Founding conference of
Left Alternative historic episode, and so on". But faced with such an eventuality, which would be healthy, the Left Alternative wishes to respond on the basis of the common elements of the two organizations, while maintaining guarantees of internal pluralism.
Commitment to pluralism
IN early November, 1991, at a time when Madrid was regularly shaken by the screams of sirens announcing the passage of the representatives to the so-called "Peace Conference" on the Middle
East, the most representative organizations of the radical left, the
Revolutionary Communist League (LCR — formerly the section of the Fourth International in the Spanish state) and the Communist
Movement (MC) held their congress of unification. This represented the outcome of a long-standing process of unification and common action.
ALFONSO MORO
PTER the respective congresses of the LCR and the MC had been held, and had discussed and approved the draft resolutions: "Bases of the unification agreement",
"On the type of organization that we want to create", "The agreement on the provisional internal regime" and "Faced with the new situation", 400 delegates
- elected on a parity basis, 200 for each organization decided after a day and a half of work that the new organization would bear the name of Left Alternative-
Given the conditions facing revolutionaries in Europe and at the international level, the constitution of Left Alternative represents a significant step forward. As one of the theses of the document "Bases of the
Unification Agreement" puts it: "The current situation of crisis could constitute a stimulant for the renewal of our thought and for advancing in the construction of a more solid anti-capitalist and revolutionary consciousness which responds better to the difficulties of today".
Starting from this observation and aware
22 or pact that 4 a revolutionary force in countries are few; that the revolutionary perspective seems to be becoming distant and blurred; the possibilities for leading radical struggles are rare; the number of people who think that militancy retains a sense has decreased and that this affects the quest for a transformation of the social system through collective action", the militants of Left Alternative committed themselves to supporting "the struggle against capitalist exploitation and against all forms of domination and oppression" while fighting "for a revolutionary transformation which will change radically the current unjust
These positions are significant, above all at a time when many so-called left currents are tempted by a gradualist political vision implying a conciliatory attitude towards their governments (in a country like the Spanish state, where the Spanish Socialist Workers Party - PSOE - has governed for some years or, quite simply, adapt themselves to the "least evil" social system, that is, capitalism.
Moreover, the fusion between the LCR and the MC is not the product of a crisis of these two organizations, a last attempt to
The LCR and the MC have always been characterized by their firm commitment to the exploited and oppressed inside and outside the Spanish state, during the long night of the Francoist dictatorship, at the head of the mobilizations against the so-called "democratic transition", through support to the mobilizations of those who refuse to do obligatory military service, or by their solidarity with the Central American revolution.
More than 2,000 people attended this congress, among them numerous representatives of other organizations. The following organizations, among others, were present or sent messages: the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), the Revolutionary National Union of Guatemala (URNG), the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the United Left (IU), the Workers Commissions (CCOO), the Brazilian Workers' Party (PT). the National Liberation Movement of Uruguay (MLN-Tupamaros), the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), Herri Batasuna (HB) and the Party of Mariatéguist Unity of Peru (PUM).
Representatives of the sections of the French, Portuguese, Belgian and Mexican sections of the Fourth International were also present. Ernest Mandel represented the United Secretariat of the Fourth International. Also represented were MIRAC (siglas) and the LCR from the Canary Islands, the EMKLKI of Euskadi and the Federation of Revolutionary Communist Youth.
As one comrade put it; it is only by looking forward that we can justify what we have done in the past. * 1. The new newspaper will be called Pagina Abierta (Open Page) and the theoretical review Aldebaran (The Great Red Star). 2. See IV no. 205, April 29, 1991.
EL SALVADOR the FMLN participate in a civilian police force, which was accepted; this demand was agreed to at the New York meeting. We will therefore be part of one of the armed forces which will be in charge of internal public order. This is part of a constitutional reform which has been provisionally approved, and which must be ratified. It will stipulate that the role of the armed forces will be limited to the defense of national sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the country. The maintenance of internal order will therefore be practically the sole preserve of the civilian national police. • Besides the army there is also the police force of the Interior Ministry. What will happen to this body?
It will be dissolved. All the former police forces will be disbanded and replaced by the Civilian Police. • Will these forces be part of the army?
Actually, the Minister of Defense also has authority in the domain of public security. One of the first agreements con-
Behind the FMLN/ government accords
Interview with Mario Lopez cerns precisely the separation of public security from defense. There will be sep arate ministers for each. Another guarantee involves the establishment of multiparty body charged with overseeing the peace accords. This is the National Commission for the Consolidation of Peace (COPAZ). The government has two delegates as does the FMLN, and each party or coalition represented in the national assembly has one delegate. • And the army?
THE FOLLOWING INTERVIEW with Mario Lopez, a member of the politico-diplomatic commission of the Farabundo Marti
National Liberation Front (FMLN), was conducted by Eric
Toussaint during Lopez' European tour in November 1991.