Sellouts Attack Unión del Barrio, Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, Raza Rights Coalition, Brown Berets de Aztlán, and the National Chicano Moratorium Committee:

Editor's Note - The objectives of this article are: 1) to expose the current government-sponsored attacks against La Unión del Barrio and other movement forces; 2) to provide the reader with examples of the struggles we have waged with negative forces within and outside our movement; 3) to define, in a political way, the types of negative struggle that come down within the movement; and 4) to show our readers the seriousness of our struggle - Unión del Barrio is not merely "playing politics" - we openly struggle and defend what we understand is the only path to Mexicano liberation. We are not an organization of "professional" hispanic vendidos; we are an organization dedicated to the principles of Mexicano liberation from oppression and exploitation.

We raise this critique to the readers of ¡LA VERDAD! as we believe that all movement forces throughout Aztlán can learn from the struggles we are presently waging against the hispanic neo-colonialists. The current struggle against the hispanic neo-colonialists is not limited to any particular region; this contradiction between the progressives and reactionaries (hispanics) is found in Texas, Nuevo Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Califas - wherever Mexicanos live. We believe that sharing these experiences with other movement activists will serve to advance the Mexicano movement for national liberation by bringing clarity and understanding on how to identify negative forces and more effectively wage struggle.

We Are Witnessing An Organized Effort To Weaken Our Struggle

Within the last few months we have witnessed an organized campaign to weaken the struggle for Raza self-determination. In a period of two months, November and December of 1996, articles attacking Unión del Barrio and other movement formations have appeared in 1) the San Diego Union-Tribune (the major gringo-owned right-wing newspaper in San Diego County), 2) El Sol de San Diego (an hispanic biweekly paper with limited circulation, known to activists as "El Sold-Out"), and 3) in an "unsigned" document that has been circulated throughout California. These articles accuse La Unión del Barrio of being terrible things such as "male chauvinists," "violent," "repressive," "police agents," to being "self-anointed pontificators of the truth," etc.

To add to this anti-Unión, anti-Mexicano propaganda campaign, a month before these articles were made public, a movida was made at a San Diego MEChA Central meeting to pass a motion that "banned" MEChistas from working with the Raza Rights Coalition (Unión del Barrio is part of the coalition). This was done because supposedly the Raza Rights Coalition had "disrespected MEChA."

Furthermore, a "Día de la Revolución" program that was being organized by a local San Diego high school MEChA was canceled after calls were made to the principal of the school complaining about the nature of the program (several members of Unión del Barrio and the Brown Berets de Aztlán were scheduled to make presentations). The caller went on and warned the principal that if the event was to continue there would be "violence."

All this has come down with the backdrop of a lawsuit against the Brown Berets de Aztlán (see April - August 1996 issue of ¡LA VERDAD!), several anti-Mexicano laws being passed (Prop. 187, 3-strikes, Prop. 209, "welfare reform," more migra and military at the border, etc.), and increased tension and struggle in México north and south of the imposed border (EZLN, EPR, protests, civil unrest, increase poverty, etc.). As Mexicanos we must consider the seriousness of the times we live in and the importance of resisting and struggling for real change. To do this we must recognize the real nature of this latest anti-Unión attack campaign. The basic objective of this campaign is to get the government and the police to destroy the movement and to isolate progressive and revolutionary nationalist formations. We must question, who is behind these individuals that are currently engaged in this crusade to sabotage the Movimiento? What motivates them? What do they hope to accomplish? Why are they concentrating their assaults on Unión del Barrio, the Brown Berets de Aztlán and other militant Revolutionary Nationalist formations?

Who Is Behind These Attacks?

A close look at the sources of this current anti-Movimiento campaign exposes that, for the most part, they are from the reactionary (anti-revolutionary) hispanic petty bourgeoisie, (i.e. professionals, middle class, pro-capitalists) or what we call the "neo-colonialists;" a minuscule sector of our community who work consciously or unconsciously on the side of the U.S. colonial system to keep the majority of La Raza in a state colonial oppression. These individuals, some which hold supervisory positions in government funded programs, petty administrators in government agencies and schools, lawyers, etc., have for years lived comfortably by claiming to be "leaders" or "representatives" of our communities. These "professionals," had generally ignored the poverty and misery of our gente and until now had ignored La Unión del Barrio. In unity with this reactionary sector, is found a small grouping of recent college graduates who, while they call themselves "Chicanos," they are in practice hoping to join the more established hispanic petty bourgeoisie. Some are straight out vendidos, who during a brief time were involved in the Movimiento - others are merely naive individuals. These individuals, who because of the reactionary education they received in the colonial schools, or because of our movement's inability to get a revolutionary consciousness to our people, have been convinced that the political agenda of the hispanic vendidos is the best solution to the many problems confronting nuestra Raza.

In 1986, describing the role that the hispanic neo-colonialists have played within our community and in the destruction of the Chicano Power Movement of the late 1960's and early 1970's we wrote the following:

"Aside from the overt role the U.S. colonial military agencies [police, FBI, migra, etc.] have played in the destruction of the Chicano Movement, we must also consider the covert warfare waged upon the struggle by the state... The bourgeois print and electric media contributed tremendously to the undermining of the Chicano Movement through consistent falsification of information and objectives of the movement forces. At this time [the late 1970's and 1980's] we also witnessed the emergence of the Chicano petty bourgeoisie/vendido and 'tamed' agencies who quickly became the 'legitimate' and 'mainstream' representatives of the Chicano movement community. These opportunists... contributed in no small way to the suppression and neutralization of the liberation forces - by their siding with the colonial bourgeoisie [rich gabacho ruling class] in their attacks against the Chicano Nationalist movement... It is during this period that we also become witness to the emergence of the petty bourgeois colonial puppet appointments in a variety of powerless colonial government positions." (read Unión del Barrio pamphlet "Summing Up The Last Period Of Struggle: The Chicano Movement 1965 to 1975", June 1986)

Why Are They Attacking Unión del Barrio And Other Nationalist Formations, And Why At This Particular Time?

To us, it is no coincidence that at a time that we are beginning to see a tremendous resurgence of "Raza Power" politics, as demonstrated by the massive marchas organized by the National Chicano Moratorium Committee, the Chicano Studies struggles at UCLA and UCSB, the thousands of barrio youth who walked-out of schools in a militant-nationalist fashion in protest of Proposition 187, the ever-increasing demonstrations against police-migra abuse and the imprisonment of Raza, the growing militancy of Mexicano labor unions, and the solidarity work with revolutionary movements south of the gringo-imposed "border", that we now witness the colonial-gringo government intensifying its war to destroy the Movimiento. It is precisely these conditions that forms the basis for this current slanderous attack against the Brown Berets de Aztlán, Unión del Barrio, and other revolutionary forces.

Unión del Barrio, from the very first days of its founding (in 1981) began to criticize those in the community and in the Movimiento who were either straight out vendidos or egomaniacs, and not about Raza self-determination. Our struggle with the vendidos and falsos within our movement intensified when we (in 1985) began to call for the necessity to expose and rid our movement of these opportunists as a fundamental precondition for rebuilding the movement after the various U.S. police agencies had destroyed it by the mid 1970's.

By the late 1980's, through consistent activism in the community (pickets, demonstrations, marches against police, migra, etc.) and principled political struggle (openly criticizing pretenders and sellouts), the Unión had effectively eliminated all vestiges of vendido/hispanic politics in the San Diego area. Throughout the 1980's and into the 1990's, Unión del Barrio was either in the leadership, or working in coalitions with other progressive nationalist forces in almost every self-determination activity that had taken place in San Diego. This is why, unlike other places in Aztlán, in San Diego the hispanic vendidos have no influence over the Movimiento or the gente in the barrios.

The 15 years of struggle that the Unión has waged in defense of the Mexicano community has hurt the pockets of the neo-colonial puppets as they have become useless to the gringo power structure. They are no longer able to "control" the Mexicano masses (a classic example being when the Democratic Party got kicked out of Chicano Park by the Raza Rights Coalition). Egotism and elitism within the vendidos (an assumption that they're better, smarter, more moral, etc. than the common person), being a central personal characteristic of the petty bourgeoisie, these individuals were fuming at the mouth as they witnessed Unión members (who they had stereotyped as uneducated, politically crude, cholos and cholas) advancing revolutionary theory, taking on the leadership of the movement at a national level, and gaining respect from all sectors of the community.

An example of this elitist attitude surfaced in a meeting to resolve and clear-up what we saw as a police instigated antagonism between the Unión and the Chicano Federation (a government funded social service agency in San Diego) that was being fueled by a rumor that claimed "Unión, a socialist organization, was conspiring to take over the Federation." At the meeting, Irma Castro, at that time director of the Chicano Federation, told us that she never believed the rumor since she didn't think Unión del Barrio was politically sophisticated enough to understand what socialism was or to develop such schemes (meeting held at the Chicano Federation offices in 1985).

What Do The Neo-Colonial Hispanics Hope To Accomplish By Attacking Union del Barrio?

First, they are opposed to any liberation movement that has a revolutionary class character which has as its central understanding the fact that the great majority of Raza are poor working class people, as this would be in contradiction to the economic and social interests that the petty bourgeoisie hold. In other words, their jobs and social positions are jeopardized by the revolutionary forces because such a movement would never allow these elements to exist within its ranks.

This is precisely why Unión, currently being one of the most active formations within the Mexicano movement in Aztlán and one that upholds revolutionary nationalism, has become a primary target for the gabacho colonial system and their hispanic flunkies. These forces hope that by eliminating or neutralizing Unión del Barrio, they would weaken the movement, thereby allowing them to once again control the politics of our gente's struggle for self-determination. It would allow them to portray themselves to the gabacho colonial system as "representatives of the community" and thereby demand concessions (in the form of better jobs, higher wages, etc.) from the sistema. Moreover, it would allow them to walk around disguised as "defenders of the people" without anyone knowing the truth of their sellout or assimilationist politics. Without the existence of the Unión or other militant Raza formations, the hispanics would be able to sleep comfortably at night knowing no one would expose their corrupt snug life-style which they maintain by pimping off the poverty and the misery in which the great majority of our gente live.

Examples Of Struggles We Have Had In The Past

As we have explained, the Unión recognizes the need to lay out in the open the reactionary, elitist, capitalist agenda of the neo-colonialists (hispanics) as a necessary prerequisite in our struggle to raise the consciousness of La Raza and build a truly revolutionary national liberation movement. We understand, that as long as the forces were confused and unable to differentiate between reactionary and progressive politics, rebuilding our Movimiento would be an impossible task. It was this understanding that allowed us:

· to effectively expose, between the years 1983-85, LULAC, the G.I. Forum, MAPA, the National Concilio de La Raza, La Prensa (a San Diego hispanic paper), and others, who wanted to opportunistically (hoping for money in the form of advertisements, grants, etc.) come to terms with the racist-fascist Coors corporation by calling off the "Coors Boycott";

· to challenge the multi-national League of Revolutionary Struggle's (AKA Liga - who claimed to be progressive and revolutionary, but in essence was pushing hispanic and Democratic Party politics) hold over much of California MEChA from 1981 to 1989;

· to lay out in the open the most negative and slanderous work of several individuals within East L.A. College MEChA (from 1990-92) who were attempting to derail the work of the National Chicano Moratorium Committee (of which Unión is a member) while it was in the middle of organizing a massive national "500 Years of Raza Resistance" (anti-Columbus) march;

· and, to expose the counter-revolutionary white-middle class character of the "radical-petty bourgeois feminism" coming from some elements within a Raza women's organization at UCSD. (read "Handling The Differences And Contradictions That Arise Among Movement Forces", ¡LA VERDAD!, Oct.-Dec. 1993)

What Are The Tactics That The Neo-Colonialists Are Currently Using In Their Campaign To Isolate And Destroy Unión del Barrio And Other Movement Formations?

The primary method of those presently attacking Unión del Barrio has been through "slander" and the spreading of "rumors." Before we get into some specific examples of the current movidas of the neo-colonialist vendidos, it is important that we describe these tactics:

"To engage in slander is to consciously and purposely spread lies and misinformation with the objective of injuring (or destroying) an individual or organization. In political struggle, slander is usually the conspiratorial work of a group of individuals (or organizations) who have embarked on a campaign to wreck the work of an organization. Generally, this has been the style of work that police have historically used to neutralize the effectiveness of organizations. Those groupings engaged in slander, are scared to death to openly struggle and debate differences between them and other movement forces.

"A rumor is a piece of information that has not been proven to be a fact, but yet is spread as the truth. After a rumor is spread from one source to another, and its origins are [often] lost, it takes a life of its own and becomes a fact to many politically naive individuals. Rumors are usually spread by childish individuals who are looking for excitement in their lives or by police agents attempting to confuse and demoralize movement forces. Political naivete, keeps many activists from actually following-up to see if the rumor they are receiving is in fact truth.

"On the other hand, an 'attack' is a straight out hostile action by one enemy on another. Though we generally see attacks in the form of criticism, physical confrontations are not uncommon. We have witnessed in the past how, through police manipulation, movement organizations have viewed themselves as 'enemies' and thus concentrate much of their time and resources 'attacking' each other." (from "Handling The Differences And Contradictions That Arise Among Movement Forces", ¡LA VERDAD!, Oct.-Dec. 1993)

Movida To Isolate The Raza Rights Coalition

During the month of August in 1996 (while most students were on summer break), an attempt was made by 3 or 4 individuals to try to convince San Diego MEChA Central not to work with the Raza Rights Coalition (RRC) at any level. Upset over an article in which ¡LA VERDAD! criticized the Democratic Party hispanics' "hidden" and sell-out politics within the Movimiento and their influence over some MEChistas, these elements were able to temporarily pass a motion restricting MEChA from working with the RRC - even though ¡LA VERDAD! is the newspaper of Unión del Barrio, not the RRC. These individuals were also able to organize an "informational meeting" for "MEChistas only" and in the most unprincipled and underhanded fashion, half a dozen hispanics of various stripes, ex-movement people, and some wannabe activists (all who are doing nothing for or support the national liberation of the Mexicano people), were invited to criticize Unión del Barrio.

Based on the practical experience that we have gained through years of struggle, we have come to the conclusion that what motivated these students to attack the RRC, even though they espouse "Chicano Power rhetoric", was the admiration and political unity they hold for hispanics that we had criticized.

Fortunately, after most MEChistas came back to campus and saw the unprincipled process that had unfolded during the summer break, they immediately nullified the anti-RRC motion. Unable to deal with the righteous stand taken by honest MEChistas and the principled struggle of Unión del Barrio members, one of the anti-Unión individuals who held a leadership position at UCSD MEChA resigned, while the others simply ceased being active in MEChA Central.

Raza Rights Coalition Kicks Out Democratic Party From Chicano Park, And Sell-Out Ex-Radical Joins The Gabacho Ruling Class In Labeling Us "Left-Wing Extremists"

In what was a major victory for the Chicano/Mexicano Movement, the Raza Rights Coalition and other forces (MEChA, Brown Berets de Aztlán, Chicano Park Steering Committee, Voz Fronteriza, and community gente), prevented the Democratic Party from holding a "get out the vote and support Clinton" rally in Chicano Park (see "Raza Rights Coalition Struggles to Stop the Prostitution of Chicano Park," Voz Fronteriza, December 1996). Emotionally upset over his inability to prove his usefulness to the Democratic Party leadership and not satisfied with tearing down a Mexican flag and giving the "finger" to Raza protesting the prostitution of Chicano Park (with police protection, of course), Al Ducheny, one of the organizers of the Democratic Party rally, was quoted in the San Diego Union-Tribune as describing those who had disrupted his attempt to sell-out the historical significance of Chicano Park "as extreme leftists", thus giving the U.S. government police agents an "excuse" to harass and attack us. Basically what Ducheny did was to call the pigs on the movement.

While others have called us "extreme leftists" before, these same comments coming from the mouth of someone like Ducheny take on a most degenerate significance. Why? Because Al Ducheny, who once ran a "head shop" (selling roach clips and to hippies) next to San Diego State University during the mid and late 1970's, was a leading member of the Communist Party Marxist Leninist (CPML), twice traveled to "communist" China, and upon his return held meetings showing slides of life in China and telling those present how wonderful a socialist system was.

The CPML was a "multi-national" (but as in the case of all multi-national groupings, led by white people) organization that claimed to be composed of serious "cadre" committed to destroying capitalism and imperialism. Ducheny, who at that time was considered an "extreme leftist" by some, for almost a decade went around calling people sell-outs and revisionists (someone not following the correct revolutionary road), and advocating the need for a revolutionary struggle to overthrow U.S. capitalism.

Unable to win people to his line (as people noticed he was never sincere about it) or to work under his leadership (he was kicked out of Sherman Unidos, a barrio youth group), Al Ducheny, in a most opportunist fashion, made a complete political conversion during the 1980's, from "left-wing revolutionary" to supporter of U.S. capitalism and white power colonialism. At least once he was quoted in the colonial media demanding that the police "clean up" Chicano Park.

Unión del Barrio, along with La Raza Unida Party, Movimiento de Liberación Nacional (MLN), African People's Socialist Party, and other liberation forces, have long exposed the fact that multi-national leftist formations (such as the "League of Revolutionary Struggle," the "Communist Party ML," the "Revolutionary Communist Party," etc.) were never "socialist", "communist", or "revolutionary", but rather groupings working objectively (whether some of their members were conscious of it or not) with the U.S. colonial-capitalist system. In fact, it was organizations like these that were a central factor in the destruction (creating divisions, through slander, etc.) of the liberation movements of Mexicano, Indio, African, and other nations oppressed within the current borders of the U.S. during the late 1960's and early 1970's. The actions of Al Ducheny are one more element of proof that confirms that our analysis of the white, multi-national left, was correct.

Neo-Colonialist College Administrator, Gus Chavez, Slanders Unión del Barrio As A Way Of Proving His Loyalty To Gabacho Colonialism

Gus Chavez, a former "activist", is now director of San Diego State University's EOPS (Educational Opportunity Program and Services). During the Chicano Power Period of our people's struggle, he would go around posturing as a Chicano militant. Gus was one of those that we often referred to as a "patch-less beret"; someone who walked around wearing a Brown Beret, yet was not officially a member of a particular chapter or never "earned" the right to wear the patch with the organization's symbol on his beret. Gus soon gave up struggle and began a career as an administrator of EOPS and has held that position for over 20 years.

Typical of the false "activistas" of that period of time, once the movement had been virtually destroyed in 1975 by the colonial state, he opportunistically took off the beret and put on the "tie" of hispanic politics. In 1980, as a response to the marches and protests being organized by the Committee on Chicano Rights (CCR), an organization chaired by Herman Baca, which was one of the few organizations left (during this particular time) that was still putting forth Raza self-determination politics, Gus Chavez, in a T.V. interview, put down the actions of the CCR, saying that the time for marchers and pickets were over and that now "Mexican Americans" had to work within the system.

Gus Chavez's reformist hispanic politic again reared its ugly head when in early 1995 he made a disgusting plea to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors who were about to pass an "anti-immigrant" motion which called for more migra to terrorize Mexicano people. Gus ran down his "I'm-as-American-as-Apple-Pie" and "Loyal-as-Anyone-Can-Be-to-White-America" speech, in which he emotionally explained how he fought for this country, supported the flag, was an American, so please don't vote for the motion. Demonstrating their disdain for Mexicans in general, and slapping Gus in the face, the County Supervisors voted unanimously for the motion. (Check San Diego County Board of Supervisors archives for the full content of Gus's plea.)

Gus Chavez's latest attempt to win over the gringo ruling class and to prove his loyalty to them was his slanderous attack entitled "A political mugging in Chicano Park". We have reprinted this article so everyone can see what kind of character he is. In the December 1996 issue of Voz Fronteriza an open letter was printed, written by Marco Anguiano, a long time Raza activist, to El Sol de San Diego in which he correctly analyzes the content of Gus Chavez's so-called editorial. In addition, Unión del Barrio would like to sum-up how we see the stance that Gus upholds:

1) He openly upholds the Democratic Party;

2) By singling out the Unión del Barrio, Gus downplays and disrespects other groups involved in the anti-Democratic Party protest, such as MEChA, the Brown Berets de Aztlán, the Chicano Park Steering Committee, and Voz Fronteriza;

3) Unable to hide the individualist tendency of his petty bourgeois reality, Gus attempts to personalize the issue by attacking a leading member of Unión del Barrio instead of arguing his point in a political fashion;

4) By referring to himself as someone who was key to the take over of the park in 1970 (which he wasn't) and the "reasons" for this action, Gus attempts to take credit for something he didn't do and to speak for everyone involved in that particular struggle, while conveniently refusing to recognize that some of those who were central to this historical action - people such as David Rico, Tommie Camarillo, and Victor Ochoa - were with the RRC when the Democratic Party was kicked-out of Chicano Park;

5) By referring to the Unión's politics as repressive and sexist, Gus Chavez was not only slanderous and baseless (as he never gave one example or incident that would prove his accusations), but also was acting in the most sexist-male chauvinist fashion (which is a characteristic of the petty bourgeoisie) in that he completely failed to recognize that the RRC protest was led by women. (See news video of event by all major news stations of Nov. 4, 1996 or review "Vendido Democrats Compromise Integrity of Chicano Park: Raza Rights Coalition Struggles to Stop the Prostitution of Chicano Park", Voz Fronteriza, Dec. 1996).

6) His call for the "San Diego City Council" to "review" use of the park is utter nonsense (since the City Council has never cared about the Mexican community, much less Chicano Park) and smacks of someone calling the police to arrest members of the RRC.

Joining Gus Chavez in this movida was El Sol de San Diego. El Sol, better yet, "El Sold-Out" was established about 10 years ago by a disgruntled group of hispanics upset over the antics of another sell out hispanic newspaper La Prensa. El Sold-Out proudly declares to be "Latina owned", as if this automatically makes it a progressive publication. One only has to check out the pages of past issues to see the reactionary stance of El Sold-Out . Rarely does an issue appear without articles, photos, advertisements that portray, in favorable light, Pete Wilson, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Bill Clinton, and assorted corporations and banks: the real oppressors of the Mexican community. While El Sold-Out states that it is "an objective and professional publication" they have never covered any of the hundreds of events organized by Unión del Barrio. Its editor, Julie Rocha is part of the hispanic sector that objectively supports the colonial system.

Police-FBI Style Underground Letter Attacks Revolutionary Nationalist Organizations

During the month of October 1996, an unsigned statement entitled "Get The Communist Out of The Barrio" was mailed to dozens of individuals and organizations throughout California. In an incoherent, babbling, illogical, childish and slanderous fashion, the letter basically said that "Communists, trained by Cuba, China, Russia," were attacking community organizations and "prostituting" the movement, and that it was these "communists" who destroyed the "last movement in the 60s and 70s" (see statement "Get The Communist Out of The Barrio", which we have reprinted below).

The "communist" organizations the statement refers to are the Unión del Barrio, Brown Berets de Aztlán, Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN), and the National Chicano Moratorium Committee. Attached to the statement was a copy of the El Sol/Gus Chavez editorial attacking Unión del Barrio. The author (or authors) were so cowardly, that not only was the statement anonymous (unsigned), but the envelopes in which it was received did not have a return address (though it was postmarked from the Los Angeles area).

Who do we think wrote and circulated this document? Based on our experiences and of our study of past struggles, we have identified two possibilities. One could be that this document is part of the on-going Police-FBI counterinsurgency program to disrupt and destroy the Mexicano liberation struggle. During the last period of struggle it was common for the police to circulate anonymous letters in an attempt to discredit, confuse, and cause panic among organizations and individuals active in the Chicano Movement and other liberation struggles. A favorite method of discrediting people during that period was something called "red baiting" (or communist baiting). Since a large majority of people have been convinced (through U.S. gringo-capitalist propaganda) that "communism" is bad, anyone associated with it would automatically be viewed as a terrible person. This created tremendous confusion within the movement and the community since gringo colonialism-capitalism unleashed all its propaganda resources (T.V., radio, newspapers, schools, etc.) against the Chicano Movement, forcing many activists to give-up struggle. Most progressive organizations, from MEChA to La Raza Unida Party, have been victims of red-baiting.

A second possible author of this document could be the well known vendido David Sanchez, one of the co-founders of the Brown Berets and currently a part-time instructor at East L.A. College (for a detailed history of David Sanchez and his side kick, Geronimo Blanco, read "Former Activists Using the Colonial Judicial System Against the Movimiento", ¡LA VERDAD!, April-August 1996).

David Sanchez has a reputation among movement circles of using the tactic of sending unsigned letters to people in an effort to create doubt, friction, and as a way of intimidating activists. Many were convinced that letters sent in this fashion during the mass mobilizations of the "20th Commemoration of the Aug. 1970 Chicano Moratorium" of 1990 and the "500 Years of Raza Resistance March" of 1992, which claimed that key organizers of marches in San Diego and Los Angeles were "police agents", were the work of Sanchez. (for more information on the letter sent in 1990, check out "6,000 Chicano Mexicanos And Supporters March Down The Streets of East Los Angeles", ¡LA VERDAD!, Aug 1990-Jan 1991)

We have also examined documents openly written by Sanchez which resemble the same incoherent babbling, misspellings, and grammatical errors utilized in the current document being circulated. The content and style of writing of the anti-Unión article presently being circulated have so much in common with some of the material Sanchez has written "openly", that we are sure even some of his past and current students would come to the same conclusion as us. In fact, Sanchez is currently in hot water at East Los Angeles College, charged with unethical practices (he has been accused of selling books in class, working under a false Ph.D., etc.) and students have complained about incompetent teaching, claiming that Sanchez ventures outside the course of study, rambling about "Cuba trying to take over the movement", etc. (see "Instructor selling textbooks in class violates policy", East Los Angeles College Campus News, Nov. 20, 1996).

MEChA Event Canceled By Callers Complaining About Brown Beret De Aztlán Speakers

A final example of the current attack by counter-revolutionaries was the recent cancellation of a "Dia de la Revolución Mexicana" program that was being organized by Southwest High School MEChA (located in south San Diego) and which was to be held on November 20, 1996. On the program were speakers from Somos Raza, Unión del Barrio, Brown Berets de Aztlán, and San Diego State MEChA, along with music and other entertainment. One day before the event, Southwest High MEChA organizers were called into the vice principal's office and told that someone had called the school saying that the Brown Berets de Aztlán were going to have a "demonstration advocating violence" and because of this phone call, the event was going to be canceled. The same day, student members of an organization which calls itself the "National Brown Berets", headed by David Sanchez and Geronimo Blanco, admitted that their organization was the one who made the call to the principal's office because they did not want the Brown Berets de Aztlán on campus.

In an article published in Voz Fronteriza, MEChA from Southwest High laid out their position on the cancellation of their Dia de la Revolución activity:

"Individuals from an organization known as the National Brown Berets, led by Geronimo Blanco, called the information number which appeared on the fliers announcing the community forum, stating 'If Rico [from the Brown Berets de Aztlán] spoke, it's on!'

"So MEChA was conscious of the disruption the National Brown Berets might pose to our forum, and therefore proceeded to have security teams of [Southwest High] students. MEChA also understands that the National Brown Berets have a history of not showing up and following through with their threats. Southwest High MEChA knows for a fact that the members of the National Brown Berets who made the phone call were Southwest High School students, misled by Geronimo Blanco.

"Who is the real pig individual or organization who took the initiative to cause the cancellation of this event and stop the education of Raza, knowing that our Raza does not learn about Veinte de Noviembre in gringo schools? Is it the pigs? Is it the National Brown Berets?

"Step up pigs, and show your faces!" (read "Veinte de Noviembre Celebration Canceled by Southwest High Administration", Voz Fronteriza, Dec. 1996)

Movement Activists Must Take A Stand Against The Vendido Counter Revolutionaries

The Unión, understanding the complexities of waging struggle and the need to take all conditions into consideration, will always be open to working in unity with progressive, principled, and honest forces within our communities. While we understand that there are some progressive, nationalist, and honest elements among the Raza middle class, generally speaking, at this particular time they are not playing a progressive role in the struggle for Raza liberation.

Normally, ¡LA VERDAD! does not print names or photos of individuals since we see political tendencies as the principle contradictions and enemies of the people, not the acts or views of a few individuals. But in the case of Al Ducheny, Gus Chavez, David Sanchez, and Geronimo Blanco, their straight out reactionary and counter-revolutionary actions (calling the police, judicial system, and city officials on Raza activists) demands that we expose them so that we can put an end to the damage that they are doing to our gente's struggle for justice and liberation.

A truly national liberation movement can only be built with honest gente committed to the collective well being of all La Raza. As long as the vendidos are allowed to survive among our ranks, liberation is impossible. We therefore call on all Raza activists to seriously study the actions of the likes of Al Ducheny, Gus Chavez, David Sanchez, and Geronimo Blanco - as, unfortunately, these types of individuals and the tendencies they exhibit are found throughout Aztlán and occupied America (U.S.), and to take a principle stand by refusing to work with these counter revolutionaries.

As our movement continues to grow, we will see more and more attacks such as the ones we have mentioned in this article. But a united movement, guided by revolutionary strategy, and with a base in the community, will not only defeat the reactionaries, but will liberate the Mexican Nation.

¡Hasta La Victoria -Siempre!

Editors Note - The following is an editorial that appeared in the November 7, 1996 issue of El Sol de San Diego.

The San Diego Chicano/Latino excitement generated by the dynamics of the election was momentarily halted in Chicano Park by the actions of several Hispanics claiming to be the official caretakers and overseers of our community. These self-anointed purveyors and pontificators of the truth are nothing more than pseudo-political intellectual manipulators with an agenda and action plan that are contrary to the general desires of the greater Chicano/Latino community. I am referring to the leadership of the Hispanic group known as La Unión del Barrio and their plan for libertad or freedom for our people, La Raza.

Interestingly, they chose Chicano Park as their stage to attack a Chicano/Latino election rally to get out the vote. Their actions resulted in the cancellation of presentations by several Latinos who are prominent in the Democratic campaign and hold some of the highest posts ever held in Washington D.C. by members of our community.

The leaders, Henry Cisneros, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Federico Peña, secretary of Transportation, had a message to share with the community. The message is one that they have shared throughout the Southwest and other states where Chicanos and Latinos live in large numbers. It is a simple message of hope, self-determination and a call for political action and active involvement in the electoral process of our country. As all of the data shows, we made a difference in this election and will continue to make a difference in future elections.

Unfortunately, on occasion we will come across obstacles set up those who try to set us back. In this particular case, it was not police agents, the KKK, skinheads or white supremacists, rather, it was La Unión del Barrio under the leadership of Ernesto Bustillos, a bilingual teacher at Memorial Junior High school, and several other Hispanic professionals. It appears La Unión, under their leadership, has lost sight of why we, before La Unión existed, took over the land that gave rise to Chicano Park. Then again, this is not the first time La Unión has misspoken and misrepresented itself as the "real" vanguard liberators and freedom fighters they claim to be.

Our purpose in the land takeover was to demonstrate our self-determination for our community-building and celebration, economic independence, self-respect and political representation. Sweat, tears and hard work have gone into creating, maintaining and keeping a beautiful, crime-free park for our people to enjoy and which is open to all who wish to use it to celebrate our successes and existence. Many of us have had to fight the city and state from destroying it or taking it away from us.

Let us then not let anyone, especially La Unión del Barrio with their dogmatic, repressive and sexist ideology, stop us from using our beautiful Chicano Park. The San Diego City Council should review all public park utilization policies to ensure that the antics of a group, like those that led to the Monday evening political mugging of the public, do not happen again. The Chicano/Latino community must not ever again be held hostage or be denied the right to assemble and to free speech, especially in Chicano Park, whose birth and liberation represents the essence of our struggle.

Our community is inclusive of many immigrants and native-born people who deserve better treatment and respect, especially from a group like LA UNION who falsely claim to be acting for the betterment of LA RAZA ¡YA BASTA!

Gus Chavez
El Sol Advisory Board Chairman

Editor's Note - The following letter is reprinted exactly in the way it was received (all grammatical errors are of the anonymous author). The letter is reprinted here in order to provide our readers with a clear understanding and better perspective of the attacks made against our Movimiento and our organization. Included with this letter was a copy of the Editorial by Gus Chavez.

Get the communist out of the barrio

The communist are attacking community organizations so that they can promote revolution in Mexico and in the U.S.

There is not going to be a revolution in the U.S. because 75% of the people are happy with government services.

If there is a revolution in Mexico, an estimated 40 million refugees will pour into the U.S. which will make things worse.

The communist see a growing movement in the Chicano/Mexican American community, so right away they want to prostitute the movement for other causes. The communist-socialist go around screaming bloody revolution, and all they do is scare people away from a needed "progress and reform movement".

In the communist literature, they show people with guns and with mask, and they stupidly end up chasing all of the people away. If they continue to give the movement a red paint job, they will destroy all hope for La Raza. In other words, the communist try to give this array, that they are the movement, yet in reality they are a decoy, a fake duck which was created by the system: to confuse, defuse, and mis-lead La Raza to go down the wrong road.

It was the communist who destroyed the last movement in the 60's and 70's. Once they took over, attacked, and destroyed Chicano and Mexican American organizations, they began to to recruit students to go to Cuba and Latin America thus confusing the entire direction for any hope back home. Then, many of the students started promoting pictures of Che and screaming bloody revolution for Central America. And there went out are power to other causes. For example, in 1972, the same group tried to take over the movement....and ended up destroying the movement. Meanwhile, real issues at home like barrio violence, lack of representation, poverty, job discrimination were neglected because the system who is within the communist system, does not want us to attain real power. Be aware...that there are many who are many imposters who advocate violence to bring heat and the police on purpose. Who are the communist? some are misfits who are just being used. Some of them have been trained in Cuba and some of them have been trained in sabotage and rumor tactics which is typical of C.I.A. operatives. Some of them are Cuban, Chinese, or Russian associated Marxist-Socialist.Some of them don't know that they are just being used by this tug of war between the U.S. and Cuba. Some of them are C.I.A./ Red intelligence. And some of them are F.B.I. informants posing as socialist.

These are communist groups [Unión del Barrio, Brown Berets de Aztlán, EZLN, National Chicano Moratorium Committee]