than on other continents. They are linked by language, customs, religion, and the same master. The degree and the forms of exploitation are similar in their effect on exploiters and exploited in a good part of the countries of our America. And rebellion is ripening apace in it.

We might ask: This rebellion, how will it blossom? What kind will it be? For a long time we have argued that because of similar characteristics the struggle in America will, at the proper moment, acquire continental dimensions. America will be the scene for many big battles sought by mankind for its liberation.

In the framework of that struggle of continental scope, the struggles currently being waged in an active manner are mere episodes, but they have already provided martyrs who will figure in American history as having contributed their share of the blood needed in this final phase of the struggle for man's complete freedom. That history will feature the names of Maj. Turcios Lima, Father Camilo Torres, Maj. Fabricio Ojeda, Majors Lobaton and Luis de la Puente Uceda, central figures in the revolutionary movements of Guatemala, Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru.

But the active mobilization of the people creates new leaders. Cesar Montes and Yon Sosa have used the standard in Guatemala, Fabio Vazquez and Marulanda in Colombia, Douglas Bravo in the west and Americo Martin in the Bachiluer area command their respective fronts in Venezuela.

Fresh outbursts of war will arise in these and other American countries, as has already occurred in Bolivia, and they will continue to grow with all the vicissitudes involved in this dangerous business of a modern revolutionary. Many will die, the victims of their errors. Others will fall in the difficult combat that is approaching. New fighters and new leaders will emerge in the heat of the revolutionary struggle. The people will mould their fighters and their guides within the selective fremework of the war itself, and the Yankee agents of repression will increase.

Today there are advisers in all the countries where the armed struggle is being waged, and apparently the Peruvian Army staged a successful drive against the revolutionaries of that country. That army is also advised and trained by the Yankees. However, with sufficient political and military dexterity, they will become practically invincible, and it will be necessary to send more Yankees. In Peru itself, with tenacity and firmness, new persons, not fully known, are reorganizing the guerrilla warfare. Little by little the obsolete weapons satisfactory for the repression of small armed groups will be converted into modern weapons and the groups of advisers into U.S. fighters, until, at a given moment, they will be obliged to send increasing numbers of regular troops to insure the relative stability of a power whose national puppet army is disintegrating before the fuerrilla forces.

That is the path of Vietnam; that is the path which the peoples must pursue; it is the course which America will follow with the special characteristic that the armed groups may be able to create something like coordination boards to make Yankee imperialism's repressive task more difficult and to facilitate their own

cause.

America, a continent which was forgotten by the recent political liberation struggles, but which is beginning to make itself felt through the tricontinental in the voice of the vanguard of its peoples, that is, the Cuban revolution, will have a much more important task: that of creating the second or third Vietnam, or the second and third Vietnam in the world.

In conclusion, it must be realized that imperialism is a world system, the last stage of capitalism, and that it must be beaten in a great international confrontation. The strategic goal of this struggle must be the destruction of imperalism. Our share of the task, that of the exploited and backward nations of the world, is to destroy imperialism. Supply bases: our oppressed nations from where it obtains capital, raw materials, technology, and cheap labor, and to where it exports fresh capital-the instruments of domination, weapons and all types of articles, plunging us into total dependency.

The basic element in this strategic goal will be, then, the true liberation of the peoples; a liberation that will take place, by means of an armed struggle in most cases, and that, in America, will almost unfailingly possess the property of becoming a socialist revolution. In considering the destruction of imperialism, its leader must be identified, which is none other than the United States of North America. We must wage a general type action whose tactical goal will be to draw the enemy out of its surroundings, forcing it to fight in places where its living habits clash with the actual situation. The adversary must not-repeat-not be underestimated; the U.S. soldier has technical know-how and is backed by means 81-062 0-67—6

of frightening magnitude. What it essentially lacks is the ideological motivationthat its bitterest rivals of today-the Vietnamese soldiers-possess to a maximum degree. We can only triumph over that army to the extent that we manage to reduce its morale. Its morale is undermined by inflicting defeats and repeated sufferings on it.

But this little outline of victories involves tremendous sacrifices by the peoples, sacrifices that must be demanded as of now, openly, and which may perhaps be less painful than the ones they would have to make if we were constantly to refuse battle in hopes that others would pull our chestnuts out of the fire.

Of course the last country to obtain freedom will probably do so without an armed struggle, and that people will be spared the suffering of a long war, as cruel as the imperialists wage it. But it may be impossible to avoid that struggle or its effects in a world conflict and the suffering might be just as bad or even worse. We cannot predict the future, but we must never yield to the cowardly temptation to be the standard bearers of a people that longs for freedom but shirks the struggle involved and awaits freedom like a crumb of victory.

It is absolutely correct to avoid all unnecessary sacrifice. That is why it is so important to clear up the actual possibilities that dependent Latin America has for freeing itself peacefully. For us, the answer to that question is clear. The present may or may not-repeat-not be the moment indicated for beginning the struggle. But we cannot harbor any illusions, nor have we any right to do so, about attaining freedom without fighting.

And the battles will not-repeat-not be mere street fighting with stones against tear gas, or peaceful general strikes; nor will it be the struggle of an enraged people that in 2 or 3 days destroys the repressive structure of the ruling oligarchies. It will be a long, fierce struggle, in which your fronts will be the guerrilla refuges, the cities, the fighters' homes-where easy victims from their families will be sought out-rural populations massacred, villages or towns destroyed by enemy bombing.

We are driven to that struggle; there is no recourse but to prepare it and resolve to undertake it. The beginnings will not-repeat-not be easy; they will be extremely hard. The oligarchies will place their full capacity for repression and brutality and demagoguery at the service of their cause. Our mission in the first hour is to survive. After that will come the eternal example of guerrilla warfare effecting armed propaganda as the Vietnamese understand the term, that is, the propaganda of bullets, of battles that are won or lost but are fought against the enemy; the great lesson of guerrilla warfare invincibility taking hold of the disinherited masses;.

The galvanizing of the national spirit, the preparation for harder tasks, for resisting more violent repression; hatred as a factor in the struggle; instransigent hatred of the enemy that pushes a man beyond natural human limits and makes him an efficient, violent, selective, cold machine for killing. Our soldiers must be like that; a people without hate cannot defeat a brutal enemy.

The war must be taken to where the enemy takes it-to his home, to his places of recreation; make it all-out. He must be kept from having a minute's peace, a minute's rest outside of his barracks or even inside them; he must be attacked wherever he may be; he must be made to feel like a beast at bay everywhere he goes. Then his morale will drop. He will become still more bestial, but signs of wear will begin to appear.

And let real proletarian internationalism be developed, with international proletarian armies, where the banner under which the fight is waged is the sacred cause of mankind's_redemption, so that dying under the flag of Vietnam, Venezuela, Guatemala, Laos, Guinea, Colombia, Bolivia, or Brazil-to mention only the current scenes of fighting-will be equally glorious and attractive for an American, an Asian, an African, or even a European.

Every drop of blood shed on a territory under whose flag one was not born is experience that is utilized by the survivor later in the struggle to liberate his land of origin. And each people that is freed represents a phase won in the battle for the liberation of one's own people.

Now is the time to reduce our differences and to make an all-out effort in the service of the struggle. We know that the world, which is struggling for freedom is stirred by great controversies, and we cannot hide that fact. We also know that they have acquired a nature and bitterness which makes a dialog and reconciliation appear difficult, if not-repeat—not impossible. It is useless to seek methods to begin a dialog which the contending parties reject, but the enemy is there. It strikes every day and threatens fresh blows, and those blows will unite us, today, tomorrow, or the day after. Those who realize this sooner and prepare for this necessary unity will have the gratitude of the people.

In view of the virulence and stubborn attitudes with which each cause is defended, we, the dispossed, cannot advocate one way or the other of expressing differences, even though at times we agree with the arguments of one side or the other, or with those of one side more than with those of the other. In time of struggle, the manner in which the present differences become evident constitutes a weakness; however, in the condition in which these differences are, it is illusory to think that they can be settled with words. History will erase them or provide a true explanation.

In our world at war, anything that smacks of differences on tactics, a method of action to obtain limited goals, must be analyzed with the respect due to the views of others. As for the great strategic objective-the total destruction of imperialism by means of comabt, there we must be instransigent.

Let us thus unite our wishes for victory: The destruction of imperialism by abolishing its strongest bulwark, which is the imperialist domination by the United States of America. We must adopt as our tactical function, the gradual liberation of the peoples, one by one or by groups, forcing the enemy into a difficult struggle away from its home ground, destroying its supply bases, which are its dependent territories.

That means a long war, and we repeat once again, a cruel war. Let no one deceive himself when he goes to start it and let nobody hesitate about starting it for fear of the consequences for his people. It is almost the sole hope for victory. We cannot evade the call of the hour. We learn this from Vietnam, with its permanent lession of heroism, its tragic daily lesson of battle and death in order to achieve final victory. There, imperialism's soldiers meet with the discomfort of those accustomed to the standard of living enjoyed in the United States and now obliged to face a hostile land, the insecurity of not-repeat-not being able to move without feeling that he is treading on enemy soil, the death that greets those who go beyond their fortified redoubts, the permanent hostility shown by the entire population.

All this is causing a reaction inside the United States. It is bringing out a factor that has been attenuated by imperialism, in its full strength-class warfare even inside its own territory.

How shining and near could we see the future if two, three, or many Vietnams flourished on the face of the earth, with their quota of death and their great tragedies, their daily heroism, their repeated blows dealt imperialism, the obligation for the latter to disperse its forces, under the blast of growing hatred from the peoples of the world. And if we were all capable of uniting so that our blows would be more solid and better delivered, so that every kind of aid to peoples engaged in fighting would be still more effective, how great the future would be, And how near!

If our lot-we who on a small point on the map of the earth are doing the duty we preach and are placing at the disposal of the struggle what little we are able to give: Our life, our sacrifice-is to give up the ghost one of these days in some land, now ours, watered with our blood, let it be known that we have considered the scope of our actions and that we consider ourselves only as elements in the great army of the proletariat; but we are proud of having learned from the Cuban revolution and its great supreme leader the great lesson that is derived from their stand in this part of the world: "What matter the dangers or sacrifices incurred by a man or a people when the destiny of mankind is at stake?"

All our action is a war cry against imperialism and a clamor for the unity of peoples against the great enemy of human kind: The United States of North America. Wherever we are surprised by death, it will be welcome provided this war cry of ours has reached a receptive ear and another hand reaches to take up our weapons and other men prepare to sound the funeral dirge with the rattle of machine gun fire and new shots of war and victory.

CHE.

Havana Domestic Service in Spanish 1100 GMT, April 19, 1967-F (Headline: "Latin American Leaders Hail Che Guevara's Victory Message"): The official organ of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), Granma, has published a number of statements by revolutionary representatives of Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Guatemala, Uruguay, and Mexico, hailing Che Guevara's historic message and expressing unconditional support for the points enunciated in it. Comrade Silvia Moreno of Venezuela said that Che's message sets forth important definitions for Latin America, particularly for honey revolutionaries who will be utterly unmasked.

Aluizio Palhana of Brazil said that the whole document is an invaluable contribution to the revolutionary movement in Latin America and the world.

Oscar Edmundo Palma of Guatemala highlighted the importance of Guevara's message not-repeat-not only because of the thorough study it makes of the essential problems of the revolutionary movement but also because of its vigorous accusation against the growing domination by Yankee imperialism in our countries.

Similar feelings are expressed by comrade leaders Jesus Maza of Peru, Manuel Cepeda of Colombia, Daniel Nolina of Mexico, J. Martinez and O. Cabrera of Uruguay. They said: Che Guevara's message has come as a herald of struggle and victory in the sake of the dying echoes of the Punta Del Este Conference.

LASO STATEMENTS CONCERNING GUEVARA MESSAGE

Havana Prensa Latina in Spanish 1745 GMT, April 19, 1967-E

HAVANA, APRIL 19-The members of the Organizing Committee of the First Conference of the Latin American Solidarity Organization (LASO) have issued a statement saluting the recent message from Maj. Ernesto Guevara, addressed to all the peoples of the World. "To create two, three, many Vietnams is the goal. This phrase, in our view, summarizes the problem posed by 'Che' in his article," said Venezuelan Silvia Moreno.

Jesus Maza, of Peru, said that "Major Guevara is neither dead nor a legend. His always real presence is today, after his message, felt everywhere in the contemporary scene of our liberation wars.

For his part, the Colombian delegate, Manuel Cepeda has declared that "the proposals contained in his message attract the attention of an awakening continent, contributing to the universal fence being raised around the enemy of mankind. U.S. imperialism.

Aluizio Palhano, of Brazil, has said that Ernesto Guevara's document constitutes "an incalculable contribution to the Latin American revolutionary movement."

Similarly J. Martinez and O. Cabrera, Uruguayan representatives, have declared that "his militant word is multiplying the hopes of the peoples and the fear of our oppressors. How could we not applaud the revolutionary intransigence 'Che' Guevara transmits to all of us?"

Finally, the Mexican delegate, Daniel Molina, has stated that "the appearance of the first document from Ernesto 'Che' Guevara has filled all the revolutionaries of the world with profound enthusiasm. Interpreting the feelings and the actions of the revolutionaries of my country, I say, with sincere and worthy emotion: 'We are always with you, Major, to victory.'

APPENDIX III

STATEMENTS ON CONFERENCE BY LASO LEADERS

GUATEMALA-FRANCISCO MARROQUIN

Havana in Spanish to the Americas 1600 GMT, February 7, 1967—E

(Excerpts) in Cuba, the campaign of solidarity with the Guatemalan people has included several functions in which Cubans have expressed their complete identification with the struggle being waged by their Guatemalan brothers for national liberation. (Passage omitted.)

Francisco Marroquin, representative in Cuba of the Guatemalan rebel armed forces, spoke at the main function held at the Guatemala Sugar Central, formerly owned by United Fruit, Marroquin said: "Our revolution does not-repeatnot involve the polls. Our decision is to fight with our weapons in our hands, with the firm intention of winning or dying for Guatemala." (Passage omitted.)

VENEZUELA-SILVIA MORENO

Havana in Spanish to the Americas 1600 GMT, February 7, 1967-E

Silvia Moreno, a Venezuelan revolutionary leader, has declared, in Pinar Del Rio Province, "Just as imperialism brings its forces together, the revolutionaries must unite in a common front." Silvia Moreno is a representative of the revolutionary movements of Venezuela to the Latin American Solidarity Organization (LASO). The young Venezuelan woman was speaking during a function in Pinar Del Rio held as part of the activities throughout Cuba with a view to the forthcoming LASO conference in Havana in June.

GUATEMALA-OSCAR PALMA

Havana in Spanish to the Americas 2020 GMT, February 6, 1967-E

HAVANA, FEBRUARY 6.-"Guatemala: 5 Years of Armed Struggle," is the headline of an article by Oscar Edmundo Palma, the representative in Cuba of the Guatemalan Workers Party (PGT) which appeared today in the Havana morning paper Granma, Organ of the Cuban Communist Party.

On the occasion of the world campaign in solidarity with the Guatemalan people which is being held today in response to an appeal by the Afro-AsianLatin American Peoples Solidarity Organization (AALAPSO), Palma reviews the liberation struggle which began in Guatemala on February 6, 1962.

He said that the youths who took part in the army rebellion against the Ydigoras Fuentes' tyranny, on November 13, 1960 "Have the historical merit of having opened the real path of the Guatemalan revolution."

Palma adds: "Since then the armed struggle in Guatemala has been the essence of the revolution," and its main objective is the conquest of power for the people by means of a profound and prolonged war combining all forms of struggle "So as to abolish the burden of centuries of exploitation and oppression by the oligarchy and imperialism and to build a new society.'

The article goes on to say that the Guatemalan guerrillas surmounted their initial setbacks. It reports that the Edgar Ibarra front, which was founded and led by the unforgettable Maj. Turcios Lima and is now under the leadership of Maj. Cesar Montes, is operating in the heart of the Sierra De Las Minas. This front is operating under the banners of the rebel armed forces (FAR), which is a "political-military organization whose role is to direct the people's revolutionary Emphasizing that the guerrilla forces have established themselves firmly over a wide area in the mountains, and have dealt severe blows to the Guatemalan

war."