[Marxism] Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela

[Aaron]

>Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:45:36 -0400
>From: "Fred Feldman" <ffeldman at bellatlantic.net>
>Subject: Re: [Marxism] Yes Russia is an imperialist state and the king is
>	naked
[...]
>Fred comments:
[...]
>The Cubans and Venmzuelans fight for Colombia as one of their own that has
>not yet broken way. That is the right approach. What the hell makes the
>people of Colombia a "willing" accomplice of imperialism.

The Cuban and Venezuelan leaders, or at least some of their defenders, seem to think that, if the armed struggle of the FARC-EP and the ELN is liquidated, the rulers of Colombia won't need to rely on U.S. imperialism to maintain their rule and will thus be more independent of the U.S.. But the Colombian oligarchy and their state will continue to be a bastion of reaction in the region even if the only thing they have to do to keep the worker, peasant and indigenous movements subdued is murder unarmed activists -- something they've managed to do without overt U.S. help throughout much of the last 60 years.

The people of Colombia -- except for the oligarchy and much of the middle class -- are certainly not willing accomplices of imperialism, but they don't rule Colombia and they won't rule it until, with some combination of guerrilla struggle and mass insurrection, they smash the existing state. The willingness of some leftist leaders to sacrifice the revolutionary struggle of the oppressed of Colombia on the altar of diplomatic and economic cooperation with the most murderous ruling class in Latin America over the past 60 years is not only shameful but in vain.

 - Aaron