The presence of the G-20 in our country, like months before the return of the IMF, reopen debates about what politics we should have on the left. And it shows the limits and mistakes of the FIT that don’t help to postulate the left as a whole.
It is a more than evident fact that the meeting of the G20 in Buenos Aires implies the arrival of the principal imperial powers that loot and destroy the planet to benefit their class interests. They come to design their austerity plans in the region and around the world, in order to unload the global crisis in our countries. From their summit will emerge new recipes that we’ll have to confront on the streets. Macri and Bullrich’s government carries out the militarization ofBuenos Aires and a fear campaign over the metropolitan population, with media operations to avoid a strong rejection against the G20.
FIT: absent at the counter-summit and laking an alternative proposal
There are more than enough reasons to strengthen a massive unitary campaign against the G20, to develop every kind of unitary initiative, so they have the greatest possible social and political influence and the popular majority that rejects imperialist interference has a mobilization to express itself.
This is a great opportunity for the left to lead an open call and be the protagonist of an enormous counter-summit, as a part of several days of anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist struggle. But this isn’t the policy of the FIT, that hasn’t made any call and is against being part of the counter-summit that other forces have organised during 28N and 29N in theSchool of Social Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires and Congress Square respectively. The FIT will only take part in the final mobilization on the 30th. They will do the bare minimum, when they should’ve focused all their strength against the G20.
The same mistake with the IMF
The FIT had already adopted the same propagandist attitude with the first deal between Macri and the IMF. At that time, they refused to participate in mobilizations and unitary actions that different forces organized inPlaza de Mayo and other political centers. Some of their members even critisized us for taking part in unitary actions against the IMF, when it was a correct and essential political task to position the left in the vanguard of the struggle against the IMF. On that occasion, the FIT tried to cover their electoralist abstentionism with declarations and a testimonial rally of their own, closed to others and electoralist in content.
A little bit of history
It is worth remembering that the history of Leninism and Trotskysm is very different. During the 1920s, the III International under the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky, published –among other works– their Thesis on the Eastern Question. Developing bold anti-imperialist politics, they proposed: “the working class of the colonies and semi-colonies must know that only the amplification and intensification of the struggle against the imperialist yoke of the metropolis can assign them a leading role in the revolution and that the economic and political organisation and the political education of the working class and the semi-proletarian elements are the only things that can increase the revolutionary amplitude of the fight against imperialism. The communist parties of the colonial and semi-colonial countries from Orient, that are still in an embryonic state, must take part of every movement that paves the way to the masses”.
During those years Trotsky recommended the boldest and most offensive politics and a united front policy with reformist and centrist organizations in France. Logically he correctly struggled for the political independence of the revolutionaries against others in order to continue gaining political influence. This is how he posed it in his texts: “However, the united front policy doesn’t enclose itself the guarantees for the unity in fact in each action. On the contrary, on several occasions, maybe on most, the deal made by the different organizations will only be half fulfilled or not fulfilled at all. But it is necessary for the struggling masses to be convinced that on every occasion the unity of action has failed not because of our formal intransigence, but because of the reformists’ lack of a real will to fight”. (The United Front and Communism in France, 1922)
In the first four congresses of the III International, while fascism advanced in several countries, their approach on how to act was: “one of the most important tasks of the communist parties consists of organizing the resistance against international fascism, of being in front of the proletarians in the struggle against the fascist gangs and strongly apply in this field the united front policy”.
In today´s world of Trump and Bolsonaro, there’s no doubt that a similar orientation would be suitable.
For an coherent left
As in every key debate, the conclusions are decisive. Clearly, electoralism draws the left away from its true tasks and from the political fights that require conscious intervention. The FIT permanently falls into an opportunist deviation, by not focusing their strength on the anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist struggle, and refusing the necessary unity in action.
Just as we have taken part in every common action against the IMF, in the MST we have decided, for the arrival of the G20, to be part of the greatest unity of action on the streets and on different unitary events to denounce the plan of the imperialist powers that will meet here.
We will hold a big anti G20 rally at the Congress Plaza on 23N, we’ll be part of several workshops on 28N in theSchool of Social Sciences and a central rally on 29N in Congress Plaza, as part of the coalition against the G20. In these activities we’re inviting the Brazilian PSOL to express the fight against Bolsonaro. Finally, we’ll mobilize a great column of the MST to the common march on 30N.
In each of these different activities we’ll voice our own positions and proposals, to maintaining the two maximum premises of the revolutionary Marxism: the greatest unity on the streets and political independence to develop theopinions of the anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist and socialist left.
We invite each and every one of our readers to take part of these events and to strengthen with the MST a coherentand unitary left project in our country.
Sergio García