World struggles

This article is about the Revolutionary Left movement in Chile, known as the M.I.R. The M.1.R. is inside Chile today struggling with the Chilean working class, They are not ‘on the run’ or in ‘exile’. It is not for us to write their history or represent their views on their behalf. So as far as possible this article is based on documents and pamphlets, where members of M.I.R. speak themselves and say what they are doing. So although much of it is in quotes it is not an official M.I.R. article.

The Revolutionary Left Movement in Chile is called M.I.R. for short. It was active before Allende came to power in 1970, but they were not part of the Popular Unity government. For the 3 years of the Popular Unity government (Allande’s govt.) they struggle in the cities and countryside and are still fighting today against the military dictatorship of the Pinochet junta.

Like in other Latin American countries, revolutionary ideas spread like wildfire after the Cuban’ revolution. Between 1916 and 1964, young Chilean militants of the socialist party and communist party began to develop a new strategy for revolution in Chile. At first they were active among school and university students. In 1967, when the Christian Democrat Party was still in power, these and other militants grouped together and sent hundreds of the most aware young people into the countryside to struggle with the Mapuche indians and into the shanty-towns of Concepcion and Santiago, to organise with the thousands of homeless and unemployed who lived in shacks around the big cities.

How did the M.I.R. (as this new organisation was calléd), see the struggle in Chile? In 1969, the wrote: * “Chile is a semi-colonial country its development is both capitalist and unequal and backward, yet this is combined with advanced industry like copper mining and very backward agriculture, Power is in the hands of an alliance of the imperialist powers and the industrial, financial and rural bourgeois, There is no anti-imperialist or so-called ‘national’ bourgeoisie, with whom we can ally and who are aiming for revolution, So, our revolution is at the same time deeply anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist, in other words, basically socialist”’.

M.I.R. move into armed struggle In 1969, after careful and detailed preparations, they moved into armed struggle, based on their wide popular support. But their whole perspective had to change when Allende and the Popular Unity government suddenly was elected to power. During the three years of the Popular Unity Chel NRE pee oe OB ARR ah a The military, the bourgeoisie, the yanquis can not prevent our second independence. government from 1970—1973, the M.I.R. organised inside the working class, living in the shantytowns, occupying land with the peasants, debating with students, struggling for control of the factories, organising with women in neighbourhood consumer groups which controlled prices. To do all this they operated on two levels.

1. They had a tightly knit core, composed of militants of M.I.R. they were in cells according to geography and function, for example: self-defence military operations, propaganda. 2. Movements like the Movement of Revolutionary peasants (M.C.R.) or Movement of Revolutionary Workers (F.T.R.) Movement of shantytown dwellers . . . all these movements were open to any worker and inside these mass movements M.I.R. militants would push revolutionary demands and ideas. But, you could only become a member of.M.I.R. by going through one of these movements for up to a,year. During this time, you would not know who the other M.I.R. members were, The reason behind this double structure, was firstly to protect the M.I.R. members who were hidden inside the mass movements. This prevented. infiltration and protected the M.I.R. to some extent after the coup of Pinochet. Secondly, this structure meant that the organisation really and constantly reflected as near as possible what the peoples ideas and initiatives were.

M.L.R.’s role during reign of Allande In this way the M.I.R. developed from a small guerilla group to an organisation of popular power. The M.I.R.’s role, during the Popular Unity government, was not only to defend the working class against the attacks and sabotage of the bosses, but to attack the reformism of the other programmes held up to the workers: such as handing back nationalised factories to the bosses, or the reformism of fighting only wage demands. They believed the working class had to build up a form of POPULAR POWER.

Here is what they said about Popular Power in July 1973:

“Tt is more than ever essential that we organise the forces of the working class and of the people into AREA ASSEMBLIES OF WORKERS as an instrument of workers power and popular sower, these growing assemblies are the onl» organisation on which the whole struggle of the people can rely on, to wipe out reaction and prevent a coup d’elat... popular power is the power to decide, control, to solve the problents of the working class and of the peopie, and not the interests of the bourgeois class... ts a chance to satisfy the interests of the working class.

community...”

of this are given:

interest.”

The MIR and Reformism thought of reformism:

Popular power and Area Assemblies are the chance for a government by the people, of a people’s government as a In the book ‘Chile Si’, some examples ‘*__. what does this mean? a trade union, whatever its strength is not a popular power... after the Barrancas barricades, when we united the people we explained to them what we understand by popular Chile:

power... we controlled the passage of cars, ambulances could go and also fire engines, but others weren’t allowed...

when the police went to one area assembly and knocked gently at the door, we would open up to them and after they had come in, we explained to them why we had requisitioned two lorries... another example is when you see a total unity of workers, peasants, shantytown squatters and students and no-one struggling for HIS shantytown, or HIS union, but for the common Army The M.I.R. had supported Allende, when he went up for election, and so long as the Popular Unity government was advancing the interests of the people they continued their support, but when the right wing and bosses began to block the political programme of the Popular Unity government, and the workers were being asked to accept reformism .. . their support slowed down. Here is what the M.I.R.

“«,. the reformist policies of the government will try to split up the working class and even aggravate their internal problems and make working class unity even more difficult. In fact, the reformist policies will try and lay out the aims of our struggle and even give political leadership to some of the workers, namely, those working for the pub. Seuil.

big companies, in the mines, for the big Pi landowners and some of those in the nationalised factories.

The other workers, the majority, and the huge army of unemployed will be left without any immediate plan of action and will have to be content with a bit of ‘redistribution’, while they are supposed to be waiting for some faraway ‘socialism’.

This is a policy of effort and sacrifice by the workers, while millionaire salaries go to state bureaucrats, a policy of ‘participation’ which appoints high-up civil servants to posts, without even asking the workers... but (today) there is a growing split with the old leaders of the working class, who have been running the struggle for the last 50 years’...

though its very difficult, especially for older workers, to just cut off from the very organisation which brought them into politics...... is Since the coup d’etat in Chile, of just over one year ago, tens of thousands of Chileans have been gunned down, brutally assassinated and tortured under the dictatorship of the Pinochet Junta... leaders and militants of the M.I.R. have often been singled out for special treatment: Batista Van Schouwen tortured-disappeared, Miguel Enriquez general secretary, assassinated. Before his death he spoke about the lessons of “In Chile , its not socialism, nor revolution, nor revolutionary politics that have gone wrong... the Chilean experience should be a lesson to the peoples of the world. What has happened today and what we were drawing the_ attention of the workers to, over the last three years, was the result of the catastrophe, into which reformist politics has dragged the Chilean working class.”” , MIR support Peoples Revolutionary In April this year. M.I.R. made its strategy even clearer. They support a REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE’S ARMY. They think that this army should involve as many people as possible, and not be just a small guerilla group of commandos acting in the name of the people’. Popular resistance committees have to be established, they say, in every factory, shantytown, office, school, uniting peasants, workers, students, squatters, and who will sooner or later be joined by rank and file soldiers and lower officers. They suggested that armed struggle begin straight away in the form of day to day defence, so that the workers don’t become by-standers to armed actions... “‘the peoples revolutionary army has its starting point in the revolutionary party ...so that no one gets the idea that there is going to be some sort of mass uprising.”

“It’s to these tasks and to the preparation of our party for violent confrontation, that we are devoting our major efforts... efforts of thousands of militants and of sympathisers, of hundreds of political leaders who developed during the difficult years when we were underground (1969-1970)

and during the hard class struggle, which marked the period of the Popular Unity government, ”

SOLIDARITY WITH THE STRUGGLE OF THE CHILEAN PEOPLE !

SOURCE OF ARTICLE: “Chile si!” Published by Big Flame 22 : Woburn Hill, Liverpool. 13. cf He M.I.R. Receuil de textes” Pub. Politique a Hebdo. 14/16 Rue des Petitis Hotels Paris 10, Bera tua Chilienne” by Alain Labrousse cee UE Ea IE EISEN SSNS EER

John Taylor, former Minister for Home Affairs in the old Stormont Government, and the man in charge of the R.U.C. after William Craig. He is a leading member of the Harry West Official Unionist Party and it was he who called for a Loyalist “Third Force” to wipe out the I.R.A. Taylor wants a return a to the old sectarian Stormont and the system of government which kept Catholics as second-class citizens for so long. Last week he threw out an “enticing” offer to the anti-Unionists of the North. He said that there “must be a place for their representatives in the Stormont Convention, BUT NOT AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL” !!! CONNOLLY BOOK SHOP