iThe Salvadoran CP —

iHalf a century >

only

The creation of these organizations

_ coincided with industrialization which
began in the 1950s in El Salvador. Prior —

to 1950, the coffee agro-export oligarchy

had absolute power. The working class

then was linked to artisan workshops;

_ few factories existed.

Industrialization accelerated in the
60s when the-Central American Com-
mon Market was formed and U.S. and
Japanese corporations began to pene-
trate the economy. This led to substan-
tial changes in the class structure.
Large masses, especially from the

_ rural areas, became the marginal sec-

tor of the population living in the cities.
This group was larger than the indus-
trial working class. With the introduc-
tion of mechanized agriculture, many
peasants became part of the pro-
letariat. The educational system was
expanded to meet the needs of the indus-
trialization process. A system of depen-
dent capitalism tied to multinational
corporations developed.

In the 1960s, the SPC was still the
revolutionary force. But asa result
of the industrial growth, corresponding

reforms, and other limited democratic’

-< “the electoral road gained valid-
og the eyes of the masses of the

,’ said. Schafik Jorge Handal,

general secretary of the SCP, inarecent

i view With Prensa Latina. The
ering of the Christian Democratic
Party in 1960 and its ensuing victories
gave some hope to the masses that the

- electoral process was the road to vic-

oT The people needed to be won away
from reformist conceptions, and the

- SCP found itself obliged to take part in

the electoral process over a period of 11

years,” Handal said. “From the start

we were well aware that the ballot box
was not the way to take power, but we
were also convinced that it was neces-

‘in the forefront
of the struggle

themselves, in the school of experi-
ence.”

The National Opposition Union
(UNO) ran candidates in the 1972 and
1977 presidential elections. The UNO
won both elections by a comfortable
majority. The ballot was not respected
by the government despite large-scale
demonstrations. It was then that the
majority of the Salvadoran people lost
faith in the electoral process and ‘‘be-
sah to support armed struggle,’’ Handal
said.

But 11 years of legal struggle and
electoral participation left its mark on
the party. Handal pointed out that 87%

of the SCP membership had joined the.

party during that period — and it wasn’t
easy to switch emphasis from one form
of struggle to another.

After 1970, armed organizations
began to appear in the country. Handal
pointed out that the common “‘trunk”’ of
these organizations by and large was
the SCP, although forces from
radicalized Social Christian students
and even from the Christian Demo-
cratic Party were involved..

_ “Moreover, Salvador Cayetano Car-
pio, general secretary of the SCP, re-
signed from the leadership of the party
to devote himself to the formation of the
Farabundi Marti People’s Liberation
Forces,”’ he said.

Other armed _ organizations
emerged, with influence and important
bases in some rural areas, especially
among the proletariat in the capitalist
farming areas. Their links with the
‘cities and the workers, however, were
generally weak. :

_ ‘Among people with good intentions,
among working people, who at present
are part of the revolutionary struggle, a
common view was that guerrilla actions

were organized by the enemy to justify.

the repression against the opposition
forces,’”” Handal said. ‘‘But after the

sary to lead the people to learn for

February 1977 elections the confusion
ended.”

Throughout this period, the SCP
worked diligently to create unity among
the revolutionary organizations that
had emerged and ultimately with all the
democratic sectors of the population
' It was precisely because of the need
to win these democratic forces, that the
SCP along with the democratic and pro-
gressive sectors took part in the first
ruling junta which governed after the
overthrow of General Romero in Oc-
tober 1979.

“Since the SCP was the revolutio-
nary organization with the oldest ties
with the democratic forces, with which
it had earlier conducted a policy of al-
lion-z, it had to accompany these

-corces, stand beside them, in order to

prevent their dispersion after the defeat
of the junta and be able to immediately
link them up with the revolutionary
movement,’’ Handal said.

Although: the SCP recognized the
1979 coup as a maneuver by im-
perialism and the Salvadoran right
wing, the general secretary pointed out
that it also involved a progressive cur-
rent of the young army officers who
were “‘unaware of the objectives of our
main enemy and who in fact had placed
their hopes on such a solution to the na-
tional crisis.”

The SCP presented a platform and
program for change to the junta. Al-
though it was adopted, the changes were
never carried out.

Thus, the failure of the first junta led
to the growing disenchantment of the
majority of democratic and progressive
forces with the second junta, which
rules today. Characterized by brutal
repression and superficial reforms, the
second junta has been totally isolated
from the people. Today it only has the
support of the most reactionary sector
of: the Christian Democratic Party.

In December 1979, the revolutionary
forces agreed: to unite. The SCP joined
with the Farabundi Marti People’s Lib-
eration Forces (FPL) and the National
Resistance (RN), viewing that re-
volutionary unity was a ‘‘strategic
necessity.”

At the same time, the progressive
forces have taken a significant step
forward. In early January the Re-
volutionary Coordinating Committee of
the Masses (CRM) was formed. The
CRM is a united front organization
composed primarily of the mass

groups: Revolutionary Peoples Bloc,

the United Peoples Action Front
(FAPU), the February 28 People’s
Leagues (LP-28) and the Nationalist

Democratic Union (UDN), the legal
arm of the Salvadoran Communist
Party.

On April 3, the Revolutionary Na-
tiqnal Movement (social democrats),
the People’s Tendency (sector of the
Christian Democratic Party), along
with trade union, student and university
organizations and small business and
professional associations joined to form
the Democratic Front(FD).

These two groups, the CRM and the
FD, joined forces to form the Revolutio-
nary Democratic Front (RDF) on April
18. This uniting of the revolutionary and
democratic forces around a joint plat-
form has now created the condition for
increased international solidarity and
recognition of the RDF as the true rep-
resentative of th Salvadoran people.

The SCP, which has played a decisive
role in forging this unity, understood
from the beginning that the popular re-
volution in El Salvador could not be won
by the revolutionary forces alone.
Faced with possible foreign interven-
tion, the Salvadoran people need to be
united to win.

Although the battle is far from over,
“‘we’ve entered the last phase,’’ Handal
said. “‘We’re in the home stretch.”

; Sojoud eure) esuaig

oe er

ds, try to escape the indiscriminate repression .

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 6, 1980—Page 7