FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM!
	International Communist Workers Party
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In 1970, Salvador Allende Gossens came to power under the flag of the Popular Unity Party. Allende had socialist ideas. Behind him was a massive mobilization of urban workers, students and farm workers across Chile. The left had united in a single block, with the goal that Allende’s government would be “a revolutionary and popular government that would open the road to socialism.” All of this without armed revolution.
From the beginning of his government, the bosses would not allow Allende to carry out even the most minimal reforms. The groups of the radical right, with the help of the United States government, carried out three attempts to prevent Allende from taking office. One was the assassination of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Rene Schneider. All of this was to generate an environment in which military intervention would be necessary.
On September 11, 1973 a military coup, financed by the CIA and the Chilean bourgeoisie, overthrew Allende’s government.  Then came the dictatorship of Agusto Pinochet, who assassinated, tortured and disappeared more than 40,000 Chileans for more than 17 years.
During the Allende government, the leftist movement put aside the military preparation of their working-class base.  In spite of the fact that even the old communist movement in Chile called for armed struggle, on September 11, the scant preparation and mass work meant that only 200 people were willing to fight. In spite of having one of the largest parties in Latin America, they did not mobilize the masses for communism from the beginning.  The consequence of this was the coup and the weak response by the movement.
The International Communist Workers’ Party must fight directly for Communism through armed revolution, relying on the capacity of the working class to fight for a better world.
The leftist parties were faced with the result of their confidence and illusion in a revolution without weapons. Even armed groups like the MIR (Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria) which claimed to be communist lacked a mass movement among the working class. This is a fundamental lesson for our party.
At the end of the cold war, politics in Latin America took a different turn. The military dictatorships which were repressive and murderous in a direct way would be ended. The capitalists-imperialists would seek new faces to mask capitalist cruelty.
This was reflected in Chile. In 1988, under pressure from international organizations, the Chilean dictatorship called for a plebiscite in which Chileans would vote YES or NO. YES meant that Pinochet would continue being president. NO meant that Pinochet would leave the government in 1990 and convene elections after 17 years. 
The dictator could never imagine the impact that the publicity campaign of the NO side could have. All of the liberal and leftist parties united in a struggle for the NO vote. This road united different ideological sectors to simply get rid of Pinochet, but benefited capitalism by giving the illusion of victory to the Chilean people after the dictatorship. They take away the essential things, respect for our lives, and we have seen it as a victory.
The NO won the plebiscite.  The Pinochet era came to its end. However, as in El Salvador, ending a military dictatorship does not mean that all the problems are solved or that they can be solved.
We have seen in recent years how thousands of teachers, students, and miners have taken to the streets to fight. The fundamental contradictions of capitalism remain, with or without Pinochet. All of this shows again that the worker does not have to fight for reforms, for a law, for a plebiscite.  We must build a mass movement for an armed communist revolution. As long as capitalism exists, the movement of the working class to destroy it will be constant.

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