Leon
Trotsky: Supplementary and Indispensable Explanations
of My July 2
Statements
July
5, 1940
[Writings
of Leon Trotsky, Vol 12, 1939-1940, New York ²1973, p. 305-315]
To
show the injustice with which El
Popular, Futuro,
and La
Voz de Mexico
accuse me of defamation, I choose Futuro
among
these publications. The reasons for this choice are the following:
Futuro
is not published daily, but monthly — as a result, the editorial
staff has the opportunity to choose its contributors carefully and to
weigh their articles; the editor of the magazine is Lombardo
Toledano; on the editorial board, along with Victor Villaseñor and
Luis Fernandez del Campo appears Mr. Alejandro Carrillo, editor of El
Popular.
So it is that everything that can be said and proved about Futuro
applies even more so to El
Popular,
not to mention La
Voz de Mexico. As
a result, I will refer here to the last two periodicals only in
passing, reserving the right to return to them.
It
is hardly my intention to enter into a political or theoretical
polemic in this article with the editorial board of Futuro,
which considers me "counterrevolutionary." Their political
opinions and evaluations don't interest me. I do not accuse Futuro
— a
magazine without principles — of having nothing to do with Marxism,
proletarian communism, or the traditions of the October Revolution,
but of publishing, in the course of the three and a half years of my
stay in Mexico, defamatory articles about me, and of deliberately
circulating false accusations, fabricated in the laboratories of the
GPU and translated into Spanish by their agents or with their
collaboration. I accuse Futuro
of having rejected, using futile pretexts, my numerous proposals that
they present the proof of their deliberate lies to an impartial
commission, governmental or otherwise
I
accuse Futuro
of having participated in the moral preparation for the attempt on my
life by means of their malicious campaign, with the collaboration, in
many cases, of future participants in the attack itself. I accuse
Futuro
of having aided the assailants, by all possible means, to obscure the
vestiges of the crime after May 24; of having berated me with false
and stupid accusations of "self-assault," thus making
objective investigation difficult I accuse Futuro
of continuing, even during the court investigation, its contemptible
campaign of lies, slander, and falsehoods and, consequently, of
participating in fact in the moral preparation for the second
attempt, which undoubtedly is already occupying the agents of the
GPU. As a result I accuse Futuro
of being an agent of the GPU in things affecting me, my family, and
my friends.
The
Participation of "Futuro” in the Moral Preparation for the
Attempt
In
the work of selecting the examples and proofs of Futuro's
malicious slanders against me, I am meeting with the following two
difficulties: an abundance of material and moral repulsion. To save
time for the court, I limit myself to choosing some examples that do
not need a great number of dates or commentary.
The
issue of Futuro
dated March 1940 included an article by one Oscar Creydt Abelenda,
"The Significance of Trotskyism," in which are included,
among others, the following statements:
"Today,
when American imperialism has become the most potent and open
exponent of armed intervention against the USSR (by means of
Mannerheim), and at the same time the direct organizer of the foreign
counterrevolutionary intervention in Mexico (by means of Almazan),
Trotsky and his agents of information and provocation have placed
themselves, as is logical, at the service of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) of the United States.
"Scarcely
a month ago, Mexico City was surprised by a multitude of posters of
various sizes, colors, and texts, on which Leon Osorio, president of
the so-called "Public Salvation Party," declared his
relations with the Trotskyites broken. …
"The
posters, written in the style typical of the Gestapo, like all of
those which appear signed by Leon Osorio, originated in the office of
the press attache of the German embassy in Mexico… ,
"Simultaneously,
the Gestapo expelled from its own bosom Trotsky's spies, which
corroborates once again the unassailable results of the celebrated
anti-Soviet Moscow trial (1938) in relation to the direct connection
of Trotskyism with the Gestapo.
"The
rupture between Trotsky and the Gestapo has its origin in the legacy
established by the Trotskyist agents, principally by Diego Rivera,
with 'international Jewry,' a political insult which Nazism applies
with notorious frequency to the Wall Street imperialists, especially
since the repeal of the arms embargo.
"The
rapprochement of Trotsky and the FBI of the United States has
occurred at the same time as the tightening of relations between
Almazánism and the North American oil companies.
"Trotsky
had foreseen things clearly since the beginning of the European war.
The nonaggression pact between Germany and the USSR and the
subsequent Moscow accord of September 29 had presented evidence that
the services of Trotskyism were no longer indispensable for the
Gestapo. Trotsky had to seek a new employer. This operation was
nothing new to Trotskyism, given the fact that since 1924 Trotskyism
found itself in the simultaneous service of various espionage
agencies, like the British intelligence service."
It
spoke later of a "… central command — Trotsky and the FBI…"
and finally:
"Today
it is completely evident that Trotskyism in Latin America is no more
than an agency of penetration, confusion, provocation, and espionage
in the service of the Wall Street imperialists."
No
one in the world, except the inquisitors of the GPU, have dared to
accuse me of ties with the Gestapo or with the secret police of the
United States. In spite of the monstrous nonsense of the accusation,
which in itself discredits it, I insisted three years ago on an
examination of the Moscow trials to be conducted by a commission
composed of eleven persons of high authority, in their great majority
irreconcilable adversaries of mine politically, under the direction
of the internationally renowned philosopher and teacher John Dewey.
Invited to participate on this commission, which worked with open
sessions, were representatives of the Communist parties of the United
States and of Mexico, the lawyer of the North American party, Mr.
Brodsky, and Mr. Lombardo Toledano. Naturally they refused, following
instructions from Moscow. The Moscow trials were exposed by the Dewey
Commission to be the most colossal judicial fraud in history. I am
honored to enclose two volumes of the work of the Commission, which
contain more than a thousand pages. In the press of the whole world,
the judicial fraud of Moscow is upheld only by the organs dependent
directly on the GPU.
With
respect to the political meaning of the accusations included in the
article by Abelenda, I have only a few words to say, with the aim of
identifying the hidden source that inspires Futuro.
During all of my political life I have been an irreconcilable
adversary of imperialism, under whatever political mask it may wear.
No one can show that any of my acts or any of my writings contradict
this position. When the Kremlin was preparing an alliance with the
"democracies," and the Comintern was humbling itself before
them, forgetting the problem of the colonies, I warned the workers
that such democracies are imperialist
In answer, the GPU attacked me as an agent of Hitler and Futuro
portrayed me in numerous caricatures with a swastika. When Stalin
unexpectedly concluded a pact with Hitler, and I denounced the
partition of Poland and the invasion of Finland, the GPU presented me
as an ;agent of British and North American imperialism. The article
by Abelenda, like many other articles in Futuro,
is only an interpretation of the slanders of the GPU.
Who
is Mr. Oscar Abelenda, author of the article In question? "A
Paraguayan, professor at the Workers University," as he
advertises himself. At the same time, he is a collaborator of La
Voz de Mexico,
and a prominent collaborator. Abelenda gave a report in La
Voz de Mexico
about the secret discussion in the National Committee of the
Communist Party, although he himself is not a member of said
committee. I consider it justified to assume that he is a
super-member His article, "The Significance of Trotskyism,"
is enough to recognize that he is an agent of the GPU.
The
editors of Futuro
are people sufficiently knowledgeable in politics and law to
understand the true meaning of the article by Mr. Abelenda. Naturally
Mr. Lombardo Toledano and Mr. Villaseñor do not believe a single
word of that article. Why do they compromise themselves printing
seeming libel? There can only be one answer: their relations with the
Kremlin oblige them to print against me whatever vile statements come
out of the GPU. And these men accuse me of slander when I declare
their political function to be an agency of the GPU!
The
article of Mr. Abelenda is illustrated on page 35 with a cartoon
against me. The author of the cartoon hid his name in a hieroglyph.
Nonetheless, a comparison with other cartoons in the same magazine
allows me to conclude that it was the work of Luis Arenal, assassin
of Robert Sheldon Harte.
Of
the utmost gravity is the date of the article by Abelenda: March
1940; that is to say at the moment the Communist Party announced at
its congress a new "anti-Trotskyist" campaign, and when
preparation for the attempt was going full steam ahead.
It
is impossible to close one's eyes when confronted with the following
evidence: the article by Abelenda in Futuro;
the purge in the Communist Party with the participation of Abelenda;
the technical preparation for the attempt on my life, with the
participation of members of the Communist Party; all have a common
source, and this source is the GPU, powerful international agency of
the Kremlin.
The
small lies astonish by their omnipresence. In almost every issue of
Futuro
one can find another slander against me. I will give an idea of them.
El
Popular
and La
Voz de Mexico
reported on my "secret counterrevolutionary ties with General
Cedillo, Dr. Atl, General E. Acosta, and others. I denied those
fantastic reports in the press. With respect to this, Futuro
writes:
"Trotsky
… has the honor of knowing Don Emilio N. Acosta, for although in a
recent declaration he confessed that 'I don't have the honor of
knowing General Acosta,' by this time he must have met him, judging
by the diligence of Don Emilio in seeking converts" (January
1940).
Here
we have the chemically pure lie At first glance, the lie can appear
to be lacking in importance. Nevertheless, it is a question of a
little lie in the service of an important purpose. Futuro
wants to suggest the idea that I am participating in the election
campaign on the reactionary side. The date of this lie warrants
attention: January 1940; that is to say, the month in which the
technical preparation of the attempt on my life began.
The
Collaboration of the GPU Terrorists in the Pages of "Futuro”
The
list of articles and cartoons appended to this article testifies that
the future participants in the attempt, or their close friends,
suspected by the police and subject to arrest or to questioning in
relation to the May 24 attempt, played an important role in the pages
of the "academic" press (Workers University Review!). As
collaborators we find the following names: David Serrano Andonegui,
D. A Siqueiros, Luis Arenal, Angelica Arenal, sister of Luis and wife
of Siqueiros; Nestor Sanchez Hernandez and Felix Guerrero Mejia. Some
of them, like Luis Arenal and Nestor Sanchez Hernandez, attacked me
directly with the pen or pencil, before attacking me with the machine
gun and the revolver; others, more cautious, prefer not to name me or
hide themselves beneath pseudonyms. Aside from the terrorist agents
of the GPU mentioned above, we find among the permanent collaborators
the names of people repeatedly mentioned during the investigation:
Leopoldo Mendez, Enrique Ramirez y Ramirez (one of the authors of the
theory of "self-assault"), Andres Garcia Salgado and
others. The list of collaborators of Future
incontrovertibly testifies that the "gunmen" of the GPU
were not strangers to such an environment On the contrary, they were
of the same flesh and blood.
One
sees this very clearly in the personality of Siqueiros — not only
in his artistic personality but also in his political one. Now, after
the failure, his friends and collaborators of yesterday try to unload
all the blame on him, describing him as a "pedant?' ("pedant"
with machine gun!), "irresponsible," and even "crazy,"
But yesterday it was different. In the May 1939 issue of Futuro,
in the section "Profile of the Month," one finds, after one
of the customary attacks against me, these lines:
"David
Alfaro Siqueiros is an artist of great prestige and of universally
recognized quality. In all America, from New York to Buenos Aires,
his work as a painter is esteemed. He is a man who honors Mexico. In
any country of the world, a person of this class is an object of
respect, no matter what his political affiliation. In Mexico this is
not the case. Recently he has been the object of arbitrary abuse by
the city police."
D.
A. Siqueiros is presented to us in these lines not only as an artist,
but also as a political personality who is not sufficiently
appreciated by the Mexican police. This pathetic apology for
Siqueiros emerged, so it seems, from the pen of Mr. Alejandro
Carrillo, editor of El
Popular,
who threatens to jail me for slander.
The
special May 1939 issue is in and of itself very important. In the
section, "Profile of the Month," one of the anonymous
artists (Luis Arenal?) describes how Diego Rivera evicts Trotsky for
not paying rent (Here you have the level of this "educational"
magazine.) In the same section, an ode in honor of Siqueiros. An
article by Victor Manuel Villachez Hernandez describes the alliance
of Trotskyism with the "Nazis." A cartoon by Luis Arena! An
article by Alejandro Carrillo. This list speaks for itself.
Here
no one is dealing with hypotheses or guesses, but with
incontrovertible facts, printed in the very pages of Futuro.
The
editors of this magazine are closely associated with the most visible
perpetrators of the May 24 attempt. The editorial staff of Futuro
took part in the moral preparation for the attempt, before any of
their collaborators had carried out the assault against my household,
had kidnapped and killed Robert Harte, had tried to kill me, my wife,
and our grandson.
"Futuro”
After the May 24 Attempt
In
the July issue of this year, one can read, on page 24, editorial
section, "The Profile of the Month”:
"It
does not cease to be amazing that three hundred shots from a machine
gun were fired at a person from the doorway of his bedroom and he
escaped without even a scratch.
"But
for Mr. Trotsky the only explanation is that he threw himself under
the bed upon hearing the shots; or to state it more correctly, it is
not the only explanation, because later he affirmed that he had been
elsewhere, and a little later he declared that that night he had
slept in another place; and this series of contradictions is another
of the bizarre things in this affair.
"The
only clear thing in this question is that it was an act to provoke a
reaction against Mexico, in order to let loose, not only within
Mexico, but also in the United States, a movement of unfavorable
opinion about our country, with a purpose that perhaps one of the
members of the Dies Committee could explain, since they are so
interested in inventing fabulous anti-Mexican stories."
There
is not one grain of truth among the facts contained in this article
Moreover, it is stupid to suppose that a man capable of preparing a
gigantic "self-assault" before the very eyes of the police,
would be incapable of elucidating where he slept the night of the
assault In the USSR anyone who dared to show a similar contradiction
in a fraud of the GPU would be shot immediately. Fortunately in
Mexico that danger does not exist The editors of Futuro
should be more cautious. But even though it's stupid, their
accusation is extremely serious: I organized — according to their
statements — the assault against myself with the purpose of
provoking the intervention of the United States in Mexico. Nothing
more nor less! Why would I want an attack against Mexico, whose
hospitality I enjoy? Why, moreover, would the United States intervene
as the result of an attempt against a foreigner, an exiled Russian,
to whom the United States has not opened its doors? None of this
makes sense. In this case the lies came out of thin air. But bad
faith remains. If the authorities take the lies of Futuro
seriously, that could have very tragic consequences for me and my
family.
With
respect to the crime of May 24, Futuro
is carrying out the same treacherous politics as El
Popular
and La
Voz de Mexico.
It should be added that in a New York weekly, the Nation
of June 8, Harry Block, who lives in Mexico and is closely tied to
the Futuro
group, published an article about the ''self-assault" Though it
is very cautious, it is impossible to avoid verifying that there is
direct communication between the editors of Futuro,
El Popular,
and La
Voz de Mexico, with
the purpose of unloading on me the responsibility for the crime
executed by the collaborators of those periodicals.
That
is the final conclusion that issues from the facts. And after all
this, let the directors of Futuro,
El Popular,
and La
Voz de Mexico
accuse me of "slander!"
Appendix
— The Moral Preparation of the Attempt
The
Persecution of Trotsky and the Participation in It of the Future
Assassins
No.
|
Month
|
Year
|
Page
|
Article
|
22
|
Dec.
|
1937
|
24
|
Title
page by Luis Arenal.
Article
by Enrique Ramirez y Ramirez: "Current Problems of the
Revolution.”
|
23
|
Jan.
|
1938
|
17
|
Title
page by Leopoldo Mendez.
Illustration
by Luis Arenal.
|
24
|
Feb.
|
1938
|
18
|
Title
page by Luis Arenal.
Illustration
by Leopoldo Mendez.
|
|
|
|
30
|
Illustration
by Luis Arenal.
|
25
|
March
|
1938
|
17
|
"Profile
of the Month": "A Trotskyist Unmasks" — "Mr.
Stolberg, wiping off the powder and rouge of a revolutionary
clown, has revealed his true personality, that of a traitor, spy
and fascist agent — in short, the personality of a Trotskyist."
|
|
|
|
33
|
Article
by Joshua Kunitz, translated from New
Masses:
"Guilty!" — supporting the Moscow trials.
|
|
|
|
39
|
Illustration
by Luis Arenal.
|
26
|
April
|
1938
|
23
|
Title
page by Luis Arenal. Illustration by Luis Arenal.
|
|
|
|
31
|
Article
by Angelica Arenal. "The Congress of the CTM."
|
27
|
May
|
1938
|
15
|
Illustration
by Leopoldo Mendez.
|
|
|
|
52
|
(back
cover) Illustration by Luis Arenal.
|
30
|
Aug.
|
1938
|
20-21
|
Illustration
by Luis Audirac: "The Present Panorama of Mexico"
(against Trotsky).
|
|
|
|
40
|
Illustration
by Xavier Guerrero: "The Organized Workers Will Finish off
Trotskyism."
|
31
|
Sept.
|
1938
|
38
|
Article
about "Trotsky in Mexico:" "Therefore Leon Trotsky
Is an Enemy of the Mexican People" (with three photos of
Trotsky).
"Trotsky
responds deliberately and slanders the government of Spain,
vilifies the Chinese people, accuses the Mexican proletariat of
selling out for Moscow gold, indirectly attacks the Cardenas
government by attacking the theory of the Popular Front and agrees
in everything with the ideas and acts arising from fascism."
|
33
|
Nov.
|
1938
|
21
|
"Profile
of the Month": Against Trotskyism.
|
|
|
|
23
|
"Profile
of the Month": Against Abelardo L. Rodriguez and Trotskyism.
|
32
|
Oct.
|
1938
|
19
|
(special
supplement)
Illustration
by Leopoldo Mendez.
|
34
|
Dec.
|
1938
|
9
|
Illustration
by Luis Audirac against Trotsky.
|
|
|
|
12
|
Illustration
by Luis Audirac against Trotsky. "The Reaction is Prepared."
|
|
|
|
15
|
Article
by Luis Fernandez del Campo: "What Trotsky Means": "And
in Mexico, at this very moment in which a new political struggle
is being launched, Trotsky has adapted himself to serve as an
instrument of the counterrevolutionary sectors …"
|
|
|
|
16
|
Illustration
by Santos Balmori:”Leon Trotsky, as he really is."
|
|
|
|
32
|
Article
by Victor Manuel Villaseñor: "The USSR and Abelardo,"
with illustrations against Trotsky.
|
35
|
Jan.
|
1939
|
21
|
Illustration
by Leopoldo Mendez.
|
|
|
|
35
|
Illustration
against Trotsky.
|
36
|
Feb.
|
1939
|
19
|
Illustration
by Luis Arenal.
|
|
|
|
30
|
Illustration
by Luis Audirac: "Mousetrap of Fascists and Mexican
Ex-Revolutionaries," against Trotsky.
|
37
|
March
|
1939
|
16
|
Article
by Andres Garcia Salgado: "What We Find in Spain."
|
|
|
|
16
|
Article
by Felix Guerrero Mejia: "The Popular Army."
|
|
|
|
17
|
Article
by A. D. Serrano: "The Invading Army."
|
|
|
|
17
|
Article
by David Alfaro Siqueiros: "Our Vision of Mexico."
|
|
|
|
15
|
Editorial:
"The Return of Our Volunteers."
|
|
|
|
27
|
Illustration
by Luis Arenal.
|
|
|
|
14
|
Editorial:
"… Around some of the nominees, hover the agents of Leon
Trotsky …"
|
38
|
April
|
1939
|
28
|
Article
by Andres Garcia Salgado: "Peace Without Honor in Spain."
|
39
|
May
|
1939
|
17
|
"Profile
of the Month": paragraph against Trotsky.
|
|
|
|
18
|
"Profile
of the Month": "David Alfaro Siqueiros is an artist of
great prestige and of universally recognized quality. In all
America, from New York to Buenos Aires, his work as a painter is
esteemed. He is a man who honors Mexico. In any country of the
world, a person of this class is the object of respect, no matter
what his political affiliation. In Mexico, this is not the case.
Recently, he has been the object of arbitrary abuse by the city
police."
|
|
|
|
28
|
Illustration
by Luis Arenal.
|
|
|
|
29
|
Article
by Nestor Sanchez Hernandez: "The Spanish People Have Not
Been Defeated" against Trotsky: "But the Spanish people
and the world have learned, moreover, many other interesting
things; they have learned to size up the true role of the
Trotskyists as fascist agents. …"
|
40
|
June
|
1939
|
24
|
Article
by Angelica Arenal: "Women in Present Society."
|
43
|
Sept.
|
1939
|
15
|
"The
USSR in the Inter-imperialist Struggle"; "The attitude
of the USSR in no way signifies an accommodation between Moscow
and Berlin, as the Trotskyists affirm with malevolent idiocy."
|
47
|
Jan.
|
1940
|
24
|
"The
Honor of Trotsky," Accuses Trotsky of knowing General Acosta.
|
|
|
|
32
|
"The
International Police of the U. S." by Carlos Enrique Rivas. A
paragraph against Trotsky in relation to the Dies Committee.
|
48
|
Feb.
|
1940
|
32
|
Enrique
Ramirez y Ramirez: "Youth and Tragedy": … the pupils
of Blum and Trotsky have opposed the unity of the young
generations, they have sabotaged it and have openly fought it."
|
49
|
March
|
1940
|
34
|
Oscar
Creydt Abelenda: "The Significance of Trotskyism": "…
Trotsky and his agents of information and provocation have placed
themselves, as is logical, at the service of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) of the U. S. … The Gestapo has expelled from
its own bosom Trotsky's spies. … The split between Trotsky and
Rivera is transparently obvious. …" "Today it is
completely evident that Trotskyism in Latin America is no more
than an agency of penetration and provocation, of confusion and
espionage in the service of the Wall Street imperialists."
|