Leon Trotsky: Letter to Alfonso Leonetti

May 1, 1931

[Writing of Leon Trotsky, Vol. 13. Supplement (1929-1933), New York 1979, p. 80 f., title: “The First Lesson from Spain”]

Dear Comrade:

Thank you for your letter and for the Spanish documents. I am very worried about the situation there. All I can do now is wait for the report of M[ill].

The first lesson to draw from the Spanish events is the extraordinary importance that democratic slogans can take on. By demanding now the right to vote for women and young people at age eighteen, we can turn them against the Socialists in the government. It is but one example out of a hundred. To accept the theory of Prometeo would mean killing the Spanish revolution.

If the Landau group accepts the proposals of the Secretariat — and that is the only chance for avoiding a split — the Secretariat should send one or more representatives to Berlin to introduce the preparations for the national conference. The choice of a representative is not easy. What do you think? Perhaps two members of the Administrative Secretariat ought to go: you and Frank. The fact that the decision of the Secretariat was unanimous precludes any differences between the two of you. On the other hand, the fact that you belong to different tendencies would give the contending German groups the necessary guarantee of impartiality. Would this double trip be practicable?

Received your bulletin. Unfortunately I am now too overwhelmed with work to analyze it. I must finish the second volume of The History of the Russian Revolution at all costs. My best wishes to you and the other comrades.

L. Trotsky