Bolivian TUC leader signs deal with army chiefs

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one of the most explicit acts of rank treason in the postwar history of the workers' movement, Juan Lechin, general secretary of the Bolivian COB (TUC), has made a written pledge to the armed forces that the COB "will not seek a socialist government."

In return for this the armed forces have agreed not to stage a coup to oust the bourgeois regime of Lidia Gueiler.

This infamous pact far surpasses any other betrayals forged by the wretched Lechin who, in his 35-year career as a leading bureaucrat of one of the most militant proletarian forces of the world, has established a record that makes his European counterparts appear as mere novices.

The decision to capitulate on this, the central programmatic issue of the COB since its foundation in 1952, was taken without any reference whatsoever to the rank and file and marks yet another stage in Lechin's isolation from the working class, a process that has been accelerating since the attempted coup by Colonel Alberto Natusch last November.

Then Lechin was forced to call a general strike but managed to call it off after eleven days in favour of negotiations between the democratic sectors' (i.e. the bourgeois political parties) and the rebel soldiers.

However, the miners union (FSTMB) refused to heed the call to return to work, condemned the parliament as 'anti-worker' and continued their strike, which resulted in the removal of Natusch five iers fire on crowds in La Paz days later.

Since then the weakling, unelected Gueiler government has lived in daily crisis and constant threat of another 'hardline' coup.

By Christmas Natusch's senior colleagues had barged their way back to senior posts, twice openly staging preparations for a takeover.

The new Commander in Chief, General Luis Garcia Meza a close ally of Natusch, was said late last week to be ready to launch "a real pinochetazo" and tar supercede the 300 deaths resulting from the November coup when he was army. commander.

Garcia's clique held back because of the lack of 'international (ie. US) support' but they have put great effort into reinforcing the military-peasant pact that kept the army in power for most of the 1960s.

This was considered an absolute necessity in view of the growing radicalisation of the peasantry.

Last Monday the senior commander decided the best strategy would be to wait until 6 August, the date of the inauguration of the new president following the June elections, before taking power.

Rank and file organisation against the coup in the first four months of the year has been extensive and taken the form of the establishment of 'Committees in Defence of Democracy' throughout the country.

These committees have been set up to defend the constitutional democracy of the bourgeois parties but they pose a real threat to imperialism since they are organised on the basis of strike action, blockades and active physical resistance.

Accordingly, on the same day as Garcia and his cronies were reviewing the calendar for the best date to strike, the new US ambassador in La Paz, Marvin Weissman, had a private meeting with Lechin to try and find an acceptable compromise. There is no doubt that he got it.

By taking this step Lechin has not only suppressed the essence of the COB programme, he has also shown the military that the Bolivian working class is led by people ready to go to any length to avoid a confrontation-the 'gorilas' of the Miraflores barracks could not have hoped for better encouragement to take to their tanks.

Garcia made this absolutely clear when he went on to state blandly that 'civilians are incapable of ruling Bolivia'.

Of course the US and Gueiler are overjoyed at this unexpected bonus for it was only a few weeks ago that the biggest workers demonstration seen in La Paz since the 1952 Revolution made a mass protest at the murder of Luis Espinal, the editor of the left-wing paper Aqui, by Garcia's death squad.

The strength of this mobilisation had impressed the army and frightened the bourgeois politicos.

It should also have served as a warning to Lechin that the working class will not suffer traitors.

As author of this flagrant capitulation, as a time-serving ally of the bourgeoisie and collaborator in the imperialist designs for "constitutional democracy" Lechin must be purged from the COB and the FSTMB along with all his lackeys.

The interests of the proletariat are directly opposed to those of bourgeois democracy and the working class must build its offensive against the forces of the right on the basis of a revolutionary programme that rejects any proposition of a popular front with the capitalists which, in whatever guise, is the quickest and surest road to a massive and bloody defeat.