MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
Recently reformists have been hard at work to once more derail our
movimiento and undermine the efforts of those striving for socialist
revolution for Aztlán. This further highlights the slogan of the
Republic of Aztlán(ROA), which is: “Ideology is key for Aztlán to be
free.”
The last 5 years have witnessed Aztlán develop politically in many
ways. We’ve seen the formulation and participation in political study
groups by not just Chican@ political groups and orgs but by everyday
raza with no political ties or limited consciousness. The now revived
identification of REVOLUTIONARY NATIONALISM which so many have come to
see as the most correct path to liberation for Aztlán. Revolutionary
books and Chican@ revolutionary independent media have added to the
momentum and organizations declaring their efforts to free Aztlán from
the white settler colonial nation’s clutches. This of course is great
and those who are politicized should nurture this in ways that they can
to push the nation forward. Mao foresaw a new bourgeoisie developing
even within the communist party based on observations of the Soviet
Union. Mao recognized this force will work hard to take the people back
down the capitalist road, as happened to Revolutionary Russia and Mao’s
China. Similarly, we must recognize and weed out the bourgeoisie within
our national liberation movement so it doesn’t stop us before we even
get started.
Some have foreseen that within a matter of years Chican@s will be the
majority of the U.$. population. This is not automatically a good thing.
If capitalism wins the battle of ideas, Chican@s would simply be the
majority reactionary force within the United Snakes, a bunch of brown
capitalists. It becomes a great thing when we raise consciousness and
have the largest politicized forces within the empire that can then
affect revolution. Even within the movement itself it’s not a good thing
if the movement produces a million brown Trots or liberal reformists,
because these dead end politics would never acquire a socialist
revolution which frees Aztlán.
This conversation is hard to grasp for those just entering the
movement. To so many raza who have grown up under the white oppressor
nation’s occupation, just hearing a group shout “Viva Aztlán!” is enough
solace to the oppressed to seek out for hope. And as warming as words
are from some of these liberals in revolutionary clothing the need for a
correct political line is essential if we are to leave a lasting effect
on today’s Chican@ Movement for the next generation.
When an organization talks about national liberation but openly
promotes the idea of participating in bourgeois politics, affecting
change via Amerikkka’s ballot box or even holding signs promoting
Amerikkkan Presidential candidates, we should see that there’s nothing
revolutionary about these particular groups. They are simply reformist
at their core.
Those with revolution in their corazón can be easily duped into
spending a life they believe is for La Causa only to be upholding the
occupation and strengthening U.$. Imperialism.
An organization truly serving the raza would work hard at getting you
to understand the illegality of the U.$. bourgeois political system not
luring you deeper into it with dismissive arguments of “let’s be
realistic on how we can affect change today”. Legitimizing the
occupation by participating in it will not resolve the contradictions we
face, rather it will only solidify our oppression.
Understanding ideology allows us to see that only those orgs that not
just dismiss the colonial system but organizes outside of its influence
are truly fighting for our liberation. Numbers do not equate correctness
but political line does. Reformism wants to work within the colonial
system and not overturn it, no matter how many times they shout “Viva La
Raza”. And reformists at the end of the day are enemies of the people
because they practice enemy politics.
At this moment Cuba is entering into a new phase in their struggle
which unveils a reality unfavorable to socialist construction. Yet we
should keep in mind that Cuba’s fate remains unsealed. History shows
that the Cuban people are up to the task of fighting for socialism as
they continue to inspire others around the world. They have enormous
amounts of creative and practical experience. Here we examine some of
the positions in the popular debate around Cuba, as well as the true
source of its successes and failures.
Privatization and Pandemic
The current protests in Cuba are the result of growing privatization
of sectors in multiple industries. This has been a gradual trend, but in
February of 2021 it took on new heights. Tourism in particular, as a
private industry, is Cuba’s largest revenue generator making over $3.3
billion for its people in 2018. With the ease
of relations under President Obama there was unfortunately even more
of a rise in privatization and large growth in tourism. Labour Minister
Marta Elena Feito said the list of authorized activities in the private
sector had most recently expanded from 127 to more than 2,000. Some of
these include barbershops, restaurants, taxi services, domicile and
hotel rentals, small shops and cafes. Most of these private sector jobs,
which are primarily in major cities such as Havana, are oriented towards
the tourist industry.
The last report showed that 600,000 people, around 13% of the
workforce, joined the private sector when the opportunity arose.
COVID-19 brought problems as the borders were closed to non-residents in
order to prevent the pandemic’s spread. About 16,000 private workers
asked for their licenses to be suspended, according to the Labor
Ministry, which temporarily exempted them from taxes. Shortly after, the
amount increased to 119,000, which was roughly 19 percent of the private
workforce. This measure allowed for a small section of the private work
force to be protected during the pandemic, however other sections,
mostly in tourism, were catastrophically hit.
U.S. Economic Warfare
The labor ministry stated that the decline began before COVID-19 as a
result of Trump’s new additions to the embargo on Cuba. In December of
2020, Cuban tourism had fallen by 16.5% due to U.S. sanctions that
imposed restrictions on travel to Cuba, money transfers, and trade
between Cuba and other nations. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets
Control in 2020 stated the following in regards to the more recent
additions, “OFAC is removing the authorization for banking institutions
subject to U.S. jurisdiction to process certain funds transfers
originating and terminating outside the United States, commonly known
as”U-turn” transactions. Banking institutions subject to U.S.
jurisdiction will be authorized to reject such transactions, but may no
longer process them.” The rules also block money sent to Cuban
government affiliates, and decreased the limit but still allow for
remittances to most families in Cuba.
On 19 October 1960, the U.S. embargo was implemented as policy to
undermine the revolutionary government as a response to its
nationalization of industries and dealings with countries led by
communist parties. Over the coming years tension only increased and the
embargo would continually be adjusted to prevent growth of the Cuban
economy. As of now the sanctions vary with over 231 entities and
subentities like ministries, holding companies, hotels, etc.; meaning
the U.S. is trying to control Cuba’s economy. These provisions also
extend to international companies like the various shipping companies in
2019 which were sanctioned by the U.S. government for participating in
oil trade between Venezuela and Cuba. This was during the same period
that the U.S. was accusing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of
falsifying the election results that left Juan Guaido to bite the dust.
Allegations which later were proven to be false yet nevertheless caused
dire consequences for millions.
Economic terrorism continues to be perpetrated by the U.S. against
Cuba to prohibit other nations and companies from participating in trade
deals. Some ways the U.S. does this is by denying licenses or deals with
U.S.-based companies or other nations that have the audacity to ignore
the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Year after year the U.N. votes in favor of an
end to the embargo with only two nations (the U.S. and Israel) voting in
favor of continuing the embargo.
In 2021 former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated Cuba
once again as a state sponsor of international terrorism in another
futile attempt to further isolate Cuba from potential trading partners.
This designation carries with it the implication that any business or
state which does business with Cuba participates in sponsoring
terrorism. As a result the U.S. will then implement sanctions on those
businesses or states or at the very least deny them vital business
opportunities that they need to sustain a functional economy in a
U.S.-dominated global market. It follows from this that the private
sectors in Cuba who were not prepared for the pandemic, were already
affected by the ongoing trade embargo for about 60 years, with Trump’s
administration amping up attempts to suffocate Cuba’s resilient
economy.
Cuban Protests
Dwarfed by Uprisings in U.S.
When the protests erupted in Cuba this month, the U.S. wasted no time
in opportunistically pushing their agenda. Meanwhile, expatriated Cuban
terrorists living in the U.S. sent videos over social media promoting
the destruction of public property owned by the Cuban people, looting,
assault on peoples security forces etc. These videos, not surprisingly,
never found their way into mainstream reports but were exposed by Cuban
media. Díaz-Canel even made a point to say that there are
revolutionaries who have been misguided by false reports forged by
subversive reactionaries, and people with legitimate demands for an end
to the embargo and reform of failed policies. This made clear that these
demonstrators were not the target of criticism but genuinely concerned,
although in some cases misguided, citizens.
In reality only a small capitalist minority from certain private
sectors affected by the embargo and COVID-19 have taken to the streets
to promote their interests; interests that are antagonistic to that of
the Cuban people. President Díaz-Canel proceeded to visit the
demonstrations himself and speak with people. On live TV Díaz-Canel
called revolutionaries to take to the street and oppose the
reactionaries and to stay in the streets as long as necessary in order
to defend the revolution. It was correctly stated by Díaz-Canel that the
reactionaries with violent intent are of a specific small group who
align with U.S. interests. More specifically from his mouth he stated
that, “They want to change a system, or a regime they call it, to impose
what type of government and what type of regime in Cuba? The
privatization of public services. The kind that gives more possibility
to the rich minority and not the majority.”
Counter protests proceeded to take place where a greater part of
Cuba’s 11 million people came out to demonstrate their support for the
revolution and continuance of socialist construction. With such a small
minority of protestors being for regime change and only a few dozen
arrests we have to ask ourselves why there is such a controversy? It is
only explainable by the private interests and imperialist U.S. who
wishes to finally deal a deadly blow to Cuba. After decades of failed
CIA assassinations, a failed U.S. invasion, and a failed Embargo, the
U.S. government is reiterating its fledgling commitment to undermine the
people of Cuba.
All the while the Amerikans fail to see the irony that in 2020 the
protests in the U.S. were estimated to have between 15 and 26 million
participants with over 14,000 arrests documented as related to the
protests and a number of deaths associated. These numbers are not even
all encompassing in the true magnitude of arrest and torture by the U.S.
government on its own citizens. These protests put forward demands
guaranteed by the Cuban constitution. Article’s 16, 18, 19, 41, 42, 43,
44 of the Cuban constitution reveal rights and guarantees afforded to
Cubans that in the U.S. don’t even exist or are up for debate. A
civil war was needed to end slavery only to have it replaced by Jim Crow
segregation in this country. Without a doubt a quick look at the
Cuban constitution in comparison with the U.S. constitution, one would
begin to question the true ethics of the U.S. and why Cuba is portrayed
the way it is.
Cuba has made greater advancements than the U.S. in many fields. It
achieved a higher literacy rate, lower infant mortality rate, a lung
cancer vaccine as well as a COVID-19 vaccine independently developed
with a 92% success rate. All this despite the embargo and war crimes of
the U.S. The U.S. in their sad attempt to condemn Cuba’s Communist Party
declares the people of Cuba to be subjugated, unable to protest, or have
free speech. As can clearly be seen, the president of Cuba not only
respects the constitutional right to protest and have free speech, but
invited millions to take to the streets to do so.
The Will of the People in
Cuba
In 2018 a new draft of the Cuban constitution removed reference to
communism. This first draft was met with wide-scale protests
and a popular demand that reinstated communism as the goal. In 2019 the
new Cuban constitution reaffirmed the popular will. Time after time the
U.S. is embarrassed by Cuba’s revolutionary people. Which is presumably
why the U.S., who routinely overthrows democracies, assassinates world
leaders, or suffocates nations with sanctions, takes special interest in
torturing Cuba. It is not without effect either, as many Cubans feel
this pressure and suffer untold losses in this cruel escapade waged by
the United States.
Mind you, Cuba is not without mistake. The continued privatization of
industries and reliance on tourism is a massive failure on the part of
the Cuban government. Failures to foster the full creative potential of
the Cuban masses by putting politics in command has led the Cuban
government to become a bureaucratic mess. With a large population of
revolutionary masses eager to promote the ideals of socialism and forge
ahead on their path of self-determination, it is sad to see the Cuban
state fail to remove the fetters on the Cuban people that restrict their
ability to take control of power for themselves. This is a result of
internal contradictions within the Cuban state.
Over the past few decades the gradual decline of peoples’ power has
been witnessed. Today’s events are a result of the pandemic and U.S.
embargo. However, the principal issue is not from without Cuba and it
certainly is not from the Cuban people. It is in the Cuban state and
their failure to remain vigilant against growing opposition forces
within the state itself. Forces that undermine the peoples’ will. Forces
that cause unnecessary retreats and failures in planning. With all due
respect, these are serious errors that must be rectified by campaigns
led by the revolutionary Cuban people. Only the Cuban people can
determine their destiny.
So our appeal to Cuba should be directed towards the revolutionary
masses who represent the socialist majority. We are in solidarity with
you and support you. We will continue to fight to bring to an end the
U.S. embargo and all interventions. The revolutionaries in Cuba who
emulate the ideals as well as principles of socialism with the aim of
building communism are a continued inspiration to the freedom fighters
all around the world.
Díaz-Canel welcomed revolutionaries to the street to participate in
open debate and oppose the reactionaries. This is a step in the correct
direction. So long as those revolutionaries are allowed to progress down
whatever path they find suitable for themselves to sustain their
revolution. So long as they combat the reactionaries as well as the
revisionists. All of this on the terms set forth by the revolutionary
Cuban masses themselves who are truly world renowned heroes of
revolution.
MIM(Prisons) adds:
It is not MIM line that Cuba was ever really on the socialist road. The
Cuban revolution was very clearly one of national liberation from
imperialism. However, Cuba paralleled the Derg in Ethiopia in taking on
“Marxism-Leninism” for geo-political reasons related to using the Soviet
Union as a counter-balance to other imperialist interests. That’s not to
say there weren’t Marxists in their ranks, most popular movements in the
Third World are going to have Marxist influences. But the Marxists had
not consolidated a party around the proletarian line before seizing
power. They did not follow Mao’s example of building United Fronts with
other classes by maintaining proletarian leadership and independence. In
a capitalist-imperialist world, coalition governments invariably lead to
capitalism.
Cuba stood out for many decades as a symbol of resistance to U.$.
imperialism, even after the fall of the Soviet Union. It is also
well-known for directing resources in the interests of the Cuban people
and the people of the world. In our article on Ethiopia we mention that
the Cubans
had their differences with the imperialist Soviet Union, and that
speaks to the path Cuba took independent of the USSR during and after
its existence.
We agree with current President Díaz-Canel that privatization is only
bad for the people. However, nationalization only threatens imperialist
meddling, it does not address the internal class contradictions of a
country. And in the case of Cuba, with the dependence on tourist money
and remittances, the Amerikans have significant and increasing control
over their economy despite nationalization.
In the United $tates state-run firms (like the post office) are often
defined as “socialism.” But Maoists define socialism differently, as an
economy that is guided by the proletarian line, always engaging in class
struggle, pitting the interests of collectivism, humyn needs and humyn
relations above production, efficiency and profit.
As Mowgli writes, the internal contradictions of a capitalist economy
in Cuba cannot ultimately be resolved without a popular movement to
rectify the current leadership and shift to the socialist road. We would
go further in stressing that socialism is class struggle. There is no
policy shift that can bring a country to the socialist road, only the
militant mobilization of the masses concentrated in a communist party
that puts the class struggle at the forefront. Our opposition from
within the empire to the embargo serves to help the Cuban people see
their dreams come true via continued class struggle.
The Republic of Aztlán (ROA) is happy to announce our online study
group that we are hosting with various leaders of different Brown Beret
formations.
We are studying the intro study program focused on The
Fundamental Political Line of the Maoist Internationalist Ministry of
Prisons (FPL). This is the study group that U.$. prisoners have
been studying for years. We are applying it to Aztlán with few
modifications.
This is groundbreaking that the Chicano Movement outside of prisons
is studying MIM(Prisons) fundamental political line. It is important to
overstand that hystorically the Chicano Movement was mostly cultural
nationalist back in the days; this is changing.
We of the Republic of Aztlán have a slogan that says, “Ideology is
key for Aztlán to be free!” We firmly believe that what the Chicano
Movement always lacked that prevented it from developing to the next
stage of struggle was a unified political line (ideology). Without
ideology we cannot move as one. To obtain national liberation we will
have to move as one with an ideology that guides us in the most
scientific way.
We hope that by connecting the Chicano Movement as a whole to Maoist
ideology it will move us closer to independence and in step with the
global anti-imperialist movement.
Bringing political instructors to the cadre of the Chicano Movement
will inject our movimiento with the political guidance that has been
lacking for the movement as a whole. The ROA sees this process of
bringing MIM(Prisons) study groups to the Chicano Movement outside of
the concentration kkkamp as the process of from the pintas to
the pintas. So for those sisters and brothers behind the prison
walls, know that the political line that you all are helping to develop
is being taught out here in the internal semi-colonies!
MIM(Prisons) adds: We have also been running the
MIM(Prisons) intro study program on the outside for comrades who have
joined Anti-Imperialist Prisoner Support over the last 1.5 years. Each
week we do a combination of discussing AIPS comrades’ answers and the
answers from our comrades in prison. Some of you have been receiving
responses to your answers with our discussions included as feedback.
Since switching to a go-at-your-own-pace program for comrades in prison,
we think this provides prisoners with more interaction and feedback.
In related news on our joint efforts to promote Maoist ideology in
Aztlán, the 5th anniversary of the book Chican@ Power and the
Struggle for Aztlán was marked with a second printing by Aztlán
Press.
As we said in our joint statement printed in ULK 72,
MIM(Prisons) distributed over 200 copies of Chican@ Power and the
Struggle for Aztlán to prisoners, while most of the 1000 copies of
our first printing were sold to people on the outside. This was done
through our publisher Kersplebedeb online and the Republic of Aztlán on
the streets. With the second printing we are all stocked up to keep the
books flowing into the hands of the masses.
The book is available to prisoners from us for the discounted price
of $10 in the form of stamps or cash, or for work trade. We also can
take bulk orders with Monero on the outside for those looking for
anonymous online payments.
Finally, we do have a new edition of FPL in the works as well as
other publications, but our lack of comrade time is limiting our ability
to get these out. With more supporters, we can do more of this important
educational work. People outside prison should join AIPS today and get
started on the study program while contributing to getting more
education materials into more peoples’ hands inside and outside
prisons.
In the United Snakes of Amerikkka there is an eerie silence
surrounding the most grotesque reality of today within the borders of
this imperialist settler colonial nation. A silence similar to the one
on that cold night in Germany on the 9th of November, 1938, known as
Kristallnacht. This silence is different however because unlike that
night otherwise known as the “night of broken glass,” this silence
encompasses both day and night seamlessly and seemingly endlessly. This
silence protects the interests of a select few in power. It protects
them from having to answer for the chaos they created outside these
arbitrary borders against the survivors of Amerikkkan imperialism by
separating the families in custody of the criminal Amerikkkan state. I’m
talking about the children in cages.
We’re talking about traumatizing the youth of colonized nations in
modern day concentration camps. Like in the concentration camps for
“amerikkkan citizens” there is no shred of dignity provided. No
recognition of humanity. The magnitude of crimes actually perpetrated by
these agents of fascism is unknown. Occasionally a whistleblower will
receive a small slot on the evening news to highlight a particular
abuse. Hollow promises of change from the settler government followed by
silence from the settler masses are soon to come with a distraction here
or there to qualm concerns of the still inquisitive.
The European settler seeks to soothe the colonized revolutionary
demands in order to settle for reform. So it’s no surprise then when
fundamentally nothing changes in the system which perpetuates these
horrors. Many who are conscious of said horrors and who claim to be
serving the “best interests” of the people are quick to co-opt anything
that sounds remotely revolutionary. Democrats or Republicans, Coke or
Pepsi, both are toxic formulas made by the colonizers to extract profit
from the oppressed colonized people while simultaneously killing them
slowly.
Even amongst those who call themselves “the radical left” there’s
barely a shred of concern sustained outside of a shareable post on
social media. When hysteria breaks out over a single incident millions
are quick to interject with an opinion. When over 2.3 million people are
incarcerated and enslaved it’s just business as usual. When over 70,000
children are jailed it’s justified to “protect the borders” from Raza
fleeing chaos started by those in power within these same borders.
We are all prisoners of war, some of us are politicized prisoners but
we all remain at war whether we wish to be or not. Whether we are
surrounded by concrete towers, riflemen overhead, or kept in line by
terrorists with badges in the barrio. Make no mistake the poor and
colonized are at war. They will justify incarnating the “Gangster” or
the “Cholo.” They will say that we had “opportunities” but simply made
the wrong choices. They will have us believing that we are the problem.
Just like they told our ancestors as they burnt our sacred texts and
destroyed our highly developed societies. They will teach us of
salvation in white Jesus. They will teach us that we may face peril here
on earth as slaves to the colonizer but in reality we should be grateful
because those same colonizers brought us european religion that will
give us everlasting life and a kingdom of riches in the afterlife!
I have a cousin named Jesus but he is brown and I can tell you I have
never met a white Jesus. I’m even less concerned with riches in an
afterlife when we all are subjected to poverty here in this one. The
fact is that we are not the problem. We only had opportunities to betray
our nation and class. We were taken from the womb to the tomb. Our
sentence was handed out before we even opened our eyes to see the
devastation that Amerikkka has brought to the world.
They can fabricate lies about us, but when it comes obtaining a
respiratory infection in ICE custody, this is the greatness United
Snakes of Amerikkka aims to return to. The “great” genocide of all the
poor Brown and Black people unfortunate enough to be “discovered.”
Thousands of recorded cases of little girls being sexually assaulted in
ICE facilities with untold more numbers growing daily are being told
it’s going to be okay because Amerikkka is a Pepsi nation now and Coca
Cola is in retreat. Joe is in office and the orange man is out! If we
are being honest with ourselves and true to the plight of those
traumatized children though. We all know that the shackles which bind us
all together on this sinking ship won’t be unlocked by the same person
who put us in them. As for the impotent left that is silent to our
suffering and the suffering of our children in cages. Break the silence
with the sound of marching feet or be tread upon by the roar of
history’s feet stomping over the indigent rulers of yet another decaying
social order.
The Koncentration Kkkamps holding migrant children are horrific. We
see images of dog kennels being used to warehouse these babies and not
enough is being done to shut them down. The U.$. “Left” has been unable
to respond properly and something more needs to be done.
We recently discussed this issue where the Chicano Nation has
supported the actions of many issues and will continue to do so but when
it comes to kids in kkkages the turn out of non-Raza allies is slim to
none. This has to change.
The Republic of Aztlán (ROA) has taken a firm stand on this issue. We
attend all actions that we can for all forms of injustice and we will
continue to have boots on the ground. However, we have reached a
position that if we are asked to do security or speak at an action or
event if the hosts do not speak on the kids in kkkages we will decline.
We will still attend, but will not do security or speak if these allies
are not addressing these kids at this particular action.
We feel that we must apply pressure on the overall movement and push
them to be more revolutionary. This small act may not succeed but we
will have tried.
Children held in dog kennels should affect anyone with an ounce of
humynity. People say “Free all political prisoners.” These kids, in our
opinion, are political prisoners. More than that, it’s a crime against
humynity what is occurring.
The ROA will continue our campaign to free the kids. We are currently
organizing a tour where we will address the Kids in Kkkages from
Califaztlan to New York, so stay tuned.
In July 2020, there was a Chicano Moratorium event in Oakland,
CalifAztlán at San Antonio Park. On 5 September 2020, there was another
Chicano Moratorium event in Arroyo Viejo Park, organized by the
Chicano-Mexicano Resistance and local Brown Berets. These were beautiful
events that celebrated the resistance of the Chicano Nation and
remembered the initial event of 1970.
These events were held in the spirit of the demonstration held by the
Chicano Moratorium Committee Against the Vietnam War on 29 August 1970
in East Los Angeles. That action was 30,000 strong, and at the time it
was protesting the Vietnam War and the overwhelming deaths of Chicano
soldiers in the U.S. war on Vietnam (20% of the deaths, while only 10%
of the population). At least 4 people were murdered by the pigs that
day.
The 2020 actions were joyous. The sun was out, familias were out,
kids, babies, mamas and Raza. Chicano revolutionary organizations were
there like the Republic of Aztlán, the Oakland Brown Berets and the
Chicano Mexicano Resistance. Music performers were lively playing
revolutionary rap by a local Chicano rap artist named Aztlán Native who
performed. There was Chicano spoken word, Chicano poets, speakers and
even an African group performed showing that Brown and Black unity.
One of the speakers at the July event was “Big John,” formerly of the
Chicano Revolutionary Party (CRP). The CRP was active in Oakland in the
1970s-80s. This speaker spoke of him being at the original Moratorium in
1970. I thought that was cool to hear about what took place in 1970 from
someone who was there. Other speakers spoke of the need for
anti-imperialism and liberation of the Chicano Nation. The crowds were
very into the message of a Free Aztlán with shouts of “Chicano Power!”,
“Viva la Raza!” and “Chinga la Migra!” heard. Many attendees were
interested in the book Chican@ Power and
the Struggle for Aztlán that comrades had at the events, and
some told us they already had a copy.
The mood was that Raza were happy to be amongst each other
celebrating our continued Chicano resistance as a nation. People were
dancing and having a good time.
Today the need for a Chicano Moratorium is just as relevant and
probably even more necessary. Despite being 20% of the deaths during the
Vietnam War, Raza have historically been underrepresented in the U.$.
military. While Chican@ Power and the Struggle for Aztlán
discussed military enrollment of Raza increasing from around 10% to
11.3% of active military from 2004 to 2012, 2017 data indicate that has
jumped to 16%.(1) The U.S. military is browning. Just as the future of
the U.S. population is becoming razafied (increasing to 18% in 2019), so
too is the U.S. military. The U.S. military is what allows U.S.
imperialism to continue exploiting the periphery. Whether dying in
Vietnam or dying at Fort Hood like Vanessa Guillen, the military is not
in the interest of Raza. And the key to stopping U.S. imperialism lies
in a Chicano Moratorium.
Peeling Back the U.S.
Military’s Onion
When we think about an effective Chicano Moratorium, we soon realize
in today’s day and age We need to do more than simply march – even in
the tens of thousands. We obviously need to add some manteca to the
frying pan. Although marches and protest actions are needed and provide
for good agitation, we also need to focus on other elements of the U.S.
military’s support structure. Shut off the valve from which its
nutrients flow.
ROTC: We know that the Chicano nation is the U.S.
military’s prime focus because the numbers tell us that the fastest
growing population of recruits today is Raza. There is also evidence
that of Raza, it is wimmin Raza who are at the helm. Wimmin overall have
gone from 5% of enlisted officers in 1975, to 16% in 2017.(1) But how
are they recruiting Chican@s in such high numbers? One way is via ROTC
in the schools. The U.S. military typically has ROTC in Barrio schools
or impoverished areas where the Chican@ population is high. This is a
direct assault on Chican@ youth where Amerikkka is turning its schools
(brainwash camps) into military recruitment centers. So if we are to
truly build a Chican@ Moratorium with teeth, a campaign to remove ROTCs
from the schools should be included.
Chican@ Mass Education: Because We have all been
born and raised under this occupation, many of us do not know that
Amerikkka is a colonizer. We do not know that the U.S. military is the
muscle used to oppress and exploit the Third World. Sadly, most Chican@s
do not even know what the Chicano Moratorium is. The enemy will never
arm a people it colonized with truth of its misdeeds. So there is a
strong need for mass education of the oppressed nations and allies in
general, and the Chican@ masses in particular.
Mass education is needed on a national level, from families teaching
their households, Barrios teaching each other, Chican@ educators
teaching students, parks having educational events, protest actions
ensuring at least 1 speaker mentions it, graffiti artists writing it,
musicians singing and rapping about it. The Chicano Moratorium needs to
be mentioned in every movement paper, every activist blog and
revolutionary website. All left parties, groups and orgs should ensure
their members understand the Chicano Moratorium.
We must continue to highlight the stories of lives lost to U.S.
militarism like Vanessa Guillen, so that the youth know the true nature
of this system. Wimmin are being sexually assaulted regularly, oppressed
people are being hung and murdered, and you don’t even have to go to a
war zone. It’s right in Fort Hood, Texas, in occupied Aztlán.
Vanessa Guillen’s sister said, “They don’t care about us!” as she
protested Ft. Hood military base
There should be Chican@ actions monthly in every county to educate
the local Chican@ community on the Chicano Moratorium. At some point,
after momentum is built, statewide actions can be held. Eventually
nationwide actions can take place where Chican@s from all seven states
can converge on one state for an annual Chican@ action.
Boycotts: Another element used by the U.S. military
is media. Using commercials to show Chican@ youth proudly enrolling in
the military. Some of these commercials are in Spanish. These are
propaganda commercials meant to entice our youth with depictions of Raza
youth being educated, prosperous and happy if they join the colonizer’s
military. We need to locate every TV station that plays these propaganda
commercials and boycott the hell out of them.
A campaign to expose and boycott these propaganda stations should be
spread and supported far and wide. This is another part of the oppressor
nation’s recruitment and brainwash program that needs to be shut
down.
Conclusion
By utilizing this 3 prong approach of focusing on 1) ROTC, 2) Chican@
Mass Education, and 3) Boycotts, we will see a genuine Chicano
Moratorium. One where we finally deal a blow to U.S. imperialism. The
vanguard pushing today’s Chicano Moratorium is unapologetically
communist. We understand the social reality of Aztlán and thus can
create campaigns whose main thrust is in driving Aztlán on the road to
national liberation.
On 24 May 2020, the Republic of Aztlán (ROA) participated in the
action at Lompoc Federal Correctional Institution that was organized by
the families of prisoners. There was over a hundred people in attendance
and everyone was fired up about this concentration kkkamp that holds
their loved ones. The ROA came to support the families and to add our
resistance to the pot.
Lompoc has the highest cases of COVID in the U.S. federal prison
system. The main organizer’s own husband just got tested positive for
COVID. So this is ground zero for the prison epidemic in the United
$nakes. For this reason the ROA felt it important to go.
Upon arrival we noticed that the prison pigs were out in force. Lined
up at the gates with cars parked as if someone may try to drive through
the gates. They were definitely ready. The families were chanting
slogans such as “Let them go” and “No justice no peace” …people were in
overall good spirits. So it was very good to see that our energy
injected a fire into the bunch. We soon had the mostly Chican@ families
chanting “Free Aztlán!” with bullhorns and “Lompoc is a concentration
kkkamp!”
Meanwhile we agitated the pigs with a bullhorn in front of the
families by yelling things like “You’re a modern day Nazi!” and “Pigs
are occupiers and terrorists!” They were very taken by surprise by how
we addressed them and how the crowd cheered as we all got fired up
really quick.
The ROA also used this opportunity to pass out leaflets of our Ten
Point Program. We are a Revolutionary Cadre Organization that sees
itself as an embryonic Provisional Government. We are a Government in
waiting for the Chican@ Nation. Once a civil war pops off the ROA will
be organized to step in and seize power for Aztlán. Raza, we need to
organize on a bigger scale and transform our Lumpen organizations to see
a bigger goal. Fuck controlling blocks, cities or states we should be
organizing to gain independence and run a Peoples Government.
The ROA is here to politicize and prepare our raza for self
determination in the truest sense. All power to the raza who sacrifice
to take it!
Growing up in the internal semi-colonies (ie. Aztlán, New Afrika or the
reservations), one is confronted with a certain form of oppression. This
national oppression naturally compels our youth to come together and
unite for survival purposes. This phenomenon is mirrored anywhere in the
world where the contradictions exist between oppressor vs. oppressed
nations. This results in oppressed youth forming youth survival groups,
which the capitalist state calls “gangs.”
Lumpen organizations, or lesser-organized youth survival groups, are a
reaction to living under an oppressor nation and although it is a good
alternative to assimilation or attempted assimilation to Amerikkka,
there is a need to develop more fully to political consciousness.
Political consciousness will be what leads to liberation of our nations.
In my own development, I realized how my varrio will always be my
varrio, my homies always my homies, my brothers always my brothers. But
in order to liberate Aztlán it will take more than being a rebel. I now
know if i truly love my people and community i should uplift their
consciousness, not turn my back on them. The goal is to bring my people
to the side of revolution. The goal is to have my people develop as did
the excellent example of the Young Lords Party. From a so-called “gang”
to a revolutionary organization. This can be accomplished via political
education. Each one teach one. Start with your cellmate, then neighbors,
then homies on the tier and branch out. Leaders should institute
political education and raise the consciousness of the org. This is when
real accomplishments will be gained. Rise!
The situation where a group was supporting imprisoned white power by
promoting the 23 via events outside prisons was
left-opportunism. It was a situation where the activists felt it was
necessary to cater to imprisoned white supremacists in order to “move
the movement forward.”
During World War II Stalin made temporary alliances with Hitler, but
this was only because Russia had to build up its military, and millions
of lives were at stake. Here, had the activists chose not to promote
imprisoned white power the movement and its united front would have
survived.
Looking back at the response/decision to split with MIM(Prisons) over
them not issuing a statement on the matter, I must now say it was wrong.
I believe now that I should have criticized MIM(Prisons) on this, but I
should not have supported a split. It was an over-reaction, which I feel
was brought on by a combination of things. One being the extreme
repression and pressure I was under in the concentration kamp. It did
affect me in ways I am still dealing with. I was in a situation where
death by the state was perpetual, solitary was a mountain of pressure
and white supremacy was the assassin ever-present. I felt at the time,
betrayal for those who would not issue a response. This of course was an
incorrect response.
Being released from the kkkamps has allowed me to look at my thoughts on
this with new eyes. It is true that MIM(Prisons) had served prisoners
including myself for many years. I should not have responded as if I
just met them. This was a result of many years of solitary, and the
psychological turmoil that the state put me through. This kind of
turmoil often has prisoners turn on each other, here I turned on
comrades politically, comrades who had been my instructors for years. I
was wrong for this.
I accept the criticism from MIM(Prisons) and for the historical record I
stand in unity with MIM(Prisons).
I hope with this self-criticism that our imprisoned comrades can learn
from it. It’s important to know that to split with comrades over
tactics, whether it is over something you feel you may be correct on, is
a very big move. Prisons, and particularly solitary confinement, at
times obscures our ability to respond in a materialist way. One way to
avoid these challenges from escalating is to take a break when you start
to think these thoughts. Write the organization/persyn and let them know
that you are taking a break so as not to exacerbate the conflict.
I should note that the tactic of activists to promote the 23 has now
been overturned. So in that aspect I was proven correct, it was my
response that was incorrect. But this was a very important lesson.
The movement cannot move forward with subjective decisions. I allowed
subjectivism to determine my decisions on this issue and that was an
error. MIM(Prisons)’s line never changed so my affiliation with them
should not have changed either.
In Struggle.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We whole-heartedly accept this
self-criticism from Pili based on this statement and eir principled work
with the Republic of Aztlán.
It is not unusual for us to encounter anger and frustration from our
comrades inside. Our relationship is tenuous through the mail. Often
comrades will question us because of this. We generally know more about
them then they know about us. That is an imbalance that can encourage
doubts. This is a good example of the psychological warfare that
solitary confinement wages on the oppressed. It is not just about
isolating individuals from others, it has broad and lasting impacts on
the oppressed’s ability to organize effectively.
For all the reasons mentioned by Pili, we try to be patient and
understanding when there is the occasional riff with a comrade we have
worked closely with for some time. But we always to looking at practice
– look at our work, look at what we say. Is it consistent? Is it
correct? And we will take the same approach with you. Sometimes
comrades/organizations do change their line and practice to a degree
that warrants splitting with them.
Advanced comrades should think about what a dividing line question is
for them. This can help orientate you, and avoid subjectivism, when you
find yourself questioning whether another group is an ally or not. See
the article cited by Pili above for a discussion of cardinal principles
and what we believe Maoists should and shouldn’t divide over.
Prisons, for the last 100 years at least, have been consumed with some
type of dope. We know that vice of all flavors has found prisons to be
hot houses. Slangin’ dope has been institutionalized in U.S. prisons;
everyone from the 18 year-old fish to the ranking guard has been caught
slangin’.
Some may see it as a means to survive. It is surviving, in a parasitic
kind of way. For the prison movement, to engage in the dope trade is to
poison the very well you and the people drink from. It’s suicide.
The Drug Trade and LOs
It’s no secret that in prison the drug trade translates to power, in a
bourgeois kinda way for the lumpen organization (LO). The LO that
controls the drug trade in a particular prison wields power in that
prison. Of course the drug trade brings currency to the LO which in turn
brings weapons, material goods, investments and respect. But more
importantly than 12-packs of soda, LOs use dope as a manipulation tool.
The LO which has the dope has all the other prisoners kissing its ass.
LOs are able to “feed the troops” but at what cost? This is where the
contradictions arise between the prison movement and prisoners who are
more counter-revolutionary.
The dope trade simply feeds the bourgeois-minded sector of the prison
population. It allows this sector to expand its parasitic grip on the
prison population. The wannabe capitalist sector drools at the idea of
getting in more dope to sell to fellow prisoners; to poison the sisters
and brothers for profit, for blood money.
Is Slangin’ Revolutionary?
I have spoken to some who have raised the idea that slangin’ can raise
funds quick for revolutionary programs. Someone even pointed to the FARC
[a self-described Marxist group in Colombia] as “proof” of this. The
fact that FARC has recently disarmed shows that their judgment on a lot
of things is flawed.
My question is, how could poisoning the very population you are trying
to win over to revolution be a good thing? There are too many other ways
to raise money than to poison our people with imperialist dope.
Being revolutionary is about transforming yourself and others, not
inflicting harm on oneself or others. Being in prison is hard enough, we
shouldn’t create burdens like addictions or debts which will prevent our
fellow prisoners from becoming new people and contributing. Slangin’
dope is anti-revolutionary.
Slangin’ in the prison movement?
If I were to hear that those within the prison movement were employing a
tactic to slang dope I would say the movement had committed suicide. The
prison movement is unable to mobilize the people partly because of the
interference of dope. Dope impedes our progress. It creates the
conditions where the state stays in power without a challenge to its
seat.
The fact that often it’s the state agents themselves who flood the
prisons with dope is proof enough that the dope trade is actually a
weapon of the state. Just as the state floods the ghettos and barrios
with dope. The dope dealers are simply pawns used by the imperialists.
The flooding of ghettos with crack cocaine is the biggest, starkest
example of this.
Overcoming the oppressive nature of U.S. prisons is hard enough. The
slim pool of prison writers and intellectuals reflects this fact. It is
difficult to survive prison and be able to raise your consciousness at
the same time. Those few who do wake up have a hard time waking others,
insert dope and your chances are zero.
The only thing the dope trade does to LOs is pull them more to the
right. It feeds their bourgeois ideology as a log feeds a roaring fire.
Our goal is to have the LOs rebuild the house of the prison movement,
not burn it down.
What can be done?
This is a difficult chore for the revolutionaries. LOs have become
accustomed to having their luxuries squeezed out of the drug trade so to
stop that would of course disturb them. But the drug trade is poison.
The Black Panthers at one point sought to actively eradicate all dope
dealers from their communities. In prisons we do not promote violence,
rather education will have to do. Start by educating the user, start
with your cell mate then move on to your neighbor and folks on the tier.
Change the culture so that drug usage is frowned upon. If folks can stop
using dope on the street they can stop in prisons. Re-education should
be used by the more conscious people.
The prison movement will be destroyed by the dope trade, just as the
movement outside prison walls was hurt by some influential people taking
up dope. The state was able to relax and sit back while dope wore people
down and prevented any real mobilization. The same applies to prison. It
would not matter if the prison gates flew open if the dragon was high or
if it had sacks of dope in its claws.