Breton, the leading spokesman of. the surrealist: -movement, ‘died in Paris September 28 of a heart attack at the age of .. seventy. As principle theoretician of surrealism, his views profoundly influenced the avant garde for several decades, beginning in the twenties.
He came under the direct influence of Sigmund Freud in 1921 and became B. protagonist of psychonalysis and its discoveries and their meaning » in the world of art. The 1917 Russian Revolution was -. also of primary influence in his thinking. He joined the Communist party in the twenties but left it when it degenerated.
‘Breton participated in the first efforts to expose the Moscow Trials. ‘and was one of the three leading members of the French Committee for an Inquiry. into the Trials. This was part of the Commission headed by the noted American philosopher and educator John Dewey which definitively exposed the Moscow Trials | as frame-ups after an exhaustive investigation ain 19:37.
In. 1938 Breton visited Leon Trotsky in. Coyoacan, Mexico. While. there he held a number of discussions with Trotsky and Diego Rivera, the Mexican painter and muralist, on the relationship between art and politics and how this had been affected in the Soviet Union and elsewhere by the spread of Stalinism. Out of the discussions came a manifesto signed by André Breton and Diego Rivera appealing for the formation of an International Federation of Independent Revolutionary Art.
The manifesto ended with the slogan: "The independence of art -- for the revolution; the revolution -- for the definitive liberation of art.
Diego Rivera was soon to give up his opposition to Stalinism. André Breton did not change in this and lived to see his stand vindicated by the 1956 revelations made by Khrushchev and by the appearance of a new generation of poets and artists in the Soviet Union whose development is in the direction espoused by the 1948 manifesto.
André Breton likewise never ceased to lend his name and influence in behalf of victims of injustice and political persecution.. His. last public act was to join in denouncing. the courtmartial of Hugo Blanco, the Peruvian peasant leader, and in sending an appeal to President Belatinde demanding Hugo Blanco.’ s immediate release.
PRICE OF ENTRY TO "NUCLEAR CLUB" DROPS TO NEW LOW
The "secret" of nuclear weapons is now so widely known that the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission admits that any country with a "modest industrial base" can, with an investment of $50,000,000, produce an atom bomb a year. .
. =3l-
HUK COMEBACK?
[Reports have recently appeared in the press about renewed Hukbalahap activity in the Philippines. The "Huks" originated as part of the resistanece''movement against the Japanese occupation during World War ‘II.\Aftér V-J Day, the movement continued to grow, giving promise of 'being able to take power.-A plentiful supply“6f dollars and arms bolstered the pro-American government sufficiently to enable it ‘to survive, to take advantage of erroneous policies of the Huk leadership, to mount a savage repression and eventually smother the Huks. Iuis M. Taruc, a top leader, is still in prison. Another top leader, Dr. Jesus Lava, captured in 1964, is on trial.
[The Huks are said to have elected a new Political Bureau and to have again raised the slogan of a radical agrarian reform. These reports appear to have alarmed President Ferdinand Marcos. He cited them recently in rejecting a proposal to grant an amnesty to the guerrillas. His fears may have motivatéd him, at least in part, in coming to Washington in: September. He offered extravagant praise to Johnson, making it a Special- ‘point to back the American president in escalating the war‘in Vietnam. Marcos was rewarded with $55,000,000 in economic and military” assistance.
[The following comments on the reported resurgence of the Huks appeared as an editorial in the September 15 issue of Laging Una. Printed in Los Angeles, California, Laging Una is widely read in the Filipino community in the ‘United States. 4
kom
As far as one can judge from this distance, the reported revival of Huk insurgency in the Philippines is more a reflection of the-nervousness: of government officials, and: the propertied classes whose interests they represent, than of the present reality.
The nervousness is understandable: . Unrelieved oppression breeds rebellion. Despite glowing promises by successive administrations, the miserable plight of the landless farmers of Central Luzon (whose interests the Huks have espoused) continues. Sen. Juan R. Liwag of Nueva Ecija tells us that these exploited people "still find themselves in the same deplorable condition they were in twenty years ago."
He should know. Nueva Ecija is part of the dissident area. It may well be that the long-suppressed movement for radical agrarian reform is beginning to revive and that recent developments suggesting a Huk resurgence are storm Signals heralding a new upheaval.
According to the chief of the Philippine Constabulary, Brig.
Gen. Segundo P. Velasco, the Huks are down to a "hard core" of between SO and 100 armed men. They operate in the contiguous provinces
of Pampanga, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac. They enjoy the support of the rural population. The big landowners fear them. Out of fear, some give them money and other assistance.
Why are the authorities afraid of an armed force of 80 to 100 men, no more than a company in conventional military terms? Because, in the words of Velasco, they "have succeeded in winning the rural masses in Central Luzon by a new policy of attraction | which includes. execution of cattle stealers, rapists, and minor | wrong-doers, and the giving of money to farmers whose yield is not. sufficient to meet their daily needs.
In their alarm, the authorities have reinstituted the terror tactics of fifteen years ago. The Constabulary are once again on the rampage in the hunt for Huks and their sympathizers. A number of barrio dwellers have. been killed in cold blood by the minions of the law. This brutality. can only feed the fires of rebellion against. already intolerable conditions.
The Huk movement arose during. World War II as a movement: of. resistance. to the Japanese occupation, combined with land reforn. It reached the peak of its power and influence in the 1950's during the Quirino administration. It declined almost to the point of extinction due to.a:combination of its own programmatic and tactical errors and the crushing might of U.S. imperialism. Its best leaders were killed or captured. oo
In considering. the possible: revival of the movement, it is necessary to remember that the imperialist monster is still there, backstopping the Philippine ruling classes and the neo-colonialist government in Manila. However, the monster is now deeply bogged down in a land war on the Asian mainland and this may well encourage the revolutionary forces in the Philippines.
Huk resurgence: -would illustrate once again the historical truism that a movement of revolutionary reform, standing on the line of progress, does not pass from the scene until its mission is accomplished. When suppressed, it arises again. Genuine agrarian reform-- not the phony substitutes of a Magsaysay, a Macapagal, or a Marcos ~- is the Philippines most urgent need. There can be no real peace. or progress until landlordism with its ‘many derivative . evils is totally ¢ abolished.
ANOTHER CASE OF POLICE TORTURE IN PERU
A number of cultural and: student organizations in Peru have protested the arrest of Walter Palacios, former chairman of the .- Federation of Students of Peru, according to the September 28 Le Monde. Denouncing the torture of Palacios, they demanded that President Belatnde Terry investigate Lt. TUMay 4 the official in 'charge of the case..:.:
~ “FOR THE UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF THE POLITICAL PRISONERS IN MEXICO
[The following statement was issued August 20 by the Liga Obrera Marxista, the Mexican section of the Fourth International. The translation is by World Outlook. J
On August 12 a number of citizens were arrested by various agents‘of the police and-army without a warrant and in violation of the constitution and held on charges of "subversive activities. The homes of those detained were raided and pillaged. They were held incommunicado (virtually kidnapped and starved) for eight days during which they were subjected to the threats, mistreatment and: “beatings traditional with the police. The subsequent official communiqués and explanations could not have been more contradictory and stupid. All that can be gatheted: from them is that a’ new witch-hunt is underway, aimed at intimidating the revolutionary sectors that have scarcely begun to recover from the defeat suffered during the 1958- 59 days.
The unnecessary display of force and brutality (in some instances, in ordér to seize an unarmed man, ‘the army did not stop to ‘knock but broke down the door and smashed up furniture) well indicates the propagandistic character of the "exemplary lesson" aimed at intimidating new young revolutionists. However, the. calculations of the bourgeoisie had an opposite result -- the revolutionary youth have remained firm in their course of creating a revolutionary organization outside the” Stalinist and reformist remnants. -
Although the repression ‘centered against the members and sympathizers of the Movimiento Revolucionario del Pueblo [MRP], the police "took advantage of the opportunity" to raid one of the local headquarters of our organization. They destroyed furniture and stole thousands of pamphlets and books and: other printed material. They did the same’to the home of our: Comrade Moisés Lozano, including him among those arrested, and carted away a mimeograph, a tape machine, books, educational material and personal belongings. From the headquarters and homes of members and sympathizers of the MRP, the police took among a number of other things, some pistols and rifles to be presented as "proofs" of "crime."
The cynidal police action became all the clearer when it turned out that of the 46 who had been rounded up, only 27 were accused of involvement in the "plot endangering the security of the state." Of the 27, only 9 were alleged to know about the "plans," ~ the rest being "hoodwinked" sympathizers. In short, a group of nine plotters and a few sympathizers armed with a dozen rifles and pistols caused the "model country of Latin America" to tremble. Although a sector of the bourgeoisie itsélf, interested in: naintaining: ‘a rosecolored Mexico’for foreign consumption, is trying to stop the anti- Communist witch~hunt, the anti-Communist bells are pealing and give no indication of dying down. The "big" press, in screaming head-
—34.
lines, is demanding Communist heads. The ultra right is saying nothing short of "Let's shoot them like in Cuba." The official left press is shouting, "Let's finish them; they're Trotskyist agents of Yankee imperialism. '
This broad anti- Communist chorus comes down to "making an example" in order to satisfy the middle classes. The nine who "endangered" the safety of the state are faced with sentences of up to twenty-four years in prison. The sympathizers of the MRP may be given fines of from 50,000 to'100,000 pesos [12.5 pesos = US$1]. Since most of them are poor, this is tantamount to. pronouncing sentences of up’ to five years in prison.
In view of this, the Liga Obrera Marxista, Mexican section . of the Fourth International , made the. following decisions:
First: To appeal to all the revolutionary. organizations to constitute a front on a single. point: A United Front in Face of Police Repression. The need for organized unity to resist repression by the class enemy stands above all ideological differences, above | either passing or principled differences.
: Second: To. solidarize itself with. any campaign ‘for the Dor release of the political prisoners, although it believes that. the only way to achieve: this, no matter: hew. difficult it may be, is by: mobilizing the masses. oy
Third: To protest energetically: against the violation of rights guaranteed by the: constitution, and to appeal to revolutionists in countries where it is possible to demonstrate in front of Mexican embassies to protest the illegal arrests, as well as utiliz-ing all available avenues of fr publicity to denounce the corrupt Mexican bourgeoisie. —
Fourth: To reject in particular the attitude and declarations of the Partido. Popular Socialista [PPS] which publicly defended the arbitrary police measures. Not. only did the PPS declare that it would not aid the nine political prisoners, but it incited the police, saying, “Look for the culprits in the Trotskyist groups." It should be noted. that the PPS calls any revolutionary group. "Trotskyist, ' thereby saying in effect to the police: "Gentlemen, . let's finish the revolutionaries." Unfortunately for the PPS and the rest of the reformist groups, national and world conditions increasingly guarantee the strengthening of the revolutionary groups despite the fears and wishes of bankrupt leaders and governments that resort to repression. ean Fifth: To appeal to the genuinely revolutionary organizations to-initiate a discussion on the strategy needed to construct a. revolutionary party in Mexico as the only means to guarantee the -triumph of the socialist revolution, including analyses on. the importance of the various methods of struggle, guerrillas, trade unions,.etc.,'so as to provide guarantees in avoiding adventurous actions that’ could bring unnecessary defeats to the revolutionary
movement.
For the release of the political prisoners!
For: the construction of a revolutionary Marxist party!
MESSAGE TO THE SURREALIST GROUP
{The following message to the Surrealist Group in Paris was Signed by Pierre Frank for the International Executive Committee of the Fourth International and by Michel Lequenne for the Parti Communiste Internationaliste, the French section of the Fourth International. ]
* * *
The death of André Breton is a grievous blow for us and in the name of our party and the entire Fourth International we send you our condolences which we ask you to transmit to his companion and his daughter.
More than. the great writer, the pure poet, the surrealist “who opened the way to the deepest subterranean sources of humanity's cultural. heritage, the innovator who worked the intellectual soil of our times so profoundly that after him no one remained unchanged, it was the inflexible fighter -- as you will readily understand -- who was close to us and whom we most admired, whom we loved.
The intellectual road he followed was exemplary. From the beginning, among the surrealists, he understood that he could not create except in the path of the revolution, and he took that path, bringing along his entire movement, without humility or concessions, in the face of cruel rebuffs and narrow-minded disputes placed in his way --~ the first manifestations of the disease of bureaucratism spreading within the world Communist movement.
The Stalinist degeneration reserved for him the worst tests to which so many others succumbed who lacked his intellectual and moral stature. In the tidal wave of slime, of insults, slander, murder and desertions, he held strong, he spoke up for the truth, stood like enduring granite.
His mind found a similar one in Trotsky and their two names remain linked in history through the manifesto to the revolutionary writers and artists demarcating the line between genuine men and © eunuchs.
Since then, at any time of grave trouble we knew he would be there, and also in times of sorrow. He was there with the signers of the Manifesto of 121 and he stood at the grave of Natalia Sedova.
We will never forget that his last public act was to cast the weight of his great name behind the appeal for our comrade, the heroic Peruvian revolutionist Hugo Blanco...
‘André Breton, too, was a revolutionist. We can pay him no higher honor than to say that, at the moment he leaves us, which is also the time when he is being discovered by thousands upon thousands of youth.
We know that you will let us revere his memory and his works as those of one of us, for the same reasons that you consider Leon Trotsky one of yours. We are convinced that his memory and his example will assure continuation of the combat alliance between the surrealists and the Trotskyists. , _ an
"