but is here in our nry own beckyard.
It is interesting to note that despite the violinen and by the usual standares of a gaggle of bishops offensive nature of much of the film, many anctions of the Catholic hierarchy have give it a friendly reception. This is due to more CANO TRISH SHEET ISI CRIS church membership. Despite its silliness, the film makes an impect. And its underreactionary 'activists' who are currently emerging from all corners of the Church is not a difficult task, Like cheap, horrar an epic struggle between the uncontrollable film vamoines they have to take fliaht ar the first cold light of day. Even the briel. est examination of the horrors unleashed by US imperialiem in Vietnam, on of the effects of twenty yours labour in a coal mine, should be enaugh to put paid to their mystic rubbish. This worldthe world created by a capitalist system which seeks sport in turn iron the Church which trained Blatty and the military who employed him-stands condemned out of its own mouth.
That is why revolutionaries can take their stand on the highest levels attained by humon knowledg whi e capitslis has to crawi on its belly back to the 18th its existence.
Dear Comrades, Crabe.
The "Exarcism' of Blarty and his ilk Tial proletariat alone L.F.Holley, Bath.
Dear Comrades, Britain and elsewhere Socialist Revolation, parties. 1 thoroughly agree with your article on Chile Uniting the Resistance', but I have one point to You mention "the leadership of the proletariat of the towns and countryside. I would like to question if there are any agricultural proletarians in Chile now, (1 will say I think the term peasants is worse and meant often to be misleading.)
As I understand it, the one thing the wretched Allende Government did successfully was to carry out the bourgeois land reform flunked by the previous Christian Democrat "Alliance for Progress' government.
It this is so, and the fascists have not dared unleash a counter-revolution in the countruside then wou d question that there are any agricul tural proletarians in Chile or any peasants, bot there are tanners owning their own land, and therefore the leadership of the Revolution should depend on the urban industYour centre-page spread on Chile (Red Weekly, 5 April 1974) is utterly wrong a diversion, not a Marxist analysis-and must be rejec ted outright by the working class in To say that the deleat of Allende's Government was not a defeat for the working class, has also to be rejected. Because the overthrow of Allende and the killing of thousands of workers and peasants by the army, wlien millions of workers were imprisoned and tortured by the janta, was a. deleat for the Chilean working class As Marxists, you showd know that unity is the highest point of the In other words, not until the Socialist Revolution bas been uchiesed cun one speak of unity.
You also say in the centre-page spread on Chile that a united strueture is being established which would comprise the various different parties of Popular Unity and MIR.
To say that tlus step was correct and totally justified is wrong, it capitulates to Popular Frouts, Christian Democests, and bourgeois which, naturally, we're in faroor)? Just how are we going to win over to our side the masses of warkers who belong no support, or are under the idcological Influence of offer working class orgunisations (such as the Communist and Social ist parties in Chile!
Well it's quite simple, really -by working with them, pushing their organisations into united actions, and showing in practice, through struggle, that mur politics offer a way forward while those of the other organisations lead only to a dead end.
Bocause if one is really serious about beilding a revolutionary party (and the Fourth International is, in Chile as elsewhere), then one must also be serious about one's politics. That means being prepared to put them to the test in strug B messag we up alast soon or to other organisations and inviting comparis ons as to theit ability to take the working clus forward in struggle.
It is only the sectarian who fights shy of sach a comparison, who las so little confidence in his own politics that he sees only 'capitulation' as the result of contact with other organisations, and therefore rejects united action in favour of building a party which is merely a shell for his owe bankruptey.
On his sabaldiary point, comrade Graham is of course entirely correctthe onerthrow of Popular Unity by the military obviously did mark a defeat For the working class. The assertion appar ently contrary to this appears in the Freacht translation of a statement origanally Issued in Spanish by the MIK. which we regretlably copied in turn.
In fact, the intention of the statement a see Do De merely to empasts that the reversal suffered hy reformster was much greater than that suffered by the working class movement as a whole It was quoted in order to expinin that while the coup certainly was a shattering blow for reformism, one shoukd not dis count the possibility of its revival, given the deep historical roots of reformist policies in the worker movement in Comrade Holley is, of course, currect Do point out that the Allende Government implemented to the full the agrarian reform law passed by the previous ChrisHowever this law of necessity reflec ted its origins. le provided for the expropriation of land in exons of a certain area ommed by a single individual or hushand and wite. This area was fixed as the equivalent of 80 "basic" heetures-se the equivalent of 80 hectares (200 acres) of the bestirrusted sod in the sic min of the capital city.
When we realise that the largest single group in the countryside-making up 35% of the rural population and some 705 of all landowners-were small holders with less thun 5 basic hectures then the Hancations of the retorm ate obvious.
In some areas of the country, and on some types of land the setsa! equivalent landholding nermithed could be 20 or 30 Bines the basic Digure Moreover many bie landowners were able to exploit a Joopbole in the law and register part of their land holdings in the names of other members of their family, while continuing to work them as a single farming aperation Mid-way through the Allende reform, landless labourers-cither permanent or