⇱ Index page

The Internationalist Archive

Gladys Marín (1941-2005) was a Chilean teacher and activist. Standing out for her political activism since joining the Communist Youth of Chile, she went on to become president and general secretary of the Communist Party of Chile, as well as a member of parliament. She was exiled from the country in 1973 and returned clandestinely in 1978, fighting tirelessly for the reestablishment of democracy and the investigation of crimes perpetrated during the dictatorship.

For The Internationalist's issue #138, according to Marín, "this letter was written in the early days of June 1974, when I spent eight months in the Dutch Embassy, and it is the letter that I wish had reached the hands of my comrades and friends, especially the young communists, before leaving Chile."

This speech was translated into English by Cleiton Carvalhal Nunes, Maria Teresa Stefani, Lindsey Sidebottom and the Open Language Initiative.

Dear comrades and friends:

I get the feeling (from the news and rumblings of the Junta (Union)) that the departure time is near. Even if that weren’t the case, and we still had hours, days, or weeks left to wait, I’d still want to say goodbye. This departure is a decisive moment, so joyful and moving.

It's not just one more departure. When ashes rain down upon our people, when there is blood, misery and pain in the vast majority of Chilean homes, when strength, dignity and organization move forward silently but decisively, when Chile is on the lips of millions of honorable men across the earth, it’s my worldly duty to say goodbye with joy, as we go into exile to provide support to the task of victoriously defeating the fascist Junta that today has such a stranglehold on our country.

It's been 9 months since the assassination of President Allende, since the assassination of the freedom and justice that had just begun to flourish in Chile.

It’ll soon be a year that I’ve been away from you and my loved ones. I left on July 15th for the X World Festival of Youth and Students in Berlin, capital of the GDR[1],  carrying in my memory the great farewell event for the Chilean delegations that took place in Caupolicán. At that event, we warned, at the insistence of our Party and the UP, about the danger of a fascist coup. We took Neruda's message that "Chile needs bread, water and your solidarity." If I'm not mistaken, that was the last time Neruda wrote a public statement before the fascist coup.

And even if it weren't, the youth of the world still have a great historical, political, and moral legacy from the militant poet Pablo Neruda. Why do I say this, especially to you, comrades of the Communist Youth? Firstly, because you know me, and you know that together we grew in our awareness, in our understanding of our ideology, in our affection and respect for our Party, in our attempt to be nothing more than that, communists. And with that, our shared work, consultation, discussions, healthy and timely criticism, and adherence to our principles made us good comrades and brothers. It's because we belong to a tree trunk that is made of good-quality wood! A pure Araucaria tree.

Yes, a green and strong araucaria tree—that is the Party. Nine months have passed, and it feels like just yesterday that we saw each other for the last time. It’s amazing how time feels so short, even though the hours are longer than usual here. But I will leave, and my feet will never grow tired of walking a thousand streets, bringing this new message of liberation. I leave, very happy and very proud to live having gone through the Amaranto[2] school, with a strong desire to immerse myself in the daily battle.

If Víctor Jara died singing for us all, his song was love for life, an impulse to dry away the tears from so many faces and to be able to sing again in the full light of the sun.

They wanted to annihilate us all, and for those of us who survived, they wanted our hearts to grow old. No, comrades, never! It’s part of our duty in the struggle to preserve our strength and our joy, and to face the future with confidence and optimism.

The tears that we shed on occasion watered our convictions. Now that I envision my departure, I have many ideas bubbling up in my mind. I want to convey to them, should they have any value.

Things move so fast. It is a new international framework in which our Antifascist Front grows. The solidarity shown with the Chilean people is an unprecedented historical feat, thanks to its dimension and speed. The experience of our victory and defeat opens up new paths for the international revolutionary movement. It must be detailed.

If we look at the general course of events and their final outcome from a historical perspective, what was once a negative thing becomes the opposite. Because there is no doubt that we will return to government, bigger and stronger, which will truly make the process irreversible. To achieve the maximum reach, we must carefully consider the position of each class and political force with respect to the Junta. The slightest inconsistency between groups, divisions, and people must be exploited.

Today, we must dedicate all the necessary time and effort to our cohesion as an organization, as Popular Unity, and as an anti-fascist front. The main thing (we will never tire of repeating) is the organization of the masses. This is what is required in order to triumph. "Without organization, the action of millions of beings is impossible. All success is impossible," said Lenin.

Today, new conditions are being created for the working classes who gather very diverse forces and layers around themselves. And while they may not be in complete agreement on the final objectives (some are for socialism, others not), they are united in the fight for human rights, for public freedom and for the return to democracy. The unity of the forces that present themselves in the anti-fascist front may be absolute in one aspect, but not in all. That is why it is so important to remove all the traces of sectarianism or narrow-mindedness from ourselves that prevent or weaken all the rich possibilities for action.

The fascist Junta cannot go beyond repression, no matter how brutal it may be. But it cannot annihilate an entire people. For our part, we have an enormous task ahead of us. We are no longer alone, and we’re not the same as we were yesterday. The basis of the anti-fascist struggle has become infinitely broader.

The confidence in victory that we must instill in the masses is a confidence that comes not only from the knowledge of society’s historical development, but also from the experience of other people. "The great wars of history, the great tasks of revolutions, were decided purely because the advanced classes repeated their attacks over and over again, achieving victory learned from the experience of defeats". What a great opportunity the younger generation has! This joyful and noisy youth that has today suddenly matured to contribute to Chile's liberation. The Chilean youth, which was one of the pillars of victory and which contributed creatively and consciously to the defense of the People's Government, today plays and will continue to play, an increasingly important role for liberation, alongside the working classes.

Fascists know the value of this youth educated in the best traditions of the popular movement. That's why they were taught it. They tried to annihilate a generation. How many young people between 14 and 30 were arrested, and tortured? How many are prosecuted by military tribunals in wartime? How many are in concentration camps? How many are dead? We don't have the exact number, but there are tens of thousands. Just look at the FACH[3] case, where young people aged 16 and 18 are prosecuted "for endangering the integrity of the Armed Forces and the Nation”. Look at the faces of most of those in Chacabuco and Pisagua and see how young they are. Look at the raids in the villages and at those who are then sent to forced labor camps - they are predominantly young people. Luis Muñoz, 15, born in Talagante, is considered an element that endangers the security of the homeland’.

We must denounce crime in all its brutality that is being committed against the youth. Each denunciation must pursue the executioners and become a powerful moral pressure. By destroying the best of it, they wanted to produce a limited and servile youth. Their efforts cannot be underestimated. It's no surprise that they dedicate special banners and speeches to the youth. El Mercurio publishes an editorial on the need to destroy study centers and to leave in place only what is indispensable to them.

They want to establish the civil movement that they intend to create among women and young people. They create young paramilitary guards. They hold indoctrination courses for nationalist leaders. All of this involves danger. Even more so when they are injecting the poison of militarism into elementary school children!

Let’s not forget that the class division, the ideology of imperialism, leaves no room for youth and, therefore, there is a section of youth, albeit a minority, that supports the Junta.

There is a fascist element among the youth. There is also a more immature element that can be attracted to military style, and there is a danger that an element could be misrepresented with modest means. This is one aspect. But there is also what we have always been mindful of, and which our teachers have repeatedly emphasized to us, that youth has its particular characteristics, its idealism, its generosity, its thirst for adventure and justice. It has fewer material ties, and this allows it to transcend class barriers and to align itself with the forces of progress.

Today, all this youthful potential, all that has accumulated over years of struggle, should allow the vast majority to reject with hatred the oppressor who strangles the homeland.

And more broadly than ever, on the one side, all those who love freedom, justice and democracy, and on the other, all those who support cruelty, crime and fascism.

Is this happening and will it continue to deepen? Of course it will. To give an example, there are cases of military personnel children who repudiate their parents, whose hands are stained with blood. A nephew of Huerta was beaten to death at the Valparaíso War Academy. The daughter of Labor Minister McKay had to leave the country. Sons of generals are eliminated from universities by agitators.

Let us open the eyes of thousands of military personnel children. They influence the heart of their homes. Other mothers will watch their children suffer. Many children of military personnel may switch sides. The contradiction between parents and children will grow in the elements that support the Junta.

In the same way, there are thousands of young people who today wear uniforms and carry their weapons against the people. Many people repudiate the 'booted military' as much as we do. Hundreds of them are workers, peasants, and students, forcibly taken to the barracks. Today they cannot “switch the rifle to the other shoulder.” They will turn the weapons against the traitors who placed them in their hands when the entire movement has matured. We have to win over the young soldiers.

Now, for a solid and concrete contribution to the moment we live for. The main thing remains, as always, the development of the consciousness and organization of the youth masses. For this, our main efforts are directed towards the working youth, i.e. young workers. We must organize them everywhere to take care of those strongholds where the primary battles against the Junta will take place.

It is especially there that when the time comes, the strike, the struggle, the sabotage, and resistance against the Junta will materialize. The concentration of working masses in factories which has the potential for contact and organization cannot be destroyed, not even by repression. They would need to blow up the factories to destroy workers’ class solidarity.

It’s the same for students. They see each other every day to discuss and talk. An isolated man can feel afraid, but where there are hundreds or thousands this fear is overcome, and countless forms of resistance arise. So, as always, we must focus on the concentration of workers and students.

We should also not forget that young people interact and learn by example. The figure of Luis Corvalán should be a symbol of "intelligence, honor, and consciousness of our time". May his words, "I love life, but I do not fear death, if I must meet it for a just cause", be written and summarized in a thousand forms and styles.

In short, in today's youth there is a wonderful influence. The Popular Government’s three years were not in vain. We have a youth that is educated in respect for the working classes, and that has a generous dedication to the people. This youth experienced what the beginning of a revolution is, which is something that cannot be erased with bullets or cannons.

Furthermore, there are still the harsh conditions to which it was subjected by the Junta – unemployment, thousands of students without access to school, without the right to organize – pushing it increasingly towards the path of revolution.

May many young people help to hasten the time when a new heroism will be demanded of each one of us - the heroism of thousands, which will mark the glorious hour of the fall of the fascist Junta.

To help in the nurturing and strengthening of political leadership, so that our vision may be wide-ranging. There is an infinity of heroic young people, patriots willing to fight against the treacherous Junta. The working classes, along with increasingly broader elements, will provide us with new combatants. The bloody nature of fascism is felt in various forms and degrees by increasingly larger masses, and this heralds the people's victory.

At this moment of remembrance, I want to tell you that when I think of that Tuesday, the Tuesday of Betrayal, I see that the lesson was great and that we are all learning it - the people, their parties and their youth.

We can feel proud to have contributed to defending and building our People's Government. Our people must now carry out dogged work to rebuild their forces and to continue the legacy of Salvador Allende.

And we, who cling our lives to the communist ideal, feel proud to be children of the Party of Recabarren, Lafferte, Fonseca, and Neruda.

While you are here, I’m on pilgrimage and proud of my duty. Let us help so that the crown of thorns placed upon our people may soon bloom with fragrances and lilies.

I'm grateful to have spent so many years with you—years that felt both long and short.

We shall overcome!

June 1974

[1] German Democratic Republic.

[2] Amaranth is a shade of red used in the shirts of the Communist Youth. (N.T.).

[3] Chilean Air Force.

The Internationalist Archive