The Communist Parties of Cuba and Venezuela in the 1960-1970s: a difficult way from the unity … to the unity

The article analyzes the evolution of complicated relations between the Communist Party of Venezuela and the Communist Party of Cuba in the 60s and 70s of XX century. Both Communist Parties originally were very close and had aided to each other during both the Venezuelan and Cuban revolutions of 1958-1959. After the triumph of Castroist forces in Cuba, the Venezuelan leftists tried to repeat the successes obtained by Cuban Rebels in Venezuelan soil and started full-scale rural and urban guerrilla. However, the failure of this armed struggle not only led the PCV to abandon the guerrilla activities, but also initiated a serie of energic debates between Cuban and Venezuelan communista. Based on the documents of the International Department of the CC of the CPSU kept in Moscow (in the RGANI archive), the published memoirs, the international communist hemerography, as also publications by the Cuban and Soviet media, the authors try to recover a little-known aspects of the history of the Communist Party of Venezuela in the past centurу

La Comintern, el PCM y el “caso Sandino”: historia de una alianza fracasada, 1927-1930

El artículo analiza las complejas relaciones entre la III Internacional, su sección nacional en México y el movimiento antiimperialista nicaragüense encabezado por Augusto C. Sandino, con el objeto de averiguar las causas de la ruptura de esta alianza. Sobre la base de documentos poco conocidos de la Comintern resguardados en Moscú, así como de la correspondencia de Sandino que se conserva en los archivos mexicanos, los autores recuperan la historia poco conocida de las relaciones dentro del “triángulo” formado por Sandino, la izquierda y el Gobierno mexicano en la segunda mitad de la década de 1920. Al demostrar las causas del interés de los comunistas hacia Sandino (un deseo de ampliar su influencia usando la táctica frentista), se hace un balance de dichas relaciones, explicando las causas de ruptura entre la Comintern y el sandinismo. Así, se prueba que Moscú y los comunistas mexicanos resultaron incapaces de mantener un nivel adecuado de interacción con Sandino y que, además, los conflictos personales agravaron el asunto.The article analyzes the complex relations among the Third International, its national section in Mexico, and the Nicaraguan anti-imperialist movement led by Augusto C. Sandino, in order to inquire into the causes of the breakdown of the alliance. Practically unknown Comintern documents safeguarded in Moscow, as well as Sandino’s correspondence kept in Mexican archives, make it possible to recover the little known history of the relations within the “triangle” formed by Sandino, the left, and the Mexican government in the second half of the 1920s. By showing that one of the reasons for the communists’ interest in Sandino was broadening their influence through frontist tactics, the article reviews those relations and explains the causes of the break-up between the Comintern and the Sandino movement. The paper concludes that Moscow and the Mexican communists were unable to maintain an adequate level of interaction with Sandino and that personal conflicts exacerbated the situation

La Internacional Comunista y América Latina, 1919-1943: Diccionario biográfico

Biographical Dictionary of Communists and non-Communists related to the Communist International in Latin America, 1918-194

La inserción internacional de la izquierda comunista anti-gomecista en el exilio venezolano, primeros años

El artículo analiza la etapa previa a la formación ‘oficial’ del Partido Comunista de Venezuela, a partir de los « precursores » del comunismo nacional y sus relaciones con los grupos de exiliados políticos y la Internacional Comunista. Sobre la base de los documentos de la Comintern resguardados en Moscú, y algunos otros archivos, los autores recuperan una historia poco conocida en la historiografía de la izquierda venezolana.The article analyzes the stage before to the ‘official’ formation of the Communist Party of Venezuela from the point of studying of the relations between the “precursors” of the national communism with the groups of political exiles and with the Communist International. On the base of the Comintern documents kept in Moscow, as well as files of some other archives, the authors are recovering the slightly studied history which is poorly reflected in the historiography of the Venezuelan Left-Wingers

La inserción internacional de la izquierda comunista anti-gomecista en el exilio venezolano, primeros años

El artículo analiza la etapa previa a la formación ‘oficial’ del Partido Comunista de Venezuela, a partir de los « precursores » del comunismo nacional y sus relaciones con los grupos de exiliados políticos y la Internacional Comunista. Sobre la base de los documentos de la Comintern resguardados en Moscú, y algunos otros archivos, los autores recuperan una historia poco conocida en la historiografía de la izquierda venezolana.The article analyzes the stage before to the ‘official’ formation of the Communist Party of Venezuela from the point of studying of the relations between the “precursors” of the national communism with the groups of political exiles and with the Communist International. On the base of the Comintern documents kept in Moscow, as well as files of some other archives, the authors are recovering the slightly studied history which is poorly reflected in the historiography of the Venezuelan Left-Wingers

The Cominternist Origins of Current Socialist Bolivarianism

Introduction. The article examines the Comintern “trace” in the formation of modern “Bolivarian socialism”, proclaimed by the leaders of Venezuela at the beginning of the 21st century. Communist postulates (in the Comintern perception) were, certainly, not the only source of the formation of the ideology of the ruling Socialist United Party of Venezuela. At the same time, a number of the postulates were formulated back in the 1920s by activists of the Venezuelan Revolutionary Party (later they became members of the country’s Communist Party) and the Socialist Party of Ecuador. A number of similar concepts were the subject of discussions between the leadership of the Comintern and the Peruvian People’s Revolutionary Alliance and were also debated during one of the congress of the Communist International. Another important aspect explored by the authors is the analogy between the processes of the formation of a united left party in Venezuela in the 1930s and in the 2000s (as a comparative example, the pattern of creating a united revolutionary party within the framework of the Castro revolution in Cuba was also used). Methods and materials. The study uses a set of methods of analysis adopted in historical and political science, namely documentary analysis, systemic and comparative analysis. Analysis and Results. The cases presented in the article prove that Socialism of the 21st century is not the exclusive creation of Hugo Chavez, but is closely related to ideological discussions in the international left-wing movement of the first half of the 20th century. The article is based primarily on archival documents, which allowed the authors to show little-known pages in the history of Latin American left-wing parties. Authors’ contribution. V.L. Jeifets and L.S. Jeifets made joint analysis of the archival documents, carried out the study of historiography, and developed the theoretical framework of the research. The conclusions also are the product of joint work

Reflexiones sobre el centenario de la participación rusa en la Primera Guerra Mundial: entre el olvido histórico y los mitos modernos

En el presente artículo se reflexiona sobre los mitos contemporáneos dominantes acerca de la participación rusa en Primera Guerra Mundial —PGM—. El texto abarca las discusiones historiográficas rusas sobre el tema, y no pretende analizar las demás corrientes mundiales, aunque se realiza un breve comentario para explicar algunas tendencias latentes en las discusiones rusas. El análisis se concentra en los mitos surgidos en la sociedad y, en menor medida, entre los académicos. En últimas, se pretende dar cuenta de la complejidad que rodea los mitos históricos sobre la participación rusa en la guerra y evitar la aparición de nuevos mitos o la reaparición de los antiguos.This article reflects on the dominant contemporary myths about the Russian involvement in the First World War. The text covers Russian historiographical discussions of the topic and trends, with brief comments but is not intended to address other global currents; the analysis focuses on myths emerging in society and, to a lesser extent, among scholars. The intention is to account for the complexity that surrounds the historical myths about Russian participation in the war and to avoid the emergence of new myths or the reappearance of old myths

Edgar Woog, alias “Stirner”, y el Partido Comunista de México, 1919-1929

En este artículo se analiza el trabajo político del suizo Edgar Woog, alias Aldred Stirner, en el movimiento comunista mexicano, como principal emisario de la Comintern durante la década de 1920. A través de un amplio soporte documental de fuentes inéditas, provenientes del Archivo Estatal de Ruso de Historia Social y Política, y otras poco conocidas y estudiadas, se aborda la participación de Stirner en la constitución de las juventudes comunistas a lo largo de 1920, así como su papel para la reestructuración del Partido Comunista de México, y la obtención del reconocimiento por parte de la Comintern, a finales de 1921. En un sentido más general, el trabajo permite cuestionar varios lugares comunes en la historiografía del comunismo, sobre las supuestas relaciones mecánicas y verticales entre la Comintern y los partidos comunistas de América Latina