PCP ON NEGOTIATIONS

[Luis Quispe <lquispe@xxxxxxxxxx>]

                   ON NEGOTIATIONS

EL DIARIO-LIMA, PERU: President, would you accept talks with Alan
Garci'a? [Trans. Garcia was head of the old State 1985-1990]

PRESIDENT GONZALO: The idea of talks is being bandied about, and
it is also part of the superpowers' game, especially the
social-imperialists. We see the situation this way: There is a
time in the development of a People's War when relations and
diplomatic dealings become necessary and do occur. For example,
the meeting between Chairman Mao and Chiang Kai-shek. This is
something people are familiar with. We also saw it in the case of
Vietnam. It is a facet in the development of a revolutionary war
and, even more so, of a People's War. But we must start from the
understanding that in diplomatic meetings agreements signed at
the table only reflect what has already been established on the
battlefield, because no one is going to give up what they have
not obviously lost. That is understood. Well, one could ask, has
that moment arrived in Peru? That moment has not arrived, So why
raise the issue of talks? Such talks are simply aimed at halting
or undermining the People's War, that's what they are aimed at
and nothing more. So I repeat, the truth is that the time for
meetings and diplomatic dealings has not arrived, it makes no
sense.

As for the rest, I think it is a demagogic matter that they have
been stirring up since the time of Belaunde's government, when
due to a proposal from someone from the United Left that was
accepted, the then-president stated that there was no suitable
interlocutor. Words!

At bottom it was nothing but cheap demagoguery without rhyme or
reason, and it's still the same today. And who talks about talks?
The revisionists, the opportunists, and those who have hope for
APRA [trans. Reactionary Party in power 1985-1990], for this
demo-bourgeois order, for this reactionary order. They are the
ones. But are they not at the same time the ones who are
promoting pacification, our destruction? Are they not the same
ones who make proposals about how to pacify better, which means
how to sweep us away, because such are their sinister dreams to
satisfy their appetites? They are the same ones. What a
coincidence! So then, these talks are a sinister betrayal.

Furthermore, one could ask: How can they talk about dialogue,
those who even made an amnesty pact with Garcia Perez, which he
never honored? So for me all this jabbering about talks is
nothing, I repeat, but looking for a way to undermine the
people's war, because it doesn't correspond to reality. When the
time comes, the People's War will necessarily have to undertake
diplomatic dealings. But our diplomacy will be aimed at
Conquering Power countrywide, fully and completely. We
don't want a North Vietnam and a South Vietnam, we don't want a
North Korea and a South Korea. We don't want a North Peru and a
South Peru, we want only one Peru. This is our condition: Full,
complete and absolute surrender. Are they ready for that? No.
What they are plotting is our destruction, and so talks are
nothing but a part of that same plan despite all their demagogic
and philistine cackling.
---------------0---------------------------------------
EL DIARIO: President, in what political and social sectors does
the PCP seek its allies? Do you have any affinity with political
groups in the country? The opportunists claim that you are
sectarian. How do you determine your united front policy? What is
the strength of the Party in the countryside, in the workers'
movement, among the people as a whole?

PRESIDENT GONZALO: If you will allow me, I will start from how we
see the front. We have already explained how we are carrying it
forward, but what we need to state clearly here is how we
conceive of the united front which Chairman Mao spoke of. While
I'm on the subject, let me say that it was Mao who established
the laws of the front, the six laws of the front. There were no
such laws before him. In accordance with these criteria of
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, our goal is a front of classes, with the
proletariat as the leading class, the peasantry as the main
force, the petty bourgeoisie as an ally which we must pay
attention to, and in particular the intellectuals, because they
are necessary to the revolution, as Chairman Mao also taught us.
And in this front, under certain circumstances and conditions,
even the national bourgeoisie can and does participate.

This is what we understand by the united front. This front has a
foundation, which is the worker-peasant alliance, forged in the
countryside. We are forging it today, and have been for eight
years with arms in hand. Why is the worker-peasant alliance
necessary? Because without it the proletariat would not have
hegemony, and this front requires a Communist Party to lead it.
This is our position. We are absolutely opposed to the
revisionist theory being applied in Central America, and that
they want to spread elsewhere, that "everyone is revolutionary,"
"everyone is Marxist," "there's no need for the leadership of a
Communist Party," "it's enough to simply unite everyone and base
oneself on a front in order to lead a revolution." That is the
negation of Marxism. It is the negation of Marx, of Lenin, and of
Chairman Mao. No Marxist has disregarded the need for the
leadership of a Party. Without it, how can the hegemony of the
proletariat be concretized? Only through a really genuine
Communist Party, that is, a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Party that
firmly and consistently serves the interests of the class and
defends the interests of the people. This is how we see it and
this is what we are forging and developing. For us the issue of
the front has to do with the aforementioned thesis, that the
Party is the selection of the best elements, and is the necessary
leadership, but it does not make the revolution, because it is
the masses who make it. Therefore, there is the need for a front
to bring together 90% of the population, the immense majority.
This is what we are seeking, what we are pursuing, and what we
are doing.

As far as groups, we've had, at different times, links with
organizations. And when we've had them, we have treated those
organizations as they should be treated, as equals, and we have
exchanged experiences. In some cases they have asked that the
Party help them politically, and we have done so. There are
various cases like that, but it is better not to mention names
now.

About whether we are sectarian, please let me read what is in the
document, "Desarrollar la guerra popular sirviendo a la
revolucio'n mundial" ["Develop THE People's War to Serve the
World Revolution" TRANS.]. These are the words of our founder,
and we use precisely these words because those who claim to be
"Mariateguists" must truly be just that. But you cannot be a
follower of MariateguI without being a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist.
Mariategui said: "We are living in a period of total ideological
war. Those who represent force for renewal cannot, either by
accident or chance, unite or merge themselves with those who
represent conservatism or regression. There is a historical
abyss between them. They speak different languages and have a
different understanding of history.

"I think we should unite the like-minded, and not those who
differ. We should bring together those whom history wants
together. There should be solidarity between those of whom
history requires solidarity. This, it seems to me, is the only
possible alliance. A common understanding with a precise and
effective sense of history. "I am a revolutionary. But I believe
that men who think clearly and definitively will be able to
understand and appreciate each other, even while struggling
against each other. The political force with whom I will never
reach an understanding is the other camp: Mediocre
reformism, domesticated reformism, hypocritical democracy."

We adhere to this. We are not sectarian, nor are there any
actions on our part that indicate that. What no one can demand of
us is that we march into the swamp. Lenin taught us: if someone
decides they want to head into the swamp, they have the right to
do so, but not to call upon us to go into the muck with them.
Lenin said, we must follow our steep and difficult road all the
way to the summit, or, in other words, we must face the enemy's
fire, but we will continue to advance. We are not, then,
sectarians or dogmatists. We are simply Communists, and we adhere
to those wise words of Mariategui. And what's more, we demand
that those who claim to follow Mariategui really follow him, and
that they prove it.

As to the strength of the Party in the countryside, what I can
say concretely is that the majority of our members are peasants,
the vast majority. And a limitation that we have is the
insufficient number of workers [TRANS. In 1988] This is a serious
limitation, but we are making, and will continue to make, more
efforts to correct it, because we need proletarian communists.
The workers offer tempering!, their steel-like quality, because
this characterizes them as a class.

Moreover, we know how our strength and influence is growing among
the people as a whole. We can say that the People's Guerrilla
Army is made up of masses, of peasants, of workers,
intellectuals, people from the petty bourgeoisie--we are talking
about thousands of people.

We have hundreds of People's Committees organized in Base Areas.
And we exercise Power over tens of thousands of people. This is
our reality. The influence of the Party is growing. We are
gaining more and more influence among the masses. We are applying
what Marxism espouses, teaching the proletariat, the people, the
masses, by means of powerful actions that drive home the point.
We believe that our growth among the masses has begun to make a
big leap. This is what we can say to you. We want, and it is our
task and part of our plan, to make a big leap in our work among
the masses. The masses in this country need the leadership of the
Communist Party. We hope that with more revolutionary theory and
practice, with more armed actions, with more people's war, with
more Power, we can reach the very heart of our class and the
people and really win them over. What for? To serve them. That is
what we want.

================================
Published by The New Flag
30-08 Broadway, Suite 159
Queens, NY 11106
E-Mail:lquispe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
PCP Web Page:
http://www.blythe.org/peru-pcp
=================================


     --- from list marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---