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The document we publish here is the translation into english of the leaflet that our fraction has distributed in Mexico at the massive march of January 31st 2007. We gave 3000 exemplaries of this leaflet which has been favourably received by the participants at this demonstration. Its spanish version could be read on our web site since late January.
Calderon's new government is only just installed and already it gives clear and striking proofs of what the bourgeois class in Mexico, as well as in the entire world, has in store for the exploited workers : more misery, more repression. And as sole perspective, as long as capitalist system does exist, the barbary of a new world imperialist war.
The recent rise of the prices of basic necessity products represents an open and frontal attack of the capitalist class against workers' living conditiions, yet already exploited at the maximum. While capitalits "succeed" - thanks to the unions - to impose "ridiculous" wages rises of 3 or 4%, some commodities of basic necessity - tortilla, meat, egg, milk... - has increased in some days by 30 or 40% (without counting that others such as gaz and electricity carry on rising month after month). At the same time, the government makes all it can to reduce the budget lines of the "indirect" salary such as education and others services. All this means a sudden and brutal reduction of the whole working class salary with aggravated conditions of life, an increasing misery, malnutrition for the workers and their families, in order to maintain capitalists' profits.
In front of the growing discontent - for these prices rises - which has already begun to express in spontaneous demonstrations in various places, all the ideological apparatus of the bourgeoisie, all its medias, has tried to make the workers accepting resignedly this rough attack. Firstly, high ranking officials of economy "explain" us that all this is the product of the market "natural laws" of supply and demand, and of the "mundialización". And that, therefore, there is no other solution than to accept the price increases. Capital political parties, the Left ones as well as the Rights - PAN, PRI, PRD - "warn" us that a general wage rise would lead to an "uncontrolled inflation" and that the best is to "demand" that the government "controls the prices". Thus, in an act worthy of a circus, President Calderón met with the representatives of corn great monopoles for supposedly "control the price" of the tortilla. But the only thing he made has been... to officialize the increase by 40% of its price !
It must be clear for the proletarians that remaining passive and resigned in front of this attack can't but clear the way for new strike by the capitalist class against our conditions of life. It must be clear too that a wage increase to limit their real reduction in front of the price rises won't be the cause for inflation ; it won't but restrain - and just momentarily - capitalists' voracity. Finally, it must be clear that a wages increase won't be gotten through "negotiations" between the unions and the government but only through a massive struggle, a struggle of the whole proletarian class.
This is what the bourgeoisie really fears : an upsurge of class struggle of the proletariat at great scale as it already happened the late years in other countries (Argentina, France, Italy, Germany...). And for this, it anticipates not only by redoubling its ideological campaigns with false promises about a "better future" but also by reinforcing its weapons of repression : judicial apparatus, police, army.
Calderón's governement "began" with a bloody repression of the Federal Preventive Police [Policía Federal Preventiva, PFD] in coordination with the Oaxaca State police against the workers in struggle and with the instauration of a state of siege in this region.
The following act has been to raise the army and police budgets, to deploy the PFD and the army in several states of the country (Michoacan, Guerrero, Baja California...). Not having at the moment at its disposal the bogey of "terrorism" - which is utilized in the other countries -, the Mexican capitalist State uses as pretext the "drug traffic" and "insecurity"in order permanent surveillance, cameras in the streets, more severe laws... could be accepted and become "normal" for the working population ; as if the country has suddenly entered in a state of war. But the true intention of the bourgeois State isn't to end up with "drug traffic", nor with "insecurity", but to terrorize the workers and to paralyze eventual upsurges of discontent, of demonstration and struggle. As Calderón himself declared, his intention is to show that "no force can be above the force of the State". And the bourgeoisie knows that the only social "force" capable of questionning its domination is the proletariat in struggle.
The repression in Oaxaca, the increasing militarisation of the country and even the instauration of Calderón's "Right" governement, keeping the "Left" PRD in opposition, aren't isolated facts, nor accidental ; on the contrary, there are part of a political orientation that the national bourgeoisie has adopted since a certain time in order to crush any attempt of social protest in the years to come. All this aims at defeating any resistance of the proletarian class and to definitively link it to "national interests" which aren't but the interests of the bourgeoisie itself. But the proletariat can't let itself intimidated. It's obvious that the individual protests, or even the ones of isolated and dispersed groups of workers, present little perspectives in front of the judicial and repression apparatus of the State. But a massive, extended, militant and unified movement of the workers would succeed in imposing a more favourable relation of forces. It would slow down and make withdraw the attacks of the capitalist class. It's towards this movement that the whole working class must aim at !
Such is the only perspective towards which the proletariat must move forward. To let itself carried away behind the bourgeoisie's designs, without resistance, would be equivalent not only to let itself dive into a misery every time more appalling but, at last, to let itself led to the slaughter of a generalised imperialist war.
Actually, the present political orientation of the Mexican bourgeoisie isn't but the adapted form to the national conditions of the political orientation the whole bourgeoisies of the entire world (United-States, Germany, France, Russia, China...) are taking in the perspective of the march towards a new imperialist world war as sole solution the capitalist class has got in front of the crisis of its own system.
We must never forget that already in two occasions (1914-1918 and 139-1945) the crisis of capitalism has led up to imperialist world war, the second one being more extended, longer and more murderous that the first one, plunging millions and millions of proletarians in horror and death. At present, the bourgeoisie marches towards a third generalized world war which will be at a level and with consequences unpredictable : the conflicts and the imperialist tensions don't stop to sharpen and to express here and there in continuous strategical movements and in "local" wars ; a new set of imperialist blocs (around United-States-Great Britain for one side, and Germany-France-Russia on the other) is taking shape more and more clearly ; armies are preparing and modernizing ; the armement race (missiles, satellites, planes...) is rising ; the economy of all countries, firstly the more powerful, is orientating again towards a "war economy" controlled by the State...
But the bourgeoisie won't be able to embark on a generalized war as long as it won't succeed to definitively crush and take off the proletariat behind itself. This one is the only social force which not only can slow down and stop for good the bourgeoisie's march towards a new world war, but also which can overthrow this system of exploitation and oppression already in bankruptcy. That's why the present resistance struggles of the workers are so crucial.
In front of the present attacks against our living conditions, we must develop a struggle of the whole proletarian class : workers of industry and services, agricultural day labourer, public employees, teachers, health workers, students of salaried families, pensioners, unemployed, precarious workers.. A true massive, militant and unified struggle which, through the means of street demonstrations, assemblies, strikes of the proletariat, imposes a relation of forces which prevents repression and succeeds in getting out wage increase which would slow down the capitalist class's eagerness.
It's through this resistance fight that the working class will prepare, will gain the necessary experience for the future decisive fights in order to destroy for good capitalism.
Proletarians, facing the perspective capitalism offers us, plunging us into the greatest misery, into oppression, into barbary and finally into war, the sole solution is to struggle massively and altogether !
January 31st 2007.
Internal fraction of the ICC – Communist Bulletin.
Internal Fraction of ICC - Communist Bulletin (Nš 38)