Interview with Carlos Lamarca published in European newspapers

Who is Carlos Lamarca?

Son of a shoemaker father and housewife mother, at the age of 16, he participated in street demonstrations during the nationalist campaign "The oil is ours". In 1960, he graduated as an aspiring officer. In 1962, he joined the Suez Battalion, in the UN Peacekeeping Forces in the Gaza region, Palestine, and from where he returned eighteen months later, with the first socialist ideas, thanks to the poverty he witnessed in the place and the beginning of reading Marxist classics. On January 24, 1969, Lamarca left the Armed Forces and went underground to fight against the military dictatorship in Brazil.

06/1/1970

Did operations in the Ribeira Valley mean the outbreak of rural guerrilla warfare in Brazil?

Lamarca - No, we don't set up guerrilla warfare, we don't prepare the area with a logistical network, intelligence network and political base. It was not our objective to carry out guerrilla warfare there. It was a guerrilla training camp.

But were guerrilla actions carried out?

Lamarca - Yes, guerrilla actions were carried out. Operations took place from April 21 to May 31. We limit our actions to those necessary to break the tactical and strategic siege. We caused 10 casualties and took 18 prisoners in the three engagements we fought, as well as avoiding falling into an ambush. We stopped carrying out other actions that would not compromise our objective, as we did not have mortars, mines and hand grenades. We thought it adventurous to continue the fight there under those circumstances. We are aware and capable of organizing more widely, and we will, it's just a matter of time.

How many men were employed by the Armed Forces in the Ribeira Valley?

Lamarca- We estimate at around 20,000. They employed many observation and troop transport helicopters, T6 fighters, C47 troop transport planes, and B23 bombers. And the use of troops was not restricted to the Valley, it was extended, unnecessarily wide area.

What was the repercussion of the guerrilla warfare in the Ribeira Valley on the local population?

Lamarca - The logistical situation forced us to approach the population. We were pleased to see the receptiveness and ability to understand our communication on the part of the rural worker. The repression began to understand that we gained the support of the population. He arrested and murdered a young peasant couple. Evacuated the population of the region. Bombed the area. He complemented the terrorism with machine-gun fire at random into the bush and low-flying flights over the huts that were still inhabited.

What does guerrilla training mean?

Lamarca - We faced the fact that comrades trained abroad were not willing to prepare the fight in the field, always remaining in the cities. We also face the problem of the large amount of time required for training abroad, as well as the expense. And yet, we think that a group that is going to carry out guerrilla warfare must coexist and collectivize itself before entering the area.

How can a concretely existing guerrilla school be an influencing factor in the actions of the revolutionary left in Brazil?

Lamarca - The realization of this pioneering experience in our country mainly represents the victory of a political position. And the practical demonstration of awareness, of the need to carry out guerrilla warfare. Through our revolutionary practice and in terms of organization, we allowed a qualitative leap in the actions of the left. The current reality of the left is the existence of cadres who went to acquire conditions and will return to the field to fight. Not only through the example of struggle, but also through it, that we will engage the mass in the process; it is only through this same example of struggle, the commitment to its effectiveness, that we will influence the left to take a step forward in forwarding the process.

Did the concern with changing the level of performance and relationship between the various groups already exist when the training camp was created?

Lamarca - Yes. So much so that militants from other organizations participated in it. This measure already represented a step towards reducing sectarianism and the divergences that can only be overcome in the process through a joint approach. In addition to what also represented our political conception of putting the tasks of the revolution into practice and not just growing as an organization.

Are there conditions for carrying out rural guerrilla warfare in Brazil?

Lamarca - There is. Not only in Brazil, but throughout Latin America. It is in the countryside that capitalist exploitation is most inhumane and there is the weakest link in the system, where repression has been fierce in all struggles. There is a whole past of struggle and organization of rural workers, which the dominant class omits in our history.

Source:

https://bahcaroco.blogspot.com/2006/04/histria-entrevista-de-carlos-lamarca.html

Published by Little Victor ☭

Interview with Carlos Lamarca published in European newspapers

Comments