Polemic on General Line of International ... - From Marx to Mao

force of arms, ruling out talks and agreements. If that wereso, there would never be an end to war. We reject such anapproach.The Chinese comrades argue that the imperialists cannotbe believed in anything, that they are bound to deceive. Itis not a matter of believing, but of sober calculation. Eightmonths have passed since liquidation of the crisis in the Caribbean,and the United States government is keeping its word— there has been no invasion of Cuba. We, too, have fulfilledour obligation to remove the missiles from Cuba.But it should also be remembered that we have undertakenan obligation to the Cuban people too: if the United Statesimperialists do not keep their promise and invade Cuba, weshall come to the assistance of the Cuban people. Everysensible person realizes that in the event of an American imperialistinvasion, we shall come to the assistance of the Cubanpeople from Soviet territory, just as we would have helpedthem from Cuban territory. True, in that case the rocketswould be in flight slightly longer, but their precision wouldnot be impaired.Why, then, do the Chinese comrades obstinately ignore theassessment the leaders of the Cuban revolution themselveshave given the Soviet government’s policy as a policy offraternal solidarity and genuine internationalism? What arethe Chinese leaders dissatisfied with? The fact, perhaps, thatit was possible to prevent the invasion of Cuba and the unleashingof world war?And what line of conduct did the CPC leadership take duringthe Caribbean crisis? At that critical moment the Chinesecomrades opposed to the realistic and firm stand of the Sovietgovernment their own position. Guided by some particularconcepts of their own, they concentrated the fire of theircriticism not so much on U.S. aggressive imperialism as onthe CPSU and the Soviet Union.The CPC leadership, which had been arguing that imperialismmight at any time unleash a world war, at this crucial550