Anti-communist tendencies in the APPO

One recent phenomenon in the recurring Assemblies and actions of the APPO is a strong anti-communist tendency among various factions. This situation, which has existed since the foundation of the APPO, has gotten worse with the passage of time as things have piled up.

The very creation of the APPO after the events of June 14, 2006, favored the cult of spontaneity, which the existing social organizations couldn’t do anything about. They were caught unawares by everything that happened that day and in the following months, however much somebody might say after the fact, “we had a feeling this was going to happen.”

And if we add in some of the collectives that came in with their Zapatista posture of assemblyitis, or assemblyism, and the ineffective discourse that “nobody represents anybody,” which always paralyzes decision making and makes it impossible to form a truly operative leadership, we have a tough panorama. And as if that weren’t enough, we have to add in the shameful performance of the APPO State Council. At some key moments people were on their toes and refused to go along with many deals made by their little bosses, thus drawing out the resistance.

But, there’s no doubt that the most serious issue is the role and responsibility of organizations called Marxists, an abuse of the term. In particular the Revolutionary Popular Front, FPR, a front group for the Communist Party of Mexico (Marxist Lenininst), who were known as pro-Albanians in their day (something they want to forget at any price), are now happy to say that they’re Stalinists.

The FPR has built up a long list of “merits” in Oaxaca: turning honest activists over to the police; stealing money from the APPO; making secret pacts with the state and federal governments; committing the treason of signing the “hundred day” truce, which gave Ulisis Ruiz breathing space to return to the state and opened the door for PFP repression, etc. The existence of this group has lead some graffiti artists to contaminate the walls of the city of Oaxaca with spray painted hammer and sickles, just as bad as the swastika.

There’s no other Marxist Leninist organization that’s been able to counter the PCM(M-L), either because they’re too tiny, or because they practice decaf communism, hiding the fact that their leaders, (supposedly, and I do mean supposedly) are Marxists. And that’s why people think all the reds are FPR traitors.

In the midst of this situation, all kinds of supposedly anarchist groups and individuals mill around, taking advantage of the current situation in the APPO to laud spontaneity and preach about how bad it is to get organized. All they do is play along with URO, trying again and again to spread the idea in the communities that being part of a movement is a bad thing.

At the same time we accuse the FPR of betrayal, we should also accuse these pseudo-anarchists of being counter revolutionaries who promote demobilization.

Raúl Calvo Trenado
March 15, 2009

One comment

  1. What is this article other than a completely ad hominem rant? Nothing is backed up or explained at all. Could you possibly elucidate a bit more when you’ve calmed down?

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