And so, outside the assembly, been possible to use membership to reach the masses, government's servility.
Then, there is the fact that the left party offices are not constantly being searched and smashed by the security forces. In a country where a typewriter importance.
As far as concerned, membership of the Human Commission of the assembly has meant that 1 have access to prisons etc. to investigate conditions.
The Commission has the right to investigate certain other areas as wel. When two students were shot by police last year during a demonstration, we were able to talk to witnesses and authorities - but not to the policemen wno nrea tne talal snots.
Has the left been able to curb any of the excesses that the right has tried to write into the new constitution?
No, the left has not been able to shift the constitution by a milimetre.
it has Popular Revolucionaria to denounce the the largest assembly, accepted the determined fight Considerab e Ine vote will be my Rights decided yet.
moment. electoral alliance with Democrática Popular), the Iran second to FOCEP?
An electoral alliance is a Many parties However, the fact that APRA (Alianza Americana), bourgeois JAIL in the if not the PPC (Partido Popular Cristiano). appears to have revolutionary left's to ensure that dence illiterates should be given the vote, must be considered a victory, surely.
Well, it would be if we were sure that given for the next elections. But this has not been finally Let us return to the next elections for a FOCEP MAKE UDP (Unión electoral front dominated by Maoists and which strategic alliance, not a tactical one. We make tactical pacts, join in common action rule.
which share our parncular lacucal aim at any moment.
But elections are different. They are concerned with the question of power and, in consequence, imply - even if only symbolically - a strategy.
We refuse to create illusions in the masses that the bourgeoisie will permit us to take power through elections. We stand therefore for an electoral unity which strictly respects class indepenno alliance bourgeoisie.
Many sectors within UDP tempted by such alliances. remains to be seen whether such an electoral pact is possible.
The bourgeoisie would, of course, like to take over FOCEP which it sees as an easy prize. It will try to do this by infiltrating those who believe in class shall, remain firm on this principle as we have The betty bourgeoisie has STOWE Peru under the ten years of military Their role in a revolutionary strategy seems to me important, if not determinant. What is the PRT's policy towards this class?
The revolution will be made by the working class in alliance with the peasantry and the poor urban petty The petty bourgeoisie is a very broad class in Peru. It ranges from individuals who are poorer than industrial workers to those who are relatively well off -from the street vendor to the smal businessperson.
The former category only to walk down some of the streets in Lima to observe numerous and lives precarious existence. It and other strata of the poor petty bourgeoisie stand, in their great majority, shoulder with the industrial workers.
They have a profound hatred of the government. they joined massively in the previous general strikes - though to a lesser extent this time - and by their presence in FOCEP's base committees When Popular People's Defence Fronts have arisen, the petty bourgeoisie's has always been noticeable Where the proletariat has dominated the proceedings, the higher strata of the petty bourgeoisie have moved out; but where this has not been the case, the petty bourgeoisie, including the higher strata, has taken over the Assembly.
These assemblies and fronts have BESCHI specine locannes specific conflicts and have disbanded once the conflict has been resolved. We, of course, have tried to ensure that they continue in independent organs of struggle, but so far without success.
Does the impoverished petty geoisie share all the working class's revolutionary aspirations?
No. They don't agree with certain types of working class struggle and slogans. For example, the proletariat's taking over factories, workers' control. Strikes, on the other hand, are much more attractive to them.
Does the PRT recruit among this class?
Of course. Our base is in the working class and poor petty bourgeoisie in the shanty towns around Lima and the provincial urban centres.
We have so far not recruit widely amongst the peasantry. The latter, by and large, community organisations union organisation. for a political organisation.
They accept me as a peasant union leader of the Campesina del Perú), and if 1 raise the cry, "Viva FOCEP!' they will echo it, but it's no more acknowledgement, I know.
What about factory organisation?
The PRT has factories. The trade union organisation tends to predominate parties on the factory floor. There is a greater fear of carrying out political work in the factory than in the shanty towil The loss of the 5,000 union leaders and cadres I've referred to has had a serious impact. The working class has been weakened, numerically and in its the combative capacity, by these sackings and the recession. are It thus It would gonear that the terrorism which threatened your life last year has diminished. Is this correct?
Diminished, yes, international campaign, but it has not ceased. A PC-ML has been denouncing in the assembly however, that he received threats during the strike, that papers and a briefcase in his office were burnt with acid. It is very important that the campaign continue.
One final question. If the bourgeoisie "slipped and revolutionary left to win election, what would happen?
The bourgeoisie will never allow us to take power through elections. would be an immediate military coup.
extremely an shoulder We know this because Assemblies participation for majority during exIStenCe First, bourmental.
The the slogan of of lan omit. reinforced by and social crisis been able to the have their and trade They see no need the need CCP (Confederacion liberation larly urgent. than verbal committees over political Day.
to way in thanks to the constituent deputy allowed the next There FOR A SOCIALIST AFRICA By Our Foreign Staff THE 85 per cent vote among whites for the draft Rhodesian constitution has surprised even lan Smith's most loyal followers. The constitution claims to be controlling white minority in parliament and retains all the apparatus of the present settler state.
This assured its victory in last week's referendum, but such a large majorit provides interesting evidence of how Rhodesia's whites are thinking.
it shows that the constitution changes nothing fundaNearly a year of transitional government involving former nation. alist black leaders has shown that white racist capital has nothing to fear from integrating tame black leaders.
less intelligent ultra-right sections of the white community have accepted the result as proof of final defeat. The leaders of the Rhodesia Action Party and Save Our Nation announced their intention to wind up their parties and pack their bags.
Secondly, the result shows the deep conservatism of the white community in sticking with the familiar leadership This innate caution is the escalating military - as we reported al length last week the white army is losing war with the Patriotic Front guerillas and the social fabric is tearing With elections to the new 'majority rule parliament taking place in April.
for solidarity the • struggle becomes So the decision of the Anti-Apartheid Movement National Committee to name March as a Month of Action on Zimbabwe is timely.
It plans three national events:
March Zimbabwe Action * 17 March, Zimbabwe Day Public Meeting, organised by ZAPU, one ol the Patriotic Front organisations * 21 March. Zimbabwe Fundraising The AAM has the following aims for the Month of Action:
to mobilise political support and material aid for the Patriotic Front;
expose the continued collaboration between Britain and the illegal Rhodesian regime;
* to campaign for the extension of sanctions to South Africa as the only which sanctions against Rhodesia can be made effective:
to expose the 'internal settlement" and reveal the true nature of the "transitional government' in Rhodesia There is just one glaring omission from this list. With the collapse of the Smith regime imminent. there is an increased possibility that imperialism particularly British may try to salvage the situation by military means The solidarity movement should be under no illusions that a British military intervention could be positive, an activity against it should be an integra part of the campaign. national ehers in the Month of ation Further details local are available from the AAM, list will appear in the March issue of Anti-Apartheid News.
Socialist Challenge 8 February 1979 page 9