Father Lain Joins Guerillas -- Open Letter to the Colombian People
Following a moral imperative, born of the awareness that as a revolutionary I do not belong to myself, but to the exploited masses in Colombia and in all oppressed countries, and at the same time...
...It is, therefore, a Christian onef Faced with the reactionary and oppressive violence which characterizes the system that exists in Colombia and throughout Latin America today, there is no alternative other than revolutionary, liberating violence...
...Today is the fourth anniversary of his death, and the oligarchy with their henchmen are preparing to act out the electoral farce...
...It is to his spirit and to his thinking that I owe the joy and sense of commitment I now express in the decision to give myself over until death for the liberation of the Colombian people...
...The announcement was released by the ELN's urban net on February 15, the fourth anniversary of the death in combat of former ELN member Camilo Torres Restrepo -- the famous guerrilla priest whose revolutionary thought and actions have been a central influence in the development of Golconda...
...He gave himself to them in his full human dimension and they accepted him as their own forever -- a prophet of our times, a revolutionary in his entirety, a new man of that future society which is already coming into being...
...of the formation and development of societies, and the relationships of members and groups within society...
...I do so fully aware that death is present in a very real way in the daily activity of a guerrillero...
...An historical responsibility has fallen to them -- that of the orientation of the masses along the true path of liberation, avoiding the senseless sacrifice of lives and efforts that has always fallen upon them...
...With whatever weight my witness and gift of self might give to my words I denounce the campaign which the oligarchy and the army have unleashed against the members and directors of the ELN...
...It is untrue and unworthy, insulting and deceiving to the Colombian masses...
...Like Camilo, I have found in the ELN a fitting political line, an utter honesty, a faith in the people, and a total surrender to the cause of that people's liberation, all of which place it in the vanguard of the struggle and in the hearts of the exploited masses...
...In their attempt to do this the enemies of the people have made use of the endless governmental means and mass communications media available to them and have relied upon the help of pseudo-revolutionaries and of those who have betrayed the people, for they have begun to see that the justness and greatness of a truly popular cause can no longer be overcome by the mere force of arms...
...I believe that my true priestly consecration begins now...
...With the strength that his glorious death has given us I repeat, together with my companeros, NOT ONE STEP BACKWARDS . . . . LIBERATION O DEATH...
...I was accused of being subversive because I confronted unceasingly the oppressive violence exercised by an unjust, inhuman social system, and because I called upon all those dispossessed and exploited to unite and to rebel...
...It is neither atheist nor Christian...
...I arrived in Colombia approximately three years ago as a newly ordained priest...
...I also unmask the Church as an accomplice to this -- the defender and strongest support of this regime, abusing in this way the hold she still maintains upon the conscience of vast sections of the proletarian masses -- a Church which condemns violence and rebellion on the part of the poor while condoning and co-existing with the violence and repression exercized by the rich, exploiting classes...
...From the mountains washed with the blood of our martyrs I invite all the men and women of Colombia to organize and to prepare themselves for the final struggle, following the banner and example of the one who taught us so well, Camilo Torres Restrepo...
...Violence has no religious creed...
...Through his example Camilo sets a special seal upon the path of commitment taken by many revolutionaries...
...Recently it was revealed that Lain had clandestinely re-entered the country to join the National Liberation Army (ELN), which operates a guerrilla front in a mountainous region near the Venezuelan border...
...n9garchy was the crime of fighting for the right of all men to life, to creative work, to adequate living conditions, to education, and to respect for their abused human dignity...
...They need living examples which will give form to their rebelliousness and channel their anguished desire for liberation...
...While stating this, I cannot fail to denounce the brutality and injustice of the Colombian regime which maintains itself solely through violence and intimidation in order to keep the majority of the population subjected to the greatest misery and most inhuman exploitation...
...DOMINGO LAIN From the mountains, February 15, 1970...
...It exacts total sacrifice so that all men may live, and live fully...
...Close observers regard him as a serious theologian, a careful student of Marxism, and a person of great charisma...
...Thus my joining the ELN is but the logical consequence of a whole process of commitment to my people...
...I have taken the path of armed struggle for this reason...
...In making public this decision, I renew the irrevocable commitment I made upon my ordination as a priest, of consecration and fidelity to the poor and the oppressed, and of oneness with them in their struggle to liberate themselves from all slavery...
...I have become part of the ELN precisely because of its political and social programs and its men in whom Camilo's thought and image continue to grow and develop...
...This fraternity is a fundamental human imperative...
...The significance of Lain's move suggests the possibility that official repression, already a serious problem for the Golconda group, may increase...
...Lain, unlike Camilo, has not been laicized and retains his priestly status in the guerrilla...
...I came with a single idea -- to share the life, the aspirations and frustrations of the dispossessed masses who are deprived of their most basic human rights -- even the right to life itself...
...I choose socialist revolution because it is the only way to attack at the very roots the problems of man's exploitation by man, and of individual and collective alienation...
...He is alive in the hearts of the poor and oppressed, and within each man who fights for justice and human brotherhood...
...Hitherto the full text has not appeared in published form either in the Colombian or in the foreign media...
...He has indicated for once and for all time the road to redemption for all revolutionaries and oppressed people...
...Thus he brings important qualities to the ELN leadership in a time of internal dissension...
...But such plans fail to recognize that the identification of Camilo, the Colombian people and the ELN are forged in an indestructible unity...
...NACLA here reproduces the letter in which Lain explained to the Colombian people the reasons which led him to join the ELN...
...With this in mind I worked as a laborer, first in the factories of Bogota and later in those of Cartagena...
...It is, therefore, a right of the oppressed and exploited in order to overcome the conditions forced upon them...
...Thus I experienced first-hand the exploitation and the misery suffered by the vast majority of these people, and joined their struggle while fulfilling my priestly duties in the poor sections of these cities...
...Colombia's oligarchy erred once again when it tried by hiding Camilo's body to deprive the people of his presence...
...My only crime and the cause of my expulsion from the country at the hands of the olifather Lain Joins Guerrillas Domingo Lain, a Roman Catholic priest of Spanish nationality, was an active member of Colombia'a radical Golconda group of priests, laymen, and Marxists, until his expulsion from the country by the oligarchic National Front government on April 19, 1969...
...This is all the more likely as Colombia's presidential and legislative elections, against which Golconda has urged a "belligerent" popular abstention, are approaching in April...
...It is not as a casual coincidence but as a necessary consequence that I make this announcement on the fourth anniversary of the physical death of Camilo Torres Restrepo -- a day that the Colombian people celebrate with renewed spirit of combat and faith in the triumph of their cause...
...Only a society built upon just social, political and economic laws can turn the utopian dream of fraternity among men into reality...
...In signing a revolutionary document together with my fellow priests in Buenaventura, I made public my decision to give my strength and my life for the liberation of the Colombian people and for the creation of a socialist society...
...Today, in the Colombian mountains, in union with men who have begun a struggle for liberation in an uncommon gesture of real love for the people, I reaffirm the decision to offer my life upon the altar of this noble cause...
...The masses are well aware of hunger, injustice and exploitation...
...His example commits us and inspires us more each day...
...Camilo's glorious sacrifice has given them this...
...Following a moral imperative, born of the awareness that as a revolutionary I do not belong to myself, but to the exploited masses in Colombia and in all oppressed countries, and at the same time being aware of the public character which the priestly function still holds in our society, I fulfill my duty as orientator of the people by joining the guerrillas of the ELN, and partaking in their line of action and their social and political programs...
...Lastly, I extend an invitation to serious study and reflection to all honest revolutionaries -- campesinos, workers, intellectuals, students -- who are sincerely seeking a commitment to their people...
...His word and example continue to be a banner of redemption, a cry of hope for the exploited, a watchword in guerrilla combat, a light along the road which does not die...
...For this reason plans have been made for the political destruction of the ELN through a campaign of vicious slander and thus, by destroying its prestige, to cripple its growing strength among the proletarian masses and rebel portions of the population...
...Dead or alive, Camilo belongs to the people and no one can take him away, nor replace him, nor can they change his place...
...I came here to share this in solidarity with them -- to share it to the very end...
...It is rather the result of economic, historical afid sociological laws...
Vol. 4 • March 1970 • No. 1
