NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/10374

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From: Hank Roth <[e-mail]>
Subject: BIDOM on SENDERO (2)
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/* Written  1:56 am  Jan 27, 1993 by [e-mail] in igc:p.news */
/* ---------- "BIDOM on SENDERO (2)" ---------- */
<<< via P_news/p.news >>>
{From IN DEFENSE OF MARXISM (BIDOM), #102, January 1993}
INTERVIEW WITH DAVID TRUJILLO:
THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN PERU AND THE ACTIVITY OF SENDERO
LUMINOSO

[David Trujillo, a leader of the left in Peru and a member of the
PUM, was interviewed by Marty Goodman and wrote out his responses
in Spanish in November 1992. They were translated by F.Mailman.]

                               -2-

MARIATEGUI'S VIEW

Mariategui's view was that despite the existence of different
modes of production in Peru --- primitive on the Amazon and
semi-feudal in the Anean sierra --- capitalism still had
hegemony. In a polemic against the APRA and the Comintern,
Mariategui siad, "The Latin American revolution can only be above
all a part of the world revolution. It will be, simple and pure,
the socialist revolution. To this word can be added, in some
cases, all the adjectives you want: anti-imperialist, agrarian,
revolutionary-natinalist. Socialism assumes them, precedes them,
encompasses them."

This sentence can be subscribed to by any Trotskyist, since it
contains the very essence of permanent revolution. This is not by
accident. Mariategui did his apprenticeship as a Marxist studying
the documents of the Communsit Interantional of Lenin and Trotsky
in Italy, as recorded by the historian Alberto Flores Galindo.
Later he drew his own political conclusions from the experience of
the first Chinese revolution, which reaffirmed to him the thesis
that only the proletariat can meaningfully go the distance, and
as the leader of all oppressed classes, must inevitably carry out
a socialist revolution.

As we see, in spite of the fact that SL presents itself a
follower of Mariategui, in practice it follows Ravinez, who years
later became part, with all his baggage, of the most reactionary
sector of the Peruvian bourgeoisie.

MUCH OF THE TERRITORY CONTROLLED BY SL IS INHABITED BY INDIAN
PEOPLES. YET, PARADOXICALLY, SL'S LITERATURE DOES NOT CALL FOR
FIGHTING THE RULING MESTIZO CULTURE'S OPPRESSION OF THE INDIAN
PEOPLE. HOW DO YOU EXPLIAN THIS?

This can only be explained by the fundamentalism of so-called
"Gonzalo thought." In order to achieve the necessary level of
fanaticism in its followers, SL had to construct a world view
which, like the Catholic catechism, leaves no room for doubt.
Peruvian researcher Carlos Ivan Degregori noted precisely this
fact in the doctoral thesis written by Guzman, in which the
history of Peru is concentrated in three chapters carrying us
"from the darkness to the light." In the first chapter, according
to Degregori, the coolness of the text toward the pre-Hispanic
civiliztions is quite noticeable. "Within the classist vision (of
Guzman) ethnicity plays no role. What is important is the
emergence of the state and of classes, during Tiwanaku and Wari.
The conquest is a simple change of exploiters. Paradise is in the
future."

The second chapter of the Senderist catechism, "On how the light
emerged and iron was forged," is dedicated to Mariategui and to
the young Peruvian proletariat, with phrases that are also
religious: "A most pure light began to emerge, a resplendent
light, that light we carry in our breasts, in our souls. That
light was founded with the land and that clay became iron. From
the light, clay, iron, emerged EL PARTIDO in 1929..."

The third chapter deals with the recent history of Peru and the
history of Sendero Luminoso up to its supposed achievement of
"strategic balance":

   "The people will become aroused, will arm themselves and,
   rising in rebellion, will bind imperialism and the reactionaries
   hand and foot, will grab their throats, will tear their flesh:
   and, necessarily, will strangle them, necessarily. The
   reactionary flesh will shred will become tatters, and that black
   scum will disappear into the mud; what remains will be burned and
   the wind will disperse the ashes throughout the land in order
   that nothing will remain but an unfortunate memory of what shall
   never happen again because it cannot and must not happen again."

Finally, Guzman defines what communism is:

    "The society of "great harmony," a radical and definitive new
    society toward which 15 billion yars of matter in motion, that
    part of etneral matter which we know, has been moving in a
    necessary and irresistible direction...

    "[The] only, the irreplaceable new society, without exploited
    or exploiters, without oppressed or oppressors, without classes,
    without the state, without parties, without democracy, without
    weapons, without wars" [PCP, 1968]

A concept as elaborate as this cannot permit any doubt,
especially if the "means of persuasion," or rather, sufficiently
violent resources, are available to get all Senderist militants
to think alike, unanimously.

CAN YOU EXPLIAN THE SUCCESS SL HAS ACHIEVED IN ATTRACTING WOMEN
TO ITS BANNER?

The particpation of women in politics is not new in Peru. It is
in the Inca mythology, where in the founding of the empoire Manco
Capac and Mama Ocllo are equally recognized. During the
resistance against the Spanish, the women had their outstanding
role because during the grat genocide, millions of men were
decimated. It was the surviving women who in priciple preferrred
to kill their children to prevent them from becoming slaves for
the Spanish. Then, during Tupac Amaru's uprising, a women was
recognized in a leadership role, Micaela Basidas, and then there
was the sacrifice of those women who continued the resistence. Int
he struggle for independence Maria Parado de Bellido is also
remembered: she was shot by the Spanish. In the case of Sendero,
women's access to certain levels of leadership is the result of
the fgact that in the actions of the early years, and above all
the notable repression in 1983-84, many men died or were
arrested, so the women took up the struggle at many levels of
leadership.

We must remember once again that SL is above all the party of
"Chairman Gonzalo," an absolutely patriarchal leader who refers
to the women of the party as "my daughters," reproducing a
herarchic and protective tie. A researcher, rosa Mavila Leon,
pointed out how the usefulness of the women ot SL and more
specifically to Guzman was revealed in the course of violent
actions, "Because in the action of war they believed their
equality was concretized by the obligation to be as or more
courageous than the men, and in this way obtain the men's
respect," thus becoming "the most macha among the machos"
(Presente y Futuro de las Mujeres de la Guerra" [Present and
Future of the Women of War], in the magazine QUE HACER, October
1992).

SL WOMEN CANNOT BE MOTHERS

In the same article an interview with a Senderist illustrates
another point: "The Senderist women cannot be mothers, and couples
are subject to absolute rules; marriage [is permitted], but
according to rank, the officers with officers, the leaders with
leaders." And still another point: "...the emotional issues
linked with sexuality are not compatible with the concept of
militancy."

In any case, the supposed high value that SL places on women is
countered by the brutal killing, ordered by Guzman himself ---
which he admitted at his trial --- of Maria Elena Moyano, whose
body was blown up with dynamite after she was killed. This is
nothing more than part of the same exclusivity with which Sendero
always acts. Just as there can be no revolution other than
theirs, no other party but themselves, no alternative but theirs,
neither canthere be women revolutionaries outside their ranks. It
was not only Moyana but other women leaders of the Vaso de Leche
(Glass of Milk) program who had to pay with their lives for being
courageous and revolutionary but opposed to Sendero Luminoso.

THE SL IS KNOWN FOR ITS "MORALIZING" CAMPAIGNS. IN PEASANT
VILLAGES POPULAR COMMITTEES ARE SET UP BY SL THAT REGULATE LOCAL
PRODUCTION AND CIVIL DISPUTES BUT ALSO WEDDINGS, PROHIBITIONS ON
INFIDELITY, DRINKING, PROSTITUTION, AND HOMOSEXUALITY. AN SL
"FOUNDER", ACCORIDNG TO PERUVIAN JOURNALIST AND POLITICAL ANALYST
JOSE E. GONZALES, SAID OF THE TOWN OF LA MORADA, "THE CAMPANEROS
BEHAVE WELL...THEY HELPED US GET RID OF THE HOMOSEXUALS,
PROSTITUTES, AND CRIMINALS THAT USED TO GATHER AROUND HERE. THEY
TOLD THEM TO LEAVE; THOSE THAT DIDN'T SHOWED UP DEAD IN THE
ROAD." WHAT DO YOU THINK OF SUCH CAMPAIGNS?

This reflects various factors. First, the scarce presence of the
Peruvian state in helping to resolve the problems of daily life.
In the years 1958-64, years of the great struggle for land which
the FIR and Hugo Blanco headed, and in which more than 700
peasant unions were created, one must remember that such
organizations also fulfilled the fuction of resolving marital
conflicts and even popular justice. (Incidentally they too
harassed prostitutes and homosexuals, but did not kill them, as
the SL later did.)

The performance of such fuctions led Blanco to say that the
peasant unions became a "dual power." In the case of the
Senderists, this actions is very different, becasue the party
replaces the action of the masses with paternalistic behavior.

THE U.S. RULING CLAS HAS SPENT MILLIONS COMBATING THE ALLEGED
LINK BETWEEN SL IN THE UPPER HUALLAGA VALLEY, WHERE IT IS
POWERFUL, AND THE INTENSE HARVESTING THERE OF THE COCA LEAF (USED
IN PRODUCING COCAINE). WHAT IS THE TRUTH?

First of all it must be pointed out that the U.S. ruling class
acts hypocritically and in an imperialist manner in its supposed
struggle against drug trafficking. First, it places all he
responsibility on Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, producer countries
of one of the raw materials used for cocoaine: the coca leaf. The
coca leaf does not convert itself into cocaine; it needs chemical
inputs; which are produced in the untied states, and if their
production and sale were controlled, that would be the key to the
struggle against the production of drugs and therfore for the
control of drug trafficking.

But the ruling class in the united states prefers to combat the
poor Peruvian peasants rather than confront the powerful
industrialists who manufacture the chemicals used to make
cocaine. Thus, ignoring the peasants' demands, it proceeds to
combat the coca harvests with pesticides and bactericides, which
are damaging the econology of the region. The peasants have shown
themselves willing to replace that crop. In some cases they have
cultivated rice and then have seen their harvest rot, because the
Peruvian government did not resolve the problem of
transportation. At the same time, it appears that the brains of
the North American government are more comfortable killing
Indians. There is no other way to explain the prioritization of
the military and repressive aspects against thousands of people
who have the right to earn their living by working.

That is the reason why the SL and MRTA, who are rivals for the
control of the zone of Alto Huallaga, have had a relative success
in defense of the producers of the coca leaf, producing better
prices for them from the drug traffickers who buy the leaf. They
have also defended the area against joint U.S. --- Peruvian
government repression. People must be aware that the United
States also has a military base in the Alto Huallaga and that the
guerrillas have already shot down a military helicopter belonging
to that invasion force.

Lastly there is a curious "strategic balance" in the Alto
Huallaga among the North American-Peruvian forces and the MARTA
and SL guerrillas. It is a fact that drug trafficking is so
powerful in this zone that it permits the existence of this
"balance." It is known that not only Peruvian army officers but
also the U.S. army itself is involved in the resulting
corruption.
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