Genocidal Zionism

This article points out the bases of the Nazi war strategy, and particularly its theory of collective punishment and mass liquidation of civilian populations. This is the current Israeli war strategy as well. Many on the left wince at the comparison of the state of Israel with Nazi Germany. But the comparison is wholly justified. The ideology of Zionism has led to the emergence of an evil gendarme for imperialism that is intent on wiping out whole populations in its pursuit of lebensraum for the Jewish settler colonialists.

Yesterday, Israel's Justice Minister proclaimed that to kill every person in southern Lebanon is justified, because "(a)ll those now in south Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hezbollah." This is premised on a Nazi war strategy, a genocidal war strategy.

Israel is systematically destroying the civilian infrastructure of Gaza, including its only power plant. Because electricity of required to pump water, access to drinking water is severely limited. Furthermore, Israel's prime minister states that "no one should be able to sleep in the night in Gaza," making it clear that it is Israel's intent to use all methods of terror in its futile attempt to force Palestinian submission. (Link) This too is based on a Nazi strategy, taken from the German playbook.

In the lands they occupied, the Nazis would often kill a certain number of civilians for every German soldier killed by a resistance fighter. They would hold entire families hostage to try to force the surrender of resistance fighters. (Link) Collective punishment is also at the heart of the Zionist war strategy. In the West Bank and in Gaza, Israel regularly kidnaps and holds hostage relatives of its opponents. (Link) It is also maintaining its 10-to-1 "kill ratio" - ten Lebanese civilians must die for every Israeli death. Because Israel fears confronting a people's war of resistance on the ground, it indiscriminately attacks from the air.

Israel today is walking down Hitler's beaten path. But it too will fail: where there is oppression, there is resistance.

Video: Revolutionary Women Prisoners of Peru

Click below to view brief video of revolutionary ceremony of female prisoners of war at Canto Grande prison on International Women's Day 1992. Footage is from documentary People of the Shining Path.

(Click here)

Imperialism and Barbarity Reflected in the Faces of Israeli Children

Israeli girls gleefully write messages on weapons destined to kill the children of Lebanon.

Interview with Nepal Maoist Student Leader Himal Sharma

"I came to know that the barrack was a slaughterhouse for killing people through wild and inhuman torture."

"...a major came to see us and said, 'We won't spend bullets to kill you. We will keep you hungry so that you die crying for food.'"

Leader of the Nepalese Maoist student union gives an interview, appearing in issue number 10 of The Worker magazine, during his time in Nepal's prisons. Last month, Sharma was released along with hundreds of other Maoists as part of the ongoing talks between the Maoists and the state.

FROM THE PRISON: INTERVIEW WITH HIMALSHARMA

[Himal Sharma, General Secretary of ANNISU (Revolutionary) was detained 27 months ago, and he is now imprisoned in Nakkhu Jail. This interview was prepared by Janmadev Joshi on the basis, of written conversation with Mr. Sharma. Sharma describes the context of his detention, wretched life within the prison, and his struggles against the prison authority. - Ed.]

When and from where were you detained?

I was detained on October 20, 2003 from Jamal, Kathmandu. Colonel Raju Basnet of Bhairavnath Barrack himself came to arrest me. I was arrested in a manner which resembles kidnapping. He nabbed me, blindfolded me and took me to his battalion at Maharajgunj, Kathmandu.

You were kept in a military custody for a long time without any formal notice, weren't you?

Most of my 27 months were spent in the military custody at Bhairavnath barrack. I came to know that the barrack was a slaughterhouse for killing people through wild and inhuman torture. The army pushed us into the water, electrified us, ordered us to urinate in the electric heater, and beat us with sticks and their boots. They used to beat us twice everyday at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and every fit of punishment continued for two hours. They did this to me and Krishna Sen till the last day there. In our files, the headquarters had ordered the army of Bhairavnath Barrack to torture us until we surrender. We were given a glass of rice after every 18 hours. We used to collect and eat the spilled rice, too. Two of other friends namely, Khadga Bahadur Gharti and Padmanarayan Nakarmi died of hunger in the custody.

They had a rule of beating us twice with a stick every time we went to toilet. We were ordered to stand up for 30 minutes every night. There was no question of getting any sleep. We were blindfolded and our hands were tied back for twenty four hours.

The detention of Krishna K. C. and yourself was made public. However, the situation of 47 others is atill unknown. What do you say to this?

Hundreds of people have disappeared from within this custody. As far as those 47 of our friends are concerned, they were with us until the night of December 20, 2003. All were given lockets with numbers to wear. We were called by those numbers not by our names. Among those who were in custody, Nischal Nakatmi, Gyanendra Trithi, Oipendra Panta, Suchendra Maharjan, Bhim Maharjan, Punya Basnet, Ohirendra Basnet, Hira Rokka, Bhim Geri, Oeshbhakta Chapagain, Jalandhar Bastola, Hirabahadur Saru, Koushilya Pokharel, Arjun Pokharel, Bhavanath Ohama Rewakala Tiwari, Ourga Bisankhu, Renuka Oula Babukaji Shresth Rupal Adhikari, Lila Acharya, Gokul Niraula, Lila Pandey, Hemnarayan Shrestha, Rajendra Mali, Kamala Waiba, Oileshwar Limbu, Rajendra Thapa, Kumar Dhakal, Ashok Akela, Prakash Lama, B. K. Shrestha, Shantiram Bhattarai, Tejman Bika, Arjun Maharjan, C. N. Dhungana, Bipal Shrestha, Sudarshan Rijal, Buddhi Lama, Ram Chandra Kafle and some others were put in a military truck and taken away. They are still missing.

Some media have mentioned that all of them were murdered in Shivapuri forest. Is this true?

If this is not true, why does this royal regime hesitate to make them public? Therefore, I think, the media reports are true. The royal army conducted this with great precision and preparation. I think this mass murder was done under direct order from the King and Chief of the Army Staff. We know about a secret meeting of Chief of the Army Staff Pyar Jung Thapa, Generals Oilip Rayamajhi, Rukmangat Katuwal, Biplavbahadur Gurung, Sudeepbahadur Shaha and the Colonels of Bhairavnath Battalion, Uddhabhairav Battalion, Mahavir Battalion held on that day. I think the investigation of United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Mr. Ian Martin must have reached to this conclusion.

Do you have any information about the erstwhile general secretary of ANNFSU (Revolutionary) Mr. Purna Poudel, who was detained two years before your detention?

We came to know that many people including Purna Poudel, Bain Bandar, Nabin Rai, Dil Bahadur Rai and Ishwar Lama were kept in Bhairavnath Barrack two years before. One night, they were tortured extremely until they became unconscious, and they were put in an army truck and taken to an unknown place. We have enough evidence to prove this information as correct. They will be made public in due time. The Bhairavnath Barrack and the whole royal regime must answer the question related to their situation.

What do you remember most when you remember your 27 month-long detention in a military custody?

There are many things. First, we could hear the voice of a woman who was kept inside a tent within the barrack. During a night of November 2003, we suddenly started to hear her scream. At first I thought it must be a routine, beating, and I, would also receive the same punishment after her. But we later came to know that she was being raped. The woman was pleading in loud voice that she was pregnant of eight months, and was asking the soldiers to kill her rather than rape her. In spite of her requests she was blindfolded and she was raped by a group of soldiers. Af­ter that the soldiers hit her on her stomach with their boots. The lady was requesting the soldiers to give her innocent child a chance to be born promising to be ready to get killed after the birth of her baby. But the drunken soldiers kept hitting the woman on her stomach. The lady gave birth to a dead child the same night. It was a baby girl. The lady, too, died after a couple of hours. I was kept in the next tent which was five meters away. My heart was paining for not being able to do anything except witness that wild incident. Before early morning, the colonel ordered his soldiers to bury her at the same place where she died. I can never forget that incident however hard I try to.

Second, 47 of our friends who were sleeping with us in the same Bhairavnath barrack were taken away in an army truck on December 20, 2003. On that occasion a major said to his officer, "The people who are taken out today will not be spent. The others' turn will come next." We later came to know that 'spend' means killing with bullet in their codified language. I still remember those words.

Third, we were not given food for many days during the month of March in 2004. During that time, a major came to see us and said, "We won't spend bullets to kill you. We will keep you hungry so that you die crying for food." Our friends Khadga Bahadur Budha and Padmanarayan Nakarmi died the same night. Be­fore they died, they were asking for a loaf of bread. After the soldiers heard their scream, they beat both of them severely. They lost their lives after a while. The scene, of people dying of hunger can never be forgotten.

You were detained for 27 months without any in­formation to anyone. The Supreme Court bas al­ready ordered your release. However, you were re­arrested. On what account are you imprisoned at the moment?

This question could be answered if the country was ruled on the basis of law. The police and the army mock the Supreme Court verdict. The king feels his rule is safe this way. We are detained because of our ideology and faith. Everyone understands the false drama hidden behind the government's cases. They have prepared 19 cases against me. All those cases allege me of wrongdoings while I was in their custody. This is funny. They hold no truth.

What have you been thinking about currently?

The reactionaries are turning this whole country into a prison. Our responsibility is to fight against evils of all kind. The nature of fight may be different. How­ever, the jail, too, is a trench of struggle for the revo­lutionaries. Therefore, we are struggling within the goal, too. We recently organized different programs from on the occasion of people's war day. During the same period, we struggled against the prison author­ity between January and March. As a result, the jail administration was forced to step down. We are not animals. We don't want to be shackled while we are taken to the court or to the hospital. The prices have soared. Therefore, Rs. 30 is not sufficient for us, and we are fighting against the authority so that it is doubled. Similarly, we have achieved some success in taking the issue of missing people to the interna­tional arena. This has become one of the major issues in the Geneva meeting.

Finally, is there anything else tab you want to say?

The country is rapidly moving towards democratic republic. Time has now arrived to fight against the feudalist monarchy. In this crucial turning point of history, I request all students and citizens to get active in the mass struggle.

Photo: At right, Himal Sharma after being released from Nakkhu prison on June 13th, as part of a release of Maoist political prisoners and prisoners of war in preparation for talks over constituent assembly.

The Worker: Comrade Prachanda on Revolution in Peru

(The item below is taken from the interview with Comrade Prachanda in issue 10 of The Worker. Comrade Prachanda synopsizes the positive and negative aspects of the revolution in Peru since initiating people's war in 1980. Specifically, while heralding the Communist Party of Peru's (PCP) defense of Maoism and steadfast opposition to revisionism of communist principles, he criticizes the revolutionary movement in Peru for certain "Left sectarian" errors, principal among them being insufficient tactical flexibility and an incorrect view of revolutionary leadership. It is highly commendable that Comrade Prachanda has taken the initiative to speak candidly on the Peruvian movement, as this is part of a summation of lessons that will aid both the world revolution, as well as the Peruvian revolution, as comrades in that country struggle to regain the ideological and political initiative.)

Question: The Peruvian movement, which was some time before a center of hope for the revolutionaries in the world, seems to have fallen into a serious crisis now. What is the Party's viewpoint on this? What lessons has the Party drawn from this?

Comrade Prachanda: The experience of the Peruvian revolutionary movement, which had to go through intensive development and extensive setback between the last two decades of twentieth century, is very important for those who are leading revolution in the twenty-first century. In the context of preparation and initiation of People's War in Nepal, the Peruvian movement had played a major role in inspiring us, and in this sense, it is of special significance for our Party to take lessons from the positive and negative experiences of this movement. It is our understanding that it will be a big mistake to devalue the contributions made by the Peruvian People's War for world revolution, which, fighting back the ideological attack made by right revisionism after the restoration of capitalism in China, was initiated on the basis of MLM. However, in no case, can it and must it be taken lightly that the People's War, which was developing rapidly for 12 years, is now in a crisis of existence because of the setback following the capture of the leadership. Sufficient indications that Chairman Gonzalo himself is the main spokesperson of the two-line struggle developed within the Party after his arrest, as well as of the right opportunist line that argues for peaceful conciliation with the enemy by abandoning war, reveal the seriousness of the situation.

MLM demands correct application of dialectical materialism to continue relentless struggle against all kinds of mechanical, subjective and one-sided thinking. It is necessary to be cautious of drifting towards another extreme while struggling against one. Following the counterrevolution in China, the communist movement, on the one hand, happened to fall prey to right extremism that mainly sides with class collaboration and, on the other, to left extremism that seeks to go straightforward without looking left or right, forward or backward. Following Mao's death, the Nicaraguan Sandinista movement that waged guerrilla war happened to fall prey to the former, i.e. right extremism, and the great revolutionary movement in Peru ideologically happened to fall prey to the second i.e. left sectarianism. It is our understanding and evaluation that, as a result of the mechanical and one-sided thinking, like for example of negating completely the question of building necessary adjustment, compromise or front with the secondary reactionary or middle class against the main enemy, of being unable to maintain proper balance between strategic firmness and tactical flexibility based on the equation of enemy's central power, of understanding the protracted People's War mechanically rather than developing military strategy according to today's world situation, of idealizing Comrade Gonzalo as a supernatural leader who never makes a mistake and of placing him above the whole Party and the Central Committee by asserting his leadership as Jefetura, of being unable or unprepared to learn in the real sense from the metaphysical mistakes of Comrade Stalin, etc.- the Party has reached a stage of crisis of existence in such a short time despite the sacrifice of more than 60 thousand people. Although one is revolutionary in spirit, the result can nevertheless be fatal if, from the viewpoint of applying the science of dialectical materialism, one gets caught in mechanical and metaphysical weaknesses - this is the lesson taken by our Party from the great Peruvian People's War and the blood of thousands of revolutionaries flown there. All the programs which our Party has been adhering to, such as our concepts regarding the 'development of democracy in the twenty-first century', military line of 'fusion', series of tactics adopted against the enemy, etc., incorporate the lessons from all positive and negative experiences of Peru.

The Worker: Nepal Maoists and Indian Maoists on New Communist International

The following interview excerpts are taken from issue number 10 of The Worker, organ of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) [CPN(Maoist)]. The first excerpt is from an interview with Comrade Prachanda, CPN (Maoist) leader, and the second is an from an interview with Comrade Ganapathi, leader of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) [CPI(Maoist)]. Emphases are mine.

Question: RIM has been in existence since past two decades. But one does not feel that it is developing and expanding at the expected pace. What is the Party's understanding on the challenges and possibilities of constituting a new Communist International?

Prachanda: Following the demise of Comrade Mao, capitalist restoration took place even in China: With this, imperialism and right revisionism intensified worldwide attacks on the revolutionary principles of MLM. At that difficult and complex juncture, it was the historical responsibility of genuine proletarian communists to take up special initiative to defend the basic revolutionary principles of MLM. The Revolution­ary Internationalist Movement (RIM) was organized in the background of fulfilling that historical respon­sibility. To the extent of defending MLM from the attack of imperialism and revisionism, definitely, the establishment and initiative of RIM played an im­portant role. But, in the context of applying and de­veloping MLM, RIM has not been able to take leaps. RIM can develop only by struggling against prob­lems, like the tendency of preferring to analyze and eulogize the experiences of old proletarian revolu­tions but hesitating to develop boldly the strategies and tactics based on mass line, by carrying out con­crete analysis of concrete condition.

Constituting a new Communist International has definitely become essential for the proletariat to fight against globalized imperialism and globalized revi­sionism, especially in the context of today's world situation. The challenges in the context of organiz­ing an International are the mainly the challenges of maintaining ideological uniformity on the question of defence, application and development of MLM. This challenge can be confronted in the course of ideological struggle and class struggle. As far as the question of possibility is concerned, "globalization" has prepared good grounds for the founding of an International.

...

Question: How is your party looking at the role that the RIM has been playing ideologically and politically in the con­temporary international communist movement?

Ganapathi: Our Party has a positive and critical approach towards RIM. On the one hand, we recognize the positive ideological-political role played by RIM on certain questions such as its analysis of the counter­revolution in China after the demise of Mao. This certainly helped those revolutionary parties that had some confusion regarding the developments in China.

On the other hand, our Party also has differences on some ideological-political questions such as the question of assessment of Stalin, concept of a new International, question of democratic centralism, and the problems in the functioning of CoRIM and so on. The manner in which RIM has been dealing with the question of Stalin is only creating more differ­ences within the Maoist camp. We are debating with CoRIM on all such questions.

Our Party has adopted the correct method of unity-struggle-unity in resolving our differences with RIM. We must adopt this method in solving the problems confronting the ICM.

Comment: Though the question was about RIM, which is not a new International, this seems to cut to heart of whether or not international organization of communist parties and organizations is appropriate. The Filipino Party definitely answers "no." The Nepalese say "yes," and are a part of RIM. The CPI(Maoist), which is not a part of RIM, is not clear here, but implies they at a minimum have problems with the RIM conception of what a new International should be. This debate will likely expand and become more concrete as revolutionary struggles intensify across South Asia. Certainly, the CPN(Maoist) conceptions concerning the implications of globalization are provocative and should be thoroughly analyzed.

"China Rushes to Mend Ties with Nepal Maoists"

KATHMANDU: With Nepal inching towards a new, interim government where the Maoist rebels would be a key partner, a red-faced China is rushing to mend fences with the guerrillas it once branded as anti-government forces tarnishing the image of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

Beijing’s Nepal strategy started unravelling in April when King Gyanendra’s regime crumbled after 15 months in power. Earlier, China had supported the February 2005 coup through which the king seized power and ruled with the help of the army.

When the international community suspended assistance to the royal regime, and India, the US and Britain suspended military supplies, China stepped up the sale of arms and ammunition that were used by the royal government to launch attacks on the Maoist guerrillas as well as suppress the anti-king protests by opposition parties.

However, China realised it had backed the wrong horse when nationwide protests forced the king to step down three months ago and an alliance of seven major opposition parties came to power. Within days of the new government being formed, Beijing rushed a team here to extend the hand of friendship to it.

Now Beijing is showing how far that arm can stretch by wooing the Maoists, at least two of whom were earlier sentenced to death in Tibet on charges of smuggling arms and explosives.The new Beijing emissary, Wang Hongwei, a member of the Chinese intelligentsia, established contact with the rebels, assuring them of Beijing’s support.

For the first time in the history of the decade-old insurgency in Nepal, a Chinese official has given an interview to Janadesh, the weekly mouthpiece of the Maoists that was banned during the king’s regime.“We believe the situation in Nepal would grow more stable after an interim government is formed with the Maoists,” Wang told the weekly. “China hopes its relations with the new government would grow stronger.”Distancing itself from King Gyanendra, who had called China Nepal’s “all-weather friend” and branded the Maoists terrorists, Wang said: “Even though India and the US dubbed the Maoists terrorists, Chinese officials never called them that. It is wrong to brand the party terrorists. I feel Washington is trying to play the terrorist card to further its own vested interests in Nepal.”

The statement was in stark contrast to what Sun Heping, then Chinese ambassador to Nepal, had said in 2003. “They (the rebels) shouldn’t be called Maoists,” he had said. “That tarnishes the image of Chairman Mao.”But now glossing over that, Wang lauded the rebels, saying they could “represent the aspirations of the poor people of Nepal”.While the Maoists seem ready to forget and forgive, Beijing’s about turn, however, is not without pitfalls.

Saying that Chinese academics and intellectuals can play a key role in Nepal’s democracy movement, Wang told the weekly the Chinese city of Shanghai had hosted a conference on Nepal issues some time back.On June 24-25, the Academy for World Watch, a Shanghai-based research institute, invited a speaker from Nepal to deliver the keynote address on the impact of Maoist activities in Nepal as well as neighbouring countries.

The speaker invited by Beijing was Sharad Chandra Shah, a royal relative who was also King Gyanendra’s adviser. Currently, investigations are on into Shah’s role in the atrocities perpetrated on unarmed protesters in April, which resulted in the death of 21 people. – IANS

(Link)

(Wang Hongwei is not an official Chinese government representative, but is attached to the Chinese Association for South Asian Studies at the country's Academy of Social Sciences. However, it is highly unlikely if he would have spoken to Janadesh or referred to the CPN(Maoists) as "Maoists" instead of "anti-government guerrillas" unless he were instructed to do so by the state.)

Support for Revolutionary Maoist Parties within China

An article posted on the website of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences entitled “Strong Left-wing Political Parties Inspire Asia Again” heralds the armed revolutionary struggles led by the revolutionary communists of Nepal and the Philippines. The article by Liu Yuanqi is typical of many circulating in official and semi-official “New Left” circles in China, which are obliquely critical of the Chinese government’s counterrevolutionary foreign policy, and are supportive of revolutionary movements abroad. A weakness of the article is its eclecticism - it also heralds the electoral strength of the “Communist Party of India (Marxist),” which is a right-wing outfit that that is a part of the national Indian governing coalition, and leads two Indian state governments, enforcing anti-people, pro-IMF and pro-World Bank policies. However, it is a positive development that more and more Chinese people are searching for political solutions from the international communist movement. Ultimately, however, the Chinese “New Left” will have to accept the fact that socialism can only be restored in China through a second revolution, and that the state machinery in the hands of the revisionist “Communist Party of China” will have to be smashed if China’s working people are to again assume their role as masters of the country. Certainly, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist forces can contribute to this emerging debate by creating and distributing Chinese translations of materials such as A World to Win magazine and documents of Comrade Prachanda and other revolutionary leaders.

Strong Left-wing Political Parties Inspire Asia Again

At the end of 1980’s and the beginning of 1990's, the drastic changes in the Soviet Union caused the Asian left-wing political parties to suffer serious setbacks. But, because the Asian left-wing has a strong historical basis in Maoist principles and national independence, the Soviet and Eastern European collapse has not affected the Asian left as much as the left in the developed countries…

(Since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis) the Asian left has continuously gained strength, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of the Philippines and Nepalese Communist Party (Maoist) with particular strength warranting attention.

The Poverty of the Philippine Countryside Inspires the New Strength of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The Philippines was one of the first third world countries to thoroughly implement the neo-liberal development agenda under American hegemony. As early as in 1962, the Philippines ended government regulation of the economy, and thereafter continuously carried out the export-oriented development strategy recommended by the International Monetary Fund, attempted to attract foreign capital with its cheap labor force, and became the supplier of cheap commodities to the developed countries. This strategy is advantageous to the developed countries, but actually causes the Philippines to become one of nations which most retarded in terms of development.

These factors have prepared the soil for the Communist Party of the Philippines' growth. After the massive change in the Soviet Union, the Communist Party of the Philippines has an inner-party struggle, with the appearance of a faction denying the necessity of military revolutionary struggle and advocating only parliamentary struggle. The New People’s Army force rapidly declined in strength… In this critical moment, the “Second Great Rectification Movement” was launched, confirming that protracted people's war was the main revolutionary form, and reiterating that the main route of people's war is the countryside surrounding the city, thus enabling the Communist Party of the Philippines the to restore the strength of the New People’s Army…

The New People’s Army has not established completely liberated areas, but has established massive guerrilla areas, established 127 guerrilla fronts, spreading across 90% of the provinces. The New People’s Army works in the countryside, implementing rent reduction for the tenant farmer, raising the wages for the farm worker, carrying out genuine land reform in the countryside, and therefore has a good mass base, and can carry on very large-scale guerrilla warfare…

Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Rises up in Impoverished Countryside

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) is a faction which split from the Nepalese Communist Party. Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) thought Nepalese class contradictions greater and greater, that is was impossible to struggle through the parliament to obtain transformation, and believed that only the path of Mao Zedong - establishing rural revolutionary bases, the countryside surrounding the city through armed struggle - could transform the society. In 1996, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) initiated the people’s war in Nepal’s poorest west mountainous under the leadership of the working class, fully mobilized the populace, carried out agrarian revolution, set up the liberated areas’ new political power, liberated women by eradicating feudal customs, and has obtained people's widespread support…

At present, liberated areas have a population of 10 million, with the total Nepalese population being 23 million. Even in white areas which are controlled by the enemy, there also appear general strikes and other forms of struggle…

Conclusion

… Mao Zedong Thought still has vital significance regarding third world development and liberation in the present time. Mao Zedong's military concept of guerrilla warfare waged by the people - people's war - still currently has value to the third world. As proof of this, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the Communist Party of the Philippines have absorbed and have developed Mao Zedong's concept of people's war, and have obtained very great success… After nearly 30 years of dense historical fog has dissipated, we discovered that Mao Zedong Thought still will be very important to the future of China and the world.

http://ilas.cass.cn/redianzt_fj/20051007224049-0.doc

More on Peru: Article - Communist Party of Peru to “Initiate Armed Resistance”

The following article - translation mine - comes from the reactionary media and should, as always in such cases, be taken in a critical and skeptical manner. Luis Arce Borja, former editor of the revolutionary Peruvian newspaper El Diario, among other figures, has stated that forces using the name “Communist Party of Peru” in the region referenced in this article are associated with a so-called faction called Proseguir (Continue), which allegedly rejects the line of fighting for “peace accords” and allegedly presently upholds the pre-1992 program of the Communist Party of Peru. In other words, the PCP Regional Committee in the Apurímac-Ene River valley may never have abandoned the road of people’s war.

Many international forces, including the individual Arce Borja, have been dismissive of all the groups using the moniker “Communist Party of Peru” as a whole. In this context, the question confronting communists outside of Peru is:

1) How is the experience of the people’s war in Peru from 1980-1992 to be summed up?

2) What are the contributions of Abimael Guzman to the experience of international communist movement?

3) Can (relatively) definite conclusions be drawn about the relationship of Abimael Guzman, Elena Iparraguirre, and other PCP leaders to the capitulationist line that emerged in 1993?

4) How can communists and revolutionaries outside Peru provide moral-political support to the Peruvian revolutionaries?

These questions are important. Revolutionaries in Peru undoubtedly, to the extent possible under their conditions, pay attention to the political lines emanating from the international communist movement. More often than not, they are hearing absolutely nothing with regard to Peru. PCP may have been organizationally and even more importantly politically disarticulated in the course of sustaining the severe blows of the enemy. Correct analysis of the course of the Peruvian revolution is a service to those struggling in Peru. Perhaps even more importantly, correct analysis provides a service to those struggling outside Peru, attempting to assimilate the lessons of the whole experience of the world proletarian revolution.

Article: Sendero Luminoso Threatens Garcia

In a communiqué they announce the beginning of its "armed resistance" to the Aprista (APRA - Garcia’s social democratic party –K) government.

Looking for international impact and gratuitous propaganda, Sendero Luminoso announced in a communiqué, that it is preparing to initiate "armed resistance" against the government of Alan Garcia Perez, whom they accuse of having selectively assassinated Senderistas during his first government, according to the Notimex news agency.

The terrorists also point their weapons against the first vice-president, Luis Giampietri, whom they label as being the executor of the orders of Garcia to kill the Senderista prisoners in the El Fronton prison, in June of 1986.

But there is more. According to the Mexican news agency, Sendero Luminoso not only announced the reorganization of its columns in the jungle and the mountains of the country for its "armed resistance,” but it also advanced that it would initiate its fight in a type of revenge against the elect president.

"We are going to fight and resist the government of Garcia, the one responsible for several massacres. This criminal will have to pay by his crimes,” runs one of the phrases of the communiqué reproduced by Notimex.

In addition, the terrorists assured in their communiqué that they are ready to take up arms. "We still have operational capacity, although one is told that there are no armed actions or that we are decimated,” they emphasized.

According to Notimex, the communiqué is signed in the Amazonian jungle of Satipo, an area where the terrorist columns are allied with the drug traffickers known as the Apurímac-Ene River valley.

EVIDENCE AGAINST ALAN

In an attempt to gain the attention of questionable human rights organizations, the message "remembers" that in the previous government of Garcia (1985-1990) and in the administration of Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), “selective annihilations" of Senderistas were committed.

"Those two governments kidnapped, annihilated and disappeared hundreds of young people, adults and children suspected of belonging to (Sendero Luminoso),” they maintained.

Also, they asserted that they have evidence concerning the presumed intellectual participation of Garcia Perez - through his present vice-president, Admiral Luis Giampietri - in the military operation of to put down the bloody riot at El Fronton.

Referring to the Fujimori government, the criminal organization indicated that it knows of evidence that implicates Martin Rivas as the person responsible for the annihilations by the paramilitary group Colina.

"In name of the democracy he tortured and disappeared presumed militants of (Sendero Luminoso)". With this phrase the communiqué concludes, representing its followers in the Apurímac-Ene River valley, numbering 200 fighters.

Luis Giampietri: "We have a ready counter-subversive strategy"

Confident in the military power of the State and its strategy to confront the terrorist threat - thus was the first vice-president-elect, Luis Giampietri, yesterday after learning of the Senderista communiqué that threatens the Aprista government with unleashing a spiral of violence in the country.

"If we are to take a military attitude, we are taking it at this moment, of analyzing this threat - we will face it. We have a counter-subversive strategy towards these remnants, that for intelligence reasons we will not reveal now,” he indicated.

In that sense, he states that although the APRA hopes to govern on the basis of harmony in all of the country, it does not mean that they will doubt using force at the suitable moment.

Nevertheless, the admiral in retirement affirmed that he trusts that those delinquent hordes will not be able to take armed actions that are not localized in the Ene Valley, and that they are incapable of operating in other zones of the country and in Lima.

Old Tactics

Also, he (Gaimpietri) states that the Sendero Luminoso is resorting to old tactics of using messages through mass media to intimidate to the population with "military threats.”

Giampietri clarified, in addition, that the terrorists continue with their double game of wanting to fight by means of the political route and also by means of the trigger and the powder. "On the one hand they present themselves as being legalists and on the other hand they threaten war. Sendero always has used legalism as one of its weapons. I always said that the problem of Sendero has not been finished and it will be necessary to attentively follow this narcoterrorist version,” he expressed.

Finally, the sailor in retirement avoided commenting on the responsibility that Sendero attributes to him in the communiqué concerning the slaughter of Senderista criminals that occurred during the first Garcia Perez government.

http://www.ednoperu.com/noticia.php?IDnoticia=26451

Revolutionary Optimism

Will the future ever arrive?

Should we continue to look upwards?

Is the light we can see in the sky one of those
which will presently be extinguished?

The ideal is terrifying to behold, lost as it is in
the depth, small, isolated, a pin-point,
brilliant but threatened on all sides by
the dark forces that surrounds it;

Nevertheless, no more danger than a star in
the jaws of the clouds.

- Victor Hugo

Nepalese Maoist Baburam Bhattarai: "We'll Never Surrender Our Arms"

One of the principal Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) leaders, Baburam Bhattarai, made clear that the Maoists will not be disarmed prior to the holding of elections for a constituent assembly for a body to write a new state constitution.

KATHMANDU, July 10 (Reuters) - Nepal's Maoist rebels will not surrender
their arms before next year's elections for a special assembly to map out the
embattled Himalayan nation's political future, a top rebel leader said on
Monday.

"Let everybody be clear -- we'll never surrender our arms," Baburam Bhattarai, seen as number two to Maoist chief Prachanda, told Reuters in an interview.

"We want the restructuring of the state and the army. In that restructured army our army will also be integrated."

Comrade Bhattarai makes clear that the Maoists will not accept anything less that the dismantling of the old state and the construction a new popular, democratic state. In order to do this, the revolutionary armed forces must not be liquidated; rather, the Maoist People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the national army and the army of the new state. The soldiers of the old "royal" army should be incorporated into a new national army along with the PLA.

The United States, which provides $45 million aid annually to impoverished Nepal -- more than 10 percent of total aid -- has threatened to withdraw funds if the Maoists, who it lists as terrorists, join the interim government without giving up arms.

It is clear that the imperialists are frustrated with the success of the Nepalese revolutionary forces, and are conspiring to effect a counterrevolutionary coup d'etat. Along with this, the old Hindu chauvinists and royalists are plotting comeback attempts. Because of these dangers, it is important that the Maoists have made the firm decision to maintain the revolutionary armed forces. As Comrade Mao said, "with a people's army, the people have nothing." Comrade Lenin instructed, "all but power is illusion."

"There is tremendous pressure from the people who want to make
the peace process a success," Bhattarai said, adding that the rebels would not
return to war.

Bhattarai said the guerrillas had no regrets about the war,
which has ravaged infrastructure and displaced more than 200,000 of the
country's 26 million population.

"We are proud of it. We have changed the whole scenario --
political, economic, social and cultural scenario in the country," he said.

The Maoists are committed to pursuing elections to a constituent assembly as a pathway for revolutionary change. They are upholding the strategy of people's war as not just an "option" for revolutionary
change, but rather as an absolutely necessary means of struggle. Indeed, without the ten years of people's war and without what Comrade Mao called the the three magic weapons of Party, people's army, and revolutionary united front, the recent successes of the anti-feudal, pro-democratic movement would have been out of the question.

Though Comrade Bhattarai states that the Maoists would not "return to war," this is in fact completely in the hands of the imperialists, feudal monarchists, and anti-national bureaucrat capitalists: if they sabotage the environment, making it impossible to hold elections for a constituent assembly, this will constitute an act of war, forcing the people to return to other forms to struggle.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/B323510.htm

Revolutionary Armed Struggle Continues in Peru - Articles from Peruvian Media

Below are some items from the reactionary Peruvian media, which I have translated as best I can. While in general these news outlets attempt to belittle the stature of the Communist Party of Peru and its armed forces, the tabloid-ish and hysterical tone of some of the articles betrays an insecurity on the part of the ruling classes. Note also in the final article that the defendents' legal motions in the trial of revolutionary prisoners of war is being decided a priori not by a judge but by the head of the "anti-terrorist" police.

Almost 14 years after the capture of Comrade Gonzalo - Abimael Guzman - and the other leading members of the Party in the political bureau and permanent historical committee, the Communist Party of Peru (PCP) continues to wage revolutionary armed struggle and carry the red flag of proletarian revolution. From the perspective of most outside observers, the political situation within the PCP is unclear in terms of the struggle against elements advocating a unilateral ceasefire (capitulation), it is highly encouraging that the Party’s forces continue to operate militarily and politically both in its historical base as well as in the cities.

From the Peruvian media:

“2006 Hunt” Counter-subversive Operation Launched

Huánuco, 06/07/2006 (CNR) - In the coming days, the National Police in Huánuco will launch the "2006 Hunt" operation, in order to contain the reemergence of elements of the Shining Path in this region.

This was relayed by PNP Colonel Gustavo Lúcar Espinoza, head of the local regional police, commenting that a strong contingent of soldiers will be mobilized shortly to the remotest provinces like Huacaybamba and Huamalíes, scenes of recent terrorist incursions.

Hardly two days ago, the forces of order discovered two packages with explosives in the locale of the ElectroCentro plant. It is presumed that the frustrated attack was directed by “Comrade Norma", whose column made an incursion in the center of San Miguel de Querosh (Llata) several weeks ago. Link

Presumed Terrorist is Arrested in Lambayeque

CPN RADIO 3 July - A presumed rebel of the North Regional Committee of the Shining Path was captured by agents of the Anti-Terrorist Division (DINCOTE), during an operation carried out in the Olmos district, department of Lambayeque.

Dionisio Huancas Mazape, known also as Comrade “Gil,” had been under warrant of the Special Penal Unit for Cases of Terrorism in Chiclayo.

Apparently, Huancas Mazape joined the Sendero force in their base in Los Faiques village. Also, he committed activities in zones like Piedras Negras, Garbanzal, Santa Rosa and Racalí. Link

Armed Forces Locate Zone Where Comrade “Artemio” Operates

CPN RADIO 02 Jul - The Armed Forces have an idea of where the dangerous terrorist ringleader "Artemio" operates in the zone of Alto Huallaga, minister of Defense, Rengifo Martian revealed during an inspection visit in the region San Martín.

"We have the idea of where he moves about... in the countryside or the populated places, but give it some time (dejemos tiempo al tiempo)", said Rengifo Ruiz.

In declarations to the press, he indicated that the work of searching for subversive remnants in the forest must be permanent and persistent on the part of the intelligence sector. Minister Rengifo spent three days traveling across the Alto Huallaga in order to supervise the work of the armed forces in the capture of the Shining Path remnants. Link

THEY WILL SENTENCE HIM IN AUGUST

(Peru.com: 2006/7/5) The president of the National Anti-Terrorist Unit, Pablo Talavera affirmed that next August Abimael Guzman, the ringleader of the Shining Path will be sentenced along with other leaders in the "mega-trial" against them.

In these days, he stated, the court is listening to audios and watching videos related to this subversive group between the years 1980 and the 2000. "I predict that all this month we will listen to the audios and we will see videos.” Soon the debate will come about the evidence, the pleas of the defendants and the sentence,” the magistrate detailed in a dialogue with the Andean agency.

Talavera indicated that the order for annulling the evidentiary process presented weeks ago by the terrorist leadership in no way will interrupt the judgment… Link

Meeting Pasang in Rolpa

(The following is an article from the Nepali Times newspaper. As the ceasefire in Nepal continues, more and more Maoist leaders are coming forth and gaining public exposure.)

Comrade Pasang reviews the hard struggle of the past decade of popular war:

RED STAR OVER EVEREST

Maoist deputy commander Nanda Kishore Pun poses in front a banner at his office in Rolpa in March.

He sits on a chair in front of a flag depicting two AK47s flanking a mountain with a red star over the summit. He is among the more reclusive Maoist commanders and this is a rare interview. Nanda Kishor Pun, Comrade Pasang, agrees to meet me in an office-like house in the small valley of Kureli in Rolpa and the meeting lasts five hours.

He is one of the four deputy-commanders of the Maoist ‘People’s Liberation Army’ and is directly under Prachanda who is the supreme commander. Pun, 40, was born in Rangsi in northwestern Ropla as the fourth among seven siblings. By the time he was in fourth grade, he was already a communist and actively involved in student politics becoming a member of the first district committee of the CPN (Unity Centre). He led a cultural group during the first general election campaign after 1990 and became the first district president of the newly-formed Young Communist League. This was an armed front of the Unity Centre formed to counter activities of the then ruling NC which was filing cases against their party.

This YCL was transformed into Ladaku Dal (Fighting Force) which was a precursor to the PLA.

Thirty-five members (including two women) of four Ladaku Dals launched the ‘People’s War’ by attacking a police post in Holeri on the night of 13 February 1996. Pun took part as an assistant commander under Ananta.

When the Maoists formed squads in Rolpa made up of members of the Ladaku Dal in May 1996 Pun was made in-charge. And when the PLA was formed in September 2001, he was made commander of the first battalion. When new formations– company, battalion, brigade or division–were formed, Pun always led them.

He took part in most of the major Maoist attacks in western Nepal, from the first action on security forces at the Jhimpe communication tower in Salyan in January 1999 to the battle for Beni in March 2004. It wasn’t always easy, he says.

“When eight of our comrades were killed in a raid on a police post of Rukumkot in April 2001 we felt very bad,” Pun remembers, “and we saw the number of martyrs increase after we took on the RNA. We lost nearly 80 comrades in the Beni action and even more in the second Khara attack.”

Pun revealed that he personally took part in planning battles including the first-ever attack on an army base in November 2001 in Ghorahi where he stayed to gather intelligence for the attack. Pun claims 4,500 people, including 1,900 ‘volunteers’, participated in the attack on Beni. The force started their march from Thabang in Rolpa. When they arrived in Takam of Myagdi they brought forward the raid by two days when they found that the army knew about the impending attack.

Pun also admitted Maoist defeats in Bhalubang and Kusum in 2003 and two attacks on RNA barracks in Khara of Rukum. He said the main reasons for these defeats were lack of preparation and leakage of information to the security forces.

Unlike three other deputy commanders, Ananta, Prabhakar and Baldeb who commanded divisions, Pun has been made in-charge of the Maoist military academy. Prabhakar and Baldeb have been included as public speakers at Maoist meetings and Ananta has been enlisted to provide security to top leaders in the capital but Pun’s role today is unclear.

Ram Bahadur Thapa (Badal) was himself in Kathmandu last week and told me Pun was providing political training to PLA members. “He’s is quite busy these days,” Thapa said, “he and some other leaders who have not yet appeared in public will come out soon.”

During another meeting last month, Pun himself said: “We were obliged to carry weapons but I am quite happy with the present political development as we have wanted a peaceful solution since the beginning.”

Link (Registration required)

Chilean Judge Allows Lawsuit Against Peruvian President for Massacre of Communists

A Chilean human rights organization is attempting to bring charges against Peruvian President Alan Garcia, who in addition to his current reign was president during the 1985-1990 period. On June 19th, 1986, hundreds of revolutionary prisoners under the leadership of the Communist Party of Peru were massacred on Garcia's orders. This day came to be known among revolutionaries around the world as the Day of Heroism. The prisoners truly turned the dungeons into shining trenches of combat, marking a milestone of resistance.

From the Cuban Latin Press:

Chile: Lawsuit against Alan Garcia Accepted

Santiago,
Chile, Jul 4 (Prensa Latina) Santiago's Second Criminal Court agreed on Tuesday
to a lawsuit filed against Peruvian president-elect Alan Garcia for serious
human rights violations committed during his first term (1985-1990).

Judge Romy Rutherford ruled that events attributed to the former ruler
constitute crimes against humanity, which are unprescribable and have
international competence.

The lawsuit was filed on Jun 22 by leaders of
the Committee of Peruvian Refugees Living in Chile, Raul Paiva and Rodolfo
Noriega, on occasion of a visit paid to Santiago by Garcia to meet President
Michelle Bachelet.

The judicial action is sponsored by Chilean human
rights lawyers Hugo Gutierrez and Roberto Avila. It refers to killings of
inmates occurred on Jun 19, 1986, El Fonton, San Juan de Lurigancho and Santa
Barbara prisons.

The crimes occurred when the prisoners, who belonged to
Sendero Luminoso and other radical groups, rebelled to avoid being transferred
to the high security prison of Canto Grande, where conditions were even
worse. (End Item)

More on MIM and its Break with the Nepalese Revolution

Posters on the pro-Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) discussion forum It’s Right to Rebel have responded to my post concerning MIM’s document formally breaking with the Nepalese revolution. One poster, Rebel_One, injects the following: “I agree with comrades' remarks on the RCP (Revolutionary Communist Party -K.), but given the suggestion some have made on these forums that criticism of the Nepalese people's struggles is likely to be based on a lack of information and understanding of concrete developments, is there any point in splitting with the Nepalese Maoist party? I wonder what exactly MIM has against the Nepalese Party other than its ties to the RCP? Is its ties to the revisionist RCP likely to adversely impact its capacity to carry forward revolutionary communism?” That is precisely the reason I criticize MIM for “over the top” sectarianism. Its document clearly laid out “reciprocity” in party-to-party relations as a criterion for supporting the revolutionary struggles led by other parties. It further made non-recognition (or as MIM puts it, non-“tolerance”) of the RCP as another such criterion. Whether I support or do not support the RCP is not relevant to my criticism of MIM’s adoption of such criteria for support of the struggles led by communist parties.

ServethePeople engages in sophistry by stating that “MIM does support the Maoist revolutionary movement in Nepal and every other country but does not necessarily endorse specific parties.” But the MIM central committee document clearly states that it will no longer promote struggles led by parties that “tolerate” the RCP, and MIM has even gone to the length of removing its web pages with articles relating to the Nepalese people’s revolutionary struggle, keeping only one Luis Arce Borja article obliquely criticizing the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) [CPN (Maoist)]. This matter goes beyond party “non-recognition.” Furthermore, how is it possible to “support” the communist revolutionary struggle in Nepal without supporting the Party that initiated it and is leading it? There is no Nepalese “Maoist revolutionary movement” separate from the CPN (Maoist). The Nepalese people’s army is the People’s Liberation Army, and it is under the command of the CPN (Maoist). People’s war was initiated in 1996 by decision of the CPN (Maoist). By making “reciprocity” and the relations between the CPN (Maoist) and the RCP dividing line questions, MIM breaks with not only the CPN (Maoist), but also with the revolutionary struggle it is leading.

WV states that “Klement is wrong to suggest proletarian unity is not based on ideological unity and unity against opportunism and revisionism, as Lenin and Mao said they were.” I made no such suggestion. If RIM were a counterrevolutionary group and the CPN (Maoist) were a counterrevolutionary party, then struggle and not unity would be called for. But that is not the case. If MIM would state that it believes RIM and also the CPN (Maoist) are counterrevolutionary, then at least MIM would be principled, though incorrect. However, if MIM upholds the sort of sophistry demonstrated by ServethePeople, then MIM is unprincipled as well as incorrect. However, MIM could still in the future specifically identify the CPN (Maoist) as counterrevolutionary, and then it would be clearly articulating its principles. WV further states that “Klement is wrong to say breaking with particular leaders means rejecting the oppressed's struggles or even the previous practice of these leaders.” That is merely more sophistry of attempting to separate the Nepalese Party from the revolution it is leading. However, if MIM were to state that it previously supported, but no longer supports the CPN (Maoist) and its struggle, that would at least be principled.

Iran - Sarbedaran and the Question of the “Main Enemy”

There is another aspect to the MIM document worth discussing. The document, without naming names, strongly condemns the Iranian Sarbedaran, or Communist Party of Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist). Sarbedaran, along with the RCP, recently gave support to International Women’s Day (IWD) activities that were aimed at opposing the misogynistic oppression in Iran. Earlier, I addressed the issues raised by the controversy surrounding this matter (Link). The RCP addressed the question by printing a note defending the IWD activities in Revolution newspaper (Link). This is an issue that has been raised by MIM - among others - that is worthy of consideration.

It was a wrongheaded course of action for the RCP to participate in these demonstrations, particularly at a time when U.S. imperialism is clearly gearing up for aggression against Iran. There is no doubt that the Islamic Republic is deeply reactionary, but it is simply not the main enemy of the people of Iran at present. And furthermore, it is a foremost duty of communists in the U.S. to oppose imperialist aggression. Imperialism is looking for every political tool it can grasp to whip up U.S. public opinion for aggression against Iran.

In light of these facts, promotion of the IWD events is mistaken, and may feed into the strategy of groups like the MEK, or “Mujehideen” organization which has become a willing handmaiden for U.S. imperialism and an accomplice in its plans for Iran. The MEK is on the friendliest of terms with leading U.S. neo-conservative political figures, who promote the MEK as a pro-US, secular political force for a “new Iran” to emerge after US-engineered “regime change.” Despite its “left” cover, the MEK, like the CIA’s “Iraqi National Congress” prior to 2003, is loudly banging the war drums and building political support for all manner of imperialist aggression. It uses “human rights” as one of its principle tools. Communists must not unwittingly attach themselves to such a political campaign.

How to Assess MIM

I have stated previously that it is incorrect to simply dismiss the MIM and its ideology and politics as “crazy,” or as somehow “irrelevant” because the MIM may have few supporters. Neither of these matters is relevant to assessing the MIM. Every self-proclaimed communist organization in the U.S. can fairly be described as miniscule. And there is no such thing as “crazy” divorced from class content. Something can be learned from a political line, whether right or wrong.

The MIM does have a coherent political line, regardless of its correctness or incorrectness. It is premised upon their class analysis that the overwhelming majority of all those within the U.S. - regardless of nationality - constitute varying strata of the international exploiting classes. While the pro-MIM internet discussion group It’s Right to Rebel is not an official MIM forum, a vision of a model North American post-revolutionary society developed there is congruent with MIM’s line. This hypothetical society was referred to as “One Big Gulag.” That is, the vast preponderance of current U.S. citizens are in need of reform through labor under criminal statute. The implication is that there is simply no social basis for revolution within the U.S.

The “One Big Gulag” vision of a post-revolutionary North America and its accompanying class analysis goes far beyond the correct understanding that there is a large, very influential Euro-American labor aristocracy in the U.S. It rules out a progressive role by any social stratum internal to the U.S., with the possible exception of some non-citizen immigrants. WV states that this analysis is not just “MIM Thought,” but there is no evidence to this effect.

The MIM condemns RIM or any other international organizational formation as “Trotskyite,” and at the same time demands “reciprocity,” non-recognition of the RCP, and support for its class analysis of the U.S. as preconditions for its support. In doing so, it is replicating the worst aspects of the old Comintern’s practices of maintaining international discipline. In the past, MIM has promoted the view of international party-to-party relations of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which gives support to many parties and struggles but also opposes international organization of parties, preferring individual party-to-party relations. Now it appears that MIM has gone to the extreme and repudiated relations with all other parties, because it views “MIM Thought” as a cardinal principle, and there are at this time no other parties that uphold “MIM Thought.” MIM can be described as an organization with an errant class analysis that lends itself to the inevitable conclusion that there are no internal factors or social basis for revolution in the U.S.