The Memory, Truth and Justice Meeting (EMVJ) was born as a space independent of the State and governments in 2006 and the PTS was one of the main organizations that founded it. When the 30th anniversary of the genocidal coup was commemorated along with the historic demands of the fight against impunity of yesterday and today, a document was read in the Plaza that claimed emblematic struggles such as that of Garrahan (August 2005 whose protagonists were accused of being “terrorists” by the then Minister of Health Ginés González García), denounced the criminalization of social protest and the extraordinary payment to the IMF of 10 billion dollars that Néstor Kirchner had done a few months before. The slogans were, among others: “No to repression”, “freedom for political prisoners”, “amnesty or de-prosecution of popular fighters”, “out with the Santa Cruz Gendarmerie”, “no to payment of the foreign debt”, “withdrawal of Argentine troops from Haiti”, along with the historical demands of the human rights movement such as the trial and punishment of the genocidal perpetrators and the restitution of grandchildren. The EMVJ followed the tradition of marching to the Plaza all 24 and reading its own document, while other organizations did their act and the Mothers led by Hebe did the same.
Barely six months later, September 2006, Jorge Julio López was kidnapped and disappeared for the second time on the day he was to give testimony against the torturer and genocidaire Miguel Etchecolatz in the memorable trial that took place in La Plata, with Myriam Bregman and Guadalupe Godoy as two of the plaintiff lawyers of the Justicia Ya! Collective. Immediately, together with Adriana Calvo and Enrique “Cachito” Fukman, we put the EMVJ into a sort of “permanent session” and it was from there and from the Multisectorial of La Plata that dozens of marches and events were called to demand the appearance of López alive. It was the only voice heard throughout the country demanding justice for López. While Aníbal Fernández cynically said that he could be “in his aunt’s house” and the so-called historical organizations remained silent, from the EMVJ we denounced the tacit or explicit cover-up that was being carried out on this new crime against humanity from the spheres of the national and provincial State (the governor at the time was Felipe Solá, also involved in the Pueyrredón Bridge massacre that cost the lives of Darío Santillán and Maximiliano Kosteki in June 2002).
Since then, every March 24 the EMVJ went to the Plaza de Mayo with its slogans and its document, totally independent of the governments in power, against the genocidal Milani put by CFK in charge of the Army and the repressor Berni, against the “anti-terrorist” laws drafted in Washington, against the 2×1 surrender and repression of Macri, in addition to supporting each and every one of the workers’ and popular struggles in defense of democratic freedoms.
Today, under the alibi of a supposed “unity”, that history of independent struggle wants to be swept away by a group of EMVJ organizations, which now take advantage of its name but to break with this tradition.
For the MST the EMVJ was “a setback”
In a very long note, the MST invites us, the PTS, to “collaborate” this year to achieve the much-mentioned “unity” (in the midst of a strange account of the fall of the dictatorship that incredibly does not mention the defeat of the Malvinas, something that we will debate in another note). The most notable thing is the balance they make of the EMVJ and their fight for 20 years every March 24 to read their independent document in the Plaza. “The division repeated every March 24 was not positive,” in fact: it was a “setback,” they say, as if there were also two demons here and we were the same as those who denounced the cover-up of the disappearance of Jorge Julio López and those who remained silent in the name of the national and popular government. As if we were analogous to those who denounced Milani and those who covered it up. Or those of us who faced the Gendarmerie commanded by Berni on the Panamericana and those who looked the other way. No, for the MST everything is reduced to a possible “sectarianism” and “dogmatic closure”, which it is time to put aside in pursuit of the much-mentioned “unity”.
They argue:
1) “Because the extreme right governs and it is key to contribute to the broadest unity of action in the streets.” This argument is false because our approach is “one march, two documents.” That is, we are going to converge on the streets with tens or hundreds of thousands against the denialist government. What we are discussing is that we have to do so while maintaining full political independence and clearly denouncing those who are responsible for Milei’s political advances, whether by voting for Bullrich’s repressive laws, or even supporting labor reform such as the Peronist governors or the bureaucratic leadership of the CGT. The MST wants us to remain silent in the face of all this. Or could Milei govern and impose his laws without the help of Peronist governors and without the open complicity of the CGT leadership? It turns out that the “unity” document they demand does not make the slightest criticism of the disastrous role of the union leadership that allowed Milei to get here, including the slave labor reform law. Is it so as not to offend Governor Kicillof who has the political support of all the CGT traitors? Nor does it mention that while Patricia Bullrich repressed Pablo Grillo, seriously injuring him, a sector of Peronism voted for new repressive laws in the Senate. Let’s seriously promote unity to fight and defeat the government, not to cover up those who support it.
2) “Because taking as a reference what was built last year there is a political, programmatic and organizational basis of unity in diversity that guarantees that no one gives up their flags.” It might sound nice if it weren’t a death sentence for political independence, necessary and essential to end this government of hunger and surrender. The one who wants to put an end to “diversity” – which is precisely what we defend – is the leadership of the MST. They intend, neither more nor less, that we impose a gag on ourselves and that in Plaza del 24 the direct responsibility of the union bureaucracy that allowed the slave reform to become law cannot be marked. How could an orientation be proposed to put an end to this disastrous government by “resigning” the flag of relentless struggle against this traitorous bureaucracy to overcome it and recover the unions? Does the MST leadership also intend to “resign” the fight for non-payment of the debt, which was even raised for years by Hebe de Bonafini? Do you intend for the PTS to “collaborate” this year to make a “unity” document that cannot mention the role of Triple A and Operation Independence of Isabel’s Peronist government? Nor can the key role of the Church’s leadership be mentioned again?
A year ago we already published a controversy about it that we invite you to read again here, where we explain the obvious difference between the concrete struggles to hit the enemy in the face of various attacks, unity “even with the devil and his grandmother” (university marches, against the Bases law, against the Labor Reform, in favor of the Fate fight, and hundreds of etc.) and a commemorative date like March 24 that includes a historical balance to draw lessons for the present. The imposture of the MST, which insists on returning to its old ways, is to mix both things.
IS and the “main contradiction”
Among the militancy of the left, the Maoist apothegm of the “main contradiction” is known, which, for example, has led that current in Argentina (the PCR between 1974 and 1976) to justify and defend “unity” with the government of Isabel Perón and the Triple A while the working class confronted it with the strikes against the Rodrigazo. “First things first,” they said to end up miserably capitulating to what was the prelude to the genocidal coup, instead of having an orientation to confront the fascist gangs of Triple A through the workers’ united front and the constitution of workers’ militias that, evidently, would have been constituted as a pole to seriously confront the coup.
Well, it turns out that now the leadership of the Socialist Left, although in a totally different historical context, wants to reissue that logic. In their note they affirm that in the face of the “differences about the role of the CGT and Peronism regarding the complicit role with the adjustment and the reforms that would not come about without this support provided, It is necessary to put forward the need to hit libertarian denialism with a single fist.” (sic). The CGT and the role of Peronism in supporting the government should take a backseat. Let’s talk about it on March 25, they seem to say, you can’t on the 24th.
More than ever let’s march massively on March 24 with a policy to win
The MST and Izquierda Socialista are part of the FIT-U, the only left-wing coalition that maintained its political independence from all governments, while the rest of the left, like the old human rights organizations, blended in with the governments of Néstor and Cristina). Prior to the constitution of the FIT, the MST and IS (which were part of the same organization) openly supported the uprising of the agrarian employers’ associations in 2008, as did the PCR. Subsequently, the MST made attempts to break the supposed “sectarianism” by making alliances in Córdoba with Luis Juez and, almost at the same time, with Pino Solanas in CABA, breaking all types of political independence in pursuit of “unity.” With IS we have argued several times about their weak position towards the judiciary and the arrests of Lula in Brazil and a large part of the Kirchnerist cast in Argentina during the Macri government (see here), and at the same time we made a harsh controversy about their call to vote for the right-wing Massa in the 2023 runoff (see here).
Now both organizations are once again taking a dangerous turn. This occurs in a context of attempts to rearm Peronism towards 2027, sponsored directly by Paolo Rocca and his “owner” Miguel Pichetto who went to discuss this with none other than Cristina Fernández. In the name of the fight against “industricide” a sector of the ruling classes begins to devise a “plan B” that to be viable must include Peronism with the help of the union bureaucracy.
There is no way to defeat Milei and her bosses without clear independent guidance. We return to the proposal of “one march, two documents”as we have done for twenty years uninterruptedly. Let’s prepare a document that can be read in the Plaza de Mayo this 24th, whose reading will be agreed with the rest of the spaces as always, with a perspective to win. It is the best tribute we can pay to our 30,000 missing detained colleagues.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
