Re: Peruvian Maoism

["James Michael Craven" <CRAVJM@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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> From: "Robert Saute, CUNY Grad Center" <rsaute@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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> Subject: Re: Peruvian Maoism
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> On Sun, 29 Mar 1998, Louis Proyect wrote:
>
> > We sometimes forget that the Shining Path is in a war
> > with the Peruvian state and not the American left and its allies in Peru.
>
>     Of course, Louis Proyect is partially correct in the above
> statement.  The Communist Party of Peru/Shining Path/Sendero Luminoso is
> not at war with the U.S. Left; they could probably care less.  On the
> other hand, many a labor leader, leftist party militant, shanty-town
> organizer or peasant activist killed at the hands of Sendero Luminoso
> cadre might from the grave, were that possible, find his characterization
> of Shining Path's enemies a bit disingenuous.  Seen through the lens of a
> debate on just how semi-feudal Peru is or is not, the endless
> preoccupation with human rights does seem to be so much drivel.
>
>     Sub-comandante Marcos take heed, knock off a few human rights
> workers from the Catholic Church, execute a doctor or two from San
> Cristobal, murder local activists from the PRD, and Zapatista stock will
> rise in Lou's eyes.
>
>
> May a thousand dead dogs hang from the lampposts of a land purged of petty
> bourgeois revisionists and misleaders of the working class!
>
> Sincerely yours,
>
>
> Robert Saute
>
Response: What is the reason for this vitriol? Does strident language
somehow prove or indicate the real or concrete content and extent of
one's own commitment and credentials in struggle?

If you disagree on the question of the revolutionary nature and
practice of any group such as "Shining Path" or the Zapastistas, or
you feel that those who support such groups are misinformed, then
make your case; the strident language does not make the case or prove
anything.

For what it is worth, Louis Proyect is making concrete contributions
to real struggles against Genocide that will never appear on pen-l.

                                 Jim Craven

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