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128 THE WRETCHED OF THE EARTHTHE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 129congregate. Alas all too often it is the party which makes upentire political bureau and its members reside permanentlycapitaL In an underdeveloped country the leading party membersshould flee the capital like the plague. With the exception of afew, they should reside in the rural areas. Centralizing everythingin the capital should be avoided. No administrative pretext canjustify the bustle of the capital already overpopulated and overdevelopedcompared with nine tenths of the territory. The partymust be decentralized to the limit. This is the only way to reviveregions that are dead, the regions that have not woken up tolife.In practice there will be at least onebureau in each region and care should be taken not tohim regional head. He will not handle administrative responsibilities.The member ofthe regional political bureau is not obligedto hold the highest rank in the regional administration. He shouldnot necessarily join forces with the authorities. For the peoplethe party is not the authority but the organization whereby they,the people, exert their authority and will. The less confusionthere is, the less duality of powers, the more the party can fulfillrole as guide and the more it will become a decisive guaranteefor the people. If the party merges with the authorities, thenis the fastest way for the party militant to achieve his selfishobtain a job in the administration, be promoted, changehis rank, and make a careerIn an underdeveloped country the creation ofdynamic regionalbureaus halts the process of urban macrocephaly and the chaoticexodus of the rural masses toward the towns. The establishment,during the very first days of independence, of regional bureaus withthe power to stimulate, revive, and accelerate the citizens' consciousnessis an inevitable prerequisite for any country that wantsto progress. Otherwise, the party leaders and dignitaries of thecongregate around the leader. The administration swellsout of all proportion, not because it is expanding or specializbutbecause more cousins and more militants expect a positionand hope to slip into the works. And the dream of everycitizen is to reach the capital, to have his piece of the pie. Thetowns and villages are deserted, the unaided, uneducated, anduntrained rural masses tum their backs on an unrewardil1!~ soiland set off for the urbanletariat out of all proportion.Another national crisis is looming. We believe, on the contrary,that the interior, the back country, should be given priority.In the last resort, moreover, we see no drawback to the governmentconvening elsewhere besides the capital. The myth of thecapital must be debunked and the disinherited shown that thedecision has been made to work in their interest. To a certainthis is what the Brazilian government attempted to do witharrogance of Rio de Janeiro was an insult to theBrazilian people. But unfortunately. BraSIlia is still a new capithroughthe forest. No, no serious objec­todaytion can be made to the choice of a new capital, to relocatingthe entire government to one of the most destitute regions. Theidea of a capital in underdeveloped countries is a commercialnotion inherited from the colonial period. In the underdevelopedcountries, however, we must increase our contacts with therural masses. We must apply a national policy, i.e., a policy specificallyaimedat the masses. We must never lose contact withpeople who fought for their independence and a better life.diagrams and statistics, indigenousservants and technicians should delve into the body ofpopulation. They should not bristle there isof an assignment to the "interior." One should no longertheir young wives threaten to divorce their husbands if they cannotmanage to avoid a rural posting. Hence the party's political