[INTERNACIONAL] SDH’s interview to Christian Armenteros (TPR) about the class struggle in Latin America (PART 1 - Argentina)

SDH’s interview to Christian Armenteros (TPR) about the class struggle in Latin America

PART 1 - Argentina: the second general strike and the Left Front

Here we publish a interview to Christian Armenteros, TPR's Central Committee member. It was requested by the comrades of Surekli Devrim Hareketi (Movement for Permanent Revolution) from Turkey, about the situation in Argentina and Latin America. In this first post, the key issues about Argentina, that are important to understand facing the second general strike against Cristina Kirchner’s government (thursday, April 10th) and the discussion within the argentinian left.

Sunday, April 6th

SDH: 1) Could you please explain the mood of the class struggle in Argentina? We follow that the economical crisis is shaking Kirchner. Is there any possibility of eruption in the near future?

TPR: Argentinean working class is in full preparation of a general strike next April 10th. This has a historical importance because it will be the second general strike against the Kirchnerist government (the first one took place on November the 20th, 2012, and was known as “20-N”). It is a necessary answer from the working class against Cristina (president) and Kicillof’s (Economy minister) “Rodrigazo”.

By “Rodrigazo” we refer to the Peronist Economy minister from 1975, Celestino Rodrigo, who decreed a crisis package that, in one day, devalued the currency in 180%, increased public services rates in 100% and established an increment of 150% in gasolines. Working class’ response was the general strike and ended up kicking out the minister, along with López Rega (right-wing Peronist that managed the government after Peron’s death in 1974). and achieved a salary rise of 100%, five times more than what the government pretended. However, the defeat of the “Rodrigazo” didn’t imply and strategic overcoming of Peronism and that’s why later on Videla’s military coup of 1976 could impose itself.

Today, 40 years later, Argentinean workers face the same challenges in order to break down the package of pro-IMF measures Cristina is applying: mega-devaluation in January, rate hikes, new Price Index agreed with the IMF which showed the highest monthly inflation of the last 12 years (3,70%), increase in interest rates, adjustment over public spending devoured by inflation, limits to the salary negotiations under inflation, postponement of those negotiations, handing over of Vaca Muerta (one of the biggest shale gas reserves in the world) to Chevron, 12 thousand million dollars compensation to Repsol and re-indebtedness of the country throughout an agreement with Paris Club, IMF and the hold-outs that lay under the protection of the yankee judge Griesa. All these measures agreed with imperialism imply a change of front of Kirchnerism and open a third period where the nationalist government doesn’t dispute to impose another way out different from adjustment but, on the contrary, now Kirchnerism has changed its own political nature adopting as its own the pro-imperialist right-wing agenda. The dispute with right and center-left opposition develops in the terms of that same opposition, that is, when and how to apply the “Rodrigazo”.

At the same time, another important fact is that this general strike is called by three of the five Argentinean workers’ unions (CGT-Moyano, CGT-Barrionuevo and CTA-Micheli against CGT-Caló and CTA-Yasky which are leaded by Kirchnerism). From the left, we promote the strike to be called by the five unions. Many branch unions and factory committees that belong to the uniones leaded by kirchnerism are already taking part in the preparation, such as UTA (bus workers) and “La Fraternidad” (train drivers). Another debate related to the strike is that, as TPR, we propose that different measures must take place before and after so that the general strike is the beginning of a plan of struggle and not a passive day to legitimize union bureaucracy linked to Massa (right-wing party) or Binner (center-left party). In that sense, on April 4th, the anniversary of Carlos Fuentealba’s (a teacher assassinated in 2007 by the police during a strike) will take place, and on April 10th, the same day of the strike, a set of pickets for all the claims and for the acquittal of oil workers from Las Heras.

Finally, the importance of this general strike is also determined by the fact that it doesn’t develop under a calm sky: not only we’ve witnessed factories’ occupations because of the industrial crisis, the police strike and lootings in 21 provinces past december , and the important health strike in Neuquén for more than a month, but also we come from a historical strike of the teachers from Buenos Aires province for more than 15 days that impacted in 14 provinces. Is according to this scenario of rising working class struggle and Kirchnerist Rodrigazo that, as TPR, we propose a political-vindication front of those who want to promote a struggle plan and a united front against IMF to tear down Cristina-IMF pact and not paying the external debt. A particular area to measure this political fight will be the struggle to impose a unitary May 1st with the claim of struggle plan and general strike towards the unions.

SDH: 2) What is the role of the FIT in this process? (positive and negative forms)

TPR: FIT’s intervention has been divided and contradictory in itself, although it still offers positive elements which are useful for workers’ struggle.

First, the FIT is the only political front that opposes the adjustment. That is, itself, very meritorious. In that sense, they’ve presented a draft law against suspensions and dismissals, for an emergency salary increase of 3000 pesos and for a minimum salary of 9000 pesos (equivalent to basic family basket), which we consider very positive. This strategic opposition against Kirchnerismo could be seen during the voting of the president of the Chamber of Deputies, where the FIT refused to present its own candidate but has the merit of being the only political front in Argentina that didn’t vote the Kirchnerist candidate (supported by all pro-imperialist opposition). The same process can be seen in the voting of Salta’s City Council’s president, where Partido Obrero (PO, Workers Party, main force of the FIT) had the first minority (9 councils over 21) and Kirchnerism decided to give the presidency to the Menemist right-wing (which obtained only 2 councilors against 9 of Partido Obrero) in order to “avoid a double power and a revolutionary coup d’etat” (this is a textual transcription of kirchnerist governor public media statement). That is, Kirchnerism trusts more in the right than in the left to govern because them both (Kirchnerism and right) defend a contra-revolutionary pact.

These are the positive aspects of the FIT in the national political fight. However, the struggle against “Rodrigazo” has shown clearly its contradictions. PO, who denounces the “Rodrigazo”, has embarked in a policy of embellishment of the center-left union bureaucracy of Micheli, calling next to it for the mobilizations of the past March 12 and December 19 without denouncing that this same bureaucracy boicotts the struggle plan. Izquierda Socialista (IS, Socialist Left, UIT-CI), meanwhile, develops a line of adaptation towards the right-wing union bureaucracy of Moyano, stating that the left’s task is to passively demand the general strike or, at best, pressing bureaucracy to make it fight. This is a problem of strategic approach: demanding the bureaucracy is something obvious, the problem is to contrast strategically in order to pose the task of overthrowing union bureaucracy and building a new classist direction of the working class with the left. Related to this debate, the “Sindical Combative Summit” (Encuentro Sindical Combativo) called by IS could have been a great opportunity but it was frustrated because of Morenoism’s historical tailism towards union bureaucracy. PTS says there is no “Rodrigazo” because of their adaptation towards Kirchnerism, and the complement of their passivity towards the government was its attempt to hegemonize the “Sindical Combative Summit” in order to build a block inside the workers’ movement against PO, sinking itself in factionalism. The FIT, based on these contradictions, hasn’t established yet a common position facing the general strike of April 10th.

PO’s leadership has publicly stated that “we don’t have to demand anything to the unions’ leaderships”. This ultra-leftist position is based on the argument that states that we have just supposedly experienced an “electoral triumph of the left”, and that’s why they would have overcome politically the unions’ bureaucracy. This makes no sense because the fact that a lot of workers voted for the left in the last elections doesn’t mean that all the workers don’t trust unions’ bureaucracy. PTS, also impacted by the results, develops a sectarian and auto-constructive orientation, because of which they decided to refuse to establish a common block of the national deputies of the FIT and stole their parliamentary seat in the national congress to themselves. The characterization of “triumph” can only be applied to Salta, but on a national level, on the contrary, there was a defeat of Kirchnerism not in the hands of the FIT but in the hands of the pro-imperialist right and center-left. Even, last Sunday March 30th, elections in the province of Mendoza took place. There, the FIT achieved the entry of a councilor to the capital’s City Council (a historical fact for the province). However, the main fact was the electoral triumph of the right of the PD-PRO (an alliance between to right-wing conservative parties), which jumped from the 5% in October 2013 to the 25% in March 2014. A indicator of who capitalizes Kirchnerism’s collapse, a fact that should warn the FIT.

The FIT is in crisis and its division obeys to this political nature. PTS and IS don’t care about this, and in fact they don’t even recognize that there is a crisis. They use the FIT according to their apparatus appetite and not as a channel for fighters. For its part, PO has developed a turn and recognizes the FIT’s crisis, which shows that it’s worried about the real political challenges of the FIT, but reduces the fight to defend the FIT to a massive growth of its own political current. It’s an auto-referential position that doesn’t call al fighters and hands over the FIT to the liquidator work of Morenoism. On the contrary, as TPR we pose that all this debate must be processed in the face of all the fighters in an Open Congress of the Left Front, whose homogeneity must be achieved throughout a previous political struggle against capitalist parties. That’s why we propose the construction of Open Committees of the FIT, which must promote the political fight for the legislative agenda of the FIT’s inter-block in the National Congress, and those committees must also be an action instrument, that is, they must discuss how to develop the struggle plan in a concrete way in order to conquer the general strike against the “Rodrigazo”. Other important debate is about a new political turn of PO: now, they don’t stand for not paying the national debt, but they defend its public investigation. It’s a political capitulation to the center-left’s slogan, determined by the fact that Pino Solanas (center-left leader who defended the slogan of “investigation”) is now part of a coalition (Broad Front “UNEN”) that stands for paying the whole debt.

We, the TPR, participate in the second general strike against the kirchnerist government as part of the Coordinating Committee to Defend Left Front in five regions: Buenos Aires City, Buenos Aires Province, Rosario, Córdoba and Chaco. We have published a national political declaration entitled “Struggle plan and general strike to defeat the Rodrigazo of Cristina and Kicillof” where we state: “In all provinces, we call to organize rallies and pickets on April 10th in order to make the strike active and, overall, state this political position. In Buenos Aires, we promote a common rally of everyone who participated in SUTNA San Fernando Summit and signed the declaration. In Chaco, we stand for the unification of the teachers and piqueteros struggle in the street on April 10th: the teachers struggle is ongoing in Chaco and many other provinces as Salta and Tucumán. In Córdoba we stand for the unification of health workers struggle with university teachers. and the fight against layoffs and cessations in car industry and meat-cold storages. We are participating in April 10th general strike stating: We demand CGTs and CTAs [trade unions, TN] general strike and struggle plan; down the Rodrigazo of Cristina-Kicillof; down with the agreement Cristina-IMF; down with fares increases; minimum wage of $9000, emergency raise of $3000 for workers and retired; prohibition of layoffs and cessations; permanent jobs for precarious workers; increase for Argentina Trabaja plans, in all the social plans and in the assistance for popular cookings; approval of the Left Front bills and for a Workers Government”