Statement of Mexican PRT

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Both the FMLN and the FPL have issued communiques defining their positions with respect to the formation of the Movimiento Obrero Revolucionario (MOR-Revolutionary Workers Movement). These statements not only make sharp criticisms of the MOR but publicly accuse Cayetano Carpio (Marcial) of ordering the murder of Companera Ana Maria. The Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores (PRT-Revolutionary Workers Party) considers it necessary to make clear its disagreements with these communiques.

1. The FMLN has publicized three different versions to explain the terrible murder of Comandante Ana Maria. The first was that the CIA had committed the crime. Then it said that the perpetrator was an FPL leader called Marcelo. Now it says that the one fundamentally responsible for Ana Maria's death was Cayetano Carpio.

The FMLN has publicized two versions to explain the suicide of Companero Cayetano Carpio. The first was that Carpio committed suicide out of grief at the murder of his long-time comrade Ana Maria. Carpio was hailed as a hero of the revolution and guide of the FMLN. Today it is said that his suicide was an act of cowardice prompted by the discovery of his role in Ana Maria's murder.

2. The FMLN criticizes those who disseminate the "sectarian and dogmatic thought of Cayetano Carpio." The PRT published an editorial in Bandera Socialista in which it accepted the first version about the suicide. It ran a sketch of Cayetano Carpio's life, using the biography published in the Nicaraguan Barricada (the organ of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, FSLN). It published in La Batalla (the PRT's theoretical journal) excerpts from Cayetano Carpio's last speech, in which he talked about the party and the sort of unity that has to be built.

We might argue, and in fact we think it is correct to do so, that the fact that the FMLN has put out so many different versions about these events—-with a hero transformed overnight into a sectarian dogmatist-has, to say the least, complicated the task of the left organizations involved in the work of solidarity with Salvadoran revolution in properly informing the workers and peasants in our countries. But this is only part of the problem, and unfortunately the least important part.

3. The FMLN and FPL communiques characterize Marcial's thought as "sectarian and dogmatic," but they do not explain why, they just assert it. They say that Carpio was against unity. Anybody would wonder, was he breaking up the FMLN ? What specific form of unity was he against ? This is just an example. We need more information, in particular the Salvadoran masses need more information. We are convinced that a debate has been going on in the FMLN and that it is not over. It has not been conducted USA in the best way. This debate is over the general political orientation in El Salvador and not about the role of one or another person.

Because, if it is true, as the FMLN says, that Marcial ordered the murder of Ana Maria, this would mean that political arguments were replaced by violence within the mass movement, and that would obviously make it impossible to carry out a debate.

4. We think that, considering the political positions and what we know, that the debate that was going on was among revolutionists. It is normal in a situation such as the one developing in El Salvador for different ideas and proposals to come forward. In fact, what is reflected in this debate are various levels of mass consciousness. Such a dispute can be resolved in a positive way if there are adequate channels for debating the various positions. The best way to fight factionalism is through democratic discussion, both in the political and in the social organizations.

5. The MOR represents Marcial's positions. We think that its place is in the FMLN and not outside it. We do not consider them counterrevolutionaries or agents of the CIA, since they have not repressive actions by the government against the MOR, and so we are obliged to offer it our solidarity.

It is true that the MOR has broken with the FPL. But to be a counterrevolutionary today in El Salvador you would have to go over to the side of the government and imperialists. The companeros of the MOR have not done that.

So, we are convinced that the best place for revolutionists is in the FMLN, since we remained convinced that the FMLN is the vanguard of the Salvadoran revolution, we think that the MOR should be in the FMLN.

6. The FMLN has accused Cayetano Carpio of murdering Ana Maria. Carpio, however, is one of the best known leaders of the FMLN. Therefore, the evidence for this accusation should be presented to the entire revolutionary movement. Charges of such gravity cannot be made without proof.

However, if the accusation made is true, we would have to say that this is not the first time such a thing has happened, either in the world or in El Salvador. We repudiate such methods not only because we have been the target of them but because we are convinced that they lead to the destruction of the revolutionary vanguard. Recent examples such as the split in the New Jewel Movement in Grenada and the murder of its leader, Maurice Bishop, show us how disastrous the consequences of these methods can be. Revolutionists cannot allow violence to become the basis of relations among the organizations of the mass movement.

For this reason, we are convinced that workers' democracy is not some sort of luxury that should be left to workers in the imperialist countries. We do not think that workers' democracy is something that you can decide arbitrarily when to apply and when not to apply. After what has happened in El Salvador and Grenada, that is more evident than ever.

7. We reaffirm our commitment to the Salvadoran revolution and to its vanguard, the Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional and the Frente Democratico Revolucionario. We will continue to support the revolutionary democratic program and fight for greater solidarity. Yankee imperialism, which bears the main responsiblity for the travail that the Salvadoran masses are going through, is more intent on war than ever. It is the duty of all of us to defeat this No. 1 common enemy. We understand the difficulties the FMLN has in confronting such a powerful enemy. But we are certain that sooner or later the Salvadoran people will emerge victorious and take control of their own fate by building a new society in which there is no exploitation or oppression.

Political Committee of the PRT, Mexico City, January 23, 1984.