Proletarians of all countries, unite!
FIRST CONGRESS OF THE
COMMUNIST PARTY OF PERU
(Marxist Congress, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, Gonzalo Thought Congress)
Red Flag Editions
2022
SECOND SESSION
(8/27–9/16/1988)1
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Document: PROBLEMS OF THE HISTORY OF THE PARTY2
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III. PROBLEMS OF THE HISTORY OF THE PARTY (OUTLINE)
I repeat: Problems of the History of the Party (Outline). Let us remember that we must always bear in mind what Chairman Mao said, that it was not very convenient to write a history of the Party; on the other hand, it was not at all simple because histories are always subject to correction. You might say, but there was a history of the CPC, yes, that of ……,3 but then it was condemned, that history was condemned in the Cultural Revolution; you might say, but the history of the Bolshevik Party, well, the Bolshevik Party has also undergone many changes since then.
Chairman Mao says that there is a model there, a masterpiece, yes, but let’s suppose what Comrade Stalin wrote there about dialectical and historical materialism, is it correct? No, according to the Chairman himself, with his approach to contradiction, no, it clashes, he does not refer to it explicitly, it is a way of conceiving it and the lessons he draws from it. Don’t think, then, that what is there — if you read Volume III, the Chairman says it is a masterpiece, he says we should all study it — don’t think now that what Comrade Stalin discusses there about dialectical and historical materialism is correct. No, it openly clashes with what the Chairman proposes in the contradiction. Why? Comrade Stalin proposes four laws and does not even call them laws, he calls them features. One must understand these things. In short, it is an exceptional work. Would we be in a position to do it? One has to ask oneself that question. No, therefore, it is not feasible, and if we take into account what the Chairman has taught us, it is better to take into account what the Chairman said and see what we can do and what suits us, what we need.
We follow the well-known outline, repeatedly sanctioned by the Party, that there are three stages in our process, remember? Constitution, Reconstitution, and Leadership of the people’s war. That outline has been adopted. Within that framework, we address problems. That is the criterion that has guided us because, I repeat, it has already been approved: Constitution, Reconstitution, and Leadership of the people’s war. Within those three parts of the party process, since it was founded by Mariátegui and his predecessors, we address some problems:
I CONSTITUTION.
We pose the following problems:
- Struggle for the constitution of the Party
We consider this point to be very important. First, our position that Mariátegui founded the Communist Party of Peru must be made clear; we reject the idea that Ravinez founded it because historically this is not the case. It was Mariátegui himself who proposed changing the name of the party to the Communist Party of Peru. That was his proposal, but he died and Mariátegui’s proposal was approved at a party meeting after his death. That is the problem, but the Party was not founded by Ravinez; that is not true.
To make the struggle clear, particularly against Haya de la Torre and his nascent Aprista ideas. I am not referring to the Peruvian Aprista Party, which dates back to 1930 or 1931 — they say they are older than us, but that is not true; the Aprista Party was founded, the Arpa, because that is how it is, it is an alliance, initially it was even Arpa, that was its name: Arpa, it was founded in 1925 in Mexico,4 because that’s the way it is, that’s the reality, with five points and that’s it, what else is the famous alliance? The Peruvian Aprista Party was only founded here around 1930. Well, we are only interested in Mariátegui’s struggle against Haya de la Torre’s criteria and positions; even more so now, because not only are they saying that there is a Haya-Mariateguism, even putting Haya ahead, but they are also saying, even at the height of it, Haya-Leninism, and we cannot allow that. In other words, it is a current, burning issue; we want to take up issues that are useful to us, we don’t want a history that we can learn from, we want a weapon of struggle, that’s why we take up issues, that’s the reason.
- Well, a second problem within this first question would be: the role of Mariátegui.
That is another question. It must be made very clear that Mariátegui is the founder of the Party, what Mariátegui has done, what Mariátegui’s role is, especially because Mariátegui is being trafficked, isn’t he? We cannot consent to this, we cannot allow the PUM5 that traffics in him. So, it is a problem of the history of Marxism in Peru, of course; beyond that, it is a problem of new ideas in Peru, isn’t it? It is a problem of class in Peru, it is not an unimportant thing, this must be made very clear.
- Another problem: abandoning of the line and opportunism
What do we want to see here? Not only that Mariátegui established his line through struggle, but that his line was abandoned, denied, and where did all that lead? To opportunism. Scandalous examples: the bastardized electioneering of 1939, the frontism of 1945 when they said, “the thesis that elections should be used only as propaganda has expired; the program today is to win seats”, are the exact words of the Party secretary himself, Jorge Acosta. Why do we use this, why do we need this problem, what does abandoning a line imply, where does it lead? Historically, our Party shows that it leads to opportunism, doesn’t it? That’s right. Abandoning Marxism-Leninism and its application here in Peru — because Mariátegui did that, and in a creative way, no one can deny it — abandoning that led to opportunism, led to Browderism, a precursor to contemporary revisionism. So, it’s a good lesson, isn’t it? Of course, our own history teaches us great lessons.
We consider that these three issues can be addressed in the section on the Constitution, the first part.
II Reconstitution.
There we must address two problems:
- the struggle against contemporary revisionism
- the other problem: the reconstitution of the Party. The Communist Party of Peru.
Why do we pose these two problems? It is linked to the above. Abandoning Mariátegui’s just and correct Marxist-Leninist position and its creative application in Peru, abandoning that line led to opportunism and we sank into the mire. To get out of it, we had to wage a struggle against contemporary revisionism. Is this linked to the above or not? Opportunism sinks us; to save ourselves, we have to fight against revisionism. It’s a very easy lesson to understand, isn’t it? Just as the history of the Party shows that abandoning Marxism leads us to ruin, it also tells us that by embracing Marxism and fighting revisionism, we develop, we get back on our feet, we get out of the mire. That is the reason for this problem.
And the Reconstitution, and why do we emphasize Communist Party of Peru? Because it must be made very clear that the Party exists: and it proves this because it has opened up, in reality, with arms in hand, with a vigorous people’s war, the true and real path of democratic revolution to conquer power. This is what the Chairman is demonstrating when he analyzes the experience of Russia, of old Russia, of the Bolshevik Party, and the experience of China, of the CPC, comparing it with India. he says: “Why was there a revolution in old Tsarist Russia? Because there was a Party. Why was there one in China? Because there was a Party. Why is there not one in India, given that conditions are similar to those in China? Because there is no Party”. So this is another key problem, not only for us communists, but also for the struggle in this country.
III. LEADERSHIP OF THE PEOPLE’S WAR.
Here, we will address three issues:
- The initiation and development of the people’s war. The people’s guerrilla army and New Power.
- Second issue: the Party and the current ideological dynamic. Combating revisionism as the main danger.
- Third issue: the Party’s task today: leading the conquest of power in the entire country.
There are three problems. Well, it is linked to the previous one: we have a Party. Having a Party, what did we do? We started and developed the people’s war. Without a Party, there would be no initation and no people’s war. And what has that people’s war given us? A people’s guerrilla army, without which such a war could not have been waged. and it has given us something else, the new Power. We are solving the central problem of the revolution, we are demolishing the old order and laying the foundations for what will be the new in a brilliant perspective toward the future. That is another problem. This must be made very clear.
The second, why do we address it? Because class struggle is intensifying, there is polarization, class struggle is intensifying worldwide, there is polarization, there is great ideological conflict, it will develop, we are seeing how an offensive of revisionism is unfolding once again, whether it be Albania, China as an imperialist power, or the Soviet Union as an imperialist power or superpower contending for world hegemony; not only them, but also the imperialist powers, all of imperialism, all of world reaction is aimed against Marxism, aimed against Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, which is claimed to be obsolete.
All of this is striking, it is what we call the current ideological dynamic and we have to face it, and there lies the key: what is it? To combat revisionism as the main danger, in the Party, in the country, in the world, against whoever it may be, a tenth-rate power, it doesn’t matter to us, whether it is social-imperialism, it doesn’t matter to us, whoever it may be who targets Marxism. Because the partners collude and struggle for world hegemony, but they help each other to crush the revolution, dreaming.
So, this problem is very important. Remember what we said about differentiation: is it necessary or not? Does it have to do with the rectification campaign? Of course it does. This prepares us, arms us, for what? To fulfill the task that falls to the Party. What is that task? Our problem, then, is to lead the conquest of power in the entire country, to complete the democratic revolution and move on, without interruption, to the socialist revolution. Then, when the conditions are right, the great revolution or the proletarian cultural revolution will express itself and take place, whatever magnitude it may have, who knows, and so it will begin.
So, we focus on problems that are weapons to fight with. That is what we need, not just a document that someone can read and learn from; that does not interest us. What interests us is arming ourselves with our own experience, with our own problems, drawing our own lessons, positive or negative, whatever they may be.
So, this is how we understand this problem of the history.
We have discussed these issues many times, yes; there is a document, I think it is over 200 pages long, on the history of the Party, so if the Congress agrees to do it this way, to raise other issues, it will be feasible using that document, which, I repeat, is about 200 pages long; but we want a short, clear, understandable document that the masses can handle, the proletariat, the people, obviously the communists, they first and foremost. We think about the type of militancy we have. What do we gain from a 300- or 500-page tome? What do we gain? At least today we don’t need it. Maybe tomorrow, who knows, if tomorrow conditions allow it to be so, then so be it. But what do we need today? That is what we ask ourselves, what do we need today? We need the history of the Party, with all its problems, to be another weapon in the struggle. That is the idea, that is the idea that guides us in raising these kinds of issues, whether they be these or others.
This is what the Bureau proposes as Problems in the History of the Party, in outline form. I repeat, the document already exists, we have discussed it many times, so it will not be a major problem to extract these or other problems from it.
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(The Congress Stands)
Comrades: LONG LIVE THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF PERU! LONG LIVE!!
LONG LIVE THE FIRST CONGRESS! LONG LIVE!!
LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE’S WAR! LONG LIVE!!
GLORY TO MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM! GLORY!!
GLORY TO MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM! GLORY!!
GLORY TO MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM! GLORY!!
Comrades: LONG LIVE THE PARTY! LONG LIVE!!
HAVING THE PARTY, HAVING MASSES, ALL MIRACLES WILL BE PERFORMED!
HAVING THE PARTY, HAVING MASSES, ALL MIRACLES WILL BE PERFORMED!
HAVING THE PARTY, HAVING MASSES, ALL MIRACLES WILL BE PERFORMED!
(Applause)
https://vnd-peru.blogspot.com/2025/10/mpp-viva-el-97-aniversario-de-la.html↩︎
Peru People’s Movement: On October 7, 2020, we published part of this Document from the First Congress of the Party as the first part of our document for the 92nd anniversary of the PCP: OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF THE PARTY AND THREE MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY PERU. On this new anniversary, we are publishing it in its entirety and recommend deepening your understanding of it by studying the Military Line of the Party.↩︎
Peru People’s Movement: It does not appear in the transcript of the document, so the ellipsis from the original is retained.↩︎
Peru People’s Movement: The date and place have been filled in by us where there were only ellipses.↩︎
Red Library: Unified Mariateguist Party.↩︎
PROBLEMS OF THE HISTORY OF THE PARTY, accessible at https://redlibrary.info/works/pcp/problems-of-the-history-of-the-party.↩︎