Peoples' power is same — self-organization.
DEMOCRACY TO ORGANIZE
A PEOPLE AT WAR
The people's power that is being ex
FDR our mountains ercised is a way of organizing a democratic society. We have learned from all our mistakes. And you can't forget that we are doing this in the midst of a bloody war. That makes it much more difficult to build a new society, even in the controlled areas.
If our enemies come after us, we are
Interview with Salvadoran leader ready for them well in advance since we have a good security system that informs us rapidly. Then we have to retreat further into the controlled areas, and the
A leading figure in the local government bodies set up in the liberated zones of El ing Sweden.
Salvador, Elena Martinez, has been toa international secretary of the Socialist Party,
She described to Janne Aakerlund,
Swedish section of the Fourth International, how the liberated areas are organized and the importance of mass democratic structures in the liberation war.
The following is our translation of the text of Elena Martinez's remarks, which were published in the June 23 issue of Internationalen, paper of the Socialist Party.
The Spanish initials for "local people's power" are PPL (Poder Popular Local).
After years of fighting the enemies of freedom, we have learned how to build a society.
new society. El Salvador is a very small country, and we have no mountains to shield us. It would be very difficult to keep up the war if we did not seek strong support among the workers and peasants and help them build their own power
The people's power that has developed in the liberated areas is our mountain, it is the mountains that shield us while we build up our strength.
The FMLN's military strength is also
Withthe strength of people's power.
out military defense, we would not have had a chance to build a new society as we are doing today in El Salvador.
The long history of mass organizational work in our country has provided a
Now when the lot of experience.
FMLN's military strength is great enough for us to be able to control large sections of El Salvador, we are getting a chance to
Salvadoran peasants in the liberated zones (DR)
use this experience in building a new
This work is also strengthening the fighting spirit of the poor in El Salvador, - since for the first time in their lives they are beginning to achieve some sort of decent life despite all the horrors of
If the junta's army goes on the offensive and we are forced to retreat, we look for refuge deeper in the liberated areas. When we strike back against the junta's army, we return and rebuild the ruined homes. replant the burned over fields, and take up the challenge once again of building our own society.
In this endeavor, everyone shares in collective labor. Through this you get thousands of people used to taking their future into their own hands and the foundations for a new society are laid. We are being forced all the time to take new roads to meet the masses' demands, but the guiding principle is always the
FMLN army musters for defense. But also when the bombers come, we have a defense.
We have undergound shelters and a tunnel system. So far we have not had to use them so often, but we know that the days are coming when we may have to face B-52s, as they did in Vietnam.
At the start of the war, large sections of the population fled across the border to Honduras. Now we are appealing to them to come back and repopulate the liberated areas.
And they are coming back, slowly but surely. They know that they are safe again. That's very good for us, although there are more and more mouths to feed.
Local people's power is organized in small units. All the inhabitants are assembled to elect their representatives. Nominations are discussed openly. Those who are put forward are the ones who have been the best vanguard fighters for our own future and the best comrades.
The names of those proposed are put on a big list and the inhabitants come forward and put an "x" beside the names of the people they want to represent them. The elections are entirely open. Everyone can be there and see who gets the most x's by their names.
The administration elected is divided into various committees, which are responsible for different areas of work in the controlled zones. One committee is in charge of food production. Farmers who want to hang on to their own plots do, and the rest till the land collectively.
But most people work collectively on the land, since few own any ground. About 50 percent of the harvest is distributed to those living in the area, 30 percent goes to the liberation army, and 20 percent is set aside as a reserve in case we are attacked and the fields destroyed and the crops burned.
Besides food, we produce clothing, shoes, furniture, since a lot of things are destroyed when the junta's army attacks.
### CHILDREN GET PRIORITY
We fish in the Rio Lempa, and what we catch goes first of all to the children. In a number of places, we have small herds of livestock, mainly cows. The milk goes to the children, since they are continued on page 35
----- pull-quotes on this page -----
FMLN