Third National Conference of Communist Party of Peru
Return to Peru
Third National Conference of Communist Party of Peru 1
July 1983
“He who is not afraid of death by a thousand cuts dares to unhorse the emperor”
“It is right to rebel”
AGENDA (Two Parts)
- Balance of the implementation of the First Conquering Bases Campaign.
- Actions of the first campaign
- Fulfillment of the four tasks.
- Perspective and development of the Committee.
- The new plan to conquer support [base] areas
- National and international context
- Development of the four tasks
- The second plan to conquer support bases
INTRODUCTION
“In the name of the National Leadership we salute the comrades who have completed the First Campaign; we extend to the comrades present, and individually to each one, and through you to the non-present leaders, to the Party cadres and militants, our fervent revolutionary greetings to all the combatant members of the People’s Guerrilla Army; as we salute – with the highest appreciation – our people, our poor peasantry, who will become more and more the “Bronze Wall” of which Chairman Mao spoke to us.
“We salute our proletariat, our revolutionary class of which we are the lifeblood; that class whose interests we serve, being members of the Communist Party. We must all engrave this deeply in our souls and each of us must impress upon ourselves more and more that we serve the interests of the proletariat, otherwise we would not be communists. If we act with arms in hand, it is for the glory and service of the proletariat and from this process of struggle will come the new ruling class, through our Party.
“We can only joyfully welcome the way our people support our armed struggle and vibrate [vibra] to our actions. That is what we are receiving, the vibrant warmth of our people, which allows us to move forward and will continue to allow us to do so.
“Let us allude to the international proletariat whose validity is the product of the invincible struggle of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism; in synthesis, of Marxism, and without which there is no light on earth. We salute the struggles of all the peoples of the earth, of the millions and millions of beings who struggle and who, to our joy, are more and more. What we are seeing on earth is the expression of the masses who have said ‘Enough!’ [Basta] and have begun to fight and struggle as never before.
“I conclude this greeting, on behalf of the Party leadership and on my own behalf, by expressing once again to the comrades our deepest and most fervent Communist greetings.”
I. BALANCE OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FIRST CONQUERING BASES CAMPAIGN.
“Things in the world are complex and are decided by various factors; we must look at the problems in different aspects, not just one.”
“It is well known that in doing a thing, whatever it may be, unless we understand the real circumstances, its nature and its relations with other things, we will not know the laws that govern it, nor will we know how to do it, nor will we be able to reach a happy conclusion.”
1. Actions of the First Campaign
The problem of how the action has been given. We must see the five points for the preparation of the other Campaign.
- Political Movement. In the preparation, the military secret has been revealed. Today we are mobilizing with the Third National Conference.
- Withdrawal of the Red Army and the people. Withdrawal to where?
- Foodstuffs (to be well allocated).
- Recruitment. Do not force. [it] – Promote incorporation as opposed to desertion. Give possibilities of recovery in the event that someone becomes a traitor, for having thoughts of capitulation.
- Measures against agents within the Party. Re-education or decapitation? If the latter, then keep silent.
It is an accurate blow to the reaction, again we caught it sleeping; the fight against the reestablishment was given and the answers are analyzed in three parts.
The response focused on fighting the restoration, which has dealt them a severe political and military blow. Politically, because we have destroyed their old local power. Militarily, because we have destroyed their armies (they used local bosses).
There was national and international repercussion. We have destroyed their plan to strengthen local strongmen rule with the use of their private armies, with the police forces as their backbone.
The response came in three parts. There was fighting in the Regional Committee of the Center and in the Metropolitan Committee; we have dealt with harassment and sabotage, and we have used the People’s Guerrilla Army.
Why weren’t more decisive blows struck? Mainly because of a lack of recognition. Furthermore, in the development of guerrilla warfare movements, a problem has been observed: we have a certain reluctance to confront enemy forces in order to annihilate them; perhaps this is also due to the fact that the enemy would arrive and then leave (they would set up a small encirclement).
Therefore, it is necessary to break this indecision. We must move on to annihilation.
All of this has taken place within the context of Gonzalo’s masterful handling of the political situation; the actions were prepared in anticipation of Belaúnde’s 2 trip, and the events have dealt a political, military, and economic blow to the reactionaries, with national and international repercussions in terms of the total discrediting of the ruling party (AP 3) (Luisiana, La Raya, Allpachaca, Cuzco, AP – Lima – DIRCOTE 4). It is a guerrilla war of movements. The response to Uchuraccay 5 was Bayer. 6
The Party has made the leap; the problem now is to save its own skin.
Supplementary Plan: The actions were low-level.
PROBLEMS
RENEE 7 once again questions the Party, saying that the Party is revisionist and ultimately self-critical (pointing out that Comrade Gonzalo has become bourgeois). He proposes a new power structure, a new leadership, and the co-opting of leaders, rejecting the sole power of Comrade Gonzalo.
In practice, the leadership has adhered to the Leadership Plan with regard to the struggle; the problem is that it continues to refuse to open support bases and shows contempt for the military. The leadership is the one directing the course of events.
2. The Fulfillment of the Four Tasks.
In the reorganization of the Party, six reconstruction plans are analyzed:
- Ideological.
- Political.
- Organizational.
- Leadership.
- Struggle between two lines.
- Mass work.
The Party will be the center of everything. It will be the backbone of the Army and the support of the new State. The Party directs everything.
We must incorporate more militants from the peasantry into the Party.
The Territorial Cell must have a Leader and Deputy Leader; Secretary and Deputy Secretary, and nine members. It is responsible for the mass class struggle, that is, through the Generated Organizations. Example: military role and power; forming Support Bases, Cells.
The Cell Committee directs the class struggle and is responsible for several coordinated Popular Committees; it directs local forces. It has a First Leader.
How is a Popular Committee formed? Two communists from the Party are appointed as secretaries or Security Commissioners. Their role is to train new communist militants, administrators, and military commanders.
Building the People’s Guerrilla Army: a great leap forward was made in moving from disorganized masses to organized and armed masses. Until now, we have not formed its leadership, and we must do so; leadership of the political command, the military command, the Companies, and the Cells (four militants). We must make the leap to the Company level and form its leadership.
We must concern ourselves with ideological-political training. Military training is given twice a week. Training must aim to:
- Organize the mass movement.
- Produce.
- Fight.
Its organization lies in these three forces, which must be seen as a single unit; in this way, we will overcome past mistakes, in which we failed to coordinate.
Front for the Development of the People’s Revolution: “Power is taken by violence and maintained by dictatorship” (Mao). We must strengthen our support base; we must mobilize 90% of the population. This Front is key, and its establishment is the foundation of the alliance between workers, peasants, and the petty bourgeoisie, all under the leadership of the Party.
Keep in mind the problem of developing power. The problem of the masses is reduced for now to the construction of power. The main thing is that we know what the masses suffer and their demands; the question now is how to mobilize the masses through armed action to take power. In this sense, during the present stage, we must:
- Pay close attention to the interests of the masses and, therefore, develop production.
- Address the issue of trade and exchange. Bartering is not a new concept; what needs to be done is to develop it. We must look at the problem of mule driving as the basis of the economic blockade. We have a concrete idea about this activity from the research carried out in 1979 in Andahuaylas and Cangallo; very few people are needed for this, and salt is found throughout the mountains. Controlling trade has its advantages, but if the new government prohibits trade, it would be limiting a large part of the activities of the petty bourgeoisie in the area.
How should we organize the life of the masses? We have to maintain secrecy; in this sense, the five commissars are fundamental in the work with the masses. On the other hand, being a commissar means being a communist militant and is therefore renewable at any time; there are no permanent positions, because this generates bureaucracy. Currently, there is no time limit for the activities of the commissars.
The greater the number of organizations, the greater the problems. We must take into account the first, second, and third levels and the popular organization, which are related to the regular progress of the mass struggle and the popular organization.
As for the class struggle, we must see it as linked to the Assemblies and concern ourselves more with the poor peasantry, and ensure that the Poor Peasants’ Movement does not march on its own. A peasant mass that is simply embittered is useless; a mass is invincible when it is organized, and fragile when it is not. Armed struggle is certainly not a cover to justify failing to fulfill other tasks; we must resolve everything correctly, and to do so, we must give our all.
We have proposed that the Assemblies, based on the organizations that have been created, are the seed of the New Democratic Republic, and their creation must take three directions:
- Leadership.
- Direction.
- Organization.
On Education: The norm is education and work; we must educate not only children but also adults. The ideological criterion that guides education must be Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. We see how the government is abandoning the peasantry, so we must fill that void. In principle, we must teach them to read and write in Spanish, not Quechua; we must see this in perspective. Education deserves our special attention because it is a field that the reactionaries are handing us on a silver platter. We must teach the history of the Party (its constitution and reconstitution), the two powers, explain the actions, teach the operations and how to plan them; the four arithmetic operations, teach everything that is called nature, teach about social classes; teach Marxism-Leninism-Maoism-Guiding Thought; teach our way of seeing the world, which is in the hands of men and will be transformed by them. Teach that there are two histories: the history of the people, which is unyielding and will never allow itself to be subjugated, alongside the other history, that of the viceroys, which must be unmasked. Teach them to work; they have to study and work; teach them that work is dignified and that calloused hands are not a disgrace; tell them that most workers are of peasant origin. Teach them how to handle weapons, how to defend themselves, and how to carry out missions; recount the experiences of the assault on the Vilcashuamán Post. Talk to them about the need to work together to destroy the reactionaries; the older ones must be taught about the agrarian problem and the art of how to strike the enemy in order to defeat them.
We must keep in mind that if we plant seeds in those minds who are only recently starting to blossom, who can deceive them? This task is fundamental and is not difficult at all, so let us do it now!
Keep in mind that everything is in service of the people’s war and in defense of the people.
It is important not to deny the people the ability to celebrate their traditional ceremonies, let them do so; rather, it is necessary to explain to them the importance of dates such as October 7, 1928, December 3rd; Day of the Red Army, the name day of Comrade Gonzalo, the birth of Mao, etc.
We should not talk to them about the deserters, traitorous snitches, etc.
Let us win over the minds of the people and they will act according to the way our ideas have been taught to them. That is why in education we insist on ideology; explain to them why we act, what is the Party, the class struggle and the need to base ourselves on our own efforts.
As for health, herbalism and first aid are fundamental; in the first we are immensely rich; we must develop massive health plans in the peasant areas under our control; the whole health problem of the backward areas is digestive and respiratory. To defeat tuberculosis, good nutrition is essential. It is extremely important that we take care of our militant medics.
We must form Bases of Resistance centering on the proletariat as the axis; the bases must be the slums and shantytowns; all this in service of building the future People’s Militias.
We have the Ayacucho-Lima Pilot Plan, the problem is that we have little experience. In relation to the Great Plan, this will be developed during the course of the war.
We can conclude that our First Campaign was a resounding success. In the first place, we accomplished what we agreed upon and what is fundamental was accomplished with the forceful and immediate response we carried out. It had its own peculiarity; it was in three parts. Thus, the outcome was decisive, a surprise blow, a sure and accurate political-military blow. We caught them sleeping once again. They were more afraid of our famous plan to wipe out their posts and strongholds, and while they were setting up their defense plan, we blew them to pieces.
In the second place, they were left with their plan to strengthen the “gamonalismo 8” and their local power, through their mercenaries and by having the Sinchis 9 and the Armed Forces as their backbone; however, our action was a blow to all three together.
II. THE NEW PLAN TO CONQUER MILITARY BASES
- National and International context
- Development of the four tasks
Elevate the organizational through the level of Political Leadership. “If we do not elevate the organizational to the level of Political Leadership, we will not be able to advance as we should” (STALIN).
We propose to take this into account in the reorganization of the Party; it is the militarization of the Party, and this unfolds in stages, as the armed struggle advances. The consequence of this requires organization, because without organization, these leaps cannot be achieved.
Regarding the three instruments and the New Democratic Republic, we must strive, struggle, and advance the Party to be the center and sole leadership of the Revolution; this is of strategic importance, and we must be firmly convinced that the Party must lead.
We must fight the neglect of political and ideological issues because it damages the revolution and damages the leadership of the armed struggle. In this problem, attention must be paid to the five necessities:
- Democratic Centralism. Firmly apply strategic centralization and tactical decentralization.
- Clandestinity. This essentially means maintaining the banners of rebellion. The banner of armed struggle cannot be lowered; we must ensure the Party’s clandestinity so that it can act in all circumstances.
- Discipline. Be demanding in the understanding of discipline; deviation, opposition, and even less so the denial of the Agreements sanctioned by the Central Committee cannot be allowed. In this, we must be extremely strict, and it applies to all party apparatus. Read Chairman Mao’s Citadel.
- Secrecy. Party secrecy, and especially military secrecy, is vital; we cannot allow it to be violated. We must seriously consider the need for maximum secrecy and, if it is military, take into account the level of secrecy.
- Vigilance. Every day it is more necessary, especially in the military field. Guard against infiltration; this is a problem that should concern us seriously. Do not lower your guard at any time; do not allow the enemy to surprise us.
In summary, we must strictly comply with Party rules and firmly and unquestioningly adhere to its policies and agreements, and apply and embody the Guiding Thought. This embodiment is of strategic importance, otherwise we will not develop as communists, as true communists. How can we seriously consider our lack of ideological and political preparation? How can we maintain the Party and the leadership of the Revolution? We must think seriously about these problems.
Topics:
- Imperialism and the Rise of Socialism. LENIN.
- The Bankruptcy of the Second International (Chapter VIII). LENIN.
- On the Revolutionary Party of a New Type. LENIN.
- Questions on Philosophy. LENIN.
- Questions on Mass Work. MAO.
- Unity of thought and unity of action. c. GONZALO.
As for the People’s Guerrilla Army: its construction is progressing; we must concern ourselves with its construction. Its constitution is mainly political, but military construction with training is also necessary. Discipline and organization are invaluable. There are serious mistakes when they are told to “come and they don’t go,” because discipline means following the voice of command. An army cannot be forged without a fundamental ideological-political basis, and without organization and discipline there can be no People’s Army.
An armed force must be trained to increase its combat effectiveness; we must prepare it to increase its combativeness; ideology and training increase combat capacity (this is not shouting); commanders must lead by instructing. “Those who shout do so out of desperation” (FIDEL CASTRO).
There must be unity between commanders and those under their command.
We must be equally concerned about leadership, not only in the army but also in the Party; this is fundamental, it is key; in the army even more so, and in the Party it is definitive.
Another problem is the concern for the preservation and protection of leadership; that is, protection at certain levels.
In the army, priority must be given to the Main Force. We must organize the base force of the Liberation Front, understanding that the source for the formation of the guerrilla army is the militia; in this way, we will have a broad and developed force. We must bear in mind what LENIN said about the People’s Militia: men and women capable of handling weapons. The problem arises when the militia is based only on men. Lenin proposes three functions:
- Police
- Administration
- Army
In this way, we have the key instrument to ward off restoration. An independent army, separated from the people, can usurp power; examples: China, revisionist army; Khrushchev’s Russia, revisionist army.
Why did Lenin form an army and militia? Because of the needs of war. His idea was to form the militia army in its three forms, but always under the control of the Party. Chairman Mao developed the militia, assuming the function of the Army, and there was a fierce struggle over who would lead the militia, the army, or the Party. Chairman Mao formed a militia of eighty million, even though it was not fully armed; the army had four million men.
Can the Peruvian army oppose fifty thousand soldiers? No, without abandoning the strategic points of the country that are under its responsibility. We know, then, what we are talking about; if we set up a People’s Guerrilla Army, there will be no force that can defeat us.
The militia is led by the Party; that is why it is the Territorial Command and not the Army that leads it.
In Marxist theory on armed force, the problem of the militia has not yet been solved; the person who made the most progress in this area was Chairman Mao, who formed militias without weapons, so that they could arm themselves and make their own weapons. The people’s militia is swallowed up by the army when it performs the functions of the state army and police; its task is to put up barriers to restoration, while the Army is the main organized force.
Topics:
- Report on the Central Command of Ayacucho (in general terms)
- Report of the Central Command of Ayacucho (in parts but in general terms)
- Military works of Chairman Mao. Quotes.
- The struggle in the mountains.
- A single spark can start a prairie fire.
- Problems of strategy in the revolutionary war in China.
- Problems of strategy in the guerrilla war against Japan.
- On the military problem, Proverbs.
- Information Documents from the First Conference.
- Information Documents from the Second Conference (time bomb)
Revolutionary Front for Popular Development: The development of the work must be done mainly among the peasantry.
In this sense, it is essential to establish support bases; the proletariat is represented by the Party, and having made progress in our activities, we must develop political work to build worker-peasant unity. We are going to build it; currently, the criterion of uniting 90% prevails, and this implies uniting the people to defend their interests, their lives, the satisfaction of their needs, and their future; that is why we have taken up arms.
Today, the reactionaries, through their henchmen and reactionary armed forces, attack the people in general, murder, steal, etc. In the countryside, they are implementing a policy of pitting peasants against peasants and pushing peasants to kill the “terrorists,” to kill us (they agitate, blackmail, threaten), and thus they want to turn the peasant into a murderer or a murder victim.
We must, therefore, fight this action of the reactionaries who seek to turn peasants into murderers of their class brothers who are fighting for social revolution; we must combat the social scourge of informers and traitors. If we do not do so, tomorrow the reactionaries will also apply the same pressure on the workers and laborers of the city, to benefit the reactionaries and seeking to make the masses commit suicide as a class.
In response to this, we raise the banners of revolution and fight for it and for the interests of the masses; that is the policy we must apply. We must therefore make clear to the masses that there are two policies: ours, which serves the people (it is important to explain this to the peasantry and the masses), and the policy of reaction.
We must also establish a clear class distinction in the countryside; we must address ourselves politically mainly to the poor peasantry and seek to unite the agricultural workers, including the middle peasants.
We must differentiate between the “old-style” and the new-style peasantry; the old-style defends feudal forms; we must therefore aim to isolate the gamones and their lackeys.
We must unite the peasants against the aggression of the reactionaries and their police forces, unite against the aggression of the government, unite against the aggression and exploitation of the state.
The key to all our actions is to unite the peasant masses against the local bosses and their lackeys, because this is the basis on which the state and its repressive forces operate. The reactionaries’ plan is to strengthen local power by equipping it with Mesnadas 10 (“parapolice forces”) and supporting it with the armed forces and police forces. We have to strike a blow against the local bosses because their base is weak. This obviously means having to confront the reactionaries. With these actions, we undermine and confront the State and prepare our Party to assume its role in the countryside.
In the countryside, the problem is to develop the peasant war led by the Party to establish support bases. What happened in LUCANAMARCA and the heights of HUANTA must never be repeated. This is an expression of bad politics; we cannot act like this. We must investigate thoroughly. We must not express forms of extremism. It is wrong to apply the radius of attack because it can have serious political consequences. We must learn from these experiences and see whether or not our actions correspond to the objective of uniting the people for their defense and for the Armed Revolution. There are counterproductive actions; we must strive to grasp the link of correct politics and do intensive indoctrination work. Excesses could be accepted, but extremism never.
Great importance must be given to poor peasants, as they constitute a nascent state; progress must be made in developing support bases and developing state-like functions.
POPULAR SCHOOLS:
- On War. Proverbs.
- Quotes from Chairman Mao. People’s War.
- José Carlos Mariátegui. The State and the Revolution.
- Lenin and the armed struggle.
- […] 11
- Two important articles. Outcome of the operation.
-Report on the four milestones and on armed struggle. Military thinking.
-Process of reconstituting the Party, mainly.
-Political situation; two paths: democratic and bureaucratic. (growing popular protest).
-Organize the study of the five documents.
SUMMARY.
Four Forms of Struggle:
- Guerrilla warfare.
- Sabotage.
- Selective terrorism.
- Psychological warfare.
Eleven forms of procedure
- Agitation (painting flags, etc.)
- Mobilization (assemblies, actions, plan)
- Sabotage.
- Assaults.
- Harvest uprisings.
- Armed confrontations.
- Guerrilla action (fighting against detachments, surprise attacks, harassment, unrest)
- Riots.
- Taking over towns.
- Escape policy.
- Selective terrorism.
– They question Chairman Gonzalo’s Plan. They question the Leadership. If it is not Chairman Gonzalo’s Plan, then what Plan is being applied?
– The Leadership’s Plan is being applied; in reality, the rightists are taking over the leadership.
– They deny power, we do not question the Leadership. For whom do we want power? For a few individuals? No. We fight for power for the proletariat and the people.
– We a) implement a single Plan, which is that of Chairman Gonzalo; and b) have a single leadership, which is the leadership of Chairman Gonzalo and the Party. We fight for power not for individuals, but for the people.
TASKS:
- Strive to fully and completely comply with the Management Plan.
- Conduct a counter-campaign to the Municipal Elections.
- Committees must strive tenaciously in their activities; prepare and execute the conquest of new lands for collective planting (harvests). Establish clear and precise military-style rules:
- Management is management; command is command.
- Overthrow – when principles and rules are violated.
- Replace – incompetence.
- Punish – when tasks are not completed.
INTERVENTIONS:
“We have seen and studied the reports. Regarding the problems, one has to ask oneself about the problems arising from the new state, from this Popular Revolution and from the New Republic that we are building.
Never before has a People’s Republic been built; it is the first time this has happened in our country and this creates a totally new state of affairs.
Another facet of our problems is the construction of the Guerrilla Army; never before in our country has there been a Popular Guerrilla Army. There have been liberation armies such as San Martín’s army, peasant armies such as Túpac Amaru’s, and other similar armies, but there has never been a People’s Guerrilla Army of the proletariat, led by the proletariat according to its principles and rules. It is a totally new army.
We can see that there are also problems arising from the militarization of the Party; that is, from the general reorganization of the Party. Although we are aware of the problems, insofar as militarization has been under discussion since 1979, that is, since the First Expanded National Conference, we have never before had to face the concrete problem, so this is also a new problem.
The main source of the most important problems is the armed struggle. Specifically, this involves conquering Support Bases, and never before in the country had there been a struggle to conquer Bases; that is why we have set ourselves four tasks.
We can offer another perspective on the problem: class struggle is a concrete situation; never before has the country faced such a profound crisis that it has escalated to the level of armed struggle, led by the proletariat. From this perspective, class struggle is also a new problem. In conclusion, we can say that we do indeed have many problems. What is the source of these problems? The source is the birth, development, and struggle of the new. The Party, leaders, cadres, and militants, those who make up the People’s Guerrilla Army, the children of the people who fight side by side with the people—in short, all of us are developing as part of the development of the new. It is the emergence and development of the new in the midst of struggle.
As a result of the beginning of the armed struggle (ILA), certain attitudes may arise, such as: “I want the revolution, but I don’t want the problems of the revolution.” In reality, those who want the new also want the problems of the new, even more so when it comes to the problems of the definitive transformation of our country, a feat never seen before.
There are problems, it is true, there are a lot of problems, but they are problems of the new; the new arises amid difficulties, it will always be so. If one looks at things objectively, one will see that it is the creation of the new, of the unprecedented, that is the very source of the problems we currently have. We must, therefore, resolve the problems in order to build the new, just as we are doing in our country. This is the initial idea for any committee analyzing this to express its opinion.
STALIN said, “We must ask ourselves what kind of problems these are, whether they are problems of collapse, of destruction, in the sense of the old; or whether they are problems of development, of growth, in short, of the new.” We respond clearly and firmly: they are problems of the new, of the definitive, of the great. It is good to keep this in mind, because sometimes it can happen that in the face of so many problems, you can become overwhelmed, or if problems arise, you don’t know where to start. In any case, the problem is to see the source: the construction of the new, the glorious birth of the new Social Order that we are building on solid foundations.
Currently, there is nothing that does not involve problems and difficulties. According to Chairman Mao, “a problem is an unresolved contradiction,” and contradiction governs everything, from the complex to the simple; therefore, we should not be surprised that there are problems. The problem is a contradiction through the unity of struggle, which is how the new arises and what governs everything that exists.
Therefore, we welcome the great leap we are taking in the construction of support bases and all that this implies; we welcome problems because they are a necessity in the heroic construction we are undertaking. We must take to heart the wisdom of a well-known saying in our language: “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” This is life; this is contradiction. Those who want something new want new problems and must want to solve them. This is also true in the two-line struggle (2LS), especially when it comes to solving problems related to the armed struggle. This is because those who want something new want the problems that this implies, and the new has a class character.
Of course, but creating something new is nothing more than the realization that the people are achieving today—in the world, under the leadership of the proletariat, represented by the Communist Party, that is, by the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist parties. this is the only thing that is truly new, because at this stage of the historical process we are not going to think that other classes, other than the proletariat, could genuinely generate the new. I repeat, under the leadership of the Communist Party, through Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, the new has a class character and the revolution is the driving force of the new. Revolution is the main form of development of the new, and we are seeing this in our country, in our New Democratic State, and in the problems that construction generates. We are experiencing problems, these are problems of the new, complicated, growing every day, and this is due to the very construction of the new that we are doing in our people, in the country, through the Armed Revolution led by our Party.
Therefore, we must understand this transformation brought about by the Revolutionary War with that attitude, and that must be the criterion that guides the solution of our problems.
What are we developing in our country? We are creating something new as part of the world revolution, which has been led by the proletariat since 1917; that is what we are doing. The problems we are facing and resolving with firmness and determination are therefore part of the great task that centuries and history have entrusted to the proletariat, and the creation of communism will have to go through the stages it must go through.
In our specific case, it will have to go through the stage of the National Democratic Revolution and its highest form of development, revolutionary war. We must be confident and have a historical vision of this process in order to understand the task. Never before has such a lofty task been presented, that of overthrowing the power of the exploiters and definitively centralizing the power of the proletariat in order to move toward Communism.
That is why, on the one hand, as individuals, part of the class, we feel immensely joyful to feel like a drop in that powerful whirlwind, we feel joyful to fight until we bring down all the exploiters. Those who come after us will have other tasks; we are laying the foundations, the first militias, the very bases of the great edifice that is being born and will shine forever.
It will be a new era, one of freedom for the free, of happiness for the world, of a world without classes, which will have its laws and goals to conquer, but a different world.
When one thinks like this, we cannot help but reflect and say, in the face of problems, “Welcome!”, because they are part of the great task. Reality has led us, as current combatants, to undertake an immense and glorious task, and since it can only be carried out through the use of weapons, the problem is that we will conquer everything through the use of guns, in order to make the earth a paradise; not a paradise in heaven, but on earth.
Since we are analyzing this, we must understand the historical role that the proletariat, the working class, must fulfill under the leadership of its Communist Party. I have told you well: “Those who want the new want the problems of the new.” “Those who want the problems of the new must solve the problems of the new.” That is why those who want a new world want armed struggle and revolutionary war, because it is the only way to solve the problem of conquering a new world.
2,500 years ago, it was said that war is the father of all things; war is the truly transformative driving force; beautiful words. Our Marxism-Leninism-Maoism has elevated these profound words to the level of a scientific truth, proven and tested in more than a hundred years of proletarian struggle.
“Whoever says war, says sacrifice” (first slogan of war). “Whoever says sacrifice, says now or never.”
War is bloody. Revolutionary wars are bloody. The revolutionary war of the proletariat is extremely bloody. The revolutionary war in Latin America is extremely bloody.
We are in a period of collapse of two imperialist powers, two great historical monsters, and this is so because, in opposition to these historical beasts, thousands and millions of masses around the world are rising up, mainly the proletariat, under the leadership of their Communist Party.
We are in a period of decline for two imperialist powers, two great historical monsters, and this is so because, in opposition to these historical beasts, thousands and millions of people around the world are rising up, mainly the proletariat, under the leadership of their Communist Party.
Thus, the war to create something new also engenders great difficulties. Therefore, do not expect to accomplish a historic task without a great historical cost, nor expect to build a new state without a great revolutionary war, without conquering mountains and without spilling blood. After all, it is bloodshed demanded by the amount of blood shed through centuries of oppression and exploitation, in peaceful periods that LENIN called “periods of slaughter.” That is why in revolutionary war less blood is shed than in “periods of slaughter.”
In short, we are building, with weapons in hand, something new in our homeland, and this great task engenders new problems, problems that are not mountains to be climbed in order to definitively conquer the light; to definitively abolish and destroy the old in our homeland and to enthrone the leadership and ideology proposed by the proletariat through its Party. To build something new in Peru, we are laying solid and firm foundations.
Our Revolutionary Armed Forces have entered their sixth month of combat with the reactionary Armed Forces, flying the flag and under the unwavering leadership of the Armed Forces Command. We have entered a Great Leap, unprecedented, never before seen or achieved in Peru, and it represents a resounding advance that will lead us to the collapse of the reactionary state. There have been more or less 150 years of reactionary state in Peru, and we are bringing it down to build a People’s Republic, under the leadership of the Party, through the Peasant War and all in function of the dictatorship of the proletariat, until we reach the great myth: Communism. The classless society.
So, comrades, let us measure the problems we have to face as part of the class, as we are, as an organized class, as a Party that leads voluntarily and efficiently, with moderation; as a Party that thinks about problems, that sacrifices its blood for the people and that gives the maximum of its efforts. We must, therefore, always compare the great task we are carrying out with the historic goal we set ourselves.
Compare well, measure well, and then no one will be able to say that the sacrifices we make are excessive; no one with clear historical vision, with the soul of a communist, will be able to tell us that the price we are paying is too high or too hard. No revolutionary will say that what we have done is already too much, that the price is excessive; no one, no one will be able to say this to us in the face of our armed struggle.
We have been reflecting on this for some time: How many lives will the revolution cost us? (Precious lives, because the lives of the people are precious). We hope to have half a million men who think about the historical conditions in which we operate and see that this is not an excessive calculation, and if it is, we must prepare for the worst-case scenarios. It would be well worth it if the Revolution cost 50,000 valuable and heroic lives. These lives would be well worth a year of victorious struggle against the reactionary Armed Forces. Faced with the Police Forces, forces of national repression, we had a year of confrontations in which we learned as never before and advanced in our understanding of the enemy; now we will have to learn more and more.
The specific circumstances have prompted a strong response. I wonder: how many combatants have given their lives? No more than a hundred. How many children of the masses, of the peasantry, have been viciously massacred? Perhaps the reactionaries kill them like flies, and very few of them will fall. The Minister recently declared, criticizing the so-called left, “they make a lot of noise about the deaths in the ranks of subversive criminals” (calling them criminals is an infamy, calling them subversives is glorious). Subversion is a beautiful word, which comes from subverting, it is tearing down what is above, it is overthrowing the exploitation of those above, it is fighting to overthrow the exploiters. How can one be a criminal and a subversive? We are the hammer of history, as subversives, and the word criminal is an infamy of the government.
They are ignoring the protests and the members of the Armed Forces because of the way we are fighting them and because of the number of their dead and wounded. They are covering everything up. Briceño, “the fish dies by its mouth,” we threw him the bait and he fell for it like an idiot; now, they are getting what they deserve, we are giving it to them good. They said they would kill us in Ayacucho, let them keep saying it, we are not worried. Then they said they had no casualties. How many were there? There were twenty, and those dead are enemies, they are cursed children who have risen up against their mother, the People. We are fighting and our militants are falling, most of whom are from the people; this hurts us and we understand that they are part of the sacrifice. But we must fulfill our Plan and in the current specific circumstances we must attack the reestablishments, the restorations, that sinister plan they have set in motion; they are armed to the teeth and we have our old traditional weapons, but they are powerful.
The Central Committee suggests that we are marching towards a holocaust. They believed that it would be like it was in Israel, that was [the holocaust] with the Jews. Here, guerrilla fighters are dying, and not just a hundred or a thousand; ours is not a holocaust, it is simply part of the bloodshed and sacrifice that we measure historically in terms of the goal we are achieving; it is a modest, modest sacrifice, clearly, a modest sacrifice within the laws of war. And it is a principle, accepted by the Party, that in war you cannot always conserve your forces if you want to destroy the enemy’s forces.
This is a reality, and the Party accurately points out that, with this sacrifice, we are multiplying our forces; if the hardest hit are the children of the people, for everyone who falls, a hundred more join the ranks. Certainly, the deaths of our fighters and of the people hurt us, obviously hurt us deeply and cause us great harm; but the result is proven, and it fulfills the historical law that we will win because we are the people.
Fundamental Marxism has, if you will, as Chairman Mao says, many truths; one of them is fundamental and, if you will, is the summary of our conception: “Rebellion is justified.” This is what Chairman Mao has taught us, saying:
- Mao, who opposes all previous prevailing opinion, which proclaimed that the mission of the proletariat was different and sought the subjugation of the masses (but armed struggle will not be defeated).
- Mao taught and demonstrated that rebellion is justified against the reactionaries, in order to overthrow them, and that the masses have that right, which is an inalienable right.
This is the great truth: rebellion is justified; therefore, the Peasant Revolutionary War is justified; rebellion against the reactionaries is justified. This is very important because when the Party began to raise up the peasantry, we proposed not a rebellion of words, but an armed rebellion, a rebellion of the armed masses. This is very important. Chairman Mao is just and correct.
The reactionaries always proclaimed their mission to the masses, with the aim of subjugating them; Marxism, on the other hand, teaches them rebellion. The Party is the instrument that sows rebellion in their minds, and it does so by raising them up, raising them up in arms to destroy the old order, to leave no stone of the old social order standing, and to create a new order completely and thoroughly. This is our great task; this is the first thing we have to do, and today more than ever, we must engrave it deeply in our minds.
Rebellion is justified; in our country, rebellion is armed rebellion by the masses, mainly peasants; it is armed struggle led by the Party. In our country, we apply this slogan because it is just and correct.
The reactionaries always proclaimed their mission to the masses, with the aim of subjugating them; Marxism, on the other hand, teaches them rebellion. The Party is the instrument that sows rebellion in their minds, and it does so by raising them up, raising them up in arms to destroy the old order, to leave no stone of the old social order standing, and to create a new order completely and thoroughly. This is our great task; this is the first thing we have to do, and today more than ever, we must engrave it deeply in our minds.
Rebellion is justified. In our country, rebellion is armed rebellion by the masses, mainly peasants; it is armed struggle led by the Party. In our country, we apply this slogan because it is just and correct.
Do the peasants understand this? Do the masses understand this? Of course they understand it; it is a very simple phrase that encapsulates a profound Marxist truth, which is embedded in the tremulous development of everyday life and serves to generate great processes: “to shake the social order, to bring down the old empires.” Rebellion is justified is a phrase that encapsulates the history of the masses and, therefore, a great truth. The masses understand this very well. The masses cannot be overwhelmed with grand concepts that only confuse them; they must be given great truths, and it is here, in these simple phrases, that the masses must begin to learn Marxism. This must be their great beginning. Chairman Mao said, “The masses understand this perfectly well.”
It is very important that comrades agree on this: poor peasants are the best, they are the ones who best understand the People’s Revolution, who best understand what is new, and therefore their hearts rejoice and are glad amid the difficulties they face. Theirs is a beautiful joy that lights up their eyes. Power is not foreign to peasants; they are the ones who best understand these great and compelling truths.
The first great truth that we must sow in the masses is rebellion; today more than ever we must sow this truth in the fertile minds of the people, mainly in the poor peasantry. We must undoubtedly sow this truth in everyone, in children, in women, in the elderly; above all in children, because they are open to life, and fundamentally in young people. A poet once said that women learn to be women in the kitchen. This is absurd stupidity; the people, and among them women, must choose power.
The peasantry does not need so many lessons; it just needs to be told the great truths. That is why, I repeat, I believe that the first truth they must understand and never forget is that rebellion is justified! Why do we say this? Because within the Party, there are still those who question this slogan, thereby denying the essence of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. Why do they deny the necessity of rebellion? Why do they deny the right of the people to wage the struggle for class power with arms? It would seem that those comrades who question the slogan prefer to insist on the opportunist path of elections.
Here in Peru, the false Mariateguists, the Miristas, 12 deny that the plan to encircle the cities from the countryside can be applied; they forget that Chairman Mao formulated this fundamental concept of his military thought in 1930. What policy do they want us to apply and preach? It seems that they want us to engage in Sanchopancesque 13electoralism, bastard electoralism. They do not say that rebellion is justified, even though they have been proclaiming it and deceiving the people; they only want the ballot boxes.
Marx said, “You don’t mess around with insurrection”; once the struggle begins, it cannot be abandoned until victory is achieved. Following Marx’s wise words, we can therefore say, “Rebellion is justified!” This is a great banner that is forcefully imprinted on the grassroots, which moves people to action and organizes their will. It is a banner that will never be lowered. That is why the slogan means: tomorrow I will triumph, tomorrow I will take power, I will sow revolution throughout the world, I will stir up rebellion and enthrone it with my life so that the proletariat can take power and crush the reactionaries.
Therefore, we will continue our struggle until we destroy the enemy classes, and we will continue until we build Communism. When Communism arrives, our struggle will be over, for with it the classes will disappear, including the proletariat, even the Party will disappear, and there will be new forms of rebellion, but this time in the form of building a new destiny, a new society.
13 Footnotes
