Jaime Balius – In Self Defence: I demand an explanation
Jaime Balius’ rebuttal of accusations of Marxism, from the Kate Sharpley Library Bulletin. Jaime Balius was the secretary of the Friends of Durruti and one of the main writers for their paper
– – – – –
I will not repay defamatory comment in kind. But what I cannot keep mum about is that a legend of marxism has been woven about my person and I should like the record put straight. In Valencias Fragua Social it has been claimed that I am a marxist. This innuendo by Fragua Social has been taken up by other mouthpieces and it has been argued that our Group (Agrupacin) was a rag-bag of marxists and the like.
At a plenum of anarchist groups I had to bite my lips to stop myself from answering a comrade who was reminding folk that I came from a certain political sector. And I also resigned myself to hearing from the lips of another person present at the plenum that I was driven by spite. The same thing was said of me in Solidaridad Obrera some time ago. I paid no heed. Later, on the occasion of the appearance of a weekly run by E. Carb upon which I helped out as a sub-editor, the same charge was levelled against me. And on a number of occasions I have had to endure the same description being used with regard to me.
Let me ask the comrades who have resorted to this innuendo why they call me a marxist. Can it possibly be that I am a marxist because I am a steadfast enemy of the petit bourgeois political parties and of the whole rabble who have lined their own pockets while invoking the revolution and still are, even though torrents of blood are being shed on the fields of battle? Do they call me a marxist because I am against collaborationism and because I understand our position to be a source of strength only to our enemies? Am I called a marxist because I have been candid enough to write and bring to public attention what other comrades only dare say around the cafe table? Why hang this label on me?
Is it because in May I took the line that the uprising should continue until the Generalidad was annihilated utterly? Or could it be on account of my view that blood should not be spilled to no purpose and that whenever sacrifice is asked of the working class, it ought to bring them benefit rather than cost them ground? I require an explanation. If I am deemed a comrade at all, let someone tell me why I have been described as a marxist. I make no mention of the term agent provocateur because on that score there is a firm undertaking that both sides will retract the language use
In conjunction with AK Press we have just published The Friends of Durruti Group 1937-1939 by Agustin Guillamon. We feel it is an essential book to be read by anyone interested in anarchism, organisation and revolution. We reprint Jaime Balius angry rebuttal of accusations that he was a Marxist (proof that anarchists can slander as well as anyone!). Acting under the most difficult of circumstances the Friends of Durruti attempted to recapture the Spanish revolution. They are worthy of our full respect. Friends of Durruti Group: 1937-1939, Agustin Guillamon. 7.95 + postage from AK press, PO Box 12766, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH8 9YE or $9.95 + postage from AK Press, PO Box 40682, San Francisco, CA 94140-0682, USA.
This text taken from the Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library
Anarchism and the Platformist Tradition 