Proletarians of all countries, unite!

On the Reconstitution of the Communist Party of Peru

Second Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Peru

Extract from the Preparatory Session of the Second Plenum of the Central Committee

Communist Party of Peru

1991¹

The Process That Has Occurred in the Party

From the beginnings of the red fraction in the 1960s, the documents are very expressive. If we look at Red Flag² No. 1, including the cover, there is the hammer and sickle, it is for May 1st, very clear positions are put forward. We can see this in the basic party documents of the fraction. On page 2 there is an article on social classes and we start from a quotation from Marx to develop the question of social classes. The quote refers to the fact that there is a true revolution which is the communist revolution. This is in Red Flag No. 1, Ayacucho 1963. This is how the fraction begins to define our ideological political conception. On page 4, article Peasants, it has a quotation from Lenin: To the Rural Poor, perfect for the peasants of today. In 1963, when the peasant movement was the order of the day and the highest simultaneous peasant movement in this century was recorded. Different from the current situation, when the situation was that everyone was wondering how an agrarian law would be given, the fraction states in that article that the revolution will be from the countryside to the city, this is very important. Clear position on the road, peasantry, worker-peasant alliance, against Belaúnde’s plan of pickaxes and bullets. On page 5, it talks about revolution, about Marx’s thesis of the clash between productive forces and relations of production, a quote from A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. Also on the revolutionary situation starting from Lenin. Our Party since the 1960s has been clear about what a revolutionary situation is. We have always based ourselves on the world experience in what Marxism-Leninism teaches, as it was said back then. Enter the problem of what the way in Peru is, since in the Party, the so-called “ways” were debated. Our position was very clear: the only way is revolutionary violence and the revolution from the countryside to the city. There is a very important quotation from Marx on insurrection, that it is not to be played around with, and to carry it to the end. We did not yet know Chairman Mao’s works; Marx’s quotations are entirely valid. We stated our obligation to serve the world revolution by defending Marxism and supporting the great struggles that were taking place at the time. We also said that we could not dream of a quick triumph of the revolution and that the dictatorship of the proletariat is the necessary path of the proletarian revolution.

These are very expressive things. Without ideological political foundations you can’t break new ground. It is decisive. The fact that Chairman Mao raised it to a very high level is something we came to understand later.

April 1964, Red Flag No. 4. It raises greetings to the proletariat for May 1st, which it leads based on Marxism-Leninism, based on its ideology. It also says unions of all types, class-conscious, strong union of the proletariat and peasants around the worker-peasant alliance, uniting the entire masses, that is how the revolution is made. Where do they get that we are sectarian, that we are against unions? The problem is that we want authentic unions. These existing ones become authentic because we cannot leave them in the hands of traitors. “Reconstitution of a true national class-conscious and proletarian center, without traitors or sellouts.” That is what we want. Authentic unions are being forged as time passes. Decades and centuries are condensed in days; many things vanish in thin air. What remains is the class-conscious, the proletarian. That which we are proposing to undermine them from below is for it to take place in the great condensation. It is not that we are going to wait long years for it to take place. We fight against this worker-peasant-student alliance, it cannot change things. We call to become aware of the historical role of the class.

There is also an article on the class character of Belaúnde’s government in Red Flag No. 6. We unmasked his class character. We said that he could not represent the exploited classes one year into his government. It does not say that he is of the national bourgeoisie. The problem was the struggle between the Ayacucho Departmental and the National Leadership, which maintained that Belaúnde was of the national bourgeoisie. It was a hard struggle over the article Peasants and over Belaúnde, because he proposed land invasion and unmasked himself. This is from August 1964, but the document of the Fourth National Conference says that Belaúnde’s government is of the national bourgeoisie, and to practice unity and struggle with him. The same revisionist position continued in the Party.

Editorial. Page 12. It talks about the Party, the task it has to fulfill to conquer power and lead the people to the socialist revolution. I wanted to say, “For the revolution to socialism,” because there were approaches that said that it was possible to evolve, we did not think that way.

These documents are very important, they show us how the fraction begins to develop its work. On that we swept away revisionism in Ayacucho, they were not even left for remediation. That is clear and concrete; we made them disappear. The famous Chinese Letter of June 14, 1963 was a weapon of combat, a happy coincidence with the anniversary of Mariátegui’s birth.

It shows us that we have advanced on the basis of ideological political principles, in two-line struggle against revisionism, class struggle, and the main basis it is built on. It also shows us that to form a party, to develop it, is not a simple thing. It shows us that a handful taking up Party building is enough for the Party to develop and grow, that the problem is not how long it will last. Mariátegui taught us to finish his journey, nothing more.

1965, page 14 Of the Party, its Principles and Objectives. It is the first article of the new Statute that was made after we broke with revisionism and held the Fifth National Conference. September 1965. It was entrusted to the one who speaks of drafting the Statutes. There it is stated that the Communist Party of Peru is the party of the working class, its organized vanguard. Marxism-Leninism is the ideological basis. Violent revolution and dictatorship of the proletariat. War to the death against contemporary revisionism in defense of Marxism and the national and international revolution. On pages 16 to 20, a very important article because we say that Mariátegui’s line should have never been abandoned and that it had to be developed.

In Red Flag No. 2 there is an article called Túpac Amaru, Popular Revolutionary Hero. Much has been trafficked with him, they accuse us of not starting from history. The proof is here, we analyzed him and drew lessons from the greatest social movement in America until today, as we said in the article. We have reanalyzed Tupac Amaru in the Eighth Plenum and have drawn military lessons. What lessons does the MRTA draw from it?

On page 24, July 28, Last Day of Despotism and First of the Same, Red Flag July 1966. It says that nothing had changed, the same exploiting class continued. There is also democratic revolution led by the CPP, and people’s war. Page 29, “Chairman Mao, a thinking and active man.” Page 29, Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution; concrete lessons are drawn. Page 31, The CPP and Secret Work.

Without secret work, there is no Communist Party. That is very clear in Red Flag No. 28, January 1967. I wrote that, I was Secretary of Education and Organization of the Central Committee. That has a foundation. The Party is secret because we have to conquer power and overthrow. The CPP attracts the implacable hatred of the oppressors who seek to destroy it by all possible means, mainly by mobilizing the repressive bureaucratic apparatus of the State, even though the reactionaries use the tactic of the soft hand in one period and the hard hand in another. These changes are nothing more than different methods for the same end, to frustrate the revolution by annihilating the Party of the proletariat, the only Party capable of carrying the revolution to the end. That is the reason why the Party has to be secret. When we looked at the problem of the downfalls, we said that it is forgotten. The ideological political root of what the Party is for is invisible; it is developed by carrying out both secret and open work, these are not new problems. 23 years later we continue raising the same thing, but there are comrades who do not understand this way. Then, how to build the conquest of power, is it not going to be in a fiercer struggle?

Page 35: “Let us put an end to counter-revolutionary sanctification.” It refers to which day we should celebrate, the birth or death of Mariátegui. The revisionists make pilgrimages every year on the day of his death. According to Marxism the day of the birth of the leaders is celebrated.

Page 31: “Develop the Marxist-Leninist thought of our founder and shining guide.” It vindicates Mariátegui.

We have a long process of how we have started and have been developing, how that first struggle fighting revisionism, defending Marxism, and organizing the Ayacucho Regional Committee shows the ideological political and organic bond.

All this will lead to a situation. In September 1967, measures were proposed to develop the construction. This is in the separate part of the documents of the fraction. It was presented in a Session of the Expanded Political Commission and was approved because nothing else was presented. Fundamental measures that required to sweep away the remnants of revisionism, we proposed how to carry out open work, union work, united front, because it is open and armed force, that at the last minute the Army is a form of front with arms in hand. In the case of the Party. Organizational forms and forms of struggle. Without a good method of leadership it is not possible to work well, without democratic centralism, without strategic centralization and decentralization of functions. What is centralized are the policies and what is decentralized are the functions. Style of work.

It says “develop struggle on all planes to adjust the organic to the political.” The Party has to be ready when the moment comes, because when it comes it is too late to prepare, it is underlined “taking up arms in the next revolutionary upsurge of the masses.” Also underlined are “leading the struggle against revisionism, which is the opportunism that threatens to corrode our ranks,” “Place Party work’s center to be the countryside to deepen the peasant struggles,” “develop the armed force, the main task of the Party.” How to carry this forward is upheld.

The national leadership must move to the field. Partial displacement is possible for the moment. Regional leaders should go to the countryside. Energetically apply new system of organization with the highland committees as the main ones. Systematic education campaign. The formation of the cadres is decisive. The ideological basis of the campaign is the Thought of Comrade Mao Zedong. Redistribution of party cadres. Central Committee dedicated to work 24 hours a day. Expansion of the Political Commission. Military Commission, comrades dedicated fundamentally to the military problem. Regional leadership on the basis of members of the National Leadership, selected by the National Leadership. Open work, secret work, politically and militarily. Purge the militancy through work. Political Commissariat. Zones of military work. Capital importance has the press, agitation and propaganda, the main thing is the writing and control because there is the line, it is not a problem of printing the main thing, printing is necessary. Filling front and union gaps. Peasant work, assessment and center of our attention. Norms on the Communist Youth, the Party directs it. All of the above demands a bold and firm promotion of cadres.

Economically, rely on their own efforts. Keep in mind that the Party will Bolshevize itself and create the powerful organisms of the revolution only through armed struggle. “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” Internal struggle to be deepened by the expanded Political Commission. Security Commission.

What is interesting to see is how all this political ideological debate, the political ideological bases, leads to organizational issues, to organizational construction. This generated that some members of the Central Committee were going to cease to be members because they were not full time. The problem of distributing cadres, putting an end to personal disputes, aims to put the armed force at the center. It is a function of preparing for war. This generated a strong internal struggle, in the same separate page 2 there is Develop in Depth the Internal Struggle in the Revolutionary Practice. A whole ideological process leads to an organic question and this raises internal struggle for it to develop.

At another time Mariátegui Established the General Political Line of the Peruvian Revolution. So, there was a political line. To arrive at this demanded internal struggle, one of the most dirty struggles carried out by the liquidationism of Paredes. It has to do with the question of Red Homeland,³ he did not know how to handle it well. It led to the division of the Party because Paredes set up a plan to blow up the party by artfully managing a police coup. It generated a revolt in the Party because the political line was not clearly defined, the ideological unity because there was Castroism. Maoism was questioned, Mariátegui was denied. Paredes believed he had created the line, that is why to speak of Mariátegui was to oppose the Secretary.

It was demonstrated that there was a strong Committee, the Ayacucho Regional Committee that confronted it. The Party was blown up and we were reduced to one Committee and dozens in the country.

Declaration of the Second Plenum. 1970.

When the Party blew up, there were few of us left, a handful, so the question is not how many there are, but whether you want it or not. In February 1970, the cadres took up this declaration. The Declaration defines the character of the state and government that ruled as fascist and corporativist and then how we had to do to develop starting by unmasking the liquidationist line. Reconstitute the Party on the Basis of Party Unity comes from 1967 as can be seen in those documents mentioned. Again an ideological political foundation, page 55.

Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee. 1973. On the Reconstitution. The turning point came in the 1970s, we devoted ourselves to the defense of the existence of the Party, 1973 was over. Then it was up to us to expand it, to develop it, and that required political bases. Analytical scheme, page 125. Just as today we propose political bases for the conquest of power country-wide, for the Strategic Plan of Construction. Political bases for the reconstitution, in the same way we propose ideological political foundations, economic foundations.

This was also developed in internal struggle to establish those ideological political bases, but we took a very important step, we defeated left liquidationism. We entered 1976, and there we saw that the Party had a General Political Line, that was when we published Let’s Retake Mariátegui and Reconstitute his Party. Red Flag No. 45 with the same title.⁴ There is a compilation of very important documents, because they were not known, apart from the fact that there was the Fifth Plenary Session of the Central Committee Impulse the Reconstitution!, that is what the documentation served to support this impulse, and that developed the political situation of the Party. Pay attention to its editorial because it explains the road. Not only to retake Mariátegui but also to develop him, that was the criterion from the beginning. We have already fought, we have an ideological political document, then we start to promote the reconstitution, again a parallel between an ideological, political, and organizational development.

1975. People’s Voice⁵ No. 5 is an important document on bureaucrat-capitalism. In 1976, Allpa⁶ May 1969 report Program and Tasks, document of the Convention of Peasants of Ayacucho, is reprinted again. The peasant problem was key in the struggle against Paredes who proposed expropriation while ours is to confiscate, that is where it was raised. It was reprinted because the left liquidationism, Montañez, proposed to do peasant work with existing peasant organizations in Lima, vindication, and criteria of the Tahuantinsuyo.⁷

In May 1969 the Party will state that a new agrarian law is coming and that the road of bureaucrat-capitalism is the only one that can be followed. The law was passed on June 24, 1969. But what happened between May and June 1969? Some time before the Party had created the People’s Defense Front of Ayacucho, it was an agreement of the secretariat of the time; the support of the front was the barrios, and the congress of barrios and shantytowns in Ayacucho was carried out by the Party; it had its antecedents in the struggles for the defense of the University funds. In Ayacucho we had forces and we took advantage of that struggle for the University with the Federation of Neighborhoods. This Front led by the Party is going to develop the struggle against D.S. 06⁸ on the problem of education; and the center of this struggle has been Ayacucho, from there the Revolutionary Front of High School Students (FRES) has emerged, this movement has been growing and many young people have been commissioned to different provinces, going to Huanta, Cangallo, Huancayo, Fajardo, Huancavelica, Apurímac, the struggle for education supported by the people and led by the Party achieved a great victory and dealt its first defeat to the fascist regime. Now they want to traffick, what the liquidationists sought was to abort the struggle and undermine the Party. The source of that trafficking is Aracelio Castillo. Now where are the liquidationists? We are conquering power.

Investigation plan. July 1977. Investigation of peasant work. This is how we are advancing. There are already foundations of Mariátegui’s line and the situation is developed, we have the basis of the reconstitution in 1973, in 1975 we promote the reconstitution and in 1976 a process of assembling, of developing the work in Lima begins (Lima was the base that served to assemble the Party at national level, each thing in its place). Because there was an ideological political base, there was already Mariátegui’s line, then came the development, we took the problem of construction, it was extended to a national level. This can be seen in the Sixth Plenum of the Central Committee.

Sixth Plenum of the Central Committee, December 1976 was one of the most violent sessions we have had, but we advanced quite a lot. In the central report in part III of the outline of the session Report on the Construction was presented, which had six parts: Marxism and construction, construction in the country and the path of Mariátegui, the problem of construction, generated organisms, problems of the internal struggle, and current tasks of construction. Co-report on guidelines for the Department of Organization, there are 9 points that it deals with: The leadership is always key. Among the agreements is that the Seventh Plenum be convened to deal with the National Plan of Construction, since it was not possible to advance further due to the internal struggle.

After this process, which began with the Second Plenum, Third Plenum, documents of 1975, we focused on organizational construction, but there are moments where the construction becomes a basic substantive issue to raise the level of political leadership.

Seventh Plenum. April 1977: On the Seventh Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPP previous document to prepare the event. Political Bureau. It deals with “The Internal Struggle and the Construction” in the Sixth Plenum the internal struggle broke out, there was rightism in the countryside and the city. Current Problems of the Construction and Seventh Plenum of the Central Committee. Seventh Plenum should have as a guideline “Build in Service of the Armed Struggle.” Contents of the Plenum. It said what the guideline is, where the plenum should aim, construction becomes the substantive issue at certain times.

Seventh Plenum. May 1977: Develop the Building, Principally of the Party, in Service of the Armed Struggle Plenum Document. Part I. In the preliminary report in point 3. Road to Follow: National Plan of Construction in Service of the Armed Struggle; in Part III Develop the Building, Principally of the Party, in Service of the Armed Struggle; it is the central part; in its point 5. “Plan of Work.”

In this document we have transcribed annotations of the Permanent Committee in the debate and there several ideas are raised. For example: “Does construction work have to fight against revisionism?” or “The problem of construction is little dealt with, why?,” these are very useful questions to direct an event, it is a good habit, it would be good to think that the Political Bureau applies this system to the side to put annotations, questions, what points to emphasize, to develop, it is useful to contribute more. This summary is very good and should be summarized again, see page 5 of the document, there it is stated: two lines, opposite line in organization already begins to be outlined, it will be developed and then lines will be presented in other fronts, it is being designed in the background. So that another 1968 does not happen: split, the line is antagonistic, it has to be dismantled. In the Sixth Plenum an opposing line was presented in the peasant problem, an opposing line is already being developed, as the fronts develop, opposing lines will be designed and in the background of all this there is an underlying opposing political line and a bourgeois and petty bourgeois conception. We are liquidating liquidationism to develop a two-line struggle against revisionism as the main danger. What is the situation today? Fourth Agreement: National Plan of Construction and Outline of the Construction Plan.

In Part II. Marxism and construction and the 26 problems of construction. The National Plan of Construction, in spite of being approved, was a problem because it had to be applied, as it can happen to us today.

Part III. National Plan of Construction. It has 16 points ranging from the ideology to the organizational goal to be achieved. Part IV. Work Plan. General and specific tasks, guidelines. The Seventh Plenum has several documents, they are materials that serve as a foundation, these construction problems demand this type of documentation.

Red Flag No. 46, page 19 On Party Building. It is a very important document, take it into account, it will be useful for us. Red Flag No. 47-48, Declaration of the Sixth and Seventh Plenum of the Central Committee. Develop the Building, Principally of the Party, in Service of the Armed Struggle. It is extremely important, it is key because it orients the struggle, defines situations, raises conditions on how to build, based on the masses, guided by politics, it ends in the great framework of how to see the ideology.

In 1977, clear bases are established on how to develop the construction. We are going into the struggle, how to develop construction. The Eighth Plenum is very important. Let us remember that a series of works have been developed on the generated organizations and this work is closely linked to the work of the Metropolitan Committee, analyzing the documents of the National Committee we can find good experience. There is also an important event, the meeting of generated organisms at the national level, there are also documents on this, it can be very useful for the work of the masses and how to promote the construction plan linked to the masses. Remember the celebration of the National School of Cadres in June 1977, after the Seventh Plenum that School served to prepare the contingent that had to move to the national level.

The Eighth Plenum is very important and gives us good lessons. It’s important to emphasize the works that were developed in political meetings a year before the event, also here construction problems are dealt with; also see the works of the Propaganda and Front Departments in relation to construction; the work of Propaganda is indispensable, in this case it plays an important role in the documentation and also Front is an instrument that we must develop; it is important to see what we emphasize about front work linked to the masses.

Meeting of the Expanded Political Bureau. September 1977. The Eighth Plenum is very important and gives us good lessons. It’s important to highlight the works that were developed in political meetings a year before the event, also here construction problems are dealt with; also see the works of the Propaganda and Front Departments in relation to construction; the work of Propaganda is indispensable, in this case it plays an important role in the documentation and also Front is an instrument that we must develop; it is important to see what we highlight about front work linked to the masses.

To culminate and lay the foundations will tremendously sharpen the struggle because it implies making a qualitative leap of great importance. The comrades who moved after that School met in November 1977 and an assessment of the construction was carried out. Here the main point is in point 2: Application of the National Plan of Construction, it states that the National Plan of Construction must be followed, that construction is the problem of developing the Party, the United Front and the Armed Struggle. Guideline for Regional Committees: To build in function of THE INITIATION OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE and towards the Base Area. In this sense the regional committees are conceived.

In the meeting of the Political Bureau it says to lay the foundations for the armed struggle but here it says to initiate and that requires setting time and this is going to sharpen the struggle even more. It is also important how the question of the zones is seen, to pay attention to the peculiarities of each zone, to see today also the differentiation of the zones. It says organized zones and then zones in organization and when proposing zones in organization differentiate zones for initiating work, zones with initial work with zones with previous work. To develop zones to support national construction means that the organized zones must be developed and this must be supported by the entire national system. In the zones in organization develop regional construction as a basis for national construction. It is a good specification to serve the National Plan of Construction. The guideline for cities is also raised: To build in function of supporting the Initiation of the Armed Struggle and to develop the accumulation of forces. Obviously this is also a cause for struggle because some comrades thought that the cities were left out. The countryside-city scheme is not yet proposed, but it is important because it links the city; it proposes to support the accumulation of forces because it has the final direction which is the insurrection. It proposes peasant work as the basis for construction. Countryside and city. The problem of the Scheme is brewing.

The referring point: The National Plan of Construction and 5-year period. What it does is to establish a relationship between the Construction Plan and the 5-year period. This means that in November 1977, the year 1980 was initiated within the established period.

Lesson: Construction–War–Period. A deep and foresighted analysis of the Plan that has a period within which the initiation had to take place. Today we are entering another period, it also requires a deep and foresighted analysis Plan for a period for the Conquest of Power with a lot of flexibility according to the entry of imperialism, but that does not take away the fact that there has to be a period. When a period is proposed, one is prepared for when the situation arises.

Something about the National School of Cadres. It is an important lesson because we have to prepare cadres, contingent, mainly cadres. Now also forging cadres is part of three bases and three guides. Eight themes were developed. This School is for the construction.

In On the United Front and the Construction. The problem of tactics is key to the line, it has to do with which classes are grouped together and the debate was about which tactic to apply, which classes to bring together. We concluded that the line of the Party, that of Mariátegui defined a front line that implied uniting up to the middle bourgeoisie or national bourgeoisie but under the leadership of the proletariat and its party. This line was abandoned, a serious error that was corrected in the Fifth National Conference of 1965 where we reached the conclusion that the problem is to unite four classes based on the worker-peasant alliance, the petty bourgeoisie joins and that is the constant trunk of the United Front in the revolution, while the national bourgeoisie is fluctuating until at some point it joins the revolution.

The opportunist practice has supported the big bourgeoisie or a faction of it, claiming that it was supporting the middle or national bourgeoisie, that is the question of the deviation in the problem of the front, a rightist deviation that has been going on since the 1930s. If one looks at the Fourth National Convention of 1962, support was given to the faction of the big bourgeoisie which promoted industrialization. This is the most important debate we had in terms of Front. Tactical key question of the line. It is the problem of the application of the line in a period of the revolution within the strategy of the revolution, within the character of the revolution, but any tactical variation there may be cannot go against the character of the revolution, to support the enemies of the revolution. Taking into account strategy, period there can be variations in strategy and tactics if the character of the revolution changes within the democratic revolution, there the problem is to manage the contradictions within the big bourgeoisie insofar as in the big bourgeoisie there are factions linked to imperialism that fight for hegemony. It is a problem that we would have to analyze in the event of direct or indirect intervention of imperialism, of the United States. It is a key problem.

They raised many questions such as “would imperialism intervene?” In the background is the question of not seeing the role of imperialism, of aggressor, that in the world there are oppressed nations and aggressor states that seek to divide up the world as booty, the problem of Cuba is exceptional. We state that imperialism always intervenes directly or indirectly, the facts are showing that if it cannot intervene directly or indirectly because the situation does not favor them, they resort to all means to crush the government that does not suit them. Thus we see that there are questions of substance when the question of united front is raised. “Fluctuating national bourgeoisie?” “Does it mean that it puts itself on the margin or in the middle?” It is not like that, it does not put itself on the margin or in the middle, it means that it puts itself on the tail of the reaction or it puts itself on the side of the revolution. These things have to do with a long rightist and frontist tradition in the country.

From the discussions, we arrive at which line is key for construction.

Another question “Is Mariátegui developed or not?” We were talking about construction and it arises (…) ideological political, it is to strike politically against the development of the line. From there comes this conclusion: It was not only to remain in reconstitution, to be completed, but also to oppose the reconstitution itself because it has been developed on the basis of the developed line.

In organizational questions, open work and secret work. The secret work is principal. Main opposition to complete reconstitution is to focus on masses, on generated organisms. This is opposed to the construction of the Party. It is aimed at denying the Party. Denial of the Party is aimed at destroying it, in service of whom? Do you want another type of Party? If you do not want the Communist Party, it would have to be of another type.

The problem is the ideological line when it comes to problems of construction. It is deepened, the line makes leaps because it is the base. The theory of leaders is also debated. Do they question everyone?

What for? To replace them with concentration on place and position,⁹ revisionism. That is right opportunist line in organization after opportunist political line. Problems of demands-ism, problems arise linked to everyday politics. “Is state monopoly better than non-state monopoly?” The problem is that they are monopolies.

All this shows us that in the background of organic problems there is a question of political ideological line. It leads us to two questions to be solved: characteristics of the opposing line in construction, opportunist line in organization and how to develop the construction.

Meeting with the Propaganda Department.

Do not pay attention to the construction. It jumps in propaganda because it has to spread the conception, the line, the policy. Is it necessary for every militant to comply with the Sixth and Seventh Plenum? Indispensable and peremptory, especially if some start to go against these Plenums. Stalin’s quote on the dangerous turn for those who are not firmly adhered to the carriage of the Party. As the whole Party, Propaganda also has to move according to the political line, to culminate the reconstitution, also in propaganda to apply the National Plan of Construction the period is very important because it is to construct in order to initiate the armed struggle.

The National Plan of Construction will be developed in struggle with the old plan that is known, including the transition plan that we are making as a pilot plan and this pilot plan, as long as it is new, is fought against and as long as it is old, it is accepted. This transition plan is successful, although the new predominates, it drags part of the old, some want to remain in the transitory. The old will be strengthened in its tendency to survive by the weight of the tradition of the consecrated forms of organization and struggle, not forgetting the colossal pile of garbage. The new Plan will impose itself, the new always imposes itself in struggle.

The Propaganda Department itself agreed on a new national construction plan of the Propaganda Department. All apparatus has to conform. Lesson: a Department or any apparatus has to conform and have its own National Plan of Construction. It shows us how the apparatus must serve the National Plan of Construction, otherwise it cannot fulfill its task.

Assessment Regarding the Front Department

How the Front operates within the National Plan of Construction and how it needs to reorganize itself.

Single Front and General Political Line: National Democratic Revolution. Develop and forge within the General Political Line. What is the tendency of the Front that has predominated in the country? If we do not take the united front according to Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought and the Line of Mariátegui and its development, the opportunist line of the Front will continue to be imposed, consequently we will fall in line with the big bourgeoisie. Fully valid, today we are faced with this. Peasant process, tactics. The question is to capitulate before the big bourgeoisie or to ally with the poor peasantry mainly for the worker-peasant alliance to guarantee the hegemony of the proletariat and develop the road. Struggle for demands as a function of power, concretization of Marxist thesis, power is the central problem.

National Plan of Generated Organisms. Development of the generated organisms, course and role, political ideological development, principles and program, organizational construction, leaderships, national construction, mass work, conventions, events, and propaganda. It concludes with how to develop the generated organisms. It was a very important meeting. Today we have Power and these things to keep in mind, it is a good basis to work on. The different mass fronts are specified: five fronts, generated organisms, and their avoidance is part of the avoidance of mass work.

Circular of March 1978.

The problems began to become more acute. The Party distributed a circular to the rank and file in March 1978. It states that all the work has to be developed in the concrete and daily class struggle, thus serving the Initiation of Armed Struggle, to initiate was the high point, that is where to aim.

Circular to the rank and file June 1978, both signed by the Organization Department, this Department is in charge of seeing how the organization is doing, from politics to organic problems. In this circular he warns that in spite of the agreement a tendency to deviation is developing to settle, it is an unstructured tendency, if it were to settle it would be a contrary line and calls to transform itself to serve the revolution and fight against revisionism.

This is the responsibility of the Department of Organization, the function of the circulars. What the Party has ordered, what problems there are and how to correct them.

Thus the left was laying the foundations.

Eighth Plenum, July 1978.

The Party on the verge of a split where 2/3 of the Central Committee wavered. 1/3 maintained a firm position, in a shrewd and forceful struggle imposed conditions and set the course and overcame the difficult situation we were going through.

July 11. Assessment of four parts of the construction. Political ideological construction, organizational construction and the construction of class struggle in the masses. On July 13, intervention of the leadership states that the Fifth Congress cannot be held on the scheduled date. On July 14, 1978, the fourth part of the assessment of the construction is seen: On the construction and the two-line struggle.

The leadership synthesized the 5 problems that presented themselves: 1) In the ideological: armed struggle as a concretization of violence; 2) In the political: General Political Line and its development; 3) In the organizational: Develop the building in service of the armed struggle, taking the peasant problem as the base; 4) In the class struggle of the masses, raise the peasantry under the leadership of the proletariat represented by the Party, and 5) two-line struggle, avoid the perspective of settlement, correct deviation, and sweep away revisionism. It is very good to establish differences: settlement, correct deviation, and then sweep away revisionism, differentiate so that a clear position is taken.

The leadership insists on the problem of the construction and placing into effect the National Plan of Construction, and criticizes anarchist and anarcho-socialist criteria. The meeting begins to enter into difficulties, begins to enter into pessimism.

On July 22, 7 previous questions were raised, the need to rethink the content of the Eighth Expanded Plenum was raised and as content “to build in service of the armed struggle” and “to develop the building, mainly of the Party, in the class struggle of the masses,” these are two slogans sanctioned by the Sixth and Seventh Plenum; it was clearly stated that they are against the Sixth and Seventh Plenum. Agenda: 1) International situation; 2) Economic situation and period of 4 to 5 years, the problem is to initiate; 3) Political situation and period, the problem was to move in the period; 4) Assessment of the Reconstitution. Excellent! A leadership cannot abandon its goals, that is why they are leaders; point 6) Assessment of the Construction Plan and point 8) Fifth Congress. Measures and tasks. Here it is defined; the game is very simple, they have been put in the situation of if they go or not against the Plenums, then where would they go back to? Each one starts to think.

On July 23, the leadership presented a report on construction, based on the principles of construction established by Chairman Mao, Lenin, Stalin, an important point is on the construction plan and contradictions, the assessment of the reconstitution was raised. In point 3 of the Construction Plan for the armed struggle. SCHEME FOR THE ARMED STRUGGLE: countryside–city is developed. The countryside is principal, and the city is complementary. How it is defined and five questions.

On July 25, the leadership states that the majority are within the left and want revolution. It is very good to be seen and reflect the reality. Debate. Intervention of the leadership and states that in the background of the prolongation of the preparatory school it is believed that the right is advancing, background, questioning of the General Political Line and its development, questioning of the Party and gives an offensive based on what Chairman Mao states about the struggle in volume V. Charge on the basis of principles.

On July 26, the leadership asks: is there a leftist line? And analyzes and summons 11 members of the Central Committee on semi-feudalism, plans, sector, methods, attitudes, clashes, and divergences in the circular. Position of those who let two tigers fight and see what happens (they had intellectual origins). First the fight against anarchists, then against those in agreement. The leadership warned that the Eighth Plenum is in danger. Background, it is believed that we are ultra-leftists; a dam was produced, convergences. Bottom of the dam, “they are about to repeat another 1968.” Solution: to apply the plan of the Sixth Plenum, it said that the Party had an objective and that the Party fulfilled it with those who wanted and were able to do it, basically a split. The leadership establishes a relationship between the righist line of the countryside and the city; they have to come together, the waters must collide and the two poles must be put together, otherwise the antagonistic struggle cannot develop. We have to make them see their connections in order to enter into polarization.

On July 27, the method of taking the course of their ideas and Party documents is applied, it is shown that they are throwing themselves against Party documents. Background? rotten revisionism; therefore it is suggested that so-and-so is ultra-leftist and imposes his line, this is seen in the ideas presented in the national construction assessment of 1977, “only Gonzalo,” “there is a big difference between Gonzalo and us”; they go for wool and come out sheared, in the face of what they say, it is suggested that the background is revisionism. What did this event lead to?

On July 29, the leadership intervenes and proposes that there must be a purge and for this purpose the Control Commission; a close relationship is established between: leadership and General Political Line and its development, therefore as they oppose the leadership they oppose the General Political Line and its development they oppose the leadership, therefore it is a problem of opposition to the line. Consequently, here we are debating the line, never allowing ourselves to be boxed in the problem of leadership, errors of the leaders is another thing. All this will lead to purification and that there be a new Central Committee, to resolve in the facts a head to lead the Party, every revolution has it. Thus it is a problem of line, leadership, and defining the head. Incident, duplicity is produced, acting in one way in the event and in another way outside of it. The bottom line of the incident is to group. Whoever believes in a line must strive to impose it.

The leadership asked for an opinion and suggested that a leadership be selected so that the struggle could unfold; the event was to decide whether or not to change the leadership; it was ratified and it was demonstrated that there was no desire to continue to lead.

On July 30 and 31, the leadership states that the problem is to form public opinion against the alleged ultra-leftist line. It is charged that whoever leads it should head it, that in the internal struggle it is nominated, it is personalized and cowardice is not allowed. In what situation is the struggle? it is defined in position in front of the scheme of the armed struggle, they are because whether or not to enter the armed struggle; without establishing the development of the General Political Line, there is no head of the Party.

Regarding the alleged leftist line, he criticized the agreeing members, summoned the Central Committee to criticize them, and called for a separation with revisionism. In short, it is symptomatic that they target members of the Central Committee who carry out work, while those who do not work were not told anything, shameful. One third of the Central Committee complies with the tasks and calls for the two thirds colluding to expel the third. They did not know what to do, deep down they were afraid of what was to come.

On August 1, the leadership raises:

1) Let us hold to Marxism, 2) See decisive moments of the parties, and 3) the Party begins to define its destiny. Thus the meeting begins to advance and develop.

August 2. Two lines and the plan to split; the leadership synthesizes from the Fifth Conference and asks: Who wants to split? For a communist, it can have serious errors, but to split? The comrades came to their senses, we ended up with the conclusion that there is no split. It was the most complex moment that the Party had in this process of reconstitution, on the verge of splitting, but after an intense struggle we recovered unity, why? Because of the firm position of a third of the Central Committee in a hard and demolishing struggle, no stone can be left unturned, only in this way we avoided a split: Chairman Mao tells us that we must let them cross the line, then the communists begin to reconsider. We enter into cohesion:

1) International situation, 2) political situation. Our problem is how to specify the third moment.

On August 5, the leadership states: the political question is the problem of the OUTLINE FOR THE ARMED STRUGGLE, that is the center and axis on the economic and political situation of the period, and there is nothing to discuss but to define itself. It has been approved unanimously. Our Party is a party.

It is concluded that there is a structured counter-line, that this line is developing. There is a counter-line that has been revealed, see the bitter truth head on as Lenin said. Two syntheses: 1) How the struggle is developing, and 2) Pay attention and be careful in selecting the Central Committee.

We went on to analyze the international experience of the armed struggle; the bases, the foundations of the Scheme for cohesion; the experience of China, Albania, Algeria; the problem of the class struggle for power is the question of mass work. The road is to raise the peasantry. We analyzed the rebellion of Túpac Amaru and its magnificent lessons; guerrillas of 1965 of the MIR.¹⁰ The problem was concentrated on these: how to raise the peasantry under the leadership of the party of the proletariat. Process of the peasantry, caudillismo, gamonalismo, myths of the peasantry. Concern for the history of Peru.

On August 11, a year of application of the National Plan of Construction was analyzed in contradiction. To apply the scheme of the armed struggle was to initiate the armed struggle to destroy the old order and build the new order, the opposite line was to sustain the old order by evolving it.

Contradiction international flag of the world revolution the other flag of the superpowers. Politically: Outline of armed struggle, power, raise the peasantry led by the Party contradiction follow the big bourgeoisie. National Plan of Construction: against Sixth plan, change line. Assessment culminate reconstitution, lay foundations, sanction the General Political Line and its development, sweep away the revisionist line against opposing to complete, brand the line as leftist, aiming to replace it with revisionist line. It is good method of contradictions, so we know what to follow and what to fight. It is good experience of the Party.

August 12. Leadership proposes to instruct the cadres on the basis of the errors is a good method. It is not a simple problem, but a complex one. We had already solved a thorny problem because a problem of that type had led us to the split in 1968. Knowing how to treat the militancy, the cadres, and the leaders, once the error is recognized, giving a hand to advance.

On August 13, conclusion: 1) Key to define and sanction the General Political Line and its development, and 2) Let us define in practice the end of the reconstitution and lay the foundations for the armed struggle without waiting for an event.

All this shows us that after establishing a whole political base, when we enter to concretize the National Plan of Construction it is done in intense struggle; the approval in struggle, the application continues in struggle: the old resists, after all, struggle of two lines and ideological and political problem; it is necessary a firm and well directed struggle for the Party to advance and the Central Committee is key in that because it is the center of the Party. If one part remains firm it imposes.

So, line, struggle, organizational problems, plan, competition to implement plan, we have a scheme. The struggle does not end, it continues.

Working session of the Central Committee. December 1978. The Political Bureau puts forward its position on: 1) Construction of the Party at the national level, destroy what was built with opportunist line and overcome what is outdated, useless; 2) Course of the organizational line. 1. Reconstitution; 2. Initiate the armed struggle; 3. Setting up bases. Achievements and problems. 3) The perspective of the organizational line and the decade of the 80s. Very important. When the Party has established the organizational line, it is necessary to see the perspective within the decade of the 80’s, a critical period, to handle the problem of the crisis that every second five-year period is more acute. Chairman Mao has taught us that when we build we must see the long years to come, every time we have not acted in this way we have made serious mistakes. Now think about the decade of the 90’s and if it is possible to see the third millennium. 4) Five points for the application of the scheme; 5) Ideological-political construction, Program, line, tactics, organizational construction, construction problems; 6) Statutes; 7) National Plan of Construction. On mass work, two roads, two initiatives. Parliamentary cretinism, economic background, bureaucrat-capitalism. Labor movement, its role. Peasantry. Period: elections, overflow. Decade of the 1980s. Readjustment of the Party to the Eighth Plenum.

Thus construction and mass work, long periods, how historical processes are conceived, period. Two decades, see long perspective. Plan for the conquest of power today and that has to do with how we make the State, with how to advance socialism.

Discussion. The meeting develops without seeing the other stronghold; just because we have united doesn’t mean the struggle stops. Claim the Party stronghold, the other is not, it belongs to reaction. It is a black stronghold, the struggle continues because classes exist. The leadership calls to assault the black stronghold and beat it, to demand the surrender of the black stronghold, to the two heads and destroy the stronghold.

Lesson: Assault destroy surrender stronghold. This was in the Right Opportunist Line, it is not the current case, but the law is general, that is why we act in class struggle. The triumph is complete: Only one Party stronghold.

Page 409 of the “Faction Documents” plan that we already had is going to conform to the Eighth Plenum and the Scheme, five issues are specified for the application of the Scheme. Lesson: In the problem of the people’s war to ask ourselves what our laws are, and to establish the Outline for the Conquest of Power, because we have peculiarities.

Page 411. The Ninth Plenum was summoned, new phase of struggle and opposition to the reorganization, trapped because the majority of the Political Bureau chose the distribution of the Committees according to their personal interests. The objective was set: General reorganization of the Party. Page 412, General Report, part II. The Central Committee goes on to apply the general reorganization of the Party, it was proposed how to reorganize the Party, specifications of the Political Bureau: 1) General reorganization; 2) Intense organizational period; 3) Clandestinity; 4) Displacement and distribution. Carry out the reorganization immediately.

Meeting of the Political Bureau Summarizes debate, specifies new phase of struggle and it had to be linked to the general reorganization of the Party. Debate (page 413) analyze political root of new phase, reorganization and how everyone participates in the new phase. Two members of the Political Bureau generate problems trying to revoke the existence of the new phase, the problem is disagreement with line. Previous problem to solve the struggle, the problem was distribution. Need for Expanded Central Committee, to expand the Central Committee. New phase of struggle was being denied, difficult perspective. (Page 413) Local Committee of Ayacucho has become a Right Opportunist Line base to throw itself against the leadership. Two members of the Political Bureau want to advance, and two heads come together. Plan of the Sixth Plenum to commit itself not to split but also to split. If 10% remained, it would go ahead. (Page 414) “two antagonistic lines are contending.”

Political Bureau meeting again. Although there has been an advance in the situation, but it is not defined. See new phase; see correlation of forces in the Central Committee and the whole party organization. The situation is entering a split situation, things are getting worse. Quote from Marx: in moments of crisis, to lose one’s head is a crime against the Party. (Page 415) Course of the struggle against the ROL and the new phase. New phase in the whole Party, it is generalized: Two courses, two programs, two lines, two plans, two leaderships, and two contingents contend in the general reorganization. Generalization and differences, January 24, 1979. From there derives strongholds, fief of Ayacucho, fief of Cuzco, fief of Lima. Situation and distribution of forces. Strategic plan, situation and distribution of the two lines. It means that the leadership has to see which positions are controlled or can be controlled. Strategic Plan of the Party line. Develop own forces, etc. Tactics: fight those who oppose the General Political Line and its development, mainly leaders in the new phase of struggle for the general reorganization of the Party. To advance 90% including cadres and leaders. Particularity, only through a process of struggle will the reorganization of the Party take place. “The line of the Party will win. The opposite line and its defeat.” The split and its capitulation. Contradiction to camouflage and accumulate forces, not to allow accumulation, so that they do not split, to unmask them. Purge (us) and evacuate (they leave little by little): split and camouflage, some split, the heads seek to split and others remain inside camouflaged. Measures to be taken. Implement a plan of reorganization. It is a whole plan of how the two-line struggle has developed, to see that each meeting has its own law. It is a valuable lesson we have.