Murder of Vanessa Guillen Calls Us to Organize in the Military for Communism
HARBOR CITY (California, USA), July 12— “Vanessa Guillen joined the army hoping for a better future for herself and her family,” said a comrade at a protest demanding “Justice for Vanessa” at a US Army recruiting station.
What she got was sexual harassment that ultimately led to her horrendous murder by another soldier, who later killed himself.
“We denounce her death and also the brutal sexist, warlike, racist and homophobic capitalist system,” the comrade continued. “May Vanessa’s death serve to push us into the fight for a communist world where we work together for the good of all.”
The majority of the protesters took our communist literature and two people gave us their contact information.
Vanessa, 20, was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. She disappeared soon after telling her family that she was being sexually harassed and feared for her safety. After a months-long campaign demanding an investigation, her remains were found near the base.
There are currently about 214,000 women on active duty in the US Armed Forces and over 200,000 in the National Guard. Sexism is an integral part of capitalist armies. According to an April Defense Department report, the military recorded 6,236 sexual assaults last year.
More than 2,500 women in service and veterans have signed a letter demanding an investigation and dismissal of Vanessa’s chain of command. Many have posted their own stories of sexual harassment and sexual assault. These women (and also men who experience sexual assault) suffer a lifetime of trauma. They understand that the military chain of command protects their assailants.
It is good to carry out investigations and find the culprits. However, investigations do not uproot the source of the problem which is capitalism itself. By its very nature it is warlike, racist, homophobic and sexist.
Rape has been a weapon of war since the beginning of class society. The US military has the same dirty history. It has used sexism and homophobia (as well as racism—a whole other article) to motivate working-class men to be killers of their class family in the US and around the world. Boot camp begins and ends with sexist cadences and exhortations to be a “real man.”
In 1948, as the Cold War began and the US became a key imperialist power, President Truman opened all branches of the military to women as full, permanent members. He also desegregated an institution which had racially separated units up through the end of World War II.
After US soldiers in Vietnam refused en masse to fight for imperialism and began to kill their own officers, the US ruling-class abolished compulsory military service in 1973 and expanded the legal rights of women in the military.
This has created a real contradiction for the US bosses. They need a gender-integrated military to wage imperialist war. But they’ve always used sexism to win working-class men to fight in the interest of the rulers. Women in the ranks are faced every day with a military culture of violence, sexism and robbery. Vanessa Guillen and thousands more have paid the price for this contradiction.
Class society and private property are the roots of sexist violence. Women were valued in pre-class society and are valued today in the communist fight for a world without exploitation and oppression. Communism will allow us to build a society where we work together for the good of all. Without wages, private property and job markets, we’ll be able to see each other as comrades with no-one being above or below anyone else.
Vanessa Guillen, like many working-class men and women, joined the army because capitalism offers them very few opportunities for a better life. Her murder was caused by men in power who uphold sexist ideology. Sexist divisions between men and women are an important tool for the bosses in maintaining their class rule. For the communist movement to grow and win, we must defeat sexism.
No revolution can succeed without significant support within the military. The military is made up of our family members—working class folks of all genders. Those of us who can should join the military to organize. We can and must win our family members in uniform to overcome the racism, sexism and patriotism that divide us. To fight for their class, rather than for the ruling class. To fight for the communist world we so urgently need.
Mexico: Talking with Soldiers about Sexist Violence
In my town, Chilpancingo, Guerrero, a soldier also murdered his partner. The case was very well known, similar to the murder of a woman in Tabasco, Mexico by her soldier husband. Perhaps one man does not describe all men, but many soldiers are aggressive and have the bad habit of drinking too much alcohol, regardless of their rank.
This reflection was taken up by a WhatsApp group. We had a personal dialogue with an ex-military man and his partner about the murder of the woman in Tabasco, which affected two children and caused the soldier involved to flee.
Someone commented that military training isolates the soldier, leads him to changes in attitudes, and many negative experiences for himself, his family, and society.
“I remember,” said the ex-soldier, “that when I worked in the army, I took out on my family what I lived through at work. Before, I was more violent,” he said.
His partner agreed, “Yes, he accused me of having another man. Once he wanted to hit me, but I did not let him. Perhaps,” she said, “women today do not allow men to treat us badly, and they don’t tolerate that, and that’s why they become aggressive.”
He said he lacked the confidence to discuss and listen more to people. At times, he was unaware of his behavior. He concluded by saying that many soldiers, after returning from operations or from their service, have post-traumatic symptoms. Many commit suicide. Others are left alone, on the street, and in poverty.
Sometimes it’s said that the military has the obligation to psychologically treat its soldiers, but that is only appearance projected by the institution. They use the soldiers as long as they have the strength to defend the interests of the government, and then they discard them.
I said that we should change that situation, for them and their families, and for all of us. We have a lot of work to do, but we can’t advance unless we make more contacts. We need to listen to the soldiers and their families. We need a communist world where people develop their human potential. Only in this way will we put a conscious end to these deaths and murders under capitalism.
—Comrade in Mexico
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