Proletarians of all countries, unite!
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 97TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF PERU
DOCUMENT: PROBLEMS IN THE HISTORY OF THE PARTY
We greet the international proletariat and the peoples of the world, with exultant joy and the highest revolutionary optimism, on the occasion of the 97th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Peru (PCP) this October 7th. On this new anniversary of the Party's founding, the Peru People’s Movement, the organization generated by the Party for international work, once again pays tribute to its great founder, José Carlos Mariátegui.
On this new anniversary of the Party's founding, we publish the document: PROBLEMS IN THE HISTORY OF THE PART (*). Y, which is part of the Report presented by Chairman Gonzalo to the Second Session of the First Congress of the Communist Party of Peru (PCP), Peru, 1988.
LONG LIVE THE 97TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF PERU!
Peru People’s Movement
October 2025
Proletarians of all countries, unite!
FIRST CONGRESS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF PERU
(Marxist Congress, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Congress, Gonzalo Thought)
Red Flag Editions
2022
SECOND SESSION
(8/27-9/16/88)
(...)
Document: PROBLEMS OF THE HISTORY OF THE PARTY
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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 keep 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 will say, but there was a history of the CCP, yes, that of ………(**), but it was later condemned; during the Cultural Revolution, that history was condemned. You may say, but the history of the Bolshevik Party, well, the Bolshevik Party has also undergone many modifications since then.
Chairman Mao says that there is a model, a masterpiece, yes, but let's suppose what c. Stalin wrote there about dialectical and historical materialism, is that correct? No, according to the President himself, with his approach to contradiction, no, it clashes, he doesn't refer to it expressly, it's a way of having conceived and the lessons he draws; don't go thinking, then, that what is there—if you read volume III, the President says it's a masterpiece, that's what he says we should all study—don't go thinking now that what C. Stalin discusses there about dialectical and historical materialism is correct, no, it openly clashes with what the President proposes in the contradiction, why? C. Stalin proposes four laws and doesn't even call them laws, he calls them features, you have to know how to understand things. In short, it's an exceptional work, would we be in a position to do it? -one has to ask oneself that- no, therefore, it is not appropriate and if we take into account what the President has taught, it is better to take into account what the President said and see what we can do and what suits us, what we need.
We follow the familiar framework, sanctioned several times by the Party, that we have three stages in our process, remember?: the Constitution, Reconstitution, and Leadership of the People's War. That framework has been adopted. It is within that framework that we address problems; that is the criterion that has guided us because, I repeat, it has already been sanctioned: Constitution, Reconstitution, 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 issues:
I. CONSTITUTION.
We raise the following issues:
- struggle for the constitution of the Party
We consider this point to be very important. First, our position on the fact that Mariátegui founded the Communist Party of Peru must be clear; We reject the idea that Ravinez founded it because historically that's not the case. It was Mariátegui himself who proposed changing the Party's name to the Communist Party of Peru. That was his proposal. However, he died, and Mariátegui's proposal was approved at a party meeting after his death. That's the problem. But the Party wasn't founded by Ravinez. That's not true.
To make the struggle clear, particularly against Haya de la Torre and his nascent APRA ideas. I'm not talking about the Aprista Party of Peru, which dates back to 1930 or 1931—they say they're older than us, that's not true. The APRA was founded, the ARPA, because that's how it is, it's an alliance, initially it was even ARPA, that's what it was called: ARPA, that was founded (in 1925 in Mexico ***), just because, that's the reality, with 5 points and it's over, what else is the famous alliance? - the Party (Peruvian Aprista) here was founded just back in 30. Well, we're only interested in Mariátegui's fight against the criteria and positions of Haya de la Torre; more so now, because they're not only saying that there's a Haya-Mariateguism, even putting Haya first, but they're even saying, at the height, Haya-Leninism, we can't allow that. I mean, it's a current, burning issue; what we want to take on are issues that serve us; we don't want a history that informs us, we want a weapon of struggle, that's why we take on issues, that's the reason.
- Well, a second problem within this first question would be: Mariátegui's role.
That's 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 since there is trafficking in Mariátegui, right? We can't allow it either, we can't allow, then, a PUM that traffics. So, it's a problem of the history of Marxism in Peru, of course; beyond that, it's a problem of new ideas in Peru, right? It's a problem of the class in Peru, it's not an unimportant thing, this must be made very clear.
- Another problem: abandonment of the line and opportunism
What do we want to see here? Not only that the line that Mariátegui established was done in struggle, but that his line was abandoned, it was denied, and where did all that lead?: opportunism. Scandalous examples: the bastardly electoralism of 1939, the frontism of 1945, when they said, "The thesis that elections should be used only for propaganda has expired; the program today is to win seats," are the exact words of the Party's own secretary, Jorge Acosta. Why do we use this, why do we need this problem? What does abandoning a line imply, and where does it lead? Historically, our Party demonstrates that it leads to opportunism, or not? 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, or not? Of course, our own history teaches us great lessons.
We believe we can address these three problems in the first part of the Constitution.
II Reconstitution
There we must address two problems:
- the fight against contemporary revisionism.
- the other problem: the Reconstitution of the Party. The Communist Party of Peru.
Why do we raise these two problems? It's linked to the above. Abandoning the just and correct Marxist-Leninist position of Mariátegui and its creative application in Peru, abandoning that line led to opportunism, and we sank into the mud. To get out of it, we had to wage a struggle against contemporary revisionism. Is it linked to the above or not? Opportunism sinks us; to save ourselves, we have to fight 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 collapse, it also tells us that by embracing Marxism and fighting revisionism, we develop, we get back on our feet, we get out of the mud. That is the reason for this problem.
And the Reconstitution, and why do we emphasize the Communist Party of Peru? Because it must be made abundantly clear that the Party exists. And it proves it because it has opened, in reality, with weapons in hand, with a vigorous people's war, the true and real path of the democratic revolution to seize power. This is demonstrated here, what the President says when he analyzes the experience of Russia, of old Russia, of the Bolshevik Party, and the experience of China, of the CCP, comparing it with India. He says: "Why is it that there was a revolution in old Tsarist Russia? Because there was a Party; why was there one in China? Because there was a Party; why isn't there one in India, given similar conditions as in China? Because there is no Party." So, this is another key problem, not only for us communists, but for fighting, then, in this country.
III. DIRECTION OF THE PEOPLE'S WAR.
Here, we address three problems:
- The beginning and development of the people's war. The people's guerrilla army and the New Power.
- The second problem: the Party and the current ideological dynamic. Combating revisionism as the main danger.
- The third problem: the Party's current task: leading the conquest of power throughout the country.
There are three problems. Well, it's connected to the previous one: we have a Party. Having a Party, what did we do? We began and developed the people's war. Without a Party, there is no beginning, nor is there a people's war. And what has that people's war given us? A people's guerrilla army; otherwise, such a war would not have been possible. 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 must be the new, with a brilliant perspective for the future. That is another problem. This must be made very clear.
The second, why do we address it? Because the class struggle is sharpening, there is polarization, the class struggle is intensifying in the world, there is polarization, there is great ideological conflict, it will develop, we are seeing how a revisionist offensive unfolds again, whether it is Albania, whether it is China as an imperialist power, whether it is the Soviet Union, an imperialist power or superpower vying for global hegemony; not only them, but also the imperialist powers, all of imperialism, all of global reaction is targeting Marxism, targeting Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, it is pretending that it has expired. All of this is shocking; it's what we call the current ideological dynamic, and we have to confront it. And that's the key: combat revisionism as the main danger, in the Party, in the country, in the world, against whoever it is, a tenth-order power, it doesn't matter to us, whether it's social-imperialism, it doesn't matter to us, whoever it is that aims against Marxism. Because the partners, then, collude and fight 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, equips 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 throughout the country, to complete the democratic revolution, and to move uninterruptedly toward the socialist revolution. Then, when the conditions are right, it will express itself and the great revolution or the proletarian cultural revolution will take place, whatever its magnitude, who knows, and that's how it will be set in motion.
So, we focus on problems that are weapons to combat. That's what we need, not a simple document that someone can read or inform themselves about; we're not interested in that. What matters is arming ourselves with our own experience, with our own problems, drawing our own lessons, positive or negative, whatever.
So, that's how we understand this problem of history.
We've discussed these issues many times, yes. There's a document, I think it's over 200 pages long, on the history of the Party. So, if the Congress agrees to do it this way, to address other issues, it will be feasible using that document, which is, I repeat, about 200 pages long. But we want a brief, clear, understandable document that the masses can handle, the proletariat, the people, obviously the communists, them first and foremost. We think about the type of militancy we have. What do we gain from a 300-page or 500-page tome? What do we gain? At least today we don't need it; perhaps tomorrow, well, who knows, if tomorrow conditions allow it to be so, then it will be so. But what do we need today? That's what we're asking ourselves. What do we need today? That the history of the Party, with its problems, should be another weapon of struggle. That's the idea. That's the idea that guides us in raising these kinds of problems. They could be these or others.
This is what the Bureau proposes as Problems of the History of the Party, in outline form. I repeat, the document already exists; we've discussed it many times. It won't be a major problem, then, 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 THE MASSES, ALL MIRACLES WILL BE FULFILLED!
HAVING THE PARTY, HAVING THE MASSES, ALL MIRACLES WILL BE FULFILLED!
HAVING THE PARTY, HAVING THE MASSES, ALL MIRACLES WILL BE FULFILLED!
(Applause)
NOTES:
(*) On October 7, 2020, we published part of this Document from the First Party Congress 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 full and recommend that you further your understanding of it by studying the Party's Military Line.
We reaffirm that this party document is a weapon of combat for communists, combatants, and the masses to complete the pending task of the general reorganization of the Party in and for the People's War in a fight to the death against revisionism, both from the revisionist and capitulationist ROL structured in the prisons with the support of the Yankee CIA-Peruvian reaction, and against that structured in the VRAE, both sworn enemies of Maoism and Gonzalo Thought, of Chairman Gonzalo, of the PCP, of the BUP, and of the People's War.
(**) It does not appear in the transcription of the document, so the ellipses of the original have been retained. (
***) The date and place have been completed by us where the ellipses were.