic recognition of the Bonn government by Czechoslovakia.
The meeting sought to put pressure upon Prague to resist the lures of the Kiesinger-Brandt government and slow down any steps which would undermine the po- Justino del Orbe, the alleged PCD central committee member named by Olivera. However, the PCD document stated that it was replying to information given over Radio Havana. Thus; it is likely that the full text of Raail Castro's report, with the exact names and circumstances that would have allowed a detailed answer, was not available when the PCD made its statement.
This is likely in the light of the concluding remarks of the PCD leaders:
"Our party requests a confidential, detailed report from the Cuban Communist party on the activities of the two unidentified persons mentioned as members of our Central Committee.
"This information would help us establish a definitive position on this case, which will in no way alter our position of solidarity with the Revolutionary Government of Socialist Cuba."
PRESSURE FROM SOVIET BLOC
litical monopoly of the Communist party and reorient foreign policy toward the West. The communiqué issued by the participants gave the impression that Dubcek had bent