Argentina: The FIT-U and its dilemmas. For a great assembly that decides everything
BySergio Garcia
The country's political and economic crisis, ongoing social struggles and the proximity of national elections accelerate all political debates. There are moments of uncertainty in the capitalist parties, in the "red circle" and nobody knows how the result of the PASO or the general ones will be.
Political debates also exist in the FIT-U, the political unity front of the left, which is a great achievement that we all have to take care of and defend. That is why we propose a great militant assembly that debates and decides everything in the face of the upcoming elections., to strengthen ourselves in a massive event, protagonist and open to social referents, intellectuals and friendly organizations that support the FIT-U and participate in our lists.
Regrettably, instead of debating proposals, our front is experiencing a crisis that prevents us from acting together when it is most needed. like every crisis, it could be an opportunity to change and improve if correct conclusions were drawn. Unfortunately, until today there are none., but the continuity of a wrong course plus alleged hegemonisms that divide.
old and new problems
as we said many times, the FIT-U has many positive things and also important origin problems, that today are combined with a leap in a course of electoral adaptation and pretended hegemonism, of the PTS colleagues.
The problems of origin come from the previous formation of the FIT and it is the shared responsibility of the parties that gave it the electoral character at the front without ever proposing anything better or deeper., we have marked it again and again and we will continue to do so. The limit of being only an electoral front conditions the intervention of the front, fragment forces, does not allow joint response to major events, does not strengthen the entire militant force acting in the class struggle, nor does it open its doors to other referents of the social or independent left. It wastes the opportunity to act solidly in a colossal crisis of the capitalist regime, by not intervening jointly at all levels of the political and social struggle, nor have a permanent operation where everything is debated and decided democratically. The final result of not ceasing to be just an electoral front is to reach the elections without having political unity for the electoral struggle either..
Adding a new and important problem, We are witnessing a leap in the most electoralist course and in the hegemonic claim of the PTS, just when in terms of militants and social integration it does not exactly show progress, but a strong structural weakness in the labor movement where it does not play leadership roles anywhere. Something similar happens in the student movement and while dragging years of complete misunderstanding of the piquetero movement, process that looks from afar with abstentionism and absence of this fight.
Located like this and needed to excel in the electoral field, goes too far in an electoral course and in seeking sympathy in the base of Kirchnerism, at the cost of not holding their leader responsible in the face of enormous acts of corruption under his government, adding to the discourse of the ban that agitates spokesmen for Peronism. It intends to shield this policy by highlighting the importance of denouncing the judicial castes, which of course must be denounced and confronted, but without capitulating to those who were the government and developed enormous acts of corruption. The same in the face of the suspension of elections in San Juan and Tucumán, where the Supreme Court and its ruling must be strongly denounced., but putting at the same level the complaint that the eternal candidates of the PJ should not present themselves anymore, since an independent position is to unmask with the same force both the Court related to the right-wing opposition and the PJ and its candidates and regimes that are perpetuated to adjust more. The PTS in general prioritizes and gives more force to the complaint to the Court, for the same wrong reasons.
Along with these political errors and other similar ones that leave the FIT-U with a more lukewarm position in the face of a reality that needs the opposite, In the electoral debates, the comrades of the PTS also intend to place our front in a more closed position: that the other parties of the front support a presidential formula made up only of his party with Bregman and Del Caño. And from there, They also want a hegemonic criterion to be applied in other places of importance. Nobody who honestly wants a strong Left Front, unitary and open in the dissemination of all ideas and references, cannot support a closed and monolithic formula or a general framework that represents a single voice and a single idea, to the detriment of the others.
This hegemonism and lack of unitary vocation was expressed in the closing of the PASO lists in Santa Fe, where they came to just one meeting of the FIT-U to say that they would not come to any other if PO did not criticize himself of his political positions, something out of place, because asking for self-criticism is not a healthy method, debates exist and everyone develops their positions. And specifically, they did not come anymore nor did they call any meeting or make any proposal, and thus there are two lists of the FIT-U in the PASO of this province; a unitary of the MST and the PO, and another from the PTS that added some IS comrades that are functional to that hegemonism.
What is wrong with that policy is also expressed in the struggles, in some, such as the piquetero movement by direct absence. and in others, for giving a recent example in the important nursing struggle of CABA, The PTS sent only a couple of militants to the last mobilization and with the sole task of publicizing the actions of the struggle calling for a vote for Bregman-Del Caño. To this degree of electoralism reduce your intervention in this important sector. We do not consider this way of acting casual in sectors of workers, since in general they have a wrong policy of dividing and attacking new anti-bureaucratic leaderships in the labor movement, as they do in the Garraham, in ALE and in other health sectors. The same logic has also led them to divide lists unnecessarily as in Sutna and before in teachers from Neuquén, for recalling two other examples that exist to his credit. Ultimately sectarian divisiveness in the labor movement, electoralism in politics and hegemonic attempts are all part of a political and union orientation that is opposed to a healthy worker and socialist method.
The FIT-U that we defend in the PASO
We are facing a problem: although the best is a unitary list, it is very far from that possibility. And this problem is not resolved by accepting an electoral course or one-party proposals, that are not even put to debate democratically with the militant base and sympathizers of the front. We do not support this course because it would weaken the FIT-U and question its future existence., since the front exists because it is independent at all levels of all capitalist forces, be progressive or far right, and it exists on the basis that no one wants to assume a disproportionate and unreal political representation that makes the representations and ideas of others invisible.
The Left Front needs solid and alternative political proposals against all other fronts and candidacies deploying our anti-capitalist and socialist program. You need to have a common strategy on the process of struggles beyond the elections, needs at the same time unitary proposals, summoners, open, no more closed and one-party political visions. And this has nothing to do with survey data or what would be the best result in an election, but with politically understanding how negative the result of a front that does not open up to more voices would be, every time he wants to reflect less and monopolize more.
If there is a crisis and a horizon to go to the STEP in different lists, is due to political debates where there are clear differences, combined with hegemonic pretensions and the lack of an open and democratic debate with all the militancy and the thousands of sympathizers who support us.
Our proposal
For all this on May 1 in the closing speech of Cele Fierro, we develop two central ideas; a strengthening of the FIT-U, overcoming its character as an electoral front for something much deeper, a debate that is key in the medium and long term. Our other proposal was to resolve the political and electoral debate by calling a great militant assembly so that thousands of workers and young people could debate and decide everything; politics, the type of campaign and the candidacies. A great assembly of all the militancy of the FIT-U open to social referents, intellectuals, sympathizers of the front, friendly organizations. A great assembly with real participation, decision and collective debate. Last Wednesday, at the conference to launch his candidacy for governor of Buenos Aires, our colleague Alejandro Bodart reaffirmed the need to convene this democratic event that puts everything up for debate and decides with the leadership of thousands.
There are a few weeks left until the date of presentation of alliances, where the FIT-U has to present its own and know with which list(s) it will intervene in the STEP. And within the framework of the divergences raised, there is no possibility of a common list unless a frank and democratic debate is opened where the whole of the militancy intervenes. I hope all this is reflected on and no one refuses to allow a real debate.
Unfortunately it doesn't seem like that, since in a recent article Guillo Pistonesi from the leadership of the PTS (*) just rejected any kind of event and democratic assembly saying: “We do not agree to call a “congress” or “assembly” where we should put our program and candidacies under the suffrage of comrades in struggle who do not necessarily agree with the political orientation of the FIT-U. In the PTS there is a permanent deliberation of all the militancy and those who voluntarily participate in our open assemblies, who are the ones who democratically vote for the program and the candidacies that best represent them”. A defensive and erroneous argument that does not explain why that same militancy cannot come to debate together with the militancy of the other FIT-U parties and with our supporters. what is the fear? Why not put together all the political ideas and pre-candidacies for debate? Why not listen to what they have to provide social references, intellectuals, friendly organizations? Why can't the entire FIT-U deliberate together? Is it for fear that other ideas or candidacies will gain more weight in reality or in a massive event?? The reality is that the PTS comrades have decided a long time ago to run their own campaign for their own candidates.. For that policy that divides they decide to reject any democratic instance and a deep and real debate.
We will continue the days that have been insisting on our unitary proposal and summoning the FIT-U parties that want a front with a perspective of strengthening unity in the struggles, independent of all capitalist variants, without mistaken hegemonisms, without an electoral character and with a democratic and truly unitary method to form the lists, for us to act together in this decisive political fight not only for these elections, but for the future. And we summon thousands of supporters of the FIT-U, to friendly organizations, to referents who support us in each election, to intellectuals and labor leaders, social, environmental, of gender and human rights with whom we share struggles on a daily basis to collaborate in this challenge, contributing to strengthen a united and strong course in the Front of Izquierda Unidad.
(*) Controversy. The STEP of the Partido Obrero, published in La Izquierda Diario
