Re: Popular Justice and The Rule of Law -- 1

[glevy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

To use the word "popular justice" to describe the repression and mass
murder in the USSR (especially under Stalin), the "Cultural Revolution"
in the Peoples' Republic of China, the "killing fields" in Kampuchea
under the Pol Pot regime, or the use of terror as a strategy against the
peasantry and leftists in Peru by the Shining Path ... is clearly
misplaced for the following reasons.

In the case of the USSR, China, and Kampuchea ... the events were not
spontaneous acts of rage, but were carefully orchestrated actions by the
state and the party. The only caveat that I would add concerns the
Cultural Revolution. In that case, the events were organized by a
*faction* of the party that held important positions in the state
apparatus. The Red Brigades merely did Mao's dirty work for him at his
request. When Mao's opponents in the party were defeated, then the Red
Brigades were disarmed and demobilized. The ultimate cynical ploy.

As for Peru, one could claim with justification that atrocities in the
name of "the people" are being done by both the Fujimora government and
the Shining Path. In part, this is a reflection of the fact that there
could be said to be dual power in Peru.

It is interesting, though, to compare the tactics of the Zapatistas in
Mexico with those of the Shining Path in Peru. Do the imperialists not
hate the Zapatistas? Why have there not been widespread charges of
atrocities committed by the Zapatistas by organizations like Amnesty
International, NACLA, and Monthly Review? Could it be because there is a
different *policy* by the Zapatistas? Could it be because the charges
against the Shining Path are valid and that no one would believe similar
charges against the Zapatistas because there is so much evidence to the
contrary in Mexico?

Jerry



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