464

[introduction.]

p During the Second World War the United States expanded its economic and military penetration of the countries of Latin America. When the war ended there were 92 United States’ military bases on that continent. Inter-American co-operation, so-called, facilitated for the North American monopolies the seizure of dominant positions in the sphere of Latin American foreign trade, the share of the European countries therein dropping from 30-35 per cent on the eve of the war to 4 per cent in 1944, whereas that of the United States rose from 33 to 60 per cent. Using lend-lease, credits and loans, the United States strove to enmesh Latin America in the net of financial dependence. North American monopoly firms tried hard to hinder the development of national industries in the countries of Latin America. These policies were mirrored with particular clarity in the Clayton Plan  [464•1 , which provided for the repeal of customs duties on North American goods imported into these countries, promotion of American capital investment, and abstention from nationalisation of foreign-owned property.

p The United States imperialists jealously protected any reactiona₇ ry forces in the Latin American countries, such as the dictatorship of Jorge Ubico in Guatemala, the Trujillo tyranny in the Dominican Republic, the Bolivian “butcher” Enrique Penaranda, and so on. But although the situation that had built up during the war was favourable to the American monopolies, they found themselves powerless to halt the process of national development, as also the growing democratic forces in the Latin American countries.

p A weakening of the economic positions of the European capitalist countries and Japan and the associated suspension or curtailment of the import of manufactured goods into the countries of Latin America made for a more rapid development of national industries in the latter. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru, all important exporters of strategic and raw materials and food supplies, had substantially increased their foreign exchange reserves, which contributed to their industrial development. New heavy industry centres appeared, especially in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Chile, which began to transform into agrarian-industrial, rather than purely agrarian, countries. This industrial development was paralleled by the strengthening of the national bourgeoisie and the growth of the working class.

Because the Second World War, as waged by the anti-Hitler coalition nations, was essentially anti-fascist, it was conducive to 465 an upswing of the democratic national liberation movement of the Latin-American peoples. The struggle against the reactionary regimes in El Salvador, Ecuador and Guatemala grew in strength and scope, and in a number of countries the masses won certain democratic freedoms, and the Communist Parties were legalised. Political parties were allowed to carry on their activities in Brazil, largest of the Latin-American countries, where the Communist Party was legalised and Luis Carlos Prestes set free after having been imprisoned since 1936. The overall situation in Latin America was now favourable to the further growth of national democratic forces.

Argentina

p The social consequences of accelerated capitalist development in Argentina was a strengthening of the national bourgeoisie, which had begun to chafe under the burden of its dependence on the ruling circles in Great Britain and the United States. This feeling manifested itself in growing nationalist tendencies and, more specifically, in the policy adopted by Peron, who became president of Argentina in February. 1946.

p Peron’s policy aimed at bolstering the positions of the national bourgeoisie by a series of measures designed to weaken those of the foreign monopolies, American primarily, and to impose some restriction on the power of the land oligarchy and the Church. A state sector of the national economy came into being following the redemption of the railways and of the property of certain foreign firms, as well as the nationalisation of the Central Bank. Other measures included the raising of wages of selected categories of workers, and the introduction of paid vacations, Christmas premiums in addition to wages, and a pension scheme. Steps were taken to reduce unemployment. And a housing programme for workers was inaugurated.

p Perón created a so-called National Revolution Party (better known as the Peronist party), with a membership including capitalists, public servants, and workers. The aim of this party was to achieve a harmony of class interests.

p Peron promised to make an end of big capital, the landlord oligarchy and imperialism, and to create a "just state”. In June 1946, he established diplomatic and trade relations with the Soviet Union, and this momentous decision served to increase his prestige among the people at large. Peron’s policies, however, could not remove the basic contradictions inherent in the Argentine society, in which, no matter how much stronger the position of the national bourgeoisie had become, the leading role belonged to the 466 bourgeois-landlord oligarchy which was closely linked with foreign imperialism. In 1955, the cost of living index had reached 685 per cent as against 1943. The large estates remained in the hands of the landlords.

p Argentina continued to be dependent on Great Britain, and increasingly so on the United States. A number of economic agreements was concluded in 1954 and 1955 with the United States, whereby American monopolies were given full rein to expand at will in the country. This was tantamount to a capitulation to imperialism on the part of the Argentine bourgeoisie in their quest for support against the forces of democracy.

p Despite the appeals of the leaders of the National Revolution Party for class peace the struggle of the working class for its interests grew more and more intense. The Peronist government was by then unable to cope with the mounting pressure of the masses. The oligarchy and the Catholic Church had resolved to get rid of Peron. On September 16, 1955, a coup d’etat was effected in the capital and state power passed into the hands of a clique of extreme reactionaries. The latter, however, failed to set up a dictatorship; and the democratic forces, led by the Communist Party, carried on a ceaseless struggle against the various pro-imperialist groups which, one after another, usurped the power in the years that followed. This struggle left the reactionaries no breathing spell in which to entrench themselves for any length of time to speak of. Meanwhile the forces fighting for true independence and democracy intensified their activity. In July 1963, Arturo Illia, nominee of the People’s Civic Radical Union Party, became president. He proclaimed himself as favouring maintenance of the constitutional freedoms, and an independent foreign, and progressive domestic policies.

However, President Illia did not display sufficient consistency. In fact he did very little to improve the lot of the masses during the three years of his presidency, which made it all the easier for the reactionaries to counter-attack. In June 1966, a military junta overthrew the president, charging him with not having waged "resolutely enough" the struggle against the Communist Party, and made General Ongania head of the state and government. The constitution was suspended for an indefinite duration, parliament dissolved, and political parties banned. The main blow was levelled by the Argentine reactionaries against the Communist Party, which was once again forced to go underground. An "anti-communist act" went into effect in August 1967, which provided for prison terms of up to eight years for membership and even for sympathy with the Communist Party. But the liberation struggle went on, despite these stern repressive measures. A general strike rocked the country in December 1966, in which some 4 million 467 workers, the vast majority of Argentina’s proletariat, took part. Another nation-wide strike, provoked by the workers’ economic plight, took place in March 1967. An important role in organising these actions was played by the Communist Party, which was fighting to create a coalition of democratic forces.

Brazil

p President Getulio Vargas’s concessions to the democrats provoked the wrath of the Brazilian reactionaries and a coup d’etat which, in October 1945, brought to power a government headed by General Enrique Gaspar Dutra. This government delivered its hardest blows against the Communist Party, which, in 1947, was once again outlawed. The Communists—senators and deputies alike—were unlawfully deprived of their mandates; and Luis Carlos Prestes was again ordered arrested. And next the Dutra government broke off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

p The elections of 1950 returned Vargas once again to the post of president, thereupon he came out with a criticism of American imperialism and promised to introduce social and economic reforms. His inability, however, to take drastic action of a kind that might have helped curb the oligarchy at home and undermine the positions of imperialism, and even more so his fear of accepting the support of the masses together with his repression of the democratic organisations left him without any support whatsoever. The domestic reactionaries and North American imperialists were quick to take advantage of the situation. In August 1954, Vargas was again relieved of his post, and committed suicide, according to the official version, though the circumstances of his death still largely remain to be cleared up.

p The years that followed these dramatic events presented a record of the struggle waged by the growing national forces against the domestic oligarchy backed by foreign imperialism. That the partisans of democracy and an independent national policy were definitely growing stronger, though not without deviations from the charted course, is evident from the quick succession of events: the collapse of the reactionary Casti Filho government after only a year in power following Vargas’s overthrow; and the quick succession of cabinets under Juscelino Kubitschek (1955-60), Janio Quadros (October, 1960-August 1961), and Joao Goulart (1961-64).

p The overthrow of Quadros by reactionary military circles reflected the desire of the Brazilian oligarchy and American imperialism to remove a government that tried to stand up for the country’s national interests. The reactionaries tried to keep vice-president Goulart from winning the power, for he was popular as the 468 leader of the workers’ party and known for his Left-wing tendencies. Rallied in support of Goulart were all the democratic parties, including the Communists and Socialists, broad sections of the petty bourgeoisie, and the nationalist bourgeoisie. Mindful of the possibility that the reactionaries might resort to force, the workers proceeded to organise militia detachments. A railwaymen’s strike prevented troop reinforcements from reaching the capital. Even in the army there were considerable forces which openly supported Goulart. A broad democratic national front thus formed, and the reactionaries had to back down, though by getting parliament to approve a constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the post of prime minister they did succeed in restricting the president’s power.

p Despite the sabotage practised by the reaction backed by the US imperialists the measures taken by Goulart resulted in stimulating progressive tendencies. A National Liberation Front came into being, which rallied the working class and the national bourgeoisie for a struggle against both the oligarchy and imperialism. Soon after his accession to the presidential post Goulart re-established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and declared his government cordially disposed towards revolutionary Cuba. 469 Another step was to limit to some extent the activities of foreign monopolies in Brazil.

Here, as frequently elsewhere, however, the National Liberation Front and the democratic forces as a whole lacked the required degree of unity, and the reactionary military, taking advantage of this circumstance as well as of Goulart’s vacillation on the question of introducing progressive measures, effected a coup d’etat on April 1, 1964, and overthrew his government. Goulart was replaced in the presidential post by Marshal Castello Branco, who established a military dictatorship. Mass repressions against democrats began. All the traditional political parties were dissolved in 1965, and two organisations set up in their place, namely, the government-sponsored National Regeneration Union with an assured majority in the chamber of deputies and senate and the Brazilian Democratic Movement, which represented the opposition and comprised the remnants of the former Left-wing bourgeois and socialist organisations. A new constitution was promulgated early in 1967, which legalised the military putsch of 1964 and considerably broadened the presidential powers (during the same year the presidential post was given to Marshal Costa-e-Silva). Brazil’s dependence upon the United States increased again. While hitting hardest at the Communists, the country’s rulers were at the same time striving to put the greatest possible restrictions on the activities of the legal opposition. But even in the changed situation the Brazilian people carried on the struggle against foreign imperialism and against reaction at home.

Mexico

p In Mexico, the economic upswing that had set in during the Second World War continued into the post-war period: the reforms introduced by Cardenas during his presidency were bearing fruit.

p During the period 1940-60 industrial production tripled in volume and the industrial labour force grew from 856,000 to 1,980,000. The country’s population increased from 20,000,000 to 35,000,000 over the same period, and the number of those employed in the sphere of production from 6,000,000 to 12,000,000. Capitalist development registered considerable gains. A state sector came into being in the national economy, to play an important role therein. And there was also an increase in the production of agricultural raw materials and consumer goods for both the foreign and domestic markets.

p To be sure, national development ran into counter-action on the part of foreign imperialists, whose Mexican investments totalled, in 1960, $1,081 million, North American monopolies accounting 470 for 73.7 per cent thereof. In 1963, the share of the United States in Mexico’s import and export trade amounted to 70 per cent.

p Here, in Mexico, where the agrarian reform had been of a more radical nature than elsewhere in Latin America (before the Cuban revolution) there were, in 1964, 521 latifundia of from 50,000 to 100,000 hectares each and 1,000 of from 1,000 to 10,000 hectares, 9,600 landlords owned 80,000,000 hectares of land when there were 2,500,000 landless peasants and farm labourers in the country! This situation was one of the main reasons for the bitter struggle that was being waged by the progressive forces against the forces of reaction.

p The first post-war government, that of Miguel Aleman (1946-52), which represented the banker, big merchant and landlord bloc, adopted a pro-American foreign policy and protected the interests of foreign, chiefly North American, capital. President Ruiz Cortines (1952-58) followed a more independent foreign policy, and this aggravated relations between Mexico and the United States, though the activities of United States monopolies in Mexico remained virtually unrestricted. During the presidential elections of 1958 Lopez Mateos, candidate of the Constitutional Revolutionary Party then in power, offered a programme envisaging a higher standard of living and an independent foreign policy of peace. Official propaganda portrayed the Lopez Mateos government (1958-64) as a government of the people. Like its predecessors, however, it failed to solve the country’s most urgent problems, including that of improving the economic condition of the working people.

p Meanwhile, class warfare in the country grew in intensity. The democratic and anti-imperialist movement was strongly influenced by the achievements of the world socialist system, notably the Soviet Union, and by the national liberation struggle carried on by the peoples of Latin America. Such events as the overthrow of the dictatorial regimes of Rojas Pinilla in Colombia (1957) and Perez Jimenez in Venezuela (1958) and the collapse of the Batista tyranny (1959) and the victory of the people’s revolution in Cuba gave an added impetus to the democratic movement in Mexico.

p Mexican workers in the textile, petroleum-extracting and other industries began to strike as early as 1958. The railwaymen’s strike, including some 100,000 workers, was a particularly forceful demonstration, savagely suppressed by the Mateos government: its leaders were arrested, many leaders of the Communist and the Workers’ and Peasants’ parties were sent to prison, where they were to remain for years.

p The policies of the Mateos government gave rise to widespread discontent among the people. A movement for a "new deal" was started, headed by Lazaro Cardenas, a noted, internationally 471 known Mexican statesman. A Peasant Centre joined in the movement. The Communist Party congresses of May 1960, and December 1963, worked out a definite programme for the struggle to achieve democracy and end the domination of foreign capital. These activities made themselves felt in the presidential elections (July 1964), when the Communist Party came out as the sponsor of a plan to create a People’s Electoral Front and nominated for president Ramon Danzoz Palomino, one of the most popular leaders of the Mexican peasantry. A split in the Left-wing forces, however, and the pre-eminent position of the governing Constitutional Revolutionary Party swung the elections in favour of Diaz Ordaz, Minister for Internal Affairs in the Mateos government, who entered upon his duties as president in December 1964.

In the foreign policy sphere Mexico favoured peaceful co-existence and the creation of an atom-free zone in Latin America. In those years Mexico was the only Latin American country maintaining diplomatic relations with revolutionary Cuba, in line with the wishes of the Mexican people.

Chile

p The end of the Second World War saw an upsurge of the workers’ movement in Chile, which revealed the considerably increased influence of the Communist Party. In the presidential elections of September 1946, on the initiative of the Communist Party, the democratic organisations nominated Gonzalez Videla, a radical.

p The traditional parties of the Chilean oligarchy suffered a defeat; and Gonzalez Videla, on taking office, formed a government with the participation of Communists.

p This was a momentous event not only in the history of Chile but of Latin America as a whole. It reflected the far-reaching changes that had been taking place all over the world as a result of the victory won by the Soviet Union in the Second World War over the forces of fascism and reaction; and it reflected also the growing prestige of Chile’s Communist Party. As might have been expected, such a development caused uneasiness among the foreign imperialists. Within a few months, in 1947, the United States governing circles, backed by the other imperialist countries, launched an offensive against the Chilean democracy, which coincided perfectly with the wishes of Chile’s ruling classes. For the Communist ministers had been trying to put through measures designed to undermine the positions of the reaction.

p In April 1947, President Videla, alarmed at the growing activity of the working class, broke with the Communist Party, 472 dismissed the Communists from government, and declared a state of siege in the country. In October the government ordered the leaders of the Communist Party arrested. Mass repressions began. And in compliance with the US imperialists’ demands Videla broke off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

p In 1948 a decree on the "Defence of Democracy" was adopted, which was directed against all progressive organisations in the interests of the Chilean oligarchy. Thousands of workers and peasants were sent to concentration camps, and tens of thousands of citizens were disfranchised. Subsequently the Videla government signed a military agreement placing the country’s armed forces under the control of the Pentagon.

p Videla’s reactionary policies were continued by his successor, Carlos Ibafiez (1952-58). The latter won the elections under cover of criticism of Videla’s policies, but he went even farther than his predecessor in the matter of concessions to the Chilean oligarchy and the foreign imperialists.

p Increasing activity on the part of the reactionaries and the virtual take-over of the country’s economy by foreign monopolies did more than provoke the masses to protests: they sowed discontent among the middle classes and the national bourgeoisie as well. The democratic and anti-imperialist movement was headed by the working class: undaunted by the reign of terror inaugurated by the government, the Chilean Communist Party fought staunchly to achieve unity among the working class and all democrats. A single trade union centre was organised in 1953, on the Communist Party’s initiative, which played an important role in healing the split within the proletariat. The working class called for the re-establishment of democratic rights and for the defence of Chile’s sovereignty as a state. These were the slogans of the general strike of May 1954. In the following year the strike movement expanded. In February 1956, a number of parties  [472•1  joined together to organise a Popular Action Front (PAF), which united all of the country’s progressive forces and adopted a programme envisaging the introduction of far-reaching social and economic reforms, the establishment of a democratic regime, and the strengthening of Chile’s national sovereignty.

p The PAF programme was approved in its entirety by the masses, and, what is more, received the support of some bourgeois circles, notably the parliamentarians. The PAF succeeded in getting the reactionary "Defence of Democracy" law repealed, and this was its first important achievement. The Communist Party was 473 legalised. The PAF was enabled to take an active part in the presidential elections of 1958. To counteract the Right-wing organisations, who were intent on electing Jorge Alessandri, the PAF nominated Salvador Allende, leader of the Socialist Party. The elections, held on September 4, gave Allende 354,000 votes, but the presidency went to Alessandri, who received 386,000. The Alessandri administration followed an anti-democratic policy that enriched the local oligarchy, which, of course, co-operated with foreign imperialism.

p In 1964, the presidential elections were marked by sharp class encounters, the democratic forces once more challenging the forces of reaction. The parties traditionally favoured by the Chilean oligarchy, namely, the Conservative and the Liberal, refrained—and for good reason—from nominating candidates of their own.

p The most serious contenders for the presidency among the nominees of the ruling classes were Eduardo Frei, leader of the Christian-Democratic Party, and Julio Duran, leader of the Right wing of the Radical Party. The PAF and other democratic forces backed Salvador Allende. The elections, stubbornly contested, were won by Eduardo Frei, who had the support of all the elements of the governing camp, determined to keep Salvador Allende from winning.

Frei gathered 1,418,000 of a total of 2,550,000 votes; and Allende received 982,000, as compared with only 354,000 in 1958, so that the September 4, 1964 elections gave ample evidence that Chile’s democratic forces continued to grow and gather strength.

Revolutionary Events in Bolivia
and Guatemala

p The post-war developments in the lands of Latin America were indeed dramatic. Their peoples fought courageously for progress in the face of the determined resistance of the national oligarchy and foreign imperialism. They experienced all the bitterness of the defeat of the revolution in Bolivia and Guatemala, but they also had the joy of seeing victorious the Cuban revolution, which ushered in a new phase of the liberation struggle waged by the peoples of Latin America.

p In the period of transition from capitalism to socialism now going on on a global scale Latin America must give top priority to the task of putting an end to the system of latifundia and the domination of foreign capital as a prerequisite for any attempt to resolve the problems of a socialist revolution. This holds equally good for the underdeveloped countries of Central America and the more advanced Latin American countries, such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile 474 and Mexico. One attempt to end the domination of landlords and foreign capital was the Bolivian revolution of 1952, which was accomplished by the masses, though under the leadership of the national bourgeoisie. That revolution spelled the end of the pro-imperialist dictatorship of the mine owners and landed gentry, and the national bourgeoisie took over at the helm of the state.

p The government of Hernan Siles Zuazo and that of Victor Paz Estenssoro, which ruled the country in turn between 1952 and 1964, introduced a series of reforms calculated to weaken the positions of the foreign monopolies and the owners of large estates. Tin mines were decreed nationalised, and an agrarian reform was effected. As the masses increased their activity, however, demanding higher living standards, and as the influence of the Communist Party grew and the trade union movement developed, the Bolivian bourgeoisie began to lose its revolutionary ardour. Then, too, the foreign imperialists were increasing economic pressure on Bolivia in an attempt to paralyse the country’s economy and doom the people to starvation. This proved too much for the bourgeoisie, and rather than put through radical anti-imperialist and antifeudal reforms with the support of the people, it decided in favour of concessions to the reactionaries.

p On the other hand, the masses were fully resolved to see the revolution through to a victorious end. And by the autumn of 1964 the political situation in the country had become extremely aggravated. Differences between the national bourgeoisie and the masses provided the reactionaries and a military clique led by General Barrientoz with an opportunity to overthrow the government of Paz Estenssoro, in November, and state power passed as a result into the hands of a junta headed by Barrientoz. The masses put up a resistance to the reactionary offensive, which developed, in the spring of 1965, into armed clashes in which detachments of workers’ militia and miners were opposed to the troops of the junta. The latter emerged victorious from the struggle; but the Bolivian people carried on the fight for a free, democratic Bolivia.

p An important event in the Latin American peoples’ national liberation struggle was the revolution in Guatemala, which had repercussions all over the continent even though it came to pass in a minor country. It began in October 1944, with the overthrow of the pro-American Ubico dictatorship, then proceeded to attack the relics of feudalism and the positions of foreign imperialism. An agrarian reform was introduced, directed against the country’s biggest landowner, the United Fruit Company. A programme of measures was worked out, designed to help achieve economic independence, and a series of important socio-economic reforms was effected. In April 1945, Guatemala established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. And a new constitution was adopted, also 475 in 1945, which was in line with the aspirations of the Guatemalan people.

p The new democratic regime fostered a greater degree of organisation among the proletariat and peasantry. A Communist Party was founded in 1949, and later a single trade union centre and a peasant federation were formed.

p At this point the United States started a broad campaign against Guatemala, determined to prevent the Guatemalan revolution from producing an impression in the other Latin American countries; and in July 1954, this campaign was capped by outright armed intervention; and the Guatemalan revolution was crushed. But the forces of democracy everywhere in Latin America had drawn their conclusions therefrom, and these nothing could eradicate. The Guatemalan revolution had shown convincingly that the forces of feudalism and imperialism had to be completely defeated if the dependent countries were to strike out on the road to progress and independence, and that radical economic reforms were essential to the achievement of higher standards of living.

p It had once more confirmed the truth of the Marxist principle that the working people can never achieve true freedom without smashing the old machinery of the state. The national bourgeoisie, on seizing state power in Guatemala, did not go beyond perfecting and reforming the old state machinery. The army remained unchanged; socially, its officer cadres had nothing in common with the masses.

Moreover, the Guatemalan revolution had again demonstrated the urgent need for union between the proletariat and the peasantry and laid bare the duplicity of the national bourgeoisie. During the first phase of the revolution, coinciding with the presidency of Juan Arevalo (1945-50), the national bourgeoisie showed on more than one occasion its hostility towards the working class and the Communist Party and tolerance in regard to subversive activities on the part of the reactionaries. During the second phase, coinciding with Jacobo Arbenz’s term in office (1950-54), the revolution made serious gains, but again the national bourgeoisie displayed an inconsistency—certain bourgeois elements leaned increasingly towards capitulation. On balance, therefore, the national bourgeoisie proved incapable of pressing the anti-feudal, anti-imperialist revolution to a victorious end. And so the Guatemalan experience brought up once more the problem of a new type of revolution, a people’s revolution in which the leading role would be played by the working class. For no other type of revolution can deal effectively with feudalism and imperialism: the events in Cuba made that perfectly clear.