Editorial: On the APL and the CPUSA

By Alfonso Casal on September 3, 2018

By Alfonso Casal, National Chair, APL

The American Party of Labor has always made it a point to never publicly attack other Marxist-Leninist parties. We have always said that our battle is with capitalist imperialism and racism, and the various oppressions and injustices it engenders, not with comrades who may have a different point of view than ours. This is not to say that we soft-peddle or deny differences and principled disagreements. On the contrary, we have our particular line, which is what we bring to the table, what we offer in the debate as to how to project our movement forward.

There are, however, some exceptions to this general rule. There are organizations whose sole purpose, it seems, is sow disruption and confusion within the Left. The Trotskyite International Socialist Organization (ISO) heads that list. There are also parties who, while calling themselves “Marxist-Leninist” seem to have no problem cozying up to Putinite reaction or Chinese social-imperialism; indeed, some are even quite comfortable sharing public spaces with Alt-rightists, conspiracy theorists, and Neo-Nazis. We’ll speak of them another time. For, now, let’s focus on the Communist Party, USA.

The CPUSA is the parent party of all American Marxist-Leninists. Its long history is a page of glory and honor to the American working people. Yet, starting in the mid-1940s, the cancer of class collaboration, “Browderism,” took root in the Party. Named after the Party’s Chairman from 1934 to 1945, Earl Browder, Browderism preached an end to class struggle, the idea that American capitalism could reform itself, and the elimination of independent revolutionary workers’ organizations, and a submission to the US Democratic Party. Elements of the Party, led by William Z. Foster, fought tooth and nail against Browderism; and, seemingly succeeded in reversing the corruption of the Party. Yet, with the appearance of Khrushchevite revisionism, and the death of Comrade Foster in 1961; the CPUSA reverted to a now-open/now muted Browderism.

Since the death of its long-time General Secretary, Gus Hall, in 2000, the CPUSA jumped off the cliff into the Browderite abyss. For all his Khrushchevite revisionism, Hall did manage to keep even worse tendencies in check. With Hall gone, all restraints to full Browderite liquidationism were gone.

As stated above, the CPUSA is the parent organization of all American Marxist-Leninists. Therefore, the American Party of Labor takes a keen interest in developments in that Party.

This is our position vis-à-vis the CPUSA:

The American Party of Labor gives its full and unconditional support to those comrades in the Communist Party, USA presently fighting the wave of Browderite revisionism, led by the John Bachtell mis-leadership, that is intent on destroying the CPUSA once and for all.

In a certain sense, we are all children of the CPUSA. Some of us left the CPUSA long ago and formed new parties, others are struggling within the CPUSA to set it back on the correct Leninist course, all of us share the same vision: A united, truly revolutionary communist party free from all traces of revisionism, capitulationism, and class collaboration. The times call for hard choices and each comrade must wrestle with their conscience. In many ways, American Marxist-Leninists are now at a crossroads. Much, indeed the future of our movement, depends on the decisions comrades may be called to make. The APL stands in complete solidarity with our sisters and brothers who are now fighting that battle. We offer our hearts and our hands as we commit to our common goal: a socialist USA.