En relación a [CrashList] Why does Mark Jones Bait Jared Israel,
el 3 Mar 01, a las 19:37, [EMAIL PROTECTED] dijo:
> If we [dropped the Yugoslavia issue] now that the Serbian people are in
> their darkest hour what would it show? That we are wretched opportunists,
> who only care to persevere when those we write about have some power.
I think that there is an important lesson in the above. As a Latin American, I
am fed up with all those "friends" that spurt out of nowhere every time a
progressive or revolutionary government takes power in Latin America. These
people are basically interested in "revo touring", not in "revo acting", and
when things turn the sad face on us, they disappear as fast as they made their
appearance before.
This is, in fact, a generalized phenomenon in the West. China had to suffer it
(many of today's French right wing philosophers gestured as pro-Chinese after
1968), and the Soviets certainly DID suffer it.
Personally, I despise that crowd in a way I could not expose, in English
or in any other language. It is not only a matter of opportunism, as Jared
suggests. Perhaps some may imagine this a display of Latin American macho
thinking, but there is something so un-virile (in the Latin sens of "virtus",
which has nothing to do with gender), so slimy and cowardly, in such attitudes,
that it is also a matter of personal disgust.
What's more, these people never show up when a particular progressive or
revolutionary regime in the Third World is targeted by imperialism for
demonization. Perón, Vargas, Villarroel, Albizu Campos, and so many more were
true revolutionaries in Latin America who -alas- were not socialists. It was
not easy to defend them from imperialism. But it was an obligation. I have
never, never, never seen a single member of this true band of cheerleaders
assume their defense, even though some times they were lured into doing it.
My own political current, the Izquierda Nacional of Argentina, suffered some
degree of persecution under Peronism. We criticized the government every time
they committed a blunder (which were many), we even assumed a Cassandra-like
standing in 1955, before the coup of September, and warned that Perón was
doomed if he did not arm working class militiae (this was, in fact, a slap in
his face, he being basically a military man). But after the coup, when Peronism
was fallen down and -shame on them- most Argentinean leftists enjoyed in
kicking what they believed to be a dead carcass, we assumed the defense of
Peronism.
There is a classical phrase in Buenos Aires that we stick to: "al pibe lo
defiendo yo!" (_I_ am defending the kid!), which refers to the situation when a
defenseless child confronts a bully or a gang of bullies. I am convinced that
there is more revolutionary contents in that phrase than in the tons of
wastepaper that have been written in praise of victorious revolutions by this
gang of charlatans who never, never, never, stand out to defend a defeated one.
I share Jared's position, not only nor even particularly on the Yugoslav issue,
but as a rule for political (and if possible, personal) life: "Al pibe lo
defiendo yo!"
That is, as a tango runs, "los amigos se cotizan en las buenas y en las malas"
(friends are known in good times, and in bad times). Even if Jared were wrong
in his idea that further enlargement of NATO intervention in the Balkans is the
next act of the drama (a most reasonable perspective, taking into account that
the call for a Balkan Federation is linked to an _actually existing unity_),
his personal decission to support a fallen party which has been under direct
harassment from the West puts him on the good side. On my book at least.
Néstor Miguel Gorojovsky
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
_______________________________________________
CrashList website: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base
