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From AV, member of the SCI

October 29th, 2010

Comrades,

We are going through hours of deep pain. It is hard to believe that we have lost comrade Roque Sanchez. Many of us still have his image with heart-rending clarity. A few hours ago we were fighting together in Argentina, France, Cuba, Bolivia, for the socialist revolution, for the re-foundation of the 4th International. He dedicated his life –short, but intense, passionate, well lived, as a revolutionary lives- to this fight.

I have the same age as he did; I am part of his generation. We’ve lost a great revolutionary. Nature suddenly took it away from us.
I had the honour of get to know him, militate with him, cross borders. We lived in the middle of the Bolivian revolution. We were together at the foundational congress of the Internationalist Trotskyist League of Bolivia. He was one of the best fighters for the re-foundation of internationalist Trotskyism in Bolivia, where the Loraist current didn’t leave a single trace of the 4th International.

His virtue wasn’t of being an organizer; his qualities were others. Under the huge pressure of the popular front to expropriate the Bolivian revolution, Roque was able of defining theoretically the merging of a labour Stajanovist aristocracy in the heart of the miner proletariat in Bolivia. He clearly defined that this labour aristocracy was going to strangle –on behalf of “socialism”- the proletarian vanguard by submitting it to the Bolivarian bourgeoisie. This was a huge combat against my adaptation to this pressure. This fight that Roque led saved our Trotskyist core. Roque knew to “stay alone” defending the strategy and principles. I.e. he knew perfectly well how to stay together with his fraction of the working class, the most exploited one. This was his biggest virtue.

Roque was frontal. Sometimes, we discussed strongly. During relaxed times, in those little rooms in the miner districts of Bolivia, we shared long talks on our goals, challenges, limits, projects, etc. None of these talks had any dissociation with the revolution.
He had the sensitivity that only a Trotskyist revolutionary can have. He hated the bourgeoisie and its system like only a Trotskyist can hate.

This goodbye is very hard. Our generation has assumed huge challenges before our class and history. We have lost a big fighter of our generation.
His clear image doesn’t vanish, even less his combats.

Ahead there is this time of crisis, wars and revolutions that will be testing and forging the new generation of the proletariat that must re-found 4th International to lead the socialist revolution to victory as soon as possible. In this fight, comrade Roque Sanchez will always be present.

Comrade Roque Sanchez: Your generation says good bye and continues your combat until the re-foundation of the 4th International!

 

Anibal Vera.
Member of the SCI