The CTAL and WFTU
Serge, Victor
The CTAL and WFTU Toledano Misrepresents Latin American Workers By Victor Serge MEXICO CITY.-At the Congress of Paris and during all tha preliminaries of the organization of the new World...
...The failure of tha London Conference was pictured as giving new hope to Franco, Salazar, and all the Fascists of Europe...
...A. E. Monk, Australia...
...vasion of Russia in 1941 this man Path like the other Communists, suddenly rev versed himself...
...The CTAL does not represent substantial bodies of workers in more than six countries...
...Latin American trade unions are destined to play an im-portant part in coming world events,, and they have a right to accurate in-formation...
...Nevertheless ths pspers publish sn interesting declaration by the Nations...
...In such countries ss Pars, Colombia, Venezuela, and Guatemala, young and politically inexperienced enthusiasts organise snd direct premising movements but receive their ontskls information exclusively from this sour** Tha "news" given is consistently in the Russian interest...
...There the Communists actually dominate the trade union movement...
...This gives us the measure of the entire delegation wkieh represents the CTAL in Paris aad shows how i ediculous is the pretense that it as> tually speaks for the workers of the Latin-American nations...
...Edwards' snd Walter Citrine, England...
...Working in close harmony with the Russian delegates, he secured for the Communists a majority on the Executive Committee of the new WFTU...
...About some of these men information is lacking, bat no one can doubt that the Polish and Yugoslav delegates faithfully stand for the interests of Beirut and Tito...
...In Argentina the unions hava constantly been in rebellion against tha Communist domination of the CTAL...
...In London and Paria the delegates who pretended to speak for workers south of tha Rio Grande actually represented the totalitarian unions of the USSR...
...Kasimir Witashewski, of Poland, Eastern and Central Europe...
...In Paris, nonetheless, Lombardo Toledano stood forth as the leader of the workers of the entire continent...
...The CTAL cannot either directly or indirectly take part in this struggle...
...Djuro Salaj, of Yugoslavia, Southeastern Europe...
...Chu-Hsue-Fan, China...
...The fact that it does not speak for the majority of Latin American workers must be proved and publicized...
...I have just come upon s statement msde by Pefia Before the CTAL executive committee in ijmii...
...Quoting Louis Adamic, "the distinguished American ' democrat," tha writers show that the USA is bent on establishing the domination of American trusts...
...Philip Murray and Sidney Hillman, CIO...
...The campaign against Russia," the Latin-Americans were told, "has taksn on tha character of a real psychological war...
...Since the CTAL has now been able, on the basis of false pretentions,.to play an important role in world affairs, it is time for the honest labor forces of the western hemisphere to take action...
...In Chill snd Uruguay the majority of unionized workers are lined up with the Socialists...
...With the is...
...Rumania and Bulgaria are consistently represented as models of the new democracy in contrast to Greece and to Italy, which is said to be terrorised by AMGOT and by bands of lawless Poles...
...Whoever wins this war, reaction will be the real victor...
...We have here the original working-class federation, the CROM, led by Luis Morones, the National Proletarian Federation, dominated by syndicalist ideas, numerous independent labor unions and, moreover, numerous opposition groups within Lom-bardo Toledano's organization itself...
...Leon Jouhaux and Benoit Franehon (member of the French Polit-bureau), France...
...Even if the res) of tha bill for lend-lease stuff is cancelled, the USA ought to ask for aa equivalent value in caviar for our ofr < ci s, with a little vodka to wash it does Colonel Blimp's throat...
...This Communist who now pretends to represent the workers of the Latin Americsn world then spoke ss follows: "Franco-Anglican imperialism fights against Fascism, but does it fight for democracy...
...Finally we hava Cuba...
...In the other countries of South and Central America the union movement is still feeble and uncertain of its principles and affiliations...
...The officers at the new federation are: President, Walter Citrine...
...I orabardo Toledano...
...GOLD MAID FOR THI COMRADES' • Among other land-lease aid, oil Muscovite comrades-in-arms received fie 600,000 worth of gold braid for the »ni-forms of their generalissimo, marshals, generals, and admirals...
...Kouznetsov, Tarassov and Bassova, USSR...
...The regimes established by the USSR in Yugoslavia...
...Very soon afterward it was announced that Toledano had been authorized by the nsf federation to go to Palestine to make ss investigation of the Jewish problem...
...Brian Godwin, South Africa...
...Giuseppe di Vittorio, Southern Europe...
...therefore dees not actually represent the labor Movement ef Mexico, and still less right has he to claim to repreaent that ef all I .a tia America...
...be broken...
...The CTAL and WFTU Toledano Misrepresents Latin American Workers By Victor Serge MEXICO CITY.-At the Congress of Paris and during all tha preliminaries of the organization of the new World Federation of Trade Unions the Federation of the Workers of Latin America (CTAL) has played a part out of proportion to its real importance and strangely unrelated to tha purposes and ideas of the organized workers of the Latin-American countries...
...This organisation pumps a constant stream of bulletiiin into all the Latin-Amerkua countries...
...That was during the time of the Molotov-Ribben-trop Pact and at the very moment when France fell...
...In Mexico, where the organization is openly dominated by the Communist outfit, it does not speak for the organised workers as a whole...
...Secretary, Louis Saillant The propaganda bulletins ef ths CTAL represented this slate of ohVen as the result of a compromise betewsss the British right wing and the left ces* t in Kent, made up by the Soviet unices, the CTAL, and their sstellites...
...The propaganda facilities of the CTAL are highly developed...
...In Brazil the unions have recently joined forces with the CTAL, but there the present influence of the Communists is aolely due to the bargains between their leader, Carlos Prastes, and tha Vargsa regime...
...At the present time the bulletins denounce the "imperialism" of Britain and the United States and accuse these countries of preparing for war against Russia at the behest of the great "trusts...
...And, further, (he monopoly held by CTAL officials in relation to propaganda among the workers of this continent must...
...TllE Communist press of Mexico haa gone all out jo -present Toledano, aa against Sir Walter Citrine, as the most iiiilueuiiiil figure of the Psrls Congress...
...This is how the Committee is msde up: Louis Saillant, France (pro-Communist...
...f^fm ,-jan...
...Pat Conroy, Canada...
...Two things are required, In the first place it is essential that we place before the world the truth about its unrepresentative character...
...At Paris the CTAL is represented by the Cuban, Lazaro Pefia, as well as by Toledano...
...Proletarian Federation, ths young and militant rival of the CTAL: . "The CTAL centrals less thaa a third ef the organised workers of Latin America, and Ita fellewere are limited to those organisations which have the approval ef their gavern-meats er the support of Meecew...
...Vice-Presidents, Lon-bardo Toledano, Sidney Hillman, VassiH Kouznetsov, Kupers (Holland), Chu-Hsue-Fan, di Vittorio...
...Lombardo Toledano and Laxaro Pefia (Cuban Communist), Latin America...
...In addition India and the Near East are represented by M. Memis, of Arabia, and E. K. Mukerjl and S. A. Dange, of India...
...At the moment when it is in accord with tel Communist line to exploit the Jewb* issue such an investigation is most opportune...
Vol. 28 • November 1945 • No. 46
