"Revolutionary Armed Struggle Film Series" continues

SANTA BARBARA, CA -- Beginning with the successful screening of 
"The Golf War" on January 20, the local chapter of the 
Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League is showing films roughly 
every two weeks on the theme of revolutionary armed struggle. This 
is part of the chapter's "two pronged" approach. On the one hand, 
RAILers will continue to expose the violent crimes of Amerikan 
imperialism, for example, by publishing and distributing a 
pamphlet with basic information on Amerikan intervention in 
Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Kosovo, etc. On the other, RAILers will 
promote the movements that are viable alternatives to Amerikan 
imperialism.

The "Revolutionary Armed Struggle Film Series" is largely the 
result of the local RAIL chapter's initiative and enthusiasm, 
which MIM salutes. MIM has simply (and happily) supplied the 
videos and background materials.

The second film in the series, shown on February 3rd, was "The 
People of the Shining Path," about the Communist Party of Peru. 
Here are excerpts from the flyer:

"The economic and political systems in Peru benefit a tiny 
minority while the majority suffers extreme poverty and violent 
repression. Over 76,000 Peruvian infants died from malnutrition in 
1990 while a large part of country's fish harvest went to the 
united $tates to become ITAL cat food. END Opponents of the 
current regime are harassed or 'disappeared.' The right of ITAL 
habeus END corpus has been suspended, and thousands of political 
prisoners languish in Peru's prisons.

"The Communist Party of Peru, commonly called ITAL Sendero 
Luminoso END or Shining Path in the mainstream press, has led a 
protracted people's war since 1980 in order to fundamentally 
change Peruvian society -- to do away with the violence of poverty 
and starvation, to give the land to those who till it, to end the 
oppression of wimmin. The documentary 'People of the Shining Path' 
was made in 1992, and is one of a small handful of Western media 
pieces which lets members and supporters of the Communist Party 
speak for themselves. At the time, ruling circles in the united 
$tates and Peru thought the victory of the Communists was 
imminent, and publicly slandered the Communists as 'terrorists.' 
But behind closed doors, counterinsurgency experts cautioned them 
not to believe their own rhetoric, and pointed out that the 
strength of the Communist movement lay in the work it did 
organizing the masses towards true self-rule.

"Come see 'People of the Shining Path' and make up your own mind. 
Are peasants caught between a repressive central government and 
the 'terrorists?' Or do they make up the bulk of the revolutionary 
movement, which is meeting their basic demand for land? Does the 
Communist Party 'exploit' wimmin, or are they playing a dynamic 
and leading role in the revolution? Is people's war an oxymoron? 
Or is it true that -- because the current regime uses limitless 
force to defend poverty and starvation -- without a people's army, 
the people have nothing?" 

The next film will be on February 17 at 7:00 at UCSB's 
MultiCultural Center, and is TBA. Schedule updates, as well as the 
pamphlet "Yankee go home: A guide to Amerikan intervention" can be 
found on the world wide web at www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/cal.