Saludo del FMLN en el Décimo Aniversario de la Revolución Sandinista

COMMUNIQUE

THE FMLN GENERAL COMMAND GREETS THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SANDINISTA POPULAR REVOLUTION

For the heroism and sacrifice of your people, and for the ability of your vanguard to construct a revolutionary democracy - thank you, Nicaragua.

Companeros and companeras of the Sandinista National Liberation Front: in the name of the Salvadoran people, the combatants and militants of the FMLN, accept our warm revolutionary greetings on the tenth anniversary of the Sandinista Popular Revolution.

The tenth anniversary is an opportunity to review some of the lessons we have learned from your revolution. The victory of the Sandinista Revolution, together with the struggles of the Salvadoran and Guatemalan people, made Central America the revolutionary center of the American continent. The revolution is and will continue to be an historical necessity; a law of social development. In spite of obstacles such as the blockade and the contra war, ten years of revolution have shown that backwardness and poverty cannot be alleviated without profound structural transformations with the active participation of the majority, something possible only through revolution.

The Sandinista Popular Revolution could only have developed through self-determination, the breaking of its dependence upon imperialism, and the recovery of national sovereignty. It has shown that the struggle for self-determination and national sovereignty is permanent, and that even after the conquest of popular power the fight must continue with unshirking determination.

The Sandinista Popular Revolution inaugurated the epoch of revolutions. It joined the world revolutionary process without losing its own particular identity or direction. The FSLN and Nicaraguan government have shown us how we must combine diplomatic, political and military efforts to achieve this participation; how to assure -- with all the world's complexity, interdependency and abundance of contradictions -- the advance toward a new society that ensures justice, democracy and development.

We are convinced that the triumph of the Sandinista Popular Revolution induced the rebirth of Latin Americanism and promoted democratic changes in numerous Latin American countries. These lessons are very important for Latin American peoples and all the Third World. We see the unity and cohesion of the FSLN, its capacity for self-criticism and its constant disposition to renew its thought and action. These are virtues of the vanguard that we admire. The struggle of the Salvadoran and Nicaraguan people form part of the same revolutionary process. Both peoples have inflicted severe blows to imperialism. For this they have won the admiration and solidarity of the peoples of the world.

The struggle in our country is reaching a decisive moment, precisely because the FMLN has defeated the imperialists' so- called "Low-Intensity Conflict" strategy." In Nicaragua the Sandinistas defeated the same strategy in their victory over the contra forces. Since the defeat of the so-called moderate political plan led by Jose Napoleon Duarte and the return of the oligarchs to power, the possibility of containing the revolutionary advance in El Salvador has been running out. These sectors desperately want to impose a fascist scheme of domination. This has been massively rejected by the broadest social and political forces. We are certain that our struggle will continue with the active solidarity of the peoples of the world and in particular, the heroic people of Sandino.

Long live the tenth anniversary of the Sandinista Popular Revolution! Long live the heroes and martyrs of the Sandinista Popular Revolution and their indefatigable defense! Long live the revolutionary people of Nicaragua! Long live international solidarity! Long live the FSLN!

Revolution or death...we shall win!

El Salvador, July 19, 1989

Comandante Roberto Roca
Comandante Shafick Jorge Handal
Comandante Joaquin Villalobos