Will A “Hugo Chavez-type” End the Filipino Revolution?

[The question arises: Can populist rhetoric sway hearts and minds without petrodollars?  —  Frontlines ed.]

Joma sees Duterte as Pinoy-version of Hugo Chavez

October 10, 2015

by JEFRY M. TUPAS, CORRESPONDENT, The Manila Times

UTRECHT, The Netherlands: Jose Maria Sison, the founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), made himself clear—he did not endorse Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as his preferred next president of the Philippines.

“But how can I do that when he did not yet declare that he is running for president?” he said laughing, in front of him a cup of brewed coffee sitting cold – untouched – on a long white table, the ‘centerpiece’ inside the office of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) here.

Nepal ex-Maoists declare “We will follow ‘the path of capitalism’ to achieve ‘communism'”

[Seven years after abandoning the revolutionary People’s War and dismantling the emerging liberation political powers in the countryside, and ending the revolutionary challenge to feudal and semi-feudal relations, and the People’s Liberation Army, the former Maoists led by Prachanda and Bhattarai are now shedding their “Maoist” cover.  A good number of purported revolutionaries who supported these revisionists soon after their abandonment of the revolutionary road–(some even called Prachanda and Bhattarai the “creative Maoists” of our time, and the leaders of 21st Century Communism)–will now be challenged to sum up their promotion of these anti-revolutionaries, and help those they may have influenced to understand how to avoid such retreats in the future.  The world of revolutionary Maoists will be watching.  We encourage our readers to comment on these developments.  Frontlines ed.] Nepal Maoists to change ideology, hint at giving up anti-India stance” Friday, Feb 1, 2013

By Shirish B Pradhan | Place: Kathmandu | Agency: PTI

In a major policy shift, Nepal’s ruling Maoists will adopt a new path to socialism through capitalism and may also give up their anti-India stance at the upcoming national convention of the party. Some 2,500 delegates of the ruling UCPN-Maoist will attend the six-day general convention, to take place after a gap of over 20 years, starting on Saturday in central Nepal’s Hetauda Municipality in an attempt to revamp the guerrilla group-turned-mainstream political party. “We will follow ‘the path of capitalism’ to achieve communism instead of pursuing ‘New Democracy’ as propounded by chairman Mao Zedong,” said Narayan Kaji Shrestha, vice-chairman of UCPN-Maoist and deputy prime minister.

Nepal: New Maoist Party and many former Liberation Army combatants forming new military structure

[See the two news reports, below.  Frontlines will post new information as it becomes available and confirmed. — Frontlines ed.]

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CPN-Maoist to unveil military wing!

ReviewNepal.com, October 8, 2012

Though the UCPN-Maoist led government seems [satisfied at its – ed.] management of its former combatants by integrating in the Nepal Army (NA), its splinter faction CPN-Maoist has began to revive ‘people’s war’ days through the announcement of military structure of the party. The military structure of CPN-Maoist is going to be announced formally under the name of Rastirya Yuwa Swayamsewak Bureau from the national conference scheduled to be held in Dhulikhel on October 10-12.

It is said that the party secretary Netra Bikram Chanda led the military structure is also proposed to name as National Youth Volunteers Bureau. The party has called the national conference with intent to fix the name of the structure and discuss about the future activities, clams a reliable source close to the party. Though the party leaders have a claim that they have no immediate plan to launch armed struggle, it is suspected that the party would launch another ‘people’s revolt.’

Some leaders have repeatedly been threatening that they would take up arm if their demands are not addressed. It is claimed that the military wing has already acquired about 10 dozen guns registered in the name of the UCPN-Maoist including some arms used in the security of leaders. Likewise, it is also claimed that about 1000 armed trained former PLA combatants, who opted for voluntary retirement after last year’s peace deal and disqualified fighters who were discharged from cantonments in 2010, have already reunited under the military structure of the party.

Conference to expose corrupts The CPN –Maoist has said that it is going to expose leaders and cadres of the UCPN-Maoist, who amassed wealth illegally after the party joined mainstream politics in 2006. Revealing about the plan of the purposed national conference party secretary Chand had said his led wing, National People’s Volunteer Bureau, will next week start a campaign to expose the corrupts of the country including his former party’s leaders. However, Chand dismissed the report about the plan to form a military structure.

“We have no plan to expose the military wing now but we will openly declare the formation of a People’s Liberation Army if Nepali politics so demands,” he said on Sunday while addressing a press conference. However, he revealed that significant number of former PLA combatants who are dissatisfied with the “move of the UCPN-Maoist have joined the volunteer’s bureau.

Nepal: The pacified so-called “Maoist” Party is no longer attacked by imperialism

[Mao Zedong, the great revolutionary leader of the 1949 Chinese revolution, speaking on May 26, 1939, stated:  “I hold that it is bad as far as we are concerned if a person, a political party, an army or a school is not attacked by the enemy, for in that case it would definitely mean that we have sunk to the level of the enemy. It is good if we are attacked by the enemy, since it proves that we have drawn a clear line of demarcation between the enemy and ourselves. It is still better if the enemy attacks us wildly and paints us as utterly black and without a single virtue; it demonstrates that we have not only drawn a clear line of demarcation between the enemy and ourselves but achieved a great deal in our work.”  His words continue to resonate and are relevant today. (Please note that the US State Department refers to the delisting of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) it is in fact directed at the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which is the name which was adopted after the Maoist party had abandoned the people’s war and changed its color from red to bourgeois reformist.  See the statement from the State Department, and the news report of the response of the UCPN(M), below.) — Frontlines ed.]

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“Media Note:  Delisting of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)”

Office of the Spokesperson, State Department of the United States

Washington, DC

September 6, 2012

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The Department of State has revoked the designation of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN(M)) and its aliases as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity under Executive Order 13224, and as a “terrorist organization” from the Terrorist Exclusion List (TEL) under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). With these actions, the CPN(M)’s property and interests in property in the United States or within the possession or control of U.S. persons will no longer be blocked, and U.S. entities may engage in transactions with CPN(M) without having to obtain a license.

After a thorough review, the Department has determined that the CPN(M) is no longer engaged in terrorist activity that threatens the security of U.S. nationals or U.S. foreign policy. Additionally, in recent years, the Maoist party has been elected as the head of Nepal’s coalition government, has taken steps to dismantle its apparatus for the conduct of terrorist operations, and has demonstrated a credible commitment to pursuing the peace and reconciliation process in Nepal. Today’s delisting does not seek to overlook or forget the party’s violent past, but rather looks ahead towards the party’s continued engagement in a peaceful, democratic political dialogue in Nepal.

This delisting reflects the United States’ resolve to keep our terrorism sanctions current and demonstrates that a group need not stay on a terrorist list forever should it demonstrate a credible commitment to pursuing peace and reconciliation.

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“Nepal’s Maoists welcome US’ removal of terror tag”

By Indo Asian News Service

Saturday 8 September, 2012

Kathmandu, Sep 8 (IANS) The Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist) has welcomed the US State Department removing it from its list of terrorist organisations – six years after the end of the armed rebellion in this Himalayan country.

Indonesia: Ex-political prisoners stage plays to survive stigmatization

[Though this description of the 1965 events and massacre are re-packaged, and carefully cleansed of the CIA role; and the scale of the mass murder was much greater, this article from the Indonesian press does raise the largely unrecognized impact on a million political prisoners from that time, seen through the experience of elderly survivors. — Frontlines ed.]

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Saturday, 06/30/2012

The commemoration of the abortive coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) is still a few months away, but former political prisoners always remember Sept. 30, 1965, as the day that changed their lives. Following the attempt, which claimed the lives of six Army generals, the Indonesian Military, with the help of mass organizations, prosecuted anyone thought to have links with the PKI. The precise number of fatalities has been disputed, but some put the number as high as 500,000. Those who survived the massacre lived with the stigma of communism and lost their civil rights. One of them, Nani Nuraini, is now 71 years old.

“Even though we are now aged and frail, we still keep smiling and fighting,” said Nani, who claims she has just been fighting for her rights. At the Central Jakarta District Court in 2008, she won the right to a lifetime identity card just like any other elderly citizen. In April, however, the same court rejected her request for rehabilitation.

She was arrested in 1968 and sent without trial to Bukitduri Women’s Penitentiary in South Jakarta for seven years, simply because, at a young age, she had performed as a presidential palace dancer at the party’s anniversary gathering in June 1965. Nani has lived with the stigma of being an ex-political prisoner and communist sympathizer ever since.

Nepal: Post-revolutionary (former Maoist’s) opportunist coalition plan has run out of partners

Allies quit government as Nepal crisis deepens

(NAVESH CHITRAKAR, REUTERS )

May 28, 2012|Gopal Sharma | Reuters

KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Three parties quit Nepal’s Maoist-led government on Monday as the Himalayan republic slipped deeper into crisis after the prime minister called elections following the failure to agree on a new constitution aimed at ending years of instability.Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has called for Nov 22 elections to resolve the constitutional impasse, sparking a backlash from politicians and Nepalis who have seen the country lurch from one crisis to the next after a civil war ended in 2006.

With political rivals calling for the prime minister’s resignation, the desertion of three parties from his coalition may force Bhattarai to step down, but it is not likely to derail fresh elections.

However, the political row could trigger months of street protests and violence in one of the world’s poorest countries, wedged between India and China.

Security forces in Kathmandu remained on “high alert” after clashes between protesters and police injured more than a dozen people over the weekend. The streets were quiet in the capital on Monday, which was a public holiday.

Nepal: Bourgeois leader Koirala crows about Peruvian ex-Maoist’s call to Nepali Maoists: ‘give up the struggle for power’

[Bourgeois calls for revolutionaries to surrender often seize hold of the most tarnished and discredited tools–in this case, Abimael Guzman aka “Gonzalo” who was a founder and leader of the Communist Party of Peru until he was captured and renounced the people’s war for power and for revolutionary transformation of Peru.  While some in Nepal have already taken the path of surrender, Nepali revolutionary Maoists are having nothing of it, as the struggle for revolution against revisionism continues within the UNCN(M) and, importantly, in the streets and villages. — Frontlines ed.]

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President of the Nepali Congress (NC), Sushil Koirala, asks Maoists to renounce revolutionary program, armed struggle, and to adopt peaceful reform

After Peruvian Maoist leader Gonzalo was captured, in time he sang a different tune of surrender, and denounced the Peoples War--winning him praise from reactionaries.

Koirala urges Maoists to follow Gonzalo’s advice

by SANTOSH POKHAREL, myrepublica.com

POKHARA, Jan 7: Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala on Saturday has urged the UCPN (Maoist) to follow Peruvian revolutionary leader Gonzalo´s advice to renounce violence and adopt peaceful politics.

Speaking at a function in Pokhara, President Koirala urged the Maoists not to go against the democratic system and derail the peace process. He urged the Maoists to adopt the path of peace and constitution to bring about prosperity in the country.

“Even Peruvian revolutionary leader Gonzalo, who orchestrated the killing of about 70,000 people the guerilla war popularly known as ´Shining Path´, has asked the Maoists to adopt the path of peace. Maoists should follow the path of peace,” he said.

Gonzalo, who is currently serving a jail term, had reportedly sent a letter to the UCPN (Maoist) through his aides.

“The leader who led once of the greatest armed rebellion also acknowledged the importance of peaceful means. The Maoists should also acknowledge the fact,” he further said.

Koirala also warned that the Maoists would perish if they try to impose dictatorship in the country.

NepalNews.com: “Bhattarai is next PM, claims Maoist leader”

[Baburam Bhattarai, a leading figure of Nepal’s UCPN(M), is known as the most unabashed advocate of the abandonment of the People’s War five years ago, and of a whole series of conciliatory moves toward imperialist powers and international capital.  In a visit to the United States, he even offered dropping the “Maoist” from his party’s name, in exchange for business deals and investments.  Last week, the conservative Indian newspaper The Business Standard interviewed Bhattarai.  “Q: In retrospect, what are the mistakes you think you may have made? A: When we came to power, we should not have continued to act like an insurgent group.”

Yesterday, NepalNews.com issued the following article, in which his supporters proclaimed Bhattarai as the next Prime Minister of Nepal because he enjoys wide support from “the international community.”  Tomorrow, the UCPN(M)’s Standing Committee meets.  Perhaps further clarity will emerge. — Frontlines ed.] 

Wed, 01.06.11 17:51

Maoist politburo member Devendra Poudel has claimed that party’s vice chairman Baburam Bhattarai will lead the upcoming ‘consensus government’.

Baburam Bhattarai (File photo)

Speaking at the Reporters’ Club Wednesday, Poudel, a Bhattarai loyalist, revealed that serious initiation has been already started within the Maoist party to form Bhattarai. The party should also field a candidate who is acceptable to all, he added.

“Over 80 percent Nepali people want to see Bhattarai as Prime Minister and he enjoys huge support of the international community,” he claimed.

Saying that the current Jhala Nath Khanal-led government can’t transform into a national consensus government, he suggested PM Khanal to pave the way for consensus by resigning as soon as possible by respecting the five-point deal.