EL PUEBLO – Neither the constitutional farce nor the electoral circus will stop the course of the people’s struggle

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PERIÓDICO el pueblo; No. 94; March 2021

That the struggle advances, develops and rises is a historical and political tendency

Neither the constitutional farce nor the electoral circus will stop the course of the people’s struggle

By Micalea Bastidas

Their farce of the Constitutional Convention and the election in April, where on the one hand the members of the Constitutional Convention and on the other hand the new administrators of the municipalities [Mayors and regional governors] will be elected, will not be able to change the revolutionary situation of our country. The crumbs they are now offering in exchange for not losing everything are no longer enough.

On 15 November 2019, 28 days after the beginning of the popular uprising, 11 representatives of the bourgeois parties, calling themselves representatives of different “political sectors”, signed the so-called Agreement for Social Peace and the New Constitution. An agreement that was supposedly prepared in the heat of the moment, that required hours of discussion to reach a consensus, but whose content had been worked on for a long time, and which at this moment would be an escape valve from social pressure, a lifeline in the face of the discrediting of all the institutions of the old state, all those who govern for the big bourgeoisie, the big landowners and the imperialist powers.

The glorious protests and clashes that took place before, during and after October 18 are the response to the accumulated rage in the hearts of the masses, facing a life of misery and oppression they have had.

With great clarity, years before the October Revolution triumphed in Russia, Lenin illuminated for us what constitutes a developing revolutionary situation: those at the top can no longer rule as they have done up till now, and those at the base are tired of being ruled as they have been ruled. This idea expresses very well the situation of the class struggle in Chile and in many other places in the world, because although it is unequal, the revolutionary situation in the world is undeniably developing. The protests are multiplying, increasing their level and quality, becoming more violent, with the aim of getting back everything that was stolen from the class and the people as a whole.

That the struggle is advancing, developing and rising is a historical and political tendency. It happened before in the slavery epoch; it happened when the Paris Commune and the revolution in China triumphed; is happening now in the protests in Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and many other places around the world. The peoples of the world are combating and resisting, and as Chairman Mao Tse-tung summed up: When oppression and exploitation increase, rebellion will increase, and it is right to rebel.

It is a class struggle between opposing forces that exists objectively because it is born out of the prevailing social relations of production, imperialism, bureaucratic capitalism and semi-feudalism. Therefore, the struggle will continue and develop independently of those in power, whether they are “right” or “left”. And in the face of the advance on the people’s hill, we cannot expect that on the enemy’s hill the ruling classes to just continue to watch and wait for us to come after them.

A “new constitution” and elections … so that nothing changes

The aforementioned Peace Accord is one of their many attempts to stop and suppress the people’s struggle, while also trying to restructure this old, rotten and corrupt state, which is their main task.

As we have made clear in some previous issues, the history of the revolution in the world shows us that a constitution for the people can only come out of a successful revolution that can impose and defend new rules that ensure every fundamental right for the people. The current constitutional process does not serve the interests of the people, as many have tried to make us believe, among them some traitors from the people’s movement who have only used the people’s struggles as a springboard to get positions today with the same people who subjected us to misery for so many years.

It is clear to us, because we have international experience, that the rights of the people can only be won and defended through struggle, by raising revolutionary violence. As long as power is not won, the struggle will be permanent to win rights and not to lose them. Only by conquering power will it be possible to regain everything that has been usurped.

For the reactionaries, the tasks of restructuring the old state and to prevent revolution are not tasks of the last period. On the contrary, these are something they have always had in mind and have sought to fulfil through different agreements, such as the one mentioned above, and also through the electoral process that takes place every four years, seeking to give legitimacy to their supposedly “democratic” regime.

The ruling classes use elections of authorities from time to time to delude the masses yearning for change with promises and crumbs, but how much has this worked in recent years? Not so much. Both abstention and blank votes are a growing tendency that responds to the fact that the masses see that no candidate is really responsive to the interests and demands of the majority. Not even the plebiscite for the new constitution reversed this tendency when barely more than 50% of eligible voters voted. And they try to present it as a great success.

The discrediting of the state institutions and the governments in power is growing day by day, the veil of this false democracy is fading by the minute. There are the political prisoners, the murdered and mutilated of the revolt, on which they raise their clique agreements and “elections” with all kinds of anchors so that nothing profound changes. And as the real perspectives of the constituent process become clearer, there are fewer and fewer people who believe in it and are fooled.

Their farce on the Constitutional Convention and the election in April, where on the one hand the members of the Constitutional Convention and on the other hand the new administrators of the municipalities will be elected, will not be able to change the revolutionary situation of our country. The crumbs they are now offering in exchange for not losing everything are no longer enough. The struggle has shown that they are vulnerable, they have trembled facing the anger of the people, and now the masses understand the necessity of reconquering everything back.

The perspective of a protracted struggle

The people’s list of demands has been raised, the deep yearnings for a decent life have taken root in the depths of the people, a whole new generation of militants has emerged who have experienced first-hand that no change is won peacefully, the revolutionary slogans have been raised and engraved on the retinas, fists and cries of the masses who find joy and brotherhood in the midst of struggle. The stream of militants is growing and its most determined part can no longer be deceived by traitors, opportunists, revisionists or fascists who are condemned to pay their debt to the people sooner or later.

The path of the people is unfolding in the midst of this developing revolutionary situation, but the revolutionary instruments are still needed to set them on the course of the longed-for victory.

The revolutionary classes can still temporarily impose themselves with repression, imprisonment, mutilation and death because of the organisational weakness and dispersion of the struggling people. This puts us in the perspective of a protracted struggle, but the perspective is glorious and the people will win.