Fight Fascism by Organizing for Communism here ♦ Opening Door to Communism here ♦ Students Commemorate Anti-Fascist Struggle here ♦
Fight Fascism in El Salvador by Organizing Workers, Students, Soldiers for Communism
EL SALVADOR—”We are living through moments that are very similar to the times during the war of the 1980’s,” said a healthcare worker.
“During that time, the Armed Forces had up to 65,000 women and men in uniform, to fight against the FMLN guerrillas. They were supported economically by the USA, $2 million a day, with the pretext of defending democracy,” responded a leader of the International Communist Workers’ Party.
“I don’t believe in democracy,” she continued. “It is used at the whim of the capitalist politicians. Under this democratic slogan they exploit and repress the working class. I believe in the struggle for communism,” she concluded.
The growth of the International Communist Workers’ Party is key. This will only happen if the work is determined and constant, with both industrial workers and soldiers at the center of the Party’s revolutionary strategy.
In order to not let up on the attack on working -class expression of criticism or discontent, the government of Nayib Bukele is taking up old previous governments’ strategies like using the army. This is a fascist practice.
That’s why the proposed goal is to increase the number of troops in the Armed Forces from 20,000 to 40,000 soldiers in the next three years until the end of this administration. Although if they manage to consolidate the fascist support of the armed forces and police, they could be reelected. They have announced this as a goal that will supposedly benefit the population.
“Give me your phone number, where do you live” are daily expressions of sexual harassment directed by soldiers and police against young students or women workers. Tanks in the street, hundreds of soldiers threatening any young person or worker who appears to them to be suspicious of anything or nothing.
This repressive force of the army supporting the police is in phase 4 of the Territorial Control Plan. They will also receive more equipment and weapons to carry out this plan..
The response to fascism in the past has always been the organized struggle of the working class with unfolding revolutionary actions throughout the country. Today we are organizing for ICWP, fighting directly for communism.
The capitalists are resorting to the police and the army, as a repressive force against any uprising to halt the workers’ anger, since the illusion of the promised change is disappearing little by little.
In capitalist society, all the police, military and “justice” organizations serve the interests of the ruling class. The working class needs its Red Army mobilizing the masses for communism.
The pressure from the USA is sharp. Bukele met with a high-level commission from the United States, given the possibility that the Salvadoran government might accept aid from the Chinese government.
In addition to receiving help with COVID 19 vaccines, the USA has also sent a ship to “combat drug trafficking,” with the aim of reaffirming the El Salvador-USA alliance. Also this week, Bukele met with pro-US NGOs, coordinated by the US ambassador.
The only way to fight fascism is by organizing in the International Communist Workers’ Party, in factories, workplaces, universities. And in succeeding in influencing the young soldiers, who belong to our class and who should not obey orders from the capitalist bosses. Distributing more Red Flags in these areas will help advance the struggle for communist revolution.
Opening a Door to Communism
“I feel more unsafe when the police and the army are everywhere.” That’s how I started a conversation with a classmate from the university, after we saw how they were checking the backpacks and cell phones of two students from this same place.
In recent weeks, President Nayib Bukele gave the order and sent the army and the police to the streets. The militarization and abuse of power that they exercise against the working class is clear. And the thought runs through my head a lot, “following the party line, how can we reach these soldiers?”
My friend continued the conversation, telling me that her parents have told her about the 1980’s. They have many stories about the war and bad experiences with soldiers. I told her that capitalism uses soldiers to repress us, but also historically worldwide soldiers have been allies many times and have turned their guns around, refusing to attack the masses.
It was a quick conversation, but it has had a lot of impact on me. She knows that I am in a communist party, and I can keep talking to her and eventually invite her to a meeting.
–Student comrade in El Salvador
Students Commemorate 1975 Anti-Fascist Struggle
EL SALVADOR— Forty-six years ago, on July 30, 1975, thousands of students from the headquarters of the National University came out to demonstrate against the military occupation of the University’s western headquarters that had taken place a few days earlier.
The government of the fascist Colonel Arturo Armando Molina deployed the army to stop the march. Hundreds of students were massacred. Today there is still no exact count, because after the massacre, the army henchmen tried to wash away the blood of our martyrs in the struggle.
They tried to legitimize the repression as a response to a “communist plot.” Communist or not, that generation of young people joined the struggle, inspired by revolutionary movements around the world. May our commemoration serve to safeguard the legacy of their genuine intentions for revolution!
From that massacre to the present, this commemoration has been a sign of the state of the struggle in El Salvador. This year has been an opportunity for young university students to shout “Presente!” in the fight against the government of Nayib Bukele.
Bukele has reaffirmed the gradual addition of 40,000 new troops into the armed forces in the next five years. This shows the political importance that he attaches to weapons in his project of power. In the midst of an economic and health crisis, in a context of increasing militarization, hundreds of people came out to protest against his government.
The masses are still largely absent from these protests. The vast majority of them continue to trust Bukele. But reality is increasingly difficult for them, too. Social discontent is growing. Bukele’s capitalist project will betray the expectations of the masses. That gives us the opportunity to intensify the political struggle for communism.
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