11 Latin Rmerican Christians inthe Liberation Struggle Since the Latin American Catholic Bishops the People's United Front. When this failed, due met in Medellin, Colombia in August and September to fragmentation and mistrust on the left and the 1968 to call for basic changes in the region, the repression exercised by the government, he joined Catholic Church has been increasingly polarized the National Liberation Army in the mountains. between those who heard their words from the He soon fell in a skirmish with government troops point of view of the suffering majorities and advised by U.S. counterinsurgency experts. those who heard them from the point of view of Camilo's option for violence has clearly affected the vested interests. The former found in the the attitudes of Latin American Christians, but Medellin documents, as in certain documents of so also has his attempt to build a United Front, the Second Vatican Council and the social ency- as we shall see in the Dominican piece which fol- clicals of Popes Paul VI and John XXIII, the lows. But more importantly, Camilo lent the fire legitimation of their struggles for justice and of committed love to the Christian forces for their condemnations of exploitation and struc- change around the continent. To Camilo it had tures of domination. The Latin American Bishops become apparent that the central meaning of his had hoped that their call published in Medellin Catholic commitment would only be found in the would be enough, all too hastily retreating from love of his neighbor. And he saw still more their public declarations when their implications clearly that love which does not find effective became apparent. expression is no more than a lie. Thus he came to argue that "the revolution is not only permis- Everywhere in Latin America today, including sible but obligatory for those Christians who see the Catholic Church, one hears a litany of the it as the only effective and far-reaching way to need for change. No one is saying things are as make the love of all people a reality."* they should be, not even the far right -- which The importance of Camilo in setting a new feels that things have gone entirely too far. standard of Christian commitment cannot be under- The breakdown occurs when it becomes a question estimated. of methods for achieving change, who are to be allies in the fight for change, and the type of Several splits in the ranks of Christian changes which are needed. Polarization takes the Democracy followed the Medellin deliberations of form then of options between Marxist and Devel- the Latin American hierarchy. The Christian opmentalist analyses of the social and economic Democracy's Chilean showcase -- an experiment in crisis of the region; between models of change which U.S. imperialism invested hundreds of mil- which are socialist and those which favor capi- lions of dollars in government-financed loans talist modernization; between violent and non- and technical assistance grants as well as pri- violent means of struggle; between confessional- vate investment -- had begun to show wide cracks ism in politics (i.e., providing "Christian po- by 1968, when it was apparent that the regime of litical alternatives") and militancy in secular Eduardo Frei Montalva was unable to satisfy the radical parties and movements. Some of these aspirations of the Chilean masses. In 1969 the diverging tendencies suggest polarization between first serious break in the ranks occurred with left and right, and in some cases they represent the withdrawal of an important sector of the tensions among left Christians themselves. party which then formed the United Popular Action Movement (MAPU), allying with the parties of the Two other important factors are to be ob- Marxist left in the Unidad Popular electoral served in the growth of the Christian left. One coalition which brought Salvador Allende to power is the importance of the example set by Camilo in 1970. Similar splits occurred elsewhere, and Torres, and the other is the widespread disen- they have continued to occur in Chile up to the chantment among politically radical Christians present time. with the Christian Democratic or Social Christian option. Both of these are to be found in the One of the questions which has arisen from Chilean and Dominican documents which follow this growing disenchantment with Christian Demo- (Numbers 1 and 2). cracy is whether it is wise and correct for Christians to form confessional parties of the Colombia's revolutionary priest, Camilo Torres, left, center or right. It is out of this ques- attempted to build a mass revolutionary movement tioning that "Christians for Socialism" was f ed in that country during 1965 under the banner of in Chile, which is reflected in the words of 12 Gonzalo Arroyo in the second of the documents which follow. In fact this group has increasingly identified itself not as Christians who are ready to cooperate with Marxists, but as Christian These materials on Christians in the Latin Marxists. If there is any novelty in the Chris- American liberation struggle represent part tian left in Latin America it is this: beyond the of a NACLA pamphlet to be published later in Marxist-Christian dialogue, beyond cooperation, the spring. The publication, produced by there are now Marxist Christians (or Christian NACLA's Church Research Project, will in- Marxists) who are steadily gathering forces clude articles on the role of missionaries throughout the continent. (See page 16.) in the U.S. penetration of the Third World, the churches and the U.S. power structure Rick Edwards and documents and articles on religious groups in the struggle for liberation. * John Gerassi (ed.), Revolutionary Priest: The Complete Writings and Messages of Camilo Torres (New York: Vintage, 1971), p. 368. 1.Camilista Underground in Santo Domingo As the following report by Carlos Maria Gutierrez makes clear, the Dominican Camilista Movement stresses student work, organization of peasants and industrial workers and the search for unity on the left. Since Gutierrez interviewed the Camilista leader ten months ago, these projects have continued as the Movement has gained more and more adherents. In its strategy v-is-a-vis CASC, the Catholic labor federation, Camilismo suffered a setback in February of this year when its allies forming the Unity and Change slate failed to unseat the conserv- ative union leadership (the latter employed highly questionable tactics to assure its hold on the organization). But the Unity and Change group still control some of the unions which make up the federation. Given the continued resistance of reformist PRD leader Juan Bosch to unity on the left, the Camilista efforts in this direction face great difficulties. In fact, however, work has been inten- sified and has enjoyed some progress through Camilismo's rapprochement with other forces of left Catholic inspiration which are strong in rural areas. Success in this alliance would mean a movement with combined effectiveness among urban and rural workers, as well as high school and university students. Camilismo, perhaps because of its Christian identity, has not suffered so severely from the ex- tremely violent repression exercised by the youthful right-wing terrorists of La Banda, only recently restrained after increasing domestic and foreign criticism. The repression has killed, injured, jailed or forced to flee some of the best leadership in the Dominican left. Most hard-hit in this respect has been the MPD, an openly Marxist-Leninist group. [For more on Dominican repression see the NACLA Newsletter, Vol. 5, No. 4 (July-August 1971), pp. 7, 21; Vol. 5, No. 2 (April 1971), pp. 19-31; Vol. 4, No. 7 (November 1970), p. 8.] The following report will appear in slightly revised form in a book by Gutierrez called The Dominican Republic: Rebellion and Repression, to be published in the fall of 1972 by Monthly Review Press. Translated by Richard E. Edwards. POLITICAL AND LABOR GROUPS MENTIONED IN ARTICLE MPD, the Dominican People's Movement: Marx- cludes peasants, workers, middle class. ist-Leninist in orientation, has been CASC, the Autonomous Confederation of Christian the principal focus of official repres- Trade Unions, Santo Domingo's branch of sion and suffered attacks also from CLASC, the Latin American Confederation of Joaquin Balaguer. Christian Trade Unions. This movement PSP, the Popular Socialist Party: predecessor has taken anti-U.S. and anti-communist of the Dominican Communist Party, but positions in Latin American labor still exists in its own right. Moscow struggles, operating as the labor front recognizes both parties. of the Christian Democratic parties. PDC, the Dominican Communist Party. COPEI, is the Venezuelan version of Christian PRD, The Dominican Revolutionary Party: led Democracy. The initials stand for by Juan Bosch, it is the only mass party Committee for Independent Political and in the country. Leadership is in the Electoral Organization. nationalist bourgeoisie; following in- 13 In the Dominican Republic, the Revolutionary In the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo I Social Christian Party (PRSC) is in the middle of a interviewed a member of the national leadership of profound crisis which may lead to its disappearance. Camilismo, whose name cannot be published because In 1965 the PRSC possessed enough vitality to sign of the clandestine nature of his work. In the the insurrectionary Rio Piedras Pact with Juan Bosch conversation which follows, the leader - a university and to participate directly in the April youth - defines the most outstanding aspects of the Constitutionalist rebellion that year.* Today, Movement and outlines an analysis of the Dominican infected by the decomposition of the Dominican political situation. political milieu, it presents the appearance of an GUTIERREZ: What were the motives which led artificial party sustained either as an ornamental you to break with the Social Christian party? opposition to Balaguerism or simply to maintain an LEADER: A group of youth withdrew from the affiliate of the world Christian Democratic movement PRSC because we found, on analyzing the Social in the country.