Proletarians of all countries, unite!

Fundamental Documents
2. Concerning Gonzalo Thought

Central Committee of the Communist Party of Peru

1988¹

All revolutions, in their process of development, through the struggle of the proletariat as the leading class and, above all, the struggle of the Communist Party that raises their unrenounceable class interests, give rise to a group of leaders and principally one who represents and leads it, a leader with acknowledged authority and influence. In our reality this has taken shape, on account of historical necessity and causality, in Chairman Gonzalo, leader of the Party and of the revolution.

Moreover, and this is the basis upon which all leadership is formed, revolutions give rise to a thought that guides them, which is the result of the application of the universal truth of the ideology of the international proletariat to the concrete conditions of each revolution; a guiding thought indispensable to reach victory and to seize power and, moreover, to continue the revolution and to maintain the course always towards the only, great goal: communism; a guiding thought that, arriving at a qualitative leap of decisive importance for the revolutionary process which it leads, identifies itself with the name of the one who shaped it theoretically and practically. In our situation, this phenomenon specified itself first as guiding thought, then as Chairman Gonzalo’s guiding thought, and later, as Gonzalo Thought; because it is the Chairman who, creatively applying Marxism-Leninism-Maoism to the concrete conditions of Peruvian reality, has generated it; thus endowing the Party and the revolution with an indispensable weapon which is guarantee of victory.

Gonzalo Thought has been forged through long years of intense, tenacious, and incessant struggle to uphold, defend and apply Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, to retake Mariátegui’s road and to develop it, to reconstitute the Party and, principally, to initiate, maintain and develop the people’s war in Peru serving the world revolution, and that Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, principally Maoism be, in theory and practice, its sole command and guide.

It is of substantive necessity for the party to study Gonzalo Thought for a more just and correct understanding of the general political line, and mainly of the military line, aiming at deepening the understanding of the particularities of the Peruvian revolution, what is specific and particular that Chairman Gonzalo has masterfully emphasized. In this way we serve “the great plan to develop base areas,” the development of the people’s war and the perspective of seizing power countrywide.

We must study Gonzalo Thought, starting from the historical context that generated it; examine the ideological base which sustains it; explain its content, more substantially expressed in the general political line and in the military line which is its center; aiming at what is fundamental within it, the problem of power, of the seizure of power in Peru, which is inextricably linked to the seizure of power by the proletariat in the whole world; and we must pay close attention to its forging in the two-line struggle.

In synthesis, these fundamental issues can be dealt with by applying the following scheme:

I. Historical Context

International. The facts are: 1) the development since the Second World War onwards; 2) the powerful national liberation movement and, within it, the process and triumph of the Chinese revolution; 3) the Cuban revolution and its repercussion on Latin America; 4) the great struggle between Marxism and revisionism; 5) the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. But the key point is to see how, in this great class struggle on the world level, Gonzalo Thought considers that a third stage of the proletarian ideology arises: First, as Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought; then Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought; and later, it is defined as Maoism, understanding its universal validity; and in this way reaching Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, principally Maoism, as the present expression of Marxism.

National: 1) the postwar Peruvian society and within it the political struggle, the so called National Democratic Front, the action of APRA, Odría’s coup d’état and the struggle against his Eight Year Rule, the contest between APRA followers and Communists; and particularly, the development of bureaucrat-capitalism in the 1960s and part of the 1970s and the sharp class struggle that accompanied it; “Velasquism” and its so-called revolution, the contention and collusion between the comprador bourgeoisie and the bureaucrat-bourgeoisie (factions of the big bourgeoisie), and opportunism and mainly revisionism by their supporters; 2) the class struggle in the peasant movement; 3) the process of the working class movement; 4) the intellectual movement; 5) the armed struggle in the country, especially by the RLM² and the NLA³ in 1965, as well as their antecedents in Blanco, Vallejos, and Heraud;⁴ and 6) the problem of the Party: How a Party founded on a clear Marxist-Leninist basis degenerated into a revisionist party, the need to retake Mariátegui’s road, develop it, and to reconstitute the Party, the Communist Party of Peru that Mariátegui himself founded in 1928, and how through this reconstitution a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Party was built. Here it is fundamental how Gonzalo Thought profoundly understood Peruvian society, and focused on the crucial problem of bureaucrat-capitalism, and saw the need to reconstitute the Party and to seize power and defend it with the people’s war.

II. Ideological Basis

Without Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, Gonzalo Thought cannot be conceived, because the latter is the creative application of the former to our reality. The key question on this point lies in the understanding of the historical process of the development of the proletarian ideology, of its three stages shaped in Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and with Maoism as principal; and, principally, it is the application of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as a universal truth to the concrete conditions of the Peruvian revolution; hence Gonzalo Thought is specifically principal for the Communist Party of Peru and the revolution it leads.

The guiding thought, having reached a qualitative leap of decisive importance for the Party and the revolution, has evolved into Gonzalo Thought, thus stamping a milestone in the Party’s life.

III. Contents

a. Theory. How it understands and applies the three integral parts of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, principally Maoism; it emphasizes the importance that Marxism gives to philosophy, the necessity of forming ourselves in it, and especially its application of the law of contradiction in the study of every problem, always aiming at defining the principal aspect and the process of things; in political economy, the concern about the relations of exploitation, and especially about bureaucrat-capitalism, orienting itself towards ripening the revolution and the repercussion of the people’s war on the base, as well as paying attention to the economic relations of imperialism, looking for their political consequences; in scientific socialism it centers on the people’s war and its concrete expression in the country, since it always has the problem of power in mind and, particularly, its shaping and development as a New State.

b. On the contents. The most substantive and developed part of Gonzalo Thought is found in the Party’s general political line; this thought directly sustains, therefore, the line and its five elements, with the point of departure being how it understands and maintains the Program firmly on course.

c. In Gonzalo Thought we must highlight the remarkable fulfillment of the demands stated by Chairman Mao: theoretical solidity, understanding of history, and a good practical handling of politics.

IV. What is Fundamental

What is fundamental in Gonzalo Thought is the problem of power; concretely, the seizure of power in Peru, wholly and completely throughout the country, as a consequential application of the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism in our revolution. But, being a Communist thought, it understands the seizure of power in Peru as a part of the seizure of power for the proletariat on a world level; and that the seizure of power in the country, shaping itself today in the People’s Committees, base areas, and New-Democratic People’s Republic in formation within the perspective of establishing the People’s Republic of Peru, serves to establish the proletarian dictatorship in our country, because without it, it is impossible to march towards communism. And, all of this is a function of firmly and decisively serving the setting up of people’s republics and mainly the proletarian dictatorship throughout the whole world, under the leadership of Communist Parties, with revolutionary armies of a new type, through people’s war and the development of cultural revolutions, so that communism may illuminate all of the Earth.

V. Forged in the Two-Line Struggle

It is through a persistent, firm, and wise two-line struggle, defending the proletarian line and defeating the opposing lines that Gonzalo Thought has been forged. Among the most outstanding struggles that deserve to be emphasized are those waged against contemporary revisionism, represented here by Del Prado and his henchmen; those against the rightist liquidationism of Paredes and his gang; those against left liquidationism headed by the one who was called Sergio and his self-proclaimed “Bolsheviks”; and against the right opportunist line that opposed the initiation of the armed struggle. Without struggle, Gonzalo Thought could not have been developed; and his remarkable handling of the two-line struggle within the Party is a fundamental question which we must study and grasp.

To study and principally to apply Gonzalo Thought is decisive in order to better serve the Party, the development of the people’s war and the world revolution. Likewise, to learn from Chairman Gonzalo is decisive in order to wholeheartedly serve the people.