First Published: In Struggle! Vol. 7, No. 6, October 2, 1979
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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After having placed the Party of Labour of Albania definitively in the camp of revisionism in July, Bolshevik Union (BU) has now found a new target for its attacks. Its newspaper Revolution proletarienne (Proletarian Revolution) of August 1979 states that “the departure of Somoza is not a great victory for the working class and peasantry of Nicaragua”; rather, it is “a very great victory for the bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie of Nicaragua, on condition, of course, that they continue to give in to the demands of U.S. imperialism”. According to BU, the U.S. is quite happy about the new government of Nicaragua, “because it is a bourgeois government” which has always compromised with imperialism.
On the basis of this profound analysis, BU high-handedly rejects everything the workers and peasants have won through the struggle against Somoza. They make no mention of the fact that since the overthrow of Somoza, democratic rights which had been denied for decades have now been recognized. No mention either of the development of the political consciousness and force of the people of Nicaragua, nor of their rejection of the path of collaboration with imperialism proposed by the national bourgeoisie. No mention of the struggle which is going on within the country on the question of the direction that should be taken to consolidate revolutionary gains.
BU’s position in fact demonstrates its open contempt of the struggles of working people in general. It prefers to spend its time looking for the pure and instantaneous revolution which will break out some glorious, though as yet unspecified, morning (it hasn’t yet uncovered the date in Lenin’s works). Actually, this position is very similar to its position on the struggle of Canadian workers: it considers their struggle much too “reformist” and so doesn’t even bother trying to give them leadership. BU has a lot to rejoice about: it is “alone at last” in the shrine of those who “have the shining light of truth”.