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Colombia: the Strategy of Insurrection Vs. People's War and Red Political

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Colombia: the Strategy of Insurrection Vs. People's War and Red Political 56 Colombios The Strotegy People's Wqr By the Revolutionary Communist Group of Colombia (GCR)* Introduction regarding how to understand the es- revolution, or at least no proletori- Since its foundation in 1982 the sence of New Democracy. This does an revolution, without the guidance GCR hos set for itseff the tosk of not meon that all of our views of Marxism-Leninism-Moo Tsetung building the Revolutionary Com- regarding New Democrocy have Thought. This does not represent munist Party, s task it has been car- been wrong. Although today's the slightest dogmotism of any kind rying out in the sense that the GCR quantitative distribution of the on our part. We ore convinced that is a party in formotion. population with its high degree of without odvoncing on the bosis of In the course of this process of urbanisation (two thirds urban and Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung building the party and its political one third rurol) has led many forces Thought there con be no reul revo- line, the GCR has come to more to simplistically characterise the lution in Colombis, and that the t horoughly understand und correct- revolution Colombia needs as soc- way to adyance correctly is to take ly upply the science of revolution, ialist, the GCR continues to hold ss our starting point the Chinese Morxism-Leninism- Mao Tsetung that this revolution will be New Reyolution and the Great Proletar- Thought, and with this it has been Democratic in itsfirst stage and that ian Cultural Revolution, as well as rectifying wrong views regording the the strategic road is people's war. the contributions of the Revolution- tasks and road ofthe reyolution. It We continue to hold that the two ary Internationalist Moyement in has come to understand that the basic tasks of the New Democratic which our orgonisation is a proud ideological and politicol building of revolution are totol, thorough and participant. the party and its political line must complete independence from im- be inseparoblefrom the building of perialism, and the solution of the In Colombia the masses of peo- the other two fundamental weapons agrarian problem, the destruction ple face two diverging roads. On the of the revolution, the army and the of the monopoly of the land pres- one hand, there is the road of and thut the building of these ently held by the big landowners. counter-revolution, which is the N front, three weapons is a universolly valid This rectffication and the devel- road of imperialism, bureaucrat principle that must be concretely ap- opment of our political line hove capitalism and semi-feudalism. The a; o\ plied to Colombio, with its par- given our organisation a greater in- reformism of the big bourgeoisie is ticularities as a notion oppressed by ternol strength snd cohesion and developing a capitalism that serves imperialism. Thus the building of hove roised the political and ideo- the interests of foreign capital, = the porty, linked to its political line, logical level of its members. On the especially U.S. capital, while main- = is intertwined with the correctness basis of discussion and struggle be- taining the monopoly of land own- oL or incorrectness of its approach to tween different opinions regarding ership and the class political power o the questions of the ormed struggle line questions, we have achieved a of the big landowners. This gives q and the united front. cleor demarcation with ideas os- rise to ever-sharpening economic o The GCR has come to also under- sociated with the so-called " insur- crises, political instability and stand the powerful truth of Mao's rectionalist strategy" that have repression. On the other hand, there = views regarding "putting forword come into fashion in the oppressed is the road of revolution, the road armed struggle from the start" snd countries since the Sondinista victo- that will lead the proletariat and the the proletariat's need to rely on its ry in Nicaragua. This document we masses of people, guided by the own armed forces to estublish red are presenting to the revolutionary proletariat's genuine communist political power ond revolutionary communists snd revolutionaries in party now being formed, towards base ureas. It hos come to more general arose os o port and a New Democracy, socialism and fi- clearly understand the charocter of product of this demarcation. nally communism. This road will be society and the character ond laws When we demarcote from "insur- opened up by the proletariat and its of the revolution, qs well as the uni- rectionulism" os a strategy for the party when the party launches a ty between the universsl truth of revolution in the oppressed coun- people's war, the only way to re- Mqrxism-Leninism-Moo Tsetung tries, we are not confusing this line solve the two big problems the revo- Thought ond its application to the with the roqd and orientotion for lution must resolve: the national concrete conditions of Colombia. revolutionary wor in the imperiolist question, to liberate the country On this bssis, the GCR recognises countries, where the revolution must from the yoke of imperialism, and lhat it has held erroneous views begin with insurrection in the cities the agrarian problem, the centre of at o point when the bourgeoisie can the democratic problem. These two * From Alboroda Comunista, be defeated. Furthermore, in the great tasks are mutually inter- periodical of the GCR, May lst imperialist countries, as in the op- related. 1988 (Abridged) pressed countries, there con be no The road of revolution faces two 67 of lnsurrection vs. qnd Red Politicql Power different directions which cor- and part of the national bourgeoisie mon is that they do not seek to over- respond to two opposite outlooks to take over the state for their own turn the old order.... vying to point the way for the work- interests and those of Soviet social- ing class and the masses of people. imperialism.... Characteristics of Faced with these two directions, Imperialism is an international Insurrectionalism revolutionaries, class-conscious production relation, a relation in workers and the advanced from which international finance capital It is within the framework of this among the masses, and the masses subordinates the economies of the situation that we must draw a line themselves, will have to examine the dominated nations by creating pro- of demarcation with the "insurrec- ideologies, politics and classes in- duction relations and bureaucrat tionalist strategy" and the trend volved and take a stand. These two bourgeoisies within them. This bur- which recently has taken to calling directions are the "insurrectional" eaucrat bourgeoisie serves as the itself "People's Power." After- strategy on the one hand, and on agent of imperialist finance capital; wards we will focus on the analysis the other, the direction of revolu- furthermore, the landlord class also of the "insurrectionalist strategy" tionary communism, of the prole- serves as a social base for imperialist in Colombia, which has its own tariat, with its strategy and doctrine penetration. Imperialism, mainly characteristics, though the basic ele- of people's war. The problem of the through its export of capital, gives ments of that strategy come from two directions is the question of the rise to a bureaucrat capitalism the "Nicaraguan road." future of the masses of people in which serves foreign capital, lead- We will begin by describing its Colombia and the nation: either ing to the disarticulation and dise- basic characteristics: that future is "insurrectionalism," quilibrium of Colombia's economy, 1. The insurrectional strategy is whose content is negotiation, na- while the "development" that takes centred in the cities, since the mass tional subjugation and mortgaging place is in contradiction to the in- movements, the focal point of the the people's revolutionary struggles terests of the working class and struggle, according to this strategy, to imperialism and to part of the masses of people and even that seg- mainly converge in the cities. E bureaucrat bourgeoisie and land- ment of private capital whose Thus "political" forces play the o lord ruling classes, or it is a total, character is national. decisive role and military forces a Fn thorough and complete New Imperialism's oppression of the secondary role. The important thing U Democratic revolution to destroy country, closely linked to the land- is the mass struggles and not the of the domination of imperialism, the lord's monopoly control of the "vanguard" for which the masses bureaucrat bourgeoisie and the land, requires solutions that go to are simply supporters. According to s landlords, and build a new order, the roots of the problem, which this strategy the vanguard is not as = state and society on the smoking means the destruction of imperial- important as flexible alliances with 5 ruins of the old order. The New ism, bureaucrat capitalism and the bourgeois opposition. Further, 6 Democratic republic and state will semifeudalism. The essence of the this strategy relies on the support of E clearly aim for socialism and serve New Democratic revolution is that powerful forces on an international N as a base area for the world it is a dictatorship of the revolution- level, such as social democracy (the proletarian revolution which will ary classes under the leadership of Second International) and Soviet lead all humanity to communism. the proletariat, whose purpose is to social-imperialism. The "insurrectionalists" are or- put an end to imperialist oppression 2. The essence of the "insurrec- ganised in the Simon Bolivar Guer- and semifeudal social relations and tional strategy" is that it seeks to rilla Coordinating Committee open the way to socialism. It is im- narrow the targets of the New (CGSB) [the umbrella organisation possible to achieve this without a Democratic revolution, to preach which recently gathered together all revolutionary war of the masses.
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