{"id":20759,"date":"2017-08-11T12:05:33","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T16:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theredphoenixapl.org\/?p=20759"},"modified":"2017-08-11T12:05:33","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T16:05:33","slug":"revolutionary-communist-party-of-bolivia-pcrb-the-october-socialist-revolution-the-role-of-the-proletariat-and-the-revolutionary-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/2017\/08\/revolutionary-communist-party-of-bolivia-pcrb-the-october-socialist-revolution-the-role-of-the-proletariat-and-the-revolutionary-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Revolutionary Communist Party of Bolivia (PCRB): The October Socialist Revolution: The Role of the Proletariat and the Revolutionary Party"},"content":{"rendered":"
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English translation by\u00a0<\/em>F\u00e9nix Rojo\u00a0staff<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Submission of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Bolivia (PCRB) to the 21st International Seminar: Problems of the Revolution in Latin America<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In <\/span>commemorating<\/span> the centenary of the October Socialist Revolution, it is important for Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations to systematize the lessons that such a milestone left us for current struggles.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The debates that today seem <\/span>unique to “<\/span>21st Century Socialism” were debated more than a century ago, separating the Bolsheviks from the various revisionist tendencies. The <\/span>debates<\/span> within the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) between 1903 and 1917, the Revolution of 1905, the February 1917 and the October Socialist Revolution <\/span>were crucial<\/span>. There are many topics of discussion: from the national<\/span> <\/span>question to <\/span>the role of the peasantry, revolutionary tactics, parliamentary politics, the party press, etc. <\/span>At this point we will focus on two fundamental points: the characterization of the revolution (hence the role of the proletariat) and party organization. <\/span> <\/span>Likewise<\/span>,<\/span> we will analyze how the lessons learned in the October Revolution have influenced popular struggles <\/span>in<\/span> Bolivia and how they guide our <\/span>grasp of <\/span>the <\/span> in<\/span> the current <\/span>situation<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Role of the Proletariat in the Revolution<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In 1898, <\/span>in his text <\/span>The Development of Capitalism in Russia<\/span><\/em>, while the working class <\/span>organizing <\/span>was growing<\/span>, <\/span>Lenin pointed out the general characteristics of incipient capitalist development and the complex relations of <\/span>on the land <\/span>ownership and production. The backwardness of capitalist development in Russia was notorious in contrast to that of other European national states, as well as its archaic political superstructure of absolutist Tsarism. In <\/span>competition<\/span> for territorial <\/span>expansion<\/span>, Tsarist Russia goes to war with Japan, worsening the already poor living conditions of <\/span>its exploited <\/span>masses<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The nascent Russian bourgeoisie aspired to greater spaces of state power, while the proletariat was engaged in <\/span>brutally suppressed <\/span>strikes and protests (‘Bloody Sunday’ among others). The <\/span>RSDLP<\/span> was divided between Mensheviks and Bolsheviks, each with different tactics of struggle due to the<\/span>ir<\/span> different characterizations of the revolution<\/span>ary moment<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Concerning the role of the proletariat in bourgeois revolutions, Lenin states that: “Marxism does not teach the proletariat to remain outside the bourgeois revolution, not to participate in it, to <\/span>leave <\/span>its lead<\/span>ership to the bourgeoisie; but, o<\/span>n the contrary, that <\/span>it<\/span> must participate in the most energetic and decisive way in the struggle for proletarian democracy, in the struggle to bring about the <\/span>fulfillment<\/span> of the revolution. “(Lenin, VIII, 58)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He<\/span> further expands the proletariat’s active participation by indicating that it must assume the role of leadership: “The outcome of the revolution depends on the role played by the working class in it: that it should be merely an auxiliary of the bourgeoisie, a powerful auxiliary for the intensity of his push against the autocracy, but politically impotent, or that <\/span>it<\/span> assumes the role of le<\/span>ader of the popular revolution.<\/span>\u201c<\/span> <\/span>(Lenin, VIII, 32)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In <\/span>the month of April 1917, Lenin <\/span>presents <\/span> <\/span>his<\/span> <\/span>April Theses<\/span>, in which he states that: “The peculiarity of the present moment in Russia consists of the passage of the first stage of the revolution, which has given power to the bourgeoisie because <\/span>t<\/span>he proletariat <\/span>lacks the necessary degree of consciousness and organization, to its second stage, which must place power in the hands of the proletariat and the poor strata of the peasantry “<\/span> <\/span>(Lenin, Selected Works, II, 17). In this way<\/span>,<\/span> the capitalist an<\/span>d imperialist <\/span>character of the Provisional G<\/span>overnment is exposed and the government of the Soviets is proposed as a way to overcome the first phase of the revolution, ending the imperialist war and giving a real\u00a0<\/span>answer to popular demands.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The majority composition of proletarians and peasants in democratic struggles <\/span>will be <\/span>appropriated by the bourgeoisie if the proletariat does not have its own <\/span>sufficient<\/span>ly<\/span> force<\/span>ful <\/span>political leadership. <\/span> <\/span>Stalin indicates that: “The bourgeoisie of all countries and nations knows <\/span>well <\/span>how to appropriate the fruits obtained in victories that are not theirs, knows how to get chestnuts out of the fire with the hands of others. He has never felt a desire to risk his relatively privileged situation in a struggle against a strong enemy, a struggle that is not yet so easy to win. “<\/span> <\/span>(Stalin, 1, 21)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In Bolivia, the majority of workers, peasants and indigenous peoples have been fighting against colonialism, feudalism and capitalism<\/span> for<\/span> <\/span>centuries<\/span>, <\/span>during<\/span> which time they have become aware of the need for political leadership. After the war for independence against the Spanish crown, the once royalist leaders usurped the power spaces of the nascent Republic relegating the majority who had fought to oblivion. I<\/span>n the Federal War of 1900, the L<\/span>iberal forces that had allied with the natives of <\/span>Z\u00e1rate<\/span> <\/span>Willka<\/span> imprisoned the original leader<\/span>ship<\/span> and maintained feudal forms of exploitation. The different fractions of the ruling classes have always used the fighting force of the exploited to resolve their conflicts with each other.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Likewise<\/span> the experience of the 1952 National R<\/span>evolution, in which the workers<\/span>‘<\/span> <\/span>and peasants’ militias defeat the Armed Forces to give power to the MNR of V\u00edctor Paz <\/span>Estensoro<\/span>, whose government, under pressure from the masses, would apply lukewarm <\/span>reform <\/span>measures <\/span>\u2013 as per<\/span> Yankee imperialism<\/span> \u2013 such <\/span>as universal <\/span>sufferage<\/span>, agrarian reform and the ‘nationalization’ of the mines.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In 1970, in response to an attempted fascist military coup, the Bolivian Workers’ Confederation (COB) called for a general strike and General Juan Jos\u00e9 Torres was proclaimed President. <\/span> During<\/span> the government of J.J. Towers popular organizations convene<\/span>d<\/span> the Popular Assembly, as an incipient organ of popular power. The COB, in its Socialist Thesis of 1970, would conclude that: “It is self-evident that democratic and nationalist processes that are not led by the proletariat and transfo<\/span>rmed into a socialist process, a<\/span>lways <\/span>end<\/span> in frustration and defeat … The nationalizations made by such governments, just as their red-hot language <\/span>in<\/span> the first period of opposition against imperialism and reaction, were always replaced by apolog<\/span>ies<\/span> for their anti-imperialist past.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In our country, the accumulation of forces in the fight against the neo-liberal model, implemented since 1985, has as its climax the Water War in Cochabamba (2000) and the Gas War (2003). The Gas War leaves as a program the <\/span>October Agenda<\/span> that proposes the nationalization of hydrocarbons, the expulsion of transnational corporations and the call for a Constituent Assembly.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After Gonzalo <\/span>S\u00e1nchez<\/span> de <\/span>Lozada<\/span> fled the country, the <\/span>estado<\/span> council under the leadership of the MAS, faced with <\/span>a rising<\/span> social conflict, ruled <\/span>a constitutional succession. And, i<\/span>n 2005<\/span> <\/span>Evo Morales, with the support of much of the traditional left (PCB, PC <\/span>mlm<\/span>, ELN sectors, PS-1 sectors)<\/span> was elected president, with a historic <\/span>majority,.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After<\/span> than a decade of the MAS government <\/span>the <\/span>October Agenda<\/span> <\/span>is still unfinished. <\/span> Evo\u2019s <\/span>‘nationalization’ has meant the purchase of shares and subscription of service contracts with the same transnational companies; the Constituent Assembly concluded a constitutional text agreed <\/span>upon <\/span>with <\/span>the right-wing opposition in the Senate. There was a policy of state repression against the popular movements: disabled, students, teachers, indigenous workers. The policy of corporatization of social movements aims to weaken popular resistance.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The growth of financial capital and the realized benefits (exploratory bonus) for transnational companies coincide with the constant increase of the country’s external debt under the discourse of\u00a0<\/span>‘partners, non-employers’.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It is impossible to promote revolution and conquer the total independence of colonies and dependent countries without isolating the conciliatory national bourgeoisie, without liberating the petty bourgeois revolutionary masses from the influence of this bourgeoisie<\/span>, without applying the policy o<\/span>f hegemony of the proletariat, without organizing the advanced elements of the working class into an independent Communist Party. “<\/span> <\/span>(Stalin, VII, 70)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The role of the proletariat is decisive in the course of the revolution. <\/span>H<\/span>aving a correct characterization of reality and tracing the <\/span>strategic and tactical lines is the responsibility of<\/span> the Party of the proletariat. The policy of uncritical follow-up and justification that <\/span>has<\/span> been assumed by traditional leftist organizations (with the exception of Trotskyism) during the MAS government demonstrates its servile role to the national bourgeoisie.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In an international context of inter-imperialist contradictions between different blocs, it is not surprising that in national politics there are contradictions between fractions of the bourgeoisie. During the MAS government, the struggle between the old bourgeoisie linked to the ‘crescent’ (mainly <\/span>agro<\/span>-industrial and financial) and the new bourgeoisie (commercial, mining, etc.), has given rise to a pact<\/span>, <\/span>the <\/span> <\/span>Political<\/span> Constitution of the State<\/span> passed between MAS and PODEMOS) in which the government of Evo seeks to maintain <\/span>a condition<\/span> of ‘bonanza’ for the ruling classes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Revolutionary Communist Party of Bolivia was born in an act of vindication of the Marxist-Leninist principles and of class position, in <\/span>face<\/span> of the conciliatory and <\/span>\u2018<\/span>tailist<\/span>\u2019 <\/span> politics<\/span> of the old Communist Party.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As <\/span>a p<\/span>arty<\/span>,<\/span> we characterize capitalism in our country as mottled by its coexistence with secondary modes of production (semi<\/span>\u2013<\/span>feudal, communitarian, etc.), technological backwardness and economic dependence. We consider that the outstanding bourgeois democratic tasks could not be completed either by the Revolution of 52 or by the process of change; It must be the working class with popular power that faces those tasks together with the construction of socialism in Bolivia.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The role of the workers, peasants, exploited middle strata and indigenous peoples of Bolivia is to gain th<\/span>e power to build a new society. <\/span>We have learned that the role of <\/span>submissive auxili<\/span>ary to ‘advanced’ or ‘progressive’ fractions of the bourgeoisie leads to a single fate – the frustration of revolutionaries in the face of the betrayal of the bourgeoisie. To conquer a new society requires the construction of a fundamental tool – the Party.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

El <\/span>Party<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Today the diverse tendencies of revisionism and reformism speak to us of the role of social movements as a supposed<\/span>ly<\/span> <\/span>superseding vanguard<\/span> parties. These proposals are not new: during the years of internal debate in the RSDLP, the role and characteristics of the Party <\/span>were<\/span> discussed: “the Mensheviks are <\/span>moving farther and farther away from the revolution. They become liquidators, they demand liquidation, the destruction of the clandestine, revolutionary, proletarian Party, they are increasingly openly departing from the party program and its revolutionary tasks and slogans, and are trying to organize their own party, a reformist party. ” (Stalin, XIV, page 75)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The attempt to ‘liquidate’ the Party by uncritical incorporation into the government apparatus, as various leftist organizations in Bolivia have done, is a betrayal of Marxist-Leninist principles (for the revisionists this betrayal is not a novelty but a <\/span>modus <\/span>operandi<\/span> )<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For the Bolivian communists, the construction of our Party – the PCRB is a fundamental task.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This party <\/span>building<\/span> must be carried out with a clear understanding of the Party’s essence, as a monolithic unit <\/span>aspiring to a<\/span> seizure of power and conspiratorial activity: “It has its own program (immediate and final objectives of the movement), its own <\/span>tactics )<\/span> And its own principles of organization (form of grouping). The unity of programmatic, tactical and organizational principles forms the basis on which our Party is built … This means that it can be called a member … whoever accepts the Party’s program, lends him material assistance and participates in one of his organizations. ” (Stalin, I, pp. 65-67)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the face of the modern Mensheviks and Social-Democrats we have a difficult task. “Progressive” governments have endeavored to erode Marxist terms and concepts by raising false <\/span>images<\/span> de <\/span>\u201c<\/span>socialism,<\/span>\u201d<\/span> <\/span>\u201c<\/span>revolution<\/span>\u201d<\/span> y <\/span>\u201c<\/span>homeland<\/span>\u201d<\/span>. Today we have to denounce the capitalist essence of the<\/span>se<\/span> processes of change and demonstrate our <\/span>viability<\/span> <\/span>through<\/span> the construction of a real alternative for our countries – revolution and socialism.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One century after the <\/span>October <\/span>Socialist Revolution, the role of the proletariat must be made clear, not merely as an auxiliary of a bourgeois revolution, but as a hegemonic political direction of the coming socialist revolution, assuming the unfinished tasks of the democratic revolution and <\/span>u<\/span>ninterrupted revolution <\/span>towards<\/span> the <\/span>dawn<\/span> of popular power and socialism.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In order to fulfill the historic role of the working class, it is necessary to build the Party under Marxist-Leninist principles, with democratic and unshakable centralism and unity around the revolutionary program, to organize revolution, popular power and socialism.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

English translation by\u00a0Red Phoenix\u00a0staff Submission of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Bolivia (PCRB) to the 21st International Seminar: Problems of the Revolution in Latin America..<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[306],"class_list":["post-20759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-bolivia"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redphoenix.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20597422_876965482462405_2894803813871498421_n-1.png?fit=828%2C315&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}