http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon- 20040426/009244.html (Any reason why the archived post goes vertically on and on and on and on, asks Mr. Bad Formatting himself?) John>...Of course, right across the border from Colombia, the AFL-CIO was up to very old tricks in Venezuela. Similarly, they've shied away from building any relationship with the KMU in the Phillippines -- on the grounds that they're close to the Communist Party! This is a little ludicrous, since COSATU is close to the Communist Party as well; I suppose their reticence has to do with the fact that the CPP is currently involved in armed struggle, and they don't want to be close to an organization potentially on the State Department's "terrorist" list.
Fellow traveler : essays on Filipino communism / Patricio N. Abinales. Quezon City : University of the Philippines Press, 2001
Weekley, Kathleen, 1960-The Communist Party of the Philippines, 1968- 1993 : a story of its theory and practice / Diliman, Quezon City : University of the Philippines Press, 2001
John, being on leftist_trainspotters and doubtless, on your own through other contexts, you have to know about the profound difference between the ANC and SACP and murderous maoist thuggery of the CPP and NPA, which killed many dissident cadre in Mindanao. Screw Sison and his mechanical "marxist" simplicisms that will never succeed in gaining mass popular support.
http://squawk.ca/lbo-talk/0208/1489.html >...The next essay deals with one of the most infamous chapters in the history of the CPP. The essay "When the Revolution Devours Its Children Before Victory: Operasyong Kampanyang Ahos and the Tragedy of Mindanao Communism" details the operation staged by the CPP Mindanao Commission codenamed Operasyong Kampanyang Ahos (Kahos) to weed out alleged military agents who infiltrated the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front. The operation that started as a systematic investigation in Mindanao turned out to be a bloody affair to ferret out and eliminate suspected and real spies. Abinales wrote that the killings cost the CPP dearly. Instead of eliminating military spies, the victims of Kahos were loyal cadres, guerrillas, and activists who disagree with Party policies. Within a six month period, 950 cadres, guerrillas and activists were executed. News about the executions resulted in the lost of over 50 percent of its mass base nationwide due to resignation, surrender or absence without official leave (AWOL). http://www.tni.org/archives/rocamora/democracy.htm Democracy and Communism Joel Rocamora Institute for Popular Democracy, 14 September 2002 >...The other social cost of armed struggle is borne by the guerrillas themselves. I have not written much against armed struggle because I do not want to insult those who engage in it. Most of the guerrillas I’ve known, I admire. Especially their acceptance of the possibility of torture. But torture by comrades? Robert Francis Garcia’s book, To Suffer Thy Comrades: How the Revolution Decimated Its Own, does not make for a full accounting of costs. It is only part of an answer, one which, in the intensity of the horror it exposes, forces us to confront a whole host of other issues. I won’t be diplomatic about this - I find the CPP position on the purges disgusting.
http://depts.washington.edu/critasia/studygroup_readings.htm Study group readings - Critical Asian Studies A. To Suffer thy Comrades: Excerpts and Critiques Garcia, Robert. 2001 " Comrades Torturer." Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism at http://www.pcij.org/imag/SpecialReport/comrade.html Garcia, Robert. 2003. "To Suffer Thy Comrades." ( Book Launch Speech, 2001) at http://kyotoreview.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/issue/issue2/article_228.html Della Ruiz Briones & Purita Delotario Roces. 2003. "To Suffer in Silent Surrender" (A critique of the book) Garcia, Robert. "Insufferable. A Reply to Della Ruiz Briones & Purita Delotario Roces."
B. The 'Left Purges' and Their Implication on Human Rights. Bonifacio Ilagan, Chair. 2003." First Quarter Storm Movement. " Bulatlat.com Vol.3 (4). (Reflecting the official view of the CPP on the Purges) Atty. Soliman M. Santos Jr. 2003. "The Human Rights Implications of the Left Purge." Philippine European Solidarity Centre, Feb, 2003 at http://www.philsol.nl/A03a/HRLeftPurge-SSantos-feb03.htm (A Legal Perspective on the CPP's Human Rights record)
C. Other Articles on the Purges and Left Violence Bulatlat.com. 2002. "NDF’s Jalandoni Speaks on ‘Kampanyang Ahos’ " Bulatlat Vol. 2(14). (Perspective of the National Democratic Front) Pierre Rousset. 2003. "The Post-1992 CPP Assassination Policy in the Philippines." Philippine European Solidarity Centre, July 2003 at http://www.philsol.nl/A03b/CPPAssPol-Rousset-jul03.htm Earl G. Parreño. 2003."Comrade vs. Comrade." Newsbreak Vol.3 (6):28-29. Robert Francis Garcia. 2003. "Between a rock and a hard place." Inq7.Net Feb. 22, 2003 at http://www.inq7.net/opi/2003/feb/22/opi_commentary1-1.htm Conrado de Quiros. 2003. "The Worst Enemy." Inq7.Net May 14, 2003 at http://www.inq7.net/opi/2003/may/14/opi_csdequiros-1.htm Joel Rocamora. 2002. "Democracy and Communism." Institute for Popular Democracy, 14 September 2002. Patricio N. Abinales. 2003. "Rollie Kintanar and his Killers, Part II" UP Forum Online, April 2003 at http://www.up.edu.ph/forum/2003/Apr03/heresies.html Ricardo B. Reyes. "Time to Disclose Everything." Nathan Gilbert Quimpo. 2003. "Why Kintanar Was Killed - The Real Story" Philippine European Solidarity Centre, Jan. 2003 at http://www.philsol.nl/A03a/Kintanar-Quimpo-jan03.htm
For further background reading: T he published works of academic scholars with strong social movement background could inform this study further. It is important to see how scholarly language captures the ethos of the left, and the nuances of the revolutionary movement's written and spoken word. Some of these are:
a. Fellow Traveler. Patricio Abinales b. Breaking Through. Joel Rocamora c. To Suffer thy Comrades. Robert Francis Garcia d. The Leader's View, Jose Maria Sison e. Red Revolution. Gregg Jones, f. Necessary Fictions. Caroline Hau g. Edjop. Benjamin Pimentel. h. Days of Disquiet, Nights of Rage. Pete Lacaba
http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/papa/philippines1970.htm NPA Rebellion in the Philippines 1970-Present
http://www.philippinerevolution.org/cgi- bin/solmsgs/solmsgs.pl?year=2003;country=austria
Looking over a looooooong book this afternoon on South African apartheid, "Loosing the bonds : the United States and South Africa in the apartheid years, " by Robert Kinloch Massie, which integrates the US anti- apartheid movement w/ archival and interview data from USG policy makers, into the narrative, or remembering the movement of the 80's in solidarity w/ the FSLN and FDR-FMLN, I do not see the liklihood or desirability of giving some sort of verbal or other support to Sison's CPP.
-- Michael Pugliese