First Published: Obreros En Marcha, Vol. 2, No. 1, January 1977.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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With the next edition, OEM – OBREROS EN MARCHA – ends its second year of publication. The two year period just ended, paralleled the growth and development of EL Comité-MINP since its founding in 1974 as a Marxist-Leninist formation. Our first edition, a six page mimeograph bulletin, reflected the lack of political and organizational experience of its publishers. Although we have not overcome many aspects of these shortcomings, OEM has, nevertheless, developed into a monthly journal, fully supported by the contributions of its readers. At present, it is distributed mainly on the East Coast but it reaches other parts of the country as well as Puerto Rico.
The pages of OEM have reflected the ideological, political, and organizational transformation which our organization has been undergoing.
From a local community organization with roots in the communities of the Puerto Rican national minority in New York City, EL Comité has transformed into a Marxist-Leninist formation, whose objective and social composition characterizes the application of the scientific methods of Marxism–Leninism to our concrete reality.
The fundamental objective of the organization is the Proletarian Revolution in the U.S., the struggle and support for the national liberation of Puerto Rico and the concrete support’ for the colonies and semi-colonies in their just struggles against humanity’s principal enemy: U.S. imperialism. The organization has come to these positions in its process of development and through the serious study of fundamental questions confronting revolutionaries in the U.S. In the process, the resolution of the question concerning the role of Puerto Ricans in the U.S. Proletarian Revolution, their role in the struggle for Puerto Rico’s national liberation, and the relationship between these two revolutionary processes were of particular significance. In essence, analyzing the experiences of Puerto Ricans living in the U.S., and the process which brought them here, has led us to understand that most Puerto Ricans form part of the working class of this country (see: The Process of Puerto Rican Migration and the U.S. Working Class) and as such their long range interest are those of the entire working class: the destruction of capitalism and the building of socialism. These conclusions and objectives, as published in OEM, complement rather than hinder Puerto Rico’s struggle for national liberation.
We understand that to accomplish these objectives, a revolutionary vanguard organization is required to guide, based on the science of Marxism-Leninism, the struggle for socialism in this country and the support and solidarity with the struggle of Puerto Rico and the colonies and semi-colonies for national liberation. In the absence of that vanguard, the construction of the Revolutionary Party of the Proletariat is a central task. In this respect, a fundamental prerequisite to fulfill this task is the formation of dialectical materialist cadres, rooted within the working class and popular sectors, whose social practice and theoretical formation are the guarantee that the Party will be formed among the masses and not external to them and their interests. In this regard, the tasks of OEM are intimately related to accomplishing these tasks.
During the course of its development, OEM has attempted to avoid becoming a “leftist” publication of the type characteristically found in our movement which is interested more in abstract “ideological” struggle, than in the real problems affecting the working class and popular sectors. On the other hand, we have also attempted to avoid becoming a “radical” publication of the type in which Marxism is mystified as a subject solely for intellectuals, while the workers are provided information lacking serious analysis in a paternalistic language, the so called “language of the people”. We have not always been successful in these attempts.
OEM has weaknesses in both content and form. At times, OEM has reflected a tendency toward emphasizing polemics with other political organizations in which our readers have lacked the basis (either informational or political) to understand or follow the political line being developed. Moreover, due to our ideological shortcomings, generalities have, at times, become substitute for scientific analysis of concrete situations. As a result, OEM has on occasions, assumed the characteristics of a “leftist” whose stereotyped writing style has made it inaccessible to workers. Furthermore, the reality of our social composition – predominantly Puerto Ricans and workers – while having many positive elements, reflects the lack of technical skills characterizing these sectors in U.S. capitalist society. “Learning from doing”, a methodology which in itself is not entirely negative, does hinder aspects of OEM’s production. These failings, accompanied by our inherent lack of financial resources, and often the lack of creativity and imagination of its publishers have made the process of development a difficult one.
Understanding the need to overcome our shortcomings, and building upon our accomplishments, OEM begins its third year of publication fully aware that the period just ended was one of preparation for the many tasks that lie ahead. Our objectives are based on the fundamental premises of historical materialism – the eventual demise of capitalism and the establishment of socialism as the predominant and fundamental system of production. Bu this transformation will not be gradual nor purely economic. It will result from the conscious and organized actions of the masses, led by the working class and its Party, culminating with the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat. OEM, and its publishers, with the constant criticisms of its readers is committed to overcome its shortcomings in order to meet the tasks assigned by the present period.