The left has always been fundamentally optimistic. Its critiques of the state of things have always con- tained an implicit celebration of the world as it could be. This cele- bration has not been of incremen- tal improvements-though the left has fought for these-but of what humanity could pos- sibly become. Historically, parts of the left have cele- brated and been mobilized by very specific visions of possible futures. Many social experiments have been driven by this celebration, though more than a few have fallen under its weight. For much of the twentieth century, many on the left defined their politics in relation to various socialist experiments. The old "new left" of the 1960s tried to opt out of having to take a position on the USSR, China and Cuba by simply calling itself "non-exclusionary," and inventing the term "real existing socialism" to draw a line between vision and reality. But the mere existence of those experiments proved to us-even to those among us who had little or no sympathy for those experiments-that alternatives to capitalism were avail- able, and that humanity was capable of holding a hand up to fate. We on the left have always been animated by a strong belief that a worldly alternative to the present state of affairs was not only desirable but possible, and that struggle--of one sort or another--could bring it about. No serious part of the left ever held that struggle would be easy, or that victory was inevitable. We have always had our share of defeats and martyrs, and the memories of those defeats and martyrs has animated further struggle. But we now face a challenge that is new to this cen- tury. The collapse of the Soviet Union, much to our surprise, has removed from public discourse not one particular alternative model, but the belief that any real alternative is possible. This potentially creative challenge is powerfully reflected in the interviews that follow. To celebrate our thirtieth anniversary, we at NACLA sought out a wide variety of activists from throughout the Americas, and spoke to them about the current social and political moment. While making no attempt to be all inclusive, we tried to capture the diversity of the current Latin American and Caribbean left (with one foray into U.S. trade unionism) by speaking with this broad sample of left activists about the resurgence of activity on the pan-American left. The activists inter- viewed come from political parties, labor organizations and a variety of social and political movements. We asked them to reflect upon the state of popular mobi- lization and the possibilities for change through the lens of their own political experience. We recognize, of course, that our spectrum of the left may have excluded certain voices, particularly young and marginalized ones, which have not yet found an institutional form of expression. "The Zapatistas," Bishop Samuel Ruiz tells us, "emerged without faces because they represent many unseen faces from else- where which are now emerging as new subjects." These new subjects will surely create their own forms of polit- ical expression, and when they do, they will reconstruct the institutions of social transformation-under as-yet unknown names-and become new faces and voices on the left. Among their tasks will be the reconstruction not only of credible alternatives to capitalist development, but alternatives to the most savage forms of capitalist development. Those alternatives have been declared dead and buried by powerful "opinion makers," mostly based in the North. Aided by the proliferation of U.S.- supported free-market think tanks, all the models of growth and development that involve some state inter- vention have been lumped into one and that one model has been declared a failure. It is not only existing social- ism, but existing social democracy that is deemed to have collapsed. In fact, leftists are now portrayed as 5VOICES ON THE LEFT The times are at once explosive and non-revolutionary. This is a function both of the hegemony of neoliberal ideas and the power of neoliberal institutions. conservatives, as antiquarians holding out against the one true faith of free-market capitalism. In some cases this thinking has reached the left itself, but even when it hasn't, it has created the context in which the left must organize. We are living therefore, not so much in a time of defeat as in a time of doubt. The left has been defeated before and risen resolutely from the ashes. The left has been disenchanted before and divided, subdivided and changed course. But not in a long time has the possibility of constructing an alter- native set of economic and social arrangements seemed so doubtful and so remote. All the more remarkable then, that in this age of doubt and cynicism, the activists interviewed in these pages maintain a radical commitment and enthusiasm. And more impressive, they maintain a faith that their activities can accomplish something. These activists are not engaged in moral witness here. They are not lone voices in the wilderness, but social activists engaged in the struggles of their times and places. Some of those interviewed here have been active over many generations. But while there is some personal history in these pages, there is no nostalgia. Those who have been around long enough to speak personally of the past con- tinue to struggle for the future, though in altered cir- cumstances. In some cases, as in the calls for "electable" coali- tions, or in the give and take of government-guerrilla negotiations, these interviews reflect a scaling down of historic demands and positions. In other cases, as with post-Peace Accord organizing in Guatemala, or with the resuscitation of the moribund U.S. labor movement, they reflect a cranking up of old demands. These are voices that by no means lack the facility of self examination. The following pages are filled with self criticism and critique of traditional left projects, from the gentle critique of Cuban Communism by Juan Vald6s Paz, that "the planning of the future should be accompanied by a much higher level of social participa- tion," to the harsher "the left in Latin America was never really in contact with the masses," of Argentine Senator Graciela Fernindez. Indeed, the broad political move- ment reflected in these interviews seems to be carefully committed to a left project that will rethink old certain- ties without giving in to neoliberal hegemony. In any case, the fall of the left's traditional projects have-at least for now-produced a fundamentally dif- ferent kind of organizing. The times are at once explo- sive and non-revolutionary. This is a function both of the hegemony of neoliberal ideas and the power of neoliberal institutions, both flowing from the lack of a concrete-or easily imagined-alternative. Even most armed opposition groups now articulate goals well short of revolution. Raill Reyes of the Colombian FARC guerrillas calls here for "a government of recon- struction and national reconciliation," and Bishop Samuel Ruiz speaks of the Zapatista's desire for peace and structural reforms. To be "in contact with the masses," movements and parties of the left have adopted concrete demands and become more participatory. "It has taken 500 years to address the problem of women," says Guatemala's Rosalina Tuyuc, and in so saying, articulates a demand for a politics that is more congruent with daily life-a politics that is rooted in the community. There is noth- ing new about community politics, but it is now a much more important part of the left project than it ever was before. "How can a man be trusted to defend the rights of children if he won't even take care of his own chil- dren?" asks Benedita da Silva. And the Zapatista rebels, as a people in arms, reflect in their politics all the hopes, fears and contradictions of the lives of the communities in which they live. There is an emphasis in these interviews on democra- tic models of development, mass participation in politics and structural, "achievable" reforms. There is also a rad- ical sense that a left project must create not just a safety net for the poorest and jobs for the unemployed, but the bonds of solidarity that come from sharing both the hard- ships and joys of daily life. Despite the collapse of the old models, the conflicts and contradictions that gave rise to the old models are very much still with us. "Indeed," said Cheddi Jagan, the President of Guyana who spoke to us just a month before he died, "the devel- oping countries will continue to be marginalized if we do not collectively seek a new order." Not out of nostalgia, but out of necessity, the left is re-inventing itself.
