peoples of Latin America, and from their revolutionary situations, they set thenselves up.as judges of parties, organizations and forces of this continent. With unheard-of insolence, they deny to the Cuban Revolution, the first socialist revolution in the Americas, the © right to express objective and realistic opinions concerning the’ roads to. revolution,on our continent. ve
The people of this continent have a rich tradition of | experiences in the struggle. The most recent is the Cuban Revolution. There are other experiences in contemporary times that are worth studying, as well.--: those of the Russian and ‘Chinese Revolutions, the experiences: of Korea and Viet Nam, etc. Not one. of these diverse experiences fails to confirm the necessity for the use of violent methods in the struggle against imperialism, colonialism and neocolonialism.
We are not denying that in a given country, under certain very special conditions, an exception could occur in the future. Nevertheless, not one case can be cited of a victorious revolution which has been able to avoid: the use of. violence, insurrection or armed struggle as fundamental. methods. This is a universal experience and: the political positions of Communist parties must be developed
by taking into account what has been learned in the ‘practical experience of revolution, by generalizing from that experience and by probing deeply into it.
Cuba does not impose its own experience on others. Actually, the triumph of the Cuban Revolution arose: from Latin-American conditions. And those conditions, with Cuba as an example, deter-_ mine the road to revolution. The experiences of Cuba must be analyzed in relation to the. conditions in each country.
We understand the. special conditions. that exist in Chile,” Uruguay and other countries. We have a high estimation of the great mass movement which is developing in Uruguay. The specific conditions in that country require special analysis. However, in Montevideo, in the midst of street.demonstrations, strikes and other modes of protest, specified forms~of violent action have appeared. The solidarity of the people of Uruguay with Cuba is one of the most militant on the continent and we-evaluate as positive the forms of struggle that the Frente de Izquierda de Liberacion of Uruguay is developing.
We could take the situation in Chile as a case in point. Comrade Fidel Castro has spoken in detail of the problems of this country. We understand the means of struggle that are possible under Chile's present circumstances -- circumstances which are, naturally, subject to change. Other conditions prevail in Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Guatemala. We could give our opinions concerning the conditions in each Latin-American country. to prove, once again, that our opinions are based on the objective analysis of each situation, and not on hasty or subjective judgments..,However, we should not go into this now in detail, but we do want to give the general picture of Latin America in order. to reply to certain points formulated by the Yugoslav . spokesmen.
Let's Deive More Deeply into Leninism
“There is one fact that must be.- taken into account. The bourgeois revolution and consequently.,. agrarian reform,.was never completed in Latin America. Capitalist.development was not a consequence of the growth of agriculture. Yankee imperialism extended itself over the Continent, replacing the earlier European. colonial powers, and paralyzing all independent development of our peoples. A type of capitalism, largely imported, developed alongside the feudal land system, subordinating the national economy: to the interests. of foreign. oligarchies.
In: the dig cities, the miserable living conditions. are striking. Alongside the mansions and the unlimited wealth of the native oligarchies and the bourgeoisie, in great part parasitic and commercial, exist the poverty-stricken neighborhoods inhabited by the workers and hundreds of thousands of unemployed, where the extraordinarily antagonistic character of the contradictions between
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the small minority, possessors of everything, and the great masses, exploited and dispossessed, is obvious to any observer. The "Favela" © in Rio de Janeiro, "Villa Miseria" in Argentina, and "Los Cerros" in Caracas, are only three examples of the extreme poverty in which hundreds of thousands of urban-dwellers in Latin America are forced to live, in contrast to the opulence of the residential neighborhoods (of the ruling classes.
In the countryside, those who cultivate the land do not own it. Millions of peasants live under feudal or semifeudal regimes, in the most shocking conditions of exploitation.
In certain regions, capitalist and imperialist development has created a’ ‘strong proletariat, with a high degree of class consciousness. A body of intellectuals with a strong tradition of struggle also exists, which is embracing an increasingly progressive | stand. Amidst the great class contradictions, there are broad intermediate strata, also oppressed, which demand social changes. At the base of all of this system of oppression is imperialist penetration, supported by the professional armies, which are its shock troops.
The peasant's demand for land, the struggle of the proletariat for new social gains, the fight by large sectors of the people in | defense of their revolutionary and patriotic traditions, the influence of Cuba-in the Latin America of today -- all constitute a force which is destined to prevail.
Add to this the influence of political and patriotic traditions on the great masses of the population, and the ideological, cultural and political unity among our peoples which has deepened in the struggle against imperialism. Our nations form a coherent group of peoples, destined to play a transcendental role in the history of the world.
Are the conditions that we have pointed out of a feudaleconomic, semifeudal latifundist-bourgeois structure not similar to those that prevailed in Czarist Russia? There, also, a powerful working class existed, with strong traditions of struggle, as well as an exploited and combative peasant class, combined with a strong — ideological and political movement among the progressive intellectuals and the Russian proletariat.
Those who would like to understand better what is going on in Latin America and in the underdeveloped world should study well the Leninist analysis and apply it to the panorama of today. The ideas of Lenin are increasingly valid. Forty-five years ago, these ideas expressed a reality which was in the process of development but which today manifests itself on a worldwide ‘scale.
Let us delve more deeply into Leninism. If we study the course of imperialism in the countries which have been subjected to colonization and to feudal exploitation of the land, we can clearly understand certain Latin-American realities.
The Peoples of the Americas Have Accepted the Challenge of Imperialism
A profound moral disintegration is evident in the exploiting classes. Bourgeois, imperialist and semifeudal society in Latin America does not possess the necessary political strength to . confront the actions of the masses. In its dilemma, lacking political or social means of opposing ‘the revolutionary movement, it resorts to calling out the professional armies. Coups d'état, military coups, .and changes. of governmental . figures. follow one upon another. In ‘this process, the professional armies have come to represent the last support of the reactionary classes ‘and imperialism. Brute force, used against the people, increases the sense of patriotism and the will, to combat which is latent in broad sectors of the populations, thus creating favorable > political conditions for the revolutionary movement. food:
The fundamental wisdom of Fidel. Castro! s revolutionary strategy during the insurrectional period in Cuba lay in his ability to understand clearly that the liquidation of the professional army of the regime was a step of prime importance in the develop~ ~ ment of the Revolution, and that the only definitive way to guarantee the power of the people was to organize an army of workers. ar “Moreover, there are very concrete situations which permit “an objective evaluation of what the path of the Latin-American © Revolution must be. The example of Cuba has been pointed out. We should not forget a contrasting example:. What happened in Brazil |. when President Jodo Goulart. attempted to carry out a timid land reform? What is the Brazilian experience in. relation to peaceful methods of revolution? The mere planning of reforms by the Brazilian government was sufficient to provoke the latifundist caste and imperialism, utilizing. the professional army, into a coup d'état and the inception of a brutal. repression. :
Is this not a sufficiently eloquent lesson in what can be obtained through the legal and semilegal. mechanisms of the so-called "bourgeois democracy" of Latin America?
We: could cite many other examples. But, in addition, the military intervention in Santo Domingo, the declaration of the President of the-United: States to the effect. that another revolution in Latin America would not be tolerated; the resolution of. the Yankee House of Representatives which formulates their supposed imperial right to intervene in any country of Latin America; all of these are facts which the oppressed nations of the. Continent must follow. Santo Domingo under intervention, Cuba constantly attacked and menaced, the events in Guatemala. twelve. years ago, and the long succession of Yankee interventions throughout more than a century, point to the road of socialism for Latin America. The . peoples of America have accepted the imperial challenge, ‘and they
are ready to fight. Some of them are already fighting. Others will fight in the future and all will march on the road to revolution and socialism!
The Beginning of the Colonial War Will Mean the Collapse ey a. of Imperialism
What will happen when insurrection gathers momentum in several countries at once? Imperialism does not have the necessary. strength to check the revolution of the oppressed peoples. It has had to employ 245,000 men in order to confront the heroism of the people of a country as small as Viet Nam. -
How many divisions and how many men will they need to confront a whole continent? How many situations similar to that of Viet Nam can imperialism face simultaneously? What will happen when, not one, but several, and even the greater part of the peoples of the Continent, take to the road of revolutionary action? How many U S. soldiers will have to die in the mountains or on the plains of the Americas defending a system of exploitation which is |. not theirs and which oppresses them as well, and which has, in addition gained universal repudiation?
There is another factor which in certain circumstances can contribute positively to the peoples in their struggle for liberation. This factor is the people of the United States and the internal contradictions of the U.S. ruling classes. With respect to the struggle in Viet Nam, certain sectors of the U.S. people have been developing extraordinarily positive activities. Moreover, there is not unanimity in relation to the U.S. policy in Viet Nam, among the ruling sectors of the United States. The heroic struggle of such a small country as Viet Nam has been able to cause this rift. With the growth of the revolutionary movement in Latin America, these contradictions will intensify and the antiwar movement among the people of the United States will take on considerable strength, above all, taking into consideration the fact that hundreds of | thousands more soldiers will have to be mobilized and will die on Latin-American soil.
There is no force capable of detaining the revolutionary struggle of the peoples of America. Imperialism will encounter a tragic crossroads: they must permit revolution to take its course, or start a colonial war. A colonial war will mean the collapse of imperialism in Latin America.
‘The experience of the French colonial system in Algeria confirms this. The liberation of numerous countries in Asia demonstrates it. Universal experience confirms it. This truth, which becomes every day more evident, can only be denied by imperialism and its allies, among whom, obviously, we must include the socalled "League* of Yugoslav Communists."
_ YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT POSITIONS ~
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