REGROUPMENT OF CHILEAN SOCIALISTS
SANTIAGO, Chile -- In the middle of February the twentieth songress of the Chilean Socialist party was held. The bureaucracy ‘refused to seat the regularly elected delegates from Santiago, Concepcién and other provinces who had organized an "Opposition" on a plat~ form demanding a revolutionary attitude corresponding to the feolings of the rank and file _and greater militancy in the presidential campaign of Salvador Allende [séé World Outlook March 27]. This Socialist Opposition has.been called “pro=China™ 0 r “pro=Peking, ' because of its critical attitude toward the slogan ‘of ‘the. peaceful and parliamen= tary road" supported by the reformist leadership.
The bureaucratic leadership won the congress but did not resolve the orisis facing the Socialist party. As a result of the reformist resolutions adopted by the congress, significant sectors of activists split from the party, oo
“The Socialist Youth of soncepetén broke away with an appeal for
"oreparation of a National Founding Congress of the. Revolutionary — Socialist Party," .
In the province of Talca, sixteen sections, of about 500 members, had already split, In the provinces of Maule and Linares, various . others broke with the Socialist party, Likewise in the province of. Coquimbo, about 100 left, most of them leaders of the working class,
In Valdivia a city councilman walked outs In Llanquihue, the . Socialist Youth made a public declaration that it was. splitting with the bureauoracy. | In Santiago, Waldo Grez broke publicly... He is one of the main leaders of" the "Opposition" and secretary of San Miguel, the most important working-class zone of the country. Some dozens of cmeieia Joined him there in similar action on March 22.
The orisis in the. Chilean Socialist party is ‘not a mere struggle between wings of the bureaucracy, one rightist the other leftist. It reflects the contradiction between the revolutionary aspirations: of the ranks and the reformist policies of the leadership. Behind’ this. is the much greater crisis that has shaken the whole traditional poli-~ tical superstructure since the Cuban Revolution. The Chilean Commun~ ist..party is affected like the Socialist party but, for the. moment , ° to a lesser degree.
As a result of the. crisis in the Socialist party, the socialist groups that broke away (Talca, Coquimbo, Santiago, Concepcién) met at the beginning of March with the Movimiento Revolucionario Comunista, a fusion of young Communists who broke with the Communist party over the Sino-=Soviet conflict, a group around the magazine Polémica, and Monch oy of the Partido Obrero Revolucionario. [See World Outlook March 6, rarer
The groups signed a document which, among other things, called
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for the following: "(1) To convoke a Founding Congress of all the revolutionary sectors and elements for May 1, 1964, in the city of Talca with the aim of creating.a Revolutionary Socialist Party. ~ (2) To set up’ an Organizing Commission with representatives from the supporting organizations and those that may adhere during the preparatory process for the congress, : (3) To appeal to all the revolutionary Marxist groups, sectors and elements to join in oreat=— ing this party, (4) To express our support for the popular candidacy of Salvador Allende, developing a revolutionary tendency in the move~ ment of the Allendist masses," -
Documents are being prepared to serve as the basis for the unification of these groups and it can be anticipated that the Marxist- Leninist program and tactic of struggle that will be worked out, will mark a step forward in overcoming the crisis of leadership for the Chilean proletariat,
The possibility is close at hand for the formation of a relatively strong revolutionary Marxist party. This process of revolutionary regroupment, opened in the final analysis by the impact of the Cuban Revolution, offers to revolutionary Marxists a wide perspective for the construction of the party and Latin-American socialism, . :