The economic and social structures of our coun-
try- which have served to guarantee the dispropor-
tionate enrichment of an oligarchic minority and
the exploitation of our people by Yankee im-
perialism-are in deep and insoluble crisis.
The military dictatorship is also in crisis, and
with it the entire legal and ideological order that
the oligarchic interests and the U.S. imperialists
have defended and continue to defend, oppressing
the Salvadorean people for half a century. Victims
of their own contradictions, the dominant classes
have failed due to the decisive and heroic action of
the people’s movement. It has been impossible to
stave off this failure, even with the more and more
brazen intervention of the United States in support
of such efforts against the people.
Unswerving commitment to the interests and
aspirations of the Salvadorean people by the revo-
lutionary organizations has led to the deepening
and strengthening of their roots among the vast
toiling majority and the middle sectors. Being so
rooted in the people, the revolutionary movement
is now indestructible. It constitutes the only alter-
native for the Salvadorean people, who can be
neither stopped nor diverted from their struggle to
gain a Free Homeland in which their vital desires
will be made real. …
The revolution that is on the march is not, nor
can it be, the work of a group of conspirators. To
the contrary, it is the fruit of the struggle of the en-
tire people–of the workers, the peasants, the mid-
dle layers in general, and all sectors and individuals
that are honestly democratic and patriotic.
The most conscious and organized ranks of the
Salvadorean people, now multitudinous, are
fighting in a more and more broad and united way.
The worker and peasant alliance–through its
combativity, level of consciousness, daring,
organization, and spirit of sacrifice for the sake of
the people’s triumph-has proven to be the most
solid basis for guaranteeing the firmness and con-
sistency of the entire Liberation movement. Ex-
pressing the unity of the entire people, this move-
ment unites the revolutionary forces and the
democratic forces–the two great torrents
generated by the long struggle carried out by the
Salvadorean people.
The decisive task of the revolution on which
completion of all its objectives depends is the con-
quest of power and the installation of a democratic
revolutionary government, which at the head of the
people will launch the construction of a new socie-
ty.
Tasks and Objectives of the Revolution
The tasks and objectives of the revolution in El
Salvador are the following:
1. To overthrow the reactionary military dic-
tatorship of the oligarchy and Yankee imperialism,
imposed and sustained against the will of the
Salvadorean people for fifty years; to destroy its
criminal political-military machine; and to
establish a democratic revolutionary government,
31NACLA Report
founded on the unity of the revolutionary and
democratic forces in the People’s Army and the
Salvadorean people.
2. To put an end to the overall political,
economic and social power of the great lords of
land and capital.
3. To liquidate once and for all the economic,
political, and military dependence of our country
on Yankee imperialism.
4. To assure democratic rights and freedoms for
the entire people–particularly for the working
masses, who are the ones who have least enjoyed
such freedoms.
5. To transfer to the people, through na-
tionalizations and the creation of collective and
socialized enterprises: the fundamental means of
production and distribution that are now hoarded
by the oligarchy and the U.S. monopolies, the land
held in the power of the big landlords, the enter-
prises that produce and distribute electricity and
other monopolized services, foreign trade, bank-
ing, and large transportation enterprises. None of
this will affect small or medium-sized private
businesses, which will be given every kind of
stimulus and support in the various branches of the
national economy.
6. To raise the cultural and material living stan-
dards of the population.
7. To create a new army for our country, one
that will arise fundamentally on the basis of the
People’s Army to be built in the course of the
revolutionary process. Those healthy, patriotic,
and worthy elements that belong to the current ar-
my can also be incorporated.
8. To encourage all forms of organization of the
people, at all levels and in all sectors, thus
guaranteeing their active, creative, and democratic
involvement in the revolutionary process and secur-
ing the closest identification between the people
and their government.
9. To orient the foreign policy and international
relations of our country around the principles of in-
dependence and self-determination, solidarity,
peaceful coexistence, equal rights, and mutual
respect between states.
10. Through all these measures, to assure our
country peace, freedom, the well-being of our peo-
ple, and future social progress.
The Democratic Revolutionary
Government-Its Composition and Platform of
Social, Structural, and Political Changes
The democratic revolutionary government will
be made up of representatives of the revolutionary
and people’s movement, as well as of the
democratic parties, organizations, sectors, and in-
dividuals who are willing to participate in the car-
rying out of this programmatic platform.
This government will rest on a broad political
and social base, formed above all by the working
class, the peasantry, and the advanced middle
layers. Intimately united to the latter forces will be
all the social sectors that are willing to carry out
this platform-small and medium-sized in-
dustrialists, merchants, artisans, and farmers
(small and medium-sized coffee planters and those
involved in other areas of agriculture or cattle rais-
ing). Also involved will be honest professionals, the
progressive clergy, democratic parties such as the
MNR [Movimiento Nacionalista Revolu-
cionaria- Revolutionary Nationalist Movement],
advanced sectors of the Christian Democracy, wor-
thy and honest officers of the army who are willing
to serve the interests of the people, and any other
sectors, groups, or individuals that uphold broad
democracy for the popular masses, independent
development, and people’s liberation.
All these forces are now coming together to make
up a revolutionary and democratic alliance in
which the political and/or religious beliefs of all
are respected. The organized form to be taken by
this voluntary alliance at the service of the
Salvadorean people will be the result of consulta-
tions among all those who make it up.
Immediate Political Measures
1. A halt to all forms of repression against the
people and release of all political prisoners.
2. Clarification of the situation of those cap-
tured and disappeared since 1972; punishment of
those responsible (be they military or civilian) for
crimes against the people.
3. Disarming and permanent dissolution of the
repressive bodies–ANSESAL, ORDEN, National
Guard, National Police, Treasury Police, and
Customs Police, along with their respective
“Special Sections;” of the Gotera “Counter-
insurgency School” and the so-called Armed Forces
Engineering Training Center in Zacatecoluca; of
the cantonal and suburban military patrols; of
the oligarchy’s private paramilitary bands; and of
all other kinds of real or nominal organizations
dedicated to criminal action or slander against the
people and their organizations. The current
misnamed security bodies will be replaced by a
civilian police force.
4. Dissolution of the existing state powers (ex-
ecutive, legislative, and judicial); abrogation of the
Political Constitution and all decrees that have
modified or added to it.
The democratic revolutionary government will
decree a constitutional law and will organize the
state and its activities with the aim of guaranteeing
the rights and freedoms of the people and of
achieving the other objectives and tasks of the
revolution. In doing so, the democratic revolu-
32JulylAugust 1980
tionary government will adhere to the United Na-
tions’ “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
The constitutional law referred to above will re-
main in force while the Salvadorean people prepare
a new Political Constitution that faithfully reflects
their interest.
5. Municipal government will be restructured so
as to be an organ of broad participation by the
masses in managing the state, so as to be a real
organ of the new people’s power.
6. The democratic revolutionary government
will carry out an intense effort of liberating educa-
tion, of cultural exposition and organization
among the broadest masses, in order to promote
their conscious incorporation into the develop-
ment, strengthening, and defense of the revolu-
tionary process.
7. The People’s Army will be strengthened and
developed. It will include the soldiers, noncommis-
sioned officers, officers, and chiefs of the current
army who conduct themselves honestly, reject
foreign intervention against the revolutionary pro-
cess, and support the liberation struggle of our peo-
ple.
The new army will be the true armed wing of the
people. It will be at their service and absolutely
faithful to their interests and their revolution. The
armed forces will be truly patriotic, the defenders
of national sovereignty and self-determination, and
committed partisans of peaceful coexistence among
peoples.
8. Our country will withdraw from CONDECA
[Central American Defense Council], from TIAR
[Rio de Janeiro Inter-American Defense Treaty],
and from any other military or police organizations
that might be the instruments of interventionism.
9. The democratic revolutionary government
will establish diplomatic and trade relations with
other countries without discrimination on the basis
of differing social systems, on the basis of equal
rights, coexistence, and respect for self-
determination. Special attention will be paid to the
development of friendly relations with the other
countries of Central America (including Panama
and Belize), with the aim of strengthening peace
and upholding the principle of nonintervention.
Close fraternal relations with Nicaragua will
especially be sought, as the expression of the com-
munity of ideals and interest between our revolu-
tion and the Sandinista revolution.
Our country will become a member of the Move-
ment of Nonaligned Countries and will develop a
steadfast policy toward the defense of world peace
and in favor of detente.
Structural Changes
The democratic revolutionary government will:
1. Nationalize the entire banking and financial
system. This measure will not affect the deposits
and other interests of the public.
2. Nationalize foreign trade.
3. Nationalize the system of electricity distribu-
tion, along with the enterprises for its production
that are in private hands.
4. Nationalize the refining of petroleum.
5. Carry out the expropriation, in accord with
the national interest, of the monopolistic enter-
prises in industry, trade, and services.
6. Carry out a thorough agrarian reform, which
will put the land that is now in the hands of the big
landlords at the disposal of the broad masses who
work it. This will be done according to an effective
plan to benefit the great majority of poor and mid-
dle peasants and agricultural wage workers and to
promote the development of agriculture and cattle
raising.
The agrarian reform will not affect small and
medium landholders, who will receive stimuli and
support for continued improvements in production
on their plots.
7. Carry out an urban reform to benefit the
great majority, without affecting small and
medium owners of real estate.
8. Thoroughly transform the tax system, so that
tax payments no longer fall upon the workers. In-
direct taxes on widely consumed goods will be
reduced. This will be possible not only through
reform of the tax system, but also because the state
will receive substantial income from the activity of
the nationalized sector of the economy.
9. Establish effective mechanisms for credit,
economic aid, and technical assistance for small
and medium-sized private businesses in all
branches of the country’s economy.
10. Establish a system for effective planning of
the national economy, which will make it possible
to encourage balanced development.
Social measures
The democratic revolutionary government will
direct its efforts in the social arena toward the
following objectives:
1. Create sufficient sources of jobs, so as to
eliminate unemployment in the briefest possible
time.
2. Bring into effect a just wage policy, based on:
a. Regulation of wages, taking into account
the cost of living.
b. An energetic policy of control and reduc-
tion of the prices charged for basic goods and
services.
c. A substantial increase in social services for
the popular masses (Social Security, education,
recreation, health care, etc.).
3. Put into action a massive plan for construc-
tion of low cost housing.
33NACLA Report
4. Create a Unified National Health System,
which will guarantee efficient medical service to
the entire population (urban and rural). Preven-
tative care will be the principal aim.
5. Carry out a literacy campaign that will put an
end to the social defect of illiteracy in the shortest
possible time.
6. Develop the national education system so as
to assure primary education to the entire popula-
tion of school age and substantially broaden sec-
ondary and university education. Quality and
scientific-technical diversification will be increased
at all levels, and free education will be progressively
introduced.
7. Promote cultural activity on a broad scale, ef-
fectively supporting and stimulating national ar-
tists and writers, recovering and developing the
cultural heritage of the nation, and incorporating
into the cultural assets of the broad popular masses
the best of universal culture.
It is the unanimous opinion of the popular and
democratic forces that only through realization of
the measures contained in this platform can the
profound structural and political crises of our
country be resolved in favor of the Salvadorean
people.
Only the oligarchy, U.S. imperialism, and those
who serve their anti-patriotic interests are opposed
to and are conspiring against these changes. Since
October 15, 1979, various parties and sectors have
vainly attempted to use the government to carry
out a large part of the measures we propose without
first overthrowing the old reactionary and
repressive power and without installing a truly
revolutionary and popular power. This experience
has confirmed with full clarity that only the united
revolutionary movement in alliance with all the
democratic forces can carry out such a work of
transformation.
The moment is approaching for this historic and
liberating victory, for which the Salvadorean peo-
ple have struggled and heroically shed so much of
their blood. Nothing and no one will be able to pre-
vent it.
For the unity of the revolutionary and
democratic forces!
Toward the conquest of the democratic revolu-
tionary government!
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