First Published: The Communist, No. 2, August 1970.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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The first issue of Communist, published in March, 1970, contained an Open Statement addressed to eleven other groups, from the Central Committee of the M.L.P., calling for the opening of principled discussion between the various anti-revisionist tendencies. A great deal of positive results have been achieved, the main one being the clarification of the struggle between the two lines in the workingclass movement, and especially, in this vital section of the workingclass movement that we call the proletarian left. On the basis of scientific investigation of their political lines and class-composition, the following groups are considered by the Marxist-Leninist Party to be counter-revolutionary, and therefore excluded from the genuine progressive forces:
American Workers Communist Party – (A clique of neo-trotskyites headed by Armando Roman, with anti-China slanders, super-intellectual arrogance, and utter isolation their main characteristics.)
Proletarian Party – (Defunct, therefore liquidated and oounter-revolutionary.)
Hammer & Steel – (a “family” grouping with anti-China slander and neo-revisionism.)
American Communist Movement – (specialists in anti-Mao Tsetung campaigning, the ACM broke off correspondence with us without giving any reason – their politics is good enough reason for counting them out, along with their “British” clique, the MLOB).
When last heard from, the Voz Proletaria group in Santo Domingo had aligned themselves with the PLP, especially in relation to PLP’s line on Vietnam and the National Question. If this is true, this group must also be excluded, and further investigations into the anti-revisionist forces in Santo Domingo, particularly the Movemiento Popular Dominicano, which describes itself as a “Marxist-Leninist party”, must be undertaken.
We publish, in this section of Communist, various items of correspondence between the Central Committee of the M.L.P. and the California Communist League, the Ad Hoc Committee For a Marxist-Leninist Party, Workers Party of Scotland (M-L), and a reprint of the statement issued by the Marxist-Leninist Party, Red Women’s Detachment, and Red Guards, greeting the American Communist Workers Movement (M-L) on their publication of a weekly newspaper and the opening of public facilities in the New York City area. Communist will continue to publish materials related to the activity of the Central Committee of the M.L.P. and the Party as a whole towards clarity and unity between the genuine proletarian revolutionary forces nationally and internationally, guided by Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought.
In keeping with the Democratic-Centralist principle of maintaining firm security and protecting leading comrades and cadre both from un-necessary exposure, the names of persons mentioned in correspondence are removed.
To The Central Committee of the M.L.P.:
We have received your communication from ----. The newspapers you requested are being sent. The California Communist League is very interested in making contact and continuing communications with other anti-revisionist and revolutionary sections of the proletariat. We hope we can answer your questions to your satisfaction. We too, have some important questions to pose.
In regards to your questions concerning the line on party-building. The CCL believes that the strategic task of the American proletariat is to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. We see the main tactic at this point is the creation of a party of the proletariat, such a party would be governed by democratic centralism.
In regard to your criticism of our apparent policy – I would like to indicate that some of us in the CCL have had deep, if not very broad experience in the struggle to establish a Marxist-Leninist Party in the U.S.A. That experience dated from the 16th Convention of the CPUSA. Communist Parties are real objective political entitles. Such political organs are not established by decree nor by the subjective estimate of anyone. A Communist Party first of all has broad ties with, and is the spokesmen, leader, and vanguard of the working-class. A Communist Party has a body of theory and theoretically developed cadre among the people, such gigantic tasks are solved in the process of history, not by decrees or declarations of intent. Our concept of Party building is simple. It is: Master theory and the art of class struggle, send our cadre into the field in order to train and gain experience, unite all that can be united, but at all times maintain our strict independence in the struggle to safeguard and apply Marxism-Leninism. You will of course recall that such a policy grew from the experience gained in the struggle against -------, the CPUSA(ML), Proletarian Party, etc.
In regards to the question of Cuba. It is impossible to fully estimate the nature of and contradictions of a great and historic revolution in a letter, however we believe that this mass, petty-bourgeois, national liberating revolution surely would have turned into real socialism but for the position of world revisionism. We are not logicians and we hail every positive achievement and revolutionary political projection of that revolution. Cuba is heading for socialism – where else can it go? Real revolutionaries do not abandon revolutions simply because they enter into a period of back sliding. The thing to do is to develop the positive and try to isolate it from the negative. We are not anti-Cuban. We are simply anti-revisionist revolutionaries.
Just as we cannot go along with any group that opposes Leninism, we cannot join with groups that oppose the Thought of Mao Tse Tung. This is elementary. There are not five or six lines in the movement. There are only two. There is the line of counter-revolution and the line of revolution. No one today can claim to be a Leninist and oppose Mao – the gentlemen of the Kremlin have already tried that. This is a matter of fundamental principle with us. And in no way does this policy throw us in with the “maoists” of the Avakian and Rosen-Sheer variety. (Avakian, leader of the so-called Bay Area Revolutionary Union, Rosen-Sheer are leaders of the PLP – Ed.)
... We want, in a principled way, to resolve our fears of and differences with you. It will take time – but it may be worth while . . . Looking forward to your next communication, with fraternal greetings,
For the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the California Communist League, Chairman
Comrades:
We received your copy of “Communist” and we agree with your call for discussions and exchanges between anti-revisionist groups. Only through sincere study and decisive application of Mao Tsetung Thought to practice can principled Marxist-Leninists unite in struggle to defeat Imperialism and revisionism. A critical dialogue among Third World peoples here in the mother country must be a prelude to a link up with the just struggles of oppressed Third World forces in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This dialogue, based on the Leninist concept of criticism and self criticism, is needed now.
In the near future one of our people will be in New York in conjunction with a proposed national conference on Palestine Liberation and we will be able to have a dialogue then.
A couple of copies of our latest bulletin are enclosed.
fraternally, ---- for the Ad Hoc Committee
Dear Comrades:
We were glad to hear from you and our Central Committee is greatly appreciative of your commendation of our policy. . .We recently had our National Conference and our new Central Committee met only the other day. In due course I shall send you some documents arising from the conference. Meantime I have posted under separate cover a number of items including leaflets and back-number copies of our “Scottish Vanguard”, from which you will, I hope, get an adequate indication of our policy and programme. We are in very thorough agreement with your decision to form a Party of M-L revolutionaries as it is our firm conviction that without such a Party real progress is quite impossible. A mere association of like-minded individuals can never be a substitute for a Vanguard Party of dedicated and disciplined members. Our experience during the few years of our existence has borne this out very fully. At one period we had hoped that our friends in England especially would cooperate with us towards the formation of coordinated M-L Parties in Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland, but in spite of our patient meetings in London over a period of about a year and a half we got fed up with the constant bickerings over personal and egotistical matters having little bearing upon the urgent needs of the workers. Furthermore, we found that very many comrades based mostly in London suffered from a London complex and, although they would never admit it, a serious streak of ’great-nation chauvinism.’ Their lack of knowledge and understanding of the ’national question’ led many of them to reject our position on this aspect. Indeed we were accused of ’petty-bourgeois chauvinism’, ’splitting the workers’ and so on. In this situation the few Scots decided to go ahead and form the “Workers Party of Scotland (M-L)”. There were only seven of us when we formed the Party, but, as you will gather from the literature we send, we have made a very considerable impact on our people and indeed further afield. Our London critics have little to show by comparison in their population of 50 millions against ours of 5 and a half million. However, there are some good friends south of the border and we have taken the initiative in proposing a conference for free and unconditional discussion with groups represented from England, Wales, Ireland and ourselves. This is likely to be held soon and you may hear from us on the subject in due course.
There is a Nationalist Movement in Cornwall but we are not yet well informed about the outlook of its leaders. There is also a Celtic Movement which embraces not only the Celts in the U.K. & I(United Kingdom and Ireland – Ed.), but also the Bretons of France. In all this, however, our main job is to get the ear of the masses of industrial workers. The objective situation is very favourable. The general election here is timely as it brings forward the day of complete disillusionment with parliamentarianism and social-democracy. We are very interested to know your Party’s policy on the “Black Belt Nation” and on the Puerto Rico and Chicano peoples. This is of great help to our understanding of the complexities with which you have to contend. We will look forward to having more of your material on these questions. It appears that Chairman Mao has every reason to declare that your U.S. imperialists are in a state of chaos. We shall continue our correspondence, I trust.
Greetings, Secretary, Workers Party of Scotland (Marxist-Leninist)
(End of section dealing with correspondence)
* * *
The following is a portion of a leaflet distributed in the New York City area as greetings and welcome to the American Communist Workers Movement (Marxist-Leninist).
“The Central Committee of the M.L.P., the leading bodies and cadre of the Red Women’s Detachment and the Red Guards, on behalf of the proletariat and other oppressed people of the city and region, extends the warmest comradely greetings to the leading bodies and cadre of the ACWM(M-L) and the ASM(M-L) on the occasion of their two achievements, which are of significance to the overall development of Class War and Proletarian Revolution in the heartlands of U.S. imperialism.
These achievements, especially the publication of the first weekly newspaper of Mao Tsetung Thought in this country, are testimony to Chairman Mao Tsetung’s brilliant thesis: “Revolution is the main trend in the world today.” These achievements also testify to the advanced level of organization, methods of work, and correct political line achieved by the ACWM(M-L) and its sister parties, the Communist Party of Canada (M-L) and the Communist Party of Quebec (M-L). These new revolutionary forces rising up in the heartlands of the cities of the world are another expression of the present period, when imperialism, revisionism, and all reactionaries are heading for total collapse, and the people of the world, under the proletarian revolutionary leadership of Chairman Mao Tsetung, are heading for total victory. New York City has more varieties of “left” opportunism than any other city in this country. The so-called “Communist Party”, trotskyites, and reactionary pseudo-“socialists” of various kinds all make this city their base area. By opening public facilities in this city, you are bound to engage in close-quarter political struggle with all the various “left” bourgeoisie as well as the more obvious bourgeoisie at the top. This is excellent!
. . .Although we have important differences with the ACWM(M-L), our basis for agreement and solidarity is primary. The Marxist-Leninist Party and its forces will stand alongside all genuine proletarian revolutionary forces against the main enemies, U.S. Imperialism and Soviet revisionist social-imperialism.”