JONATHAN Silberman's letter informed DOCCIIST Challenge readers the SLEOS which Fidel Castro took try influence Allende's leadership of the Chilean struggle, stressing the need for an independent, Hilaos alice mobilisation of the workers movement to overthrow the state.
But feel that Jonathan's uncritical presentation of Castro's relllarKs on Chile ano the revolutionary prosCentral OCCLS Latin America leads to ambiguity.
Castro was undoubtedly correct to press for mass, armed movements of the working class. But although SUCR movements can overthrow existing states, we have to be very precise in analysing to what degree such movements are capable DX CORMAC #*813 of achieving proletarian democracy and a proletarian economy.
For example, the movement which overthrew the shah was a mass movement and it was armed. SITC main problem was the lack of revolutionary leaderMY PARENTS HAVE TOLD ME THAT THEY REGRET HAVING BROUGHT ME INTO ship, be it a party or a mass organisation. The present of Iran speaks as eloquent tes. timony to these facts.
The Cuban revolution was a revolution in the sense that the state was overthrown, imperialism Was defeated, and subsequent big gains were made for the workers and the oppressed.
But it wasn't a pro. letarian, SOCiCuISE revolution. The mass moolisation the working class did not I THINK that last week's letters about the need for democracy in left wing unions were 100 per cent right. Socialists should always fight for full democracy and honesty, , whether it appears to work against us or not.
TGWU branch secretary
area has privately admitted that he voted for Benn on behalf of his branch without consulting his members. become cynical. However policies may be, respect of his members? They may no find out he has fiddled the vote, are bound to find out his attitude. After obtain full class auto. nomy. consequently didn't throw up organs of workers power.
The Cuban leadership is not proletarian internationalist. The workers state of Cuba is one with bureaucratic deformations, and its leadership places itself wltnla the camp Stalinist ideology, albeit its left wing Similarly, the leaderMY CHILDREN OPENLY DISPLAY THEIR CONTEMPT FOR ME!
trust them.
caught fiddling forgotten wing backlash in :in this it comes to Many day.
This man has good his how can he hold the but they OLIVER NEW SOUTHALL ship of the Nicaraguan and EI Salvadorean movements are petty-bourgeois in character.
So successful armed mass GWKeTS movement may be able to overthrow the existing state, but without a Leninist party a programme based on the interests of the working class and democracy, these revolutions cannot solve the A all, if you are not scrupulously hones! with your members, it means you don'!
Of course when the right wing get the scandal is soon But the whole 1/710/ movement is still suffering from the righ the EETPU after the left was caught ballot rigging. And when vote-rigging, the right wing could beat us hands down at that game Socialist Challenge should campaign for more democracy and accountabilit! in all unions, left and right.
economic, social and political problems which humanity faces They are, in a sense 'deformed' revolutions If all we needed was armed, independent uprising there would be no need for the international Marxist Group and the Fourth Interna. tional. However it isn't and there is!
STEVEN ARCHER, I'VE OFTEN WONDEREI WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE DENIS HEALEY SUPPORTER!!
•We claim a massive 688Rу 7поr did the Irish political prisoners call off their hunger stike? What lessons have they drawn from their stuggle? Did they win lose?
Challenge gives the prisoners' views in an edited version of the statement they when the end of the hunger strike was announced.
the protesting prisoners in the H Blocks, being faced with the reality of sustained family interventon, are forced cumstance over wnich we nave little control at the moment, On 1 March 1981, Bobby Sands embarked hunger strike. April 1981, 30,492 people in the Fermanagh/south Tyrone constituency elected him as their MP.
By doing so they recognised him as a political prisoner and demanded the British government respec the mandate given by them and by the entire nationalist community on the streets, by demands.
The British government, caught in the hypocrisy OI their 'democracy I2uUlCu people's wishes and mandate. Murder On 5 May 1981 Bobby Sands died
Ray McCreesh
political victory' Altempis were Socialist Committee tion of the 'hopeless' made projection OI continuation of the hunger-strike Republican On 20 August, 1981, Iron elected with as DIUX by inis MP for Fermanagh/South to end the again prisoners.
Un 8 refusing even to discuss unic gruesome spectre or acall the 10th hunger-striker to die.
One venton and accept that it physical and own strike arter intervention men ended their fast picialuic, death.
… Patsy O'Mara clerics who received approval from the Catholic Church. On occasions, hunger other individuals were also involved.
made to discredit we prisoners and the National H Block More damaging was the promosyndrome. The drome, plus the private lobbying of LILIS 'hopeless' synrelatives to effect intervention when strikers were going into a coma. was proving to be a serious threat to the Owen Caran increased political prisoner Tyrone.
Even so, the British Premier Thatcher spurned this mandate for we With encouragement from w ruzuclaid sne went rurtner by meet with him to spiral On 20 August, Mickey Devine was Mounting pressure and clericalinspired demoralisation led to further present strikers have been taken off their fast.
is almost a psychological 11llpossibility to recommence a hunger Also, to avoid a non-hunger striking • Joe McDonnell • Martin Hurson The situation exists at present that a considerable majority strikers' families have dicated that they will intervene and under these circumstances we feel tha the hunger strike must. lor lacuca reasons, be suspended.
One of the emerge from this second hunger strike is that the nationalist community is politically inconsequential and impotent in the context of the Six County statelet.
Despite the electoral successes. despite the hundreds of thousands at hunger-strikers' funerals despite massive and unprecedented displays of community support and solidarity the British government adhered rigid ly to the precept that 'might is right' and set about hammering home the point that nothing has really changed since the fall of Stormont or from the inception of this state.
Border That is that nationalist Ireland always be subiected to the British and Loyalist veto On the same theme, the lesson of Fermanagh/ South Tyrone is that the self-exalted 'British democracy' is an expediency manufactured again, from the setting up of the border, the 'first and biggest gerrymander' preserve a continued British presence in Ireland. Kevin Lynch When defeated by their own rules at the polls, the British government's concept of democracy altered and the rules were changed When they own rules they democratically-expressed voice of the electorate and thus undermine the enLilc pompic ana purpose or using their 'democratic' socal or bonuca change The logical analysis is that nationalist pacifism in the Northern Ireland context dooms the nationalist population per pellales thwarts the quest for a just and lasting peace in Ireland Another facet of this hunger strike was to expenny expose lne true lace dI the present Irish establishment, consisting of the Catholic Church Dublin government and the SDLP.
the outset, hierarchy opposed the hunger strike even though they offered no alternative course of action. We contend present that their been established by sideration rather than the Christian values of truth and justice. stance nas been and misleading.
We believe that the Dublin bloc of Fianna Fail, are accessories to the legalised murder of 10 true who died heroically in the long tradiGON Republican British occupation, injustice in Ireland.
They are accessories to murder by virtue of the fact that they sat idly by and thus encouraged continue with the death policy.
At no time did any of these three parties unequivocally or even tacitly support our demands even though our five demands are implemented in their entirety in jails There was only one positively injurious action available to the SDLP which would help to save lives in the H Blocks and that was to isolate the drawing from the council chambers.
as nev cons stentiv rensecc do, preterring - to enacious v to their role of imperial: lickspittle. Rather than take action to secure an honourable solution and • Kieran Doherty tacking to suit them. enceavou are defeated even by their ignore the Block/ processes to effect conclusion of this procese i to subser partilion and our talle immeasurably LiCi The the Catholic selflessness bloc. position has at all times political conTheir Fine Gael and Labour and committed Irishmen resistance to oppression and mense dignity. clauds the British to ding by them.
in Southern you ple of Ireland WILDbehalf.
Lastly instead to cling demands SaOIRSe • Micky Devine save lives, they occupied their time trying to make pontical galls by al those who did genuinely the ISSU honourably, namely the National H 'Armagh Committee and those councillors who answered our call to withdraw trom the council There were several reasons given by our comrades for going on hunge strike. One was because we had no choice and no other means of securing a principled solution to the four-year Another, and of fundamental imwas advance the Irish people's right to liberty. We believe that the age-old struggle for Irish self-determination and freedom has been advanced by hunger strike and therefore we claim a massive political victory.
hunger strikers by their have politicised a very substantial section of the Irish nation and exposed the shallow, unprincipl ed nature of the Irish partitionist Beacon Our comrades have lit with their very lives an eternal beacon which will inspire this nation and people to rise and crush oppression forever, and this nation can be proud that it pro. duced such a quality of manhood We pay a special tribute to the families of our dead comrades. You have suffered greatly and with im Your loved ones our and friends, were and would be very proud of you for stan No tribute is too grea Also, we give a special mention to those families who could not bear to watch their loved ones die in pain and agony. We prisoners pressure you were under and stand by thank the National Block/Armagh Committee, the Ble o reland, the ali those peo those championed our cause are indebted to you and ask you to continue your good WOTK our , we reaffirm our commitment to the achievement of the five by belleve necessary and expedient. rule nothing out.
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MY WIFE MAS LEFT ME"... Union democracy