Paper presented at the 15th International Seminar on Problems of the Revolution in Latin America
The struggles of the workers and the peoples, and the perspective of the revolution and socialism
Quito, Ecuador
11 – 15 July 2011
By LUIS G. JALANDONI
Chief International Representative
National Democratic Front of the Philippines
The objective conditions in the world are favorable for intensifying the struggle of the workers and peoples towards winning the revolution and building socialism.
The crisis of the world capitalist system keeps on worsening and the broad masses of the peoples are rising up simultaneously in many countries in various continents to resist the disastrous consequences of the global crisis.
Worsening Crisis and Aggressiveness of Imperialism
The protracted crisis of the world capitalist system continues to worsen. The US and other imperialist powers keep on clinging to the bankrupt policy of neoliberal globalization. The entire capitalist world is in a state of depression and disorder.
The imperialist and puppet states continue to attack the rights of workers, press down wages and cut back on social spending. They do so in order to provide the monopoly bourgeoisie more profits through tax cuts, trade and investment liberalization, privatization of public assets, deregulation and denationalization of underdeveloped economies.
The financial oligarchy and the rest of the monopoly bourgeoisie who are responsible for the unprecedented economic plunder in the last thirty years continue to amass superprofits by stealing public funds and passing the burden of the crisis on to the working people and the underdeveloped economies.
At the base of the financial crisis is the crisis of overproduction that besets the whole world. It extends to raw materials, semi-manufactures, basic industrial goods up to high-tech electronic goods. The overcentralization of capital in the hands of the monopoly bourgeoisie has reached unprecedented levels while production stagnates and the livelihood of the workers and working people and the economies of the third world are devastated.
The imperialist powers are united against the oppressed peoples and nations and underdeveloped countries that assert national independence. But among themselves they are increasingly beset by contradictions as they struggle for the redivision of the world. Certain countries that collaborated with US and NATO in the aggression against Iraq subsequently became wary and formed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Most recently, China, Russia, India, Brazil and even Germany would not support the aggression on Libya.
In the face to the worsening and intolerable exploitation and oppression inflicted on the peoples, there are outbursts of mass protests of the workers, peasants, the youth, women, immigrants, indigenous peoples and other people occurring in Africa and the Middle East, Latin America, North America, and Asia and the Pacific.. Anti-imperialist formations are steadily developing. Revolutionary armed struggle and people’s war are growing in some third world countries..
Opportunities for the Workers’ and Peoples’ Struggle
The crisis conditions provide the opportunities for the subjective forces of the revolution to arise and grow in strength.
It is crucially important that a proletarian revolutionary party guided by the revolutionary theory of Marxism-Leninism be at the helm of the workers’ and peoples’ struggle. This is necessary so that this struggle will be clearly and effectively directed towards successfully attaining the revolution and constructing socialism.
Without a proletarian revolutionary party guiding the mass struggles of the workers and peoples, the monopoly bourgeoisie will use the mass media, the bourgeois political parties and schools in propagating anti-communist ideas and prejudices and playing up chauvinism, anti-migrants, racism, religious bigotry, war hysteria and fascism to divide the people. The revolutionary party will arm the workers and peoples with the theory and practice to effectively counter these schemes of the monopoly bourgeoisie. The revolutionary party consolidates itself and expands its membership by intensifying the mass movement of the workers and peoples.
Mass struggles of workers and peoples without the leadership of a proletarian revolutionary party may be able to overthrow a corrupt dictator but they will not be able to change the system and build socialism. This is the experience in Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab countries.
The Struggle of the Workers and People in the Philippines
On the 42nd anniversary of the New People’s Army (NPA), the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) issued its message to the NPA Red commanders and fighters: “Fight and defeat the US-Aquino regime and fulfill the requirements for advance toward the strategic stalemate.”
The CPP guided by the revolutionary theory of Marxism, Leninism and Maoism, set the following targets for the next five years:
Increase the guerrilla fronts from the current 110 to 180. This means intensifying guerrilla warfare on the basis of an ever deepening and widening mass base. Every guerrilla front covers about five to seven municipalities. The 180 guerrilla fronts will mean that the NPA will be operating in about 1,000 out of the 1,600 municipalities in the country.
Intensify the implementation of revolutionary land reform to benefit the peasantry, the majority of the population, who constitute the main force of the revolution. From the minimum program of the reducing land rent, eliminating usury and raising farmworkers’ wages, the maximum program should be aimed at, whenever feasible, in order to distribute land to the peasants.
Further develop the provision of other social benefits to the masses, such as health, education including revolutionary education, literacy and numeracy, cultural work to raise the revolutionary consciousness and enthusiasm of the masses.
Build more organs of political power and develop stable base areas. The revolutionary people’s government in the barrios and municipalities must be strengthened and expanded.
Increase the membership of the Communist Party up to 250,000 in order to carry out the many revolutionary tasks to win nationwide victory and construct socialism.
The revolutionary mass movement in the urban areas must be strengthened through the workers, urban poor, women and youth and other sectors strengthening their organization and carrying out militant mass mobilizations. This is an indispensable complement to the revolutionary armed struggle in the rural areas.
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines and other organs of the national united front ought to be further strengthened to amplify the participation and support for the new democratic revolution.
The international solidarity work must be further developed to win the support of the world’s peoples and to participate in building a powerful anti-imperialist and socialist movement, in the spirit of proletarian internationalism..
The message of the Central Committee of the CPP gives specific instructions to the NPA: “The NPA must carry out a war of fluid movement and must avoid decisive engagements which put at risk the existence of any platoon or company. It must wage only those battles that it is sure of winning. It must exercise flexibility in the use of tactics of concentration, dispersal and shifting. It concentrates strength superior to that of a target enemy unit for attack. It disperses to deprive the enemy of a visible target or when it conducts mass work among the people. It shifts position when it evades the attack of a superior enemy force and maneuvers to gain time or an advantageous position.”
The CPP CC .exposes the new Aquino regime as a puppet of US imperialism. Its counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bayanihan (Operation Plan Cooperation) echoes the US Counter-Insurgency Guide of 2009. While using deceptive words such as “peace and development”, “winning the peace”, the regime’s counter-insurgency program is just as brutal and fascist as the old program under the US-Arroyo regime.
At the start of its message, the CPP declared:: “We salute all the Red commanders and fighters. This is a time to honor our revolutionary martyrs and heroes, take stock of our strength and achievements and renew our resolve to advance the people’s war to a new and higher stage.”