[Marxism] Petras' criticism of Fidel

[Jscotlive@xxxxxxx]

I wrote in reply to Joaquin:
 
In  
effect, what Joaquin is attempting to do is blame the FARC for  the 
depredations
of successive proto-fascist Colombian regimes, backed up by  the dollar,

To which Luko has replied:
 
No, not at all. I understand Joaquin's argument as being the same  as
Fidel Castro's and mine: that the FARC do and did not have  a
perspective for taking power, but use their military might only as  a
pressure group. You can read it in their communiqué on the  Betancourt
release: they keep their prisoners as hostages for the release  of
political prisoners of the regime, instead of thinking what to do  for
taking power.

I must always think what Carlos Tablada told me from  Che Guevaras
visit to Colombia (before joining the Cuban revolution): he  visited
the office of the Colombian CP, and asked them: how do you think  to
take power? His hosts didn't know what Che was talking  about...

Reply:
 
But how does this invalidate their cause or struggle, as Joaquin and now  
you, it seems, assert? Because a struggle has reached a stalemate, it  doesn't 
follow that the struggle in of itself is illegitimate or lacks  justification. 
The objective factors in favour of revolution in Colombia and the  taking of 
power clearly do not exist. But the FARC's attempts to gain the  release of 
political prisoners is a laudable one nonetheless.
 
This passage from Joaquin clearly, in my view, substantiates my original  
post and his apportioning blame to the FARC for the US role in Colombia.
 
To wit:
 
'leaving implicit the
underlying theme of the commentary, than in  between the guerrillas,
the paramilitaries, the narcotraffickers, etc. etc.  etc. the net
result was a weakening of the Colombian nation and its state  leaving
it ever more vulnerable to imperialist domination, penetration  and
manipulation.'
 
What this fails to point out is the role of the Colombian oligarchy as a  
willing tool of US policy and imperialism in Colombia and the wider region in  
order to maintain, sustain, and entrench their own class privileges.
 
Too, I rather think the FARC are more than a pressure group. An  organization 
whose members have sacrificed their lives and their liberty in the  cause of 
social and economic justice are more deserving than this kind of  
condescension, wouldn't you say? Perhaps resistance is a more apt word to  
describe them.
 
J



   
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