MAOISM IS THE THIRD, NEW AND SUPERIOR STAGE OF MARXISM!

Peru People's Movement

December 26, 1999

“What is Maoism? Maoism is the elevation of Marxism-Leninism to a third, new and superior stage in the struggle for proletarian leadership of the democratic revolution, the development of the construction of socialism and the continuation of the revolution under the proletarian dictatorship as a proletarian cultural revolution, when imperialism deepens its decomposition and revolution has become the main tendency of history, amidst the most complex and largest wars seen to date and the implacable struggle against contemporary revisionism.”

First Party Congress, Fundamental Documents. Peru People's Movement's emphasis.

On the world level, we are living through a great disorder under the heavens. On the one hand we see the sinister counterrevolutionary offensive headed up by imperialism, principally Yankee imperialism; which, along with reaction and revisionism, seeks to sweep away all that revolution implies. They are unfolding all types of wars, increasing exploitation and oppression to heights never before seen by humanity, in order to maintain this old, reactionary order that lives off the blood of the class and the world’s people. On the other hand we see how revolution is the principal historical and political tendency and how it shall be so even more; we are entering into a New, Great Wave of the World Proletarian Revolution, within the strategic offensive of the World Proletarian Revolution. In all parts of the globe the people are expressing rebelliousness more and more, rejecting and resisting this vile, bloody imperialist system more and more; in the oppressed nations of the Third World we see how the armed struggles led by the proletariat are increasing and growing; among them are the People’s War in Peru, led by the Communist Party of Peru as the powerful and victorious torch of the world revolution, the People’s War in Nepal, and we also see how the masses of people are rising up in armed rebellion more and more in Turkey, India, the Philippines, etc. and even within the imperialist countries where the class is spontaneously rising up, for example as we have recently seen in the United States where the working class and the broad masses transformed through the class struggle what the imperialists had planned as a carnival of imperialism, crushing their plans, into a defeat.

The key question in this situation is that Maoism be imposed as the command and guide of the World Proletarian Revolution; we can see that this is happening—more and more Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, principally Maoism, is being embodied and generating Communist Parties, thus marching to fulfill the demand that Maoism today step up to lead the New Great Wave of the World Proletarian Revolution that we are now entering. Since this is key for those of us who find ourselves on the hill of revolution, our enemies naturally must do everything in their power to prevent it; for this reason they unfold their sinister counterrevolutionary offensive centering on attacking in a systematic, cunning and vile way the four absolutely fundamental and decisive aspects of Marxism: SOCIALISM, THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT, THE PARTY AND MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM. Against this the only just and correct course is to develop the struggle further with more Marxism, more people’s war, more revolution; the reason for which the Communist Party of Peru is developing the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, Gonzalo Thought counteroffensive, greatly led by the greatest Marxist-Leninist-Maoist living on the face of the earth, our beloved and respected Chairman Gonzalo, center of Party unification, guarantee of triumph that shall take us to our always brilliant and shining final goal: Communism. Nevertheless, we should remain vigilant and develop the struggle on the ideological and political level, preventing the repercussions of the aforementioned counterrevolutionary offensive on the revolutionary camp through the continuation of the crushing of criteria, ideas, attitudes and positions that converge with the revisionist, capitulationist right-opportunist line (ROL). For example, within the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement itself, of which our Party is a member since its founding in 1984, which it considers a step forward within the International Communist Movement as long as it follows a just and correct ideological and political line; there are those who are putting positions forward that are antagonistic with Marxism, and they say they have taken up Maoism, even, in some cases, thinking they are big leaders of the international proletariat—but in essence they are negating it. We must understand that Marxism has always blazed a trail through hard two-line struggle against revisionism and opportunism; it has always been this way; it is a law of Maoism that the new imposes itself by defeating the old through struggle; it cannot be any other way. The defenders of the old society sometimes dress up like consistent revolutionaries, in some cases they even dress up like veterans, but in the struggle the essence of things always comes to light. This has been taught to us by every revolution; it was this way yesterday, today and shall be so tomorrow. The New Great Wave of the World Proletarian Revolution implies a great contention, it demands an implacable struggle to impose Maoism as its command and guide. Our Party, that is the red fraction within the International Communist Movement, has been struggling for Maoism since 1966 and it is in its application to the concrete reality of our fartherland that Gonzalo Thought has surged forth in the midst of the highest form of struggle, the people’s war, in a hard and complex two-line struggle. As such, this creative application made by our Great Leadership [Jefatura in Spanish–Translator], Chairman Gonzalo, also contains contributions to the development of Marxism in general, and the principal one of these is having defined Maoism as the third, new and superior stage of Marxism, thus recognizing its universal validity. Marxism has three stages: Leninism which is based on Marxism and Maoism which is based on the two previous stages but developing them; for that reason it is the third stage and it is new, and since it develops Marxism to a higher level, it is superior. It is thanks to this titanic effort personally led by Chairman Gonzalo that revolutionary parties and organizations have been able to advance in the understanding and affirmation of Maoism. In this situation, to uphold, defend and apply Maoism is the essence of the struggle between Marxism and revisionism, because it is only through upholding, defending and applying Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, principally Maoism, that the international proletariat through its Communist parties will be capable of leading the conquest of power and emancipating the oppressed, so that it can emancipate itself as a class. Thus, we should know how to develop the two-line struggle so that the red line imposes itself. Some think that it is incorrect to put forward the two-line struggle, and they say “unity,” but unity must always be based on the principles of Marxism; without this the so-called “unity” doesn’t serve the revolution. A well-managed struggle serves unity, it serves the advance of the movement in general; the two-line struggle is the driving force of each revolutionary organization, without it they devolve into vulgar, bourgeois organisms. Some seek to distort the struggle and go against the norms and principles of the proletariat, thus serving the enemy’s plans, because they don’t put the interests of the proletariat and people in front. We must remember that a well-managed struggle serves the imposition of the Left.

In the current situation this implies that the struggle inside each party and organization must be centered on the application of Maoism, because only in this way can the necessities for the advance of the revolution be resolved to advance in the preparation, initiation and development of the people’s war that is the sole form of sweeping away imperialism, reaction and revisionism from the face of the earth. This is what befalls us in the epoch of the next “50 to 100 years” that Chairman Mao put forward in the 1960s. It is here that such a guiding thought of each revolution shall surge forth, a necessity for triumph, and based on it a Great Leadership [Jefatura]. This is a lesson of our revolution, that unfolds as a part of and at the service of the World Proletarian Revolution. It is thanks to the creative application made by Chairman Gonzalo to Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, principally Maoism, that we can count on Gonzalo Thought which is our specific and principal weapon—all-powerful because it is true—with which the Party is resolving all the problems that we confront on the path of the revolution. It is thanks to the application of Gonzalo Thought that the Party is today on the eve of concluding its reorganization, emerging from the bend in the road implied by the capture of Chairman Gonzalo; it is thanks to this application that the Party has been capable of defeating every one of the counterrevolutionary campaigns, each of the campaigns of encirclement and annihilation against the Support Bases (e.g “annihilator,” etc.), as well as each of the enemy’s campaigns of psychological warfare that the fascist, genocidal and country-selling Fujimori regime unfolds under the command of Yankee imperialism according to the strategy of so-called “low intensity warfare.” In the world there is no more reliable proof of the force of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism than what is happening in our fartherland; no matter what happens, with the creative application of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, principally Maoism—that is to say Gonzalo Thought—our Party can withstand and defeat whatever the enemy intents. A powerful recent proof of this is how the Party, facing the capture of Comrade Feliciano, has closed ranks around Comrade Julio, who now heads up the Central Committee under the Great Leadership [Jefatura] of Chairman Gonzalo.

Thus, on the birthday of Chairman Mao Zedong, it is necessary to reaffirm ourselves more and more on the principles of our Party and the People’s War, of struggling untiringly to serve that Maoism be imposed, recalling the beautiful words of our Great Leader [Jefe], Chairman Gonzalo:

“It has befallen us to live in an extraordinary epoch. Never before have men had such a heroic destiny, so it is written. On those men of today—those breathing, struggling, fighting men—has befallen the most shining and grand mission given to any generation, sweeping reaction from the face of the earth. This is our situation. The world revolution is entering into its strategic offensive, nothing can prevail against it; innumerable legions of iron are rising up and they will do so more and more; multiplying themselves inexhaustively they will surround and annihilate reaction. What reaction does, after releasing the flesh of the people, upon emptying their bloody claws, is simply to tangle itself, it seeks to sate itself with the blood of the people, but this will rise up like furious wings and this bruised flesh shall be converted into powerful whips of vengeance, and their muscles and actions shall be converted into rams of steel to destroy the oppressors, who they will crush beyond remedy.”