VENEZUELAN CP LEADERS DENOUNCE CASTRO'S SPEECH
In a document issued in Caracas March 16, the Political Bureau of the Venezuelan Communist party furiously denounced Fidel Castro for his speech criticizing their stand on the question of armed struggle. [See World Outlook Vol. 5, No. 13, for full text of the speech.] The Venezuelan CP leaders said that the speech labeling their line as "defeatist" and "traitorous" was "“ignoble and treacherous, devoid of the nobility and dignity that have always characterized the Cuban revolution."
The document declared that what plays into the hands of reaction and imperialism "are speeches like the one made by Fidel Castro, slanders like those he leveled against the Venezuelan Communist party, his attempts to split it, as well as acts like the as-— sassination of Iribarren Borges."
The statement said further: "We reject the role of 'Pope' which Fidel Castro assumes for himself. We categorically reject his claim to be the only one to decide what is revolutionary and what is not in Latin America."
In conclusion, the declaration affirmed: "The Venezuelan does not claim to stand above or below anyone else, but if there is one thing that offends his dignity as a fighter, it is slander."
The March 17 issue of the French CP daily 1'Humanité carried an interview with Jestis Faria, the general secretary of the Venezuelan CP, who was imprisoned for two years for his political views and released in 1966 by the Leoni government, after which he went to Moscow. To the question, "What are the future perspectives for the Venezue— lan people?" he responded:
"There is no possibility whatsoever for an agreement with the present Venezuelan government in which we see no indication of any change in policy. On the contrary, the successful escape of our three comrades of the Political Bureau, Pompeyo M4rquez, Guillermo Garcia Ponce and Teodoro Petkoff, from the fortress-prison of San Carlos tsee World Outlook February 17, p. 173] brought about a brutal increase in rough handling and torture of our imprisoned comrades. Thus the Venezuelan government, under the command of imperialism, is seeking revenge for this serious setback...
"But more than a thousand of our comrades are still in prison, suffering the police vengeance of the government. Among them are ten members of the Central Committee of our party, including two members of the Political Bureau, the two brothers Gustavo and Eduardo Machado."
Asked about the different forms of struggle used by the Venezuelan CP, Faria replied: "The Venezuelan Communists are fighting on all fronts, putting into practice all forms of struggle, including armed struggle. We unleashed the latter four years ago and we are continuing it in the countryside as well as the most important cities, with our Armed Forces of National Liberation. Up to the present, despite what certain newspapers have written, our party has not envisaged, still less approved, abandoning any of these forms of struggle.
"Nevertheless within our party, a tiny antiparty group was built, headed by a former member of the Central Committee, with militarist and ‘caudilloist,' even messianic tendencies. The defeat of this group is already notorious. It did not succeed in drawing in more than some fifty members of the party and the Communist youth. It is conpletely isolated from the conscious elements of our party and the democratic opinion of our country."
With regard to the Cuban revolution, Faria said: "The Venezuelan people have proved and will again prove their fraternal support for the Cuban people against all the aggressive actions of American imperialism, direct or indirect. In the event of a new aggression, no matter what its nature, this solidarity will be shown at an even higher level than in the past."
GUATEMALAN CP LEADERS SUPPORT CASTRO'S