Nonviolent Struggle: A Challenge for Change in Cuba by Gene Sharp
On March 3, 2012 a couple of Cuban exile activists asked the Gene Sharp bot over twitter how they could apply his teachings to Cuba. The answer was given by Gene Sharp in Miami in June of 1996 at a gathering organized by Brothers to the Rescue at Florida International University. Free Cuba Foundation members participated in the gathering. Below are Gene Sharp's notes.
Copyright: Gene Sharp
The following is a publication of Gene Sharp, Senior Scholar at the Albert Einstein Institution, 50 Church Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
tel: (617) 876-0311, fax: (617)876-0837, e-mail:<einstein@igc.org.apc>
Reprinted by Brothers to the Rescue (Hermanos al Rescate) with the author's permission.
Introduction
Thank you for inviting me. It is an honor to be here among persons committed to the liberation of the Cuban people and the development of a democratic society in a liberated Cuba
I am not here to tell anyone what to do, because I do not know Cuba well and I am not Cuban.
However, I do have some knowledge of dictatorships and resistance movements, and especially struggle with political, social, economic, and psychological weapons -- i.e. pragmatic nonviolent struggle. Lest there be any misunderstanding, this discussion has nothing whatsoever to do with pacifism. This is a discussion about struggle, power, and effective means of fighting.
I intend only to offer some ideas for consideration in thinking through the problem of how to end a dictatorship and planning how best to achieve a democratic society with freedom and respect for human dignity. Those are difficult goals to reach.
I hope that these ideas may be relevant for Cuba. However, that is your decision.
Determining the objective
A responsible movement which faces dictators and hopes for freedom, must decide what is its objective. Is it to make gestures of defiance, to express its hostility, to glorify freedom, and to identify one's self as one of the 'good guys'?
Or, is the movement seriously committed to the struggle to bring down the dictatorship and to establish a viable and responsible democratic political system based on freedom and democratic principles?
The gestures of defiance are relatively easy to make. To disintegrate the dictatorship and establish a lasting working democracy are harder goals to attain.
Requirements to succeed
To succeed in both of those goals requires that a responsible movement includes persons who think, evaluate, plan, prepare, and then act in ways that can be successful
Reflect on this century which is passing
We need to remember that this has been not only a century of dictatorships -- Nazi, Communist, Maoist, military, fascist, and others. It is easy to feel that the dictatorships are all powerful, and that to feel that people are helpless
We need also to remember that this has also been a century of liberation. It has been also a century of nonviolent struggle, popular empowerment with increasing strategic sophistication of nonviolent struggle, and disintegration of dictatorships.
Those who today struggle against dictatorships can be strengthened by knowledge that the future course of history is not pre-determined. Those who believe in freedom can help to shape the future by their choices of what to do and how to act.
There are grounds for realistic hope
Provided that the exponents of freedom: use their heads and think carefully, reject ideological dogma and doctrines, plan strategically, mobilize their own sources of power, learn how to undermine the dictatorship intelligently, build independent institutions outside the dictators' control, and implement their developed strategic plans with sound judgment and courage.
Rejecting dogmas
When developing a strategic plan for liberation, it is necessary to set aside past dogmas such as these:
Belief in the necessity of violence which produces defeatism, desperation, and disasters.
The presumption that answers lie in coups d'itat, guerrilla warfare, terrorism, military adventurism, or foreign intervention.
Belief in the omnipotence of dictatorships. They actually may be fragile if action is taken to strike where they are weakest, where they are vulnerable, at the very sources of their power.
Temptations to a democracy movement which must be resisted
A democracy movement may be tempted to make promises or to take actions which may sound good at the time, but which may in the long-run only help present or future dictators.
These temptations include the making of excessive and undeliverable promises in efforts to get support during the struggle -- promises which later cannot be kept and will lead to disillusionment and even longing for a return of the dictatorship.
Another temptation is to try to fight with the dictators' best weapon: violence. This choice can lead either to (1) defeat of the democracy movement or (2) a new dictatorship by the "democratic military" or a coup d'itat clique.
In focusing attention on the dictatorship there may be a temptation to ignore issue of social justice (economic, racial, etc.). The lack of attention to social justice often leaves that issue to the dictators (and hands them important supporters, which are lost to the democratic forces and who are betrayed by the dictators). This is very important.
There are several additional temptations which must be avoided by a democratic movement. There include the temptation
to idolize a democratic leader, who may therefore become a target for assassination or corruption, thereby weakening the mass movement on which victory depends
Another temptation is to be content with a pattern of reaction to the dictators' initiatives, This condemns the movement to weakness and ineffectiveness, and to fail to seize the initiative with careful action based on a wise strategy which has been developed for that situation.
Democrats may sometimes be tempted themselves to violate democratic standards, supposedly to increase their own effectiveness. The results can be tragic.
Two more temptations are common. One of these is to ignore the potential for a coup d'itat conducted either to pre-empt the democratic struggle or to seize control of the state when the dictatorship collapses. A movement which has ignored this potential and failed to prepare to resist a coup d'itat if and when it comes, may find that it faces a new dictatorship, potentially worse then the old ones, and one more difficult to resist.
When the dictatorship collapses, the democrats may then to fail to institutionalize a democratic system and may flounder in the early stages of a democracy. The result may be to discredit democracy, to create a longing for the 'good old days' under the deposed dictators, and to open the way for acceptance of a new dictatorship.
There are many democrats who lack confidence that an end to the dictatorship is really possible
Remarkably, there are in pro-democracy movements those who despite their words do not really believe the dictatorship can be destroyed and a new democratic system created. These persons really continue to believe in the omnipotence of the dictators and that the violence of dictators is the real power in the conflict.
Consequently, they are content with making only gestures of defiance and dissent against the dictators and denunciations of any who disagree with them. Gestures and denunciations are tragically all that they believe to be possible -- not actually ending the dictatorship and bringing in freedom.
Those persons may quickly deny that they believe in this way. Perhaps in their hearts they wish it were otherwise, but they see no realistic basis to believe that the goal of freedom can actually be achieved. The consequence is weak protest gestures, unrealistic or unambitious plans, and failure to prepare for bringing an end to the dictatorship and introduction of freedom
Is disintegration of a dictatorship and the institution of democracy really possible?
The answer is simple. It has already happened elsewhere.
Kenneth Boulding and one of the Greek philosophers both understood this, when they observed: "That which exists is possible."
"Lo que existe es posible." An insight which is not very complicated but is profound.
Extreme dictatorships have already been disintegrated.
Extreme dictatorships have already in recent years been disintegrated in several countries. This has usually occurred after some years of severe repression and the slow growth of noncooperation and defiance, which gradually escalated to shake the foundations of the dictatorship
Examples from recent years of this pattern of success include East Germany, Czechoslovakia, the Philippines, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland.
Examples of earlier years include El Salvador and Guatemala in 1944,
Additionally, nonviolent struggle has played important roles in the liberation of South Africa, undermining the military regime in Argentina, contributing to the liberation of Hungary, and freeing India from the British Empire.
Nonviolent struggle has been used in the United States civil rights struggles for the rights of African-Americans, in the Soviet Union for the rights of Jews, and in struggles for civil liberties and for environmental protection in several countries.
This type of struggle has been used, temporarily unsuccessfully, by Chinese democrats in 1989 and by Burmese Democrats in 1988
Symbolic protests, economic boycotts, labor strikes, many kinds of political noncooperation, disruptive demonstrations, sit-ins, and parallel governments have been practiced over the decades and centuries in many countries.
In the past few weeks we have seen the resurrection of nonviolent struggle in Burma by the National League for Democracy and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi in brilliant moves which put the military dictators on the defensive and mobilized significant power from the supposedly powerless masses.
How is all this possible?
All this has been possible in the past and similar and more powerful actions will be possible in the future because:
First, dictators are never as powerful as they want you to believe. There are always some things they want to do but are unable to do.
Second, dictatorships contain important internal weaknesses, problems, and conflicts which are usually hidden from the wider public
Resistance needs to be carefully focused on these weaknesses and their dependencies in order to make the greatest impact
Principal lessons of past struggles include:
Never attack dictators where they are strongest -- in military power, because one will almost always lose.
Always attack dictators where they are weakest and are least able to respond effectively. This will increase the impact of the resistance and aggravate the dictatorship's problems and vulnerabilities.
Why should this be true?
This is possible because of this important insight: all dictatorships, and indeed all governments, are dependent on a constant supply of several sources of power.
Power is essential in all social and political systems.
Power is the combination of all influences and pressures, including punishments, available for use to control the situation, to control people and institutions, or to mobilize people and institutions for some activity.
Political power is intrinsic to politics, and is involved, directly or indirectly in all political action. Without effective power it is impossible to achieve one's goal, to defeat hostile forces, and to defend positive gains.
Political power is not intrinsic to those who wield it. Power comes from the society they rule, and there are specific sources of that power.
These sources of power include:
Authority (or legitimacy, belief in the right of some group or person to lead and give orders);
Human resources (who and how many people obey and assist the power holder);
Skills & knowledge (what kind and to what degree these are available to the power-holder)
Intangible factors (religious, emotional, and belief systems)
Material resources (economic, financial, transportation, and communications)
Sanctions (or punishments, violent or nonviolent)
The extent to which these sources are supplied to those who would wield power determines whether they are strong, weak, or only objects of ridicule.
These sources of power are supplied to the regime by various "pillars of support" in the society.
These pillars of support include:
Religious and moral leaders help in the case of authority
All sections of the population in the case of human resources -- people who cooperate, obey, and assist the regime
Specialists with particular abilities and capacities in the case of skills and knowledge
Acceptance of the pattern of submission and of beliefs which lead to obedience and help in the case of intangible factors
Cooperation in the functioning of the financial economic, transportation, and communications system in the case of material factors -- and
Fear and submission in face of threatened punishments by the regime, and obedience by the police and military of orders to inflict repression on those who disobey or refuse to cooperate
Yet, all of these sources of power are not automatically available because the pillars of support may choose not to provide those sources..
These sources of power can be restricted, their supply slowed, or outright refused.
Undermining and mobilizing power
Consequently, the regime will be weakened and at times subjected to political starvation. Without being "fed" by supply of the sources of power, the dictators cannot remain powerful.
If the acceptance of the regime, cooperation with it, and obedience to it are ended, the regime must weaken and collapse
This explains the phenomenon of 'people power' or nonviolent struggle, and the collapse of the dictatorships which we earlier cited.
Parallel with the weakening of the power to the regime by noncooperation and disobedience is the mobilization of power capacity by the general population, which has previously been thought to be weak and helpless in face of the regime's organizational and repressive capacity.
Repression
This struggle will not be easy or without cost. One must expect repression.
This disobedience and noncooperation will be not be welcomed by the dictatorship because it is nonviolent.
To the contrary, this resistance will be seen to be more dangerous to the dictatorship than opposition violence. The regime is likely to see this type of resistance for what it is -- a realistic effort to disintegrate the dictatorship.
Consequently the dictatorship will respond with denunciations, lies, imprisonments, violent repression, provocations to violence, and assassinations
Four important tasks
If one wants to attempt to undermine a dictatorship by these means, there are four important tasks which need to be undertaken:
(1) study the requirements, history, and strategic principles of nonviolent struggle;
(2) spread the knowledge of this type of struggle;
(3) develop a wise strategic plan for liberation based on knowledge of the specific situation and of the requirements and dynamics of nonviolent struggle; and
(4) mobilize the dominated population to correct its own weaknesses and increase its strengths, so that it is capable of dissolving the oppressive dictatorship and carry out a successful transition to a democratic system.
Strategies of liberation
Several strategies of phased campaigns are likely to be required to undermine a dictatorship and later to achieve its disintegration.
As the long-term struggle develops beyond the initial symbolic strategies into more ambitious and advanced phases, the strategists will need to calculate how the dictators' sources of power can be further restricted.
The time will come when the democratic forces can move beyond selective resistance at key political or economic points and instead launch mass noncooperation and defiance intended to disintegrate the dictatorship.
The combination of strong noncooperation and defiance and the building of independent institutions of civil society is likely in time to produce widespread supportive international action but one must not depend on that.
The dictatorship disintegrates
When confronted with the increasingly empowered population and the growth of independent democratic groups and institutions -- both of which the dictators are unable to control -- the dictators will find that their whole venture is unraveling.
Massive shut-downs of the society, general strikes, mass stay-at-homes, defiant marches, loss of control of the economy, transportation system, and communications, slow-downs and defiance by the civil service and police, disguised disobedience or outright mutiny by the military, or other activities will increasingly undermine the dictators' own organization and related institutions.
As a consequence of such defiance and noncooperation, executed wisely and with mass participation over time, the dictators would become powerless and the democratic forces would, without violence, triumph.
The dictatorship would disintegrate before the defiant population when these actions occur:
When the religious and moral leaders in the society denounce the regime as illegitimate,
When the masses of the people are disobeying orders and noncooperating with the dictatorship (and instead obeying the democratic leadership),
When journalists and broadcasters are defying censorship and issuing their own publications and programs,
When the transportation system operates only according to the needs of the democratic forces,
When the civil servants are ignoring the dictatorship's policies and orders,
When the police refuse to arrest democratic resisters
When the army has gone on strike
Then, the power of the dictators has dissolved.
The democratic forces should be aware that in some situations the collapse of the dictatorship may occur extremely rapidly, as in East Germany in 1989.
The democrats should calculate in advance how the transition from the dictatorship to the interim government shall be handled at the end of the struggle, so as to establish a viable democratic system.
The path should be blocked to any persons or group which would like to become the new dictators.
Advantages of this kind of liberation
Among the advantages of this type of struggle for liberation are these:
It is more likely to bring about an end to the dictatorship than violence, which may entrench the regime.
The struggle can be conducted self-reliantly without dependence on foreign governments, which may have their own objectives and be unreliable allies.
Potentially the whole population can participate in the nonviolent struggle for liberation, and not only a restricted group of the population.
The casualty rates, though potentially serious, are most likely to be significantly lower than in a violent resistance movement.
The struggle will require much lower economic costs than a violent struggle, because no military arms and ammunition will be required.
The society will not suffer massive physical destruction, as is likely in a civil war.
No group in command of military forces will be ready to impose a new dictatorship after 'victory".
Nonviolent struggle has strong democratizing effects through the process of diffusing power throughout the society and 'arming' the people with knowledge of how to struggle against future oppressors.
Conclusion
In conclusion, may I call attention to three main points relevant for planning a liberation struggle against dictators.
Knowledge of the nature and use of nonviolent struggle is power potential.
With new knowledge of this option and confidence in its capacity, people in situations in which they otherwise would passively submit, be crushed, or use self-defeating violence, can apply these forms of nonviolent struggle -- and wield power.
Knowledge of how to act, how to organize, and how to transform one's power potential into effective power through nonviolent struggle enables otherwise weak people to wield effective power and to help to determine the future of their own lives and society.
Copyright Gene Sharp
The above is a publication of Gene Sharp, Senior Scholar at the Albert Einstein Institution, 50 Church Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
tel: (617) 876-0311, fax: (617)876-0837, e-mail:<einstein@igc.org.apc>
FACING DICTATORSHIPS REALISTICALLY
Thoughts On Developing A Plan For Liberation
Thoughts On Developing A Plan For Liberation
Notes for an address to a conference on
Nonviolent Struggle: A Challenge for Change in Cuba
Nonviolent Struggle: A Challenge for Change in Cuba
Sponsored by Brothers to the Rescue and
Florida International University
Miami, Florida, 14-15 June 1996
Florida International University
Miami, Florida, 14-15 June 1996
Copyright: Gene Sharp
The following is a publication of Gene Sharp, Senior Scholar at the Albert Einstein Institution, 50 Church Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
tel: (617) 876-0311, fax: (617)876-0837, e-mail:<einstein@igc.org.apc>
Reprinted by Brothers to the Rescue (Hermanos al Rescate) with the author's permission.
Introduction
Thank you for inviting me. It is an honor to be here among persons committed to the liberation of the Cuban people and the development of a democratic society in a liberated Cuba
I am not here to tell anyone what to do, because I do not know Cuba well and I am not Cuban.
However, I do have some knowledge of dictatorships and resistance movements, and especially struggle with political, social, economic, and psychological weapons -- i.e. pragmatic nonviolent struggle. Lest there be any misunderstanding, this discussion has nothing whatsoever to do with pacifism. This is a discussion about struggle, power, and effective means of fighting.
I intend only to offer some ideas for consideration in thinking through the problem of how to end a dictatorship and planning how best to achieve a democratic society with freedom and respect for human dignity. Those are difficult goals to reach.
I hope that these ideas may be relevant for Cuba. However, that is your decision.
Determining the objective
A responsible movement which faces dictators and hopes for freedom, must decide what is its objective. Is it to make gestures of defiance, to express its hostility, to glorify freedom, and to identify one's self as one of the 'good guys'?
Or, is the movement seriously committed to the struggle to bring down the dictatorship and to establish a viable and responsible democratic political system based on freedom and democratic principles?
The gestures of defiance are relatively easy to make. To disintegrate the dictatorship and establish a lasting working democracy are harder goals to attain.
Requirements to succeed
To succeed in both of those goals requires that a responsible movement includes persons who think, evaluate, plan, prepare, and then act in ways that can be successful
Reflect on this century which is passing
We need to remember that this has been not only a century of dictatorships -- Nazi, Communist, Maoist, military, fascist, and others. It is easy to feel that the dictatorships are all powerful, and that to feel that people are helpless
We need also to remember that this has also been a century of liberation. It has been also a century of nonviolent struggle, popular empowerment with increasing strategic sophistication of nonviolent struggle, and disintegration of dictatorships.
Those who today struggle against dictatorships can be strengthened by knowledge that the future course of history is not pre-determined. Those who believe in freedom can help to shape the future by their choices of what to do and how to act.
There are grounds for realistic hope
Provided that the exponents of freedom: use their heads and think carefully, reject ideological dogma and doctrines, plan strategically, mobilize their own sources of power, learn how to undermine the dictatorship intelligently, build independent institutions outside the dictators' control, and implement their developed strategic plans with sound judgment and courage.
Rejecting dogmas
When developing a strategic plan for liberation, it is necessary to set aside past dogmas such as these:
Belief in the necessity of violence which produces defeatism, desperation, and disasters.
The presumption that answers lie in coups d'itat, guerrilla warfare, terrorism, military adventurism, or foreign intervention.
Belief in the omnipotence of dictatorships. They actually may be fragile if action is taken to strike where they are weakest, where they are vulnerable, at the very sources of their power.
Temptations to a democracy movement which must be resisted
A democracy movement may be tempted to make promises or to take actions which may sound good at the time, but which may in the long-run only help present or future dictators.
These temptations include the making of excessive and undeliverable promises in efforts to get support during the struggle -- promises which later cannot be kept and will lead to disillusionment and even longing for a return of the dictatorship.
Another temptation is to try to fight with the dictators' best weapon: violence. This choice can lead either to (1) defeat of the democracy movement or (2) a new dictatorship by the "democratic military" or a coup d'itat clique.
In focusing attention on the dictatorship there may be a temptation to ignore issue of social justice (economic, racial, etc.). The lack of attention to social justice often leaves that issue to the dictators (and hands them important supporters, which are lost to the democratic forces and who are betrayed by the dictators). This is very important.
There are several additional temptations which must be avoided by a democratic movement. There include the temptation
to idolize a democratic leader, who may therefore become a target for assassination or corruption, thereby weakening the mass movement on which victory depends
Another temptation is to be content with a pattern of reaction to the dictators' initiatives, This condemns the movement to weakness and ineffectiveness, and to fail to seize the initiative with careful action based on a wise strategy which has been developed for that situation.
Democrats may sometimes be tempted themselves to violate democratic standards, supposedly to increase their own effectiveness. The results can be tragic.
Two more temptations are common. One of these is to ignore the potential for a coup d'itat conducted either to pre-empt the democratic struggle or to seize control of the state when the dictatorship collapses. A movement which has ignored this potential and failed to prepare to resist a coup d'itat if and when it comes, may find that it faces a new dictatorship, potentially worse then the old ones, and one more difficult to resist.
When the dictatorship collapses, the democrats may then to fail to institutionalize a democratic system and may flounder in the early stages of a democracy. The result may be to discredit democracy, to create a longing for the 'good old days' under the deposed dictators, and to open the way for acceptance of a new dictatorship.
There are many democrats who lack confidence that an end to the dictatorship is really possible
Remarkably, there are in pro-democracy movements those who despite their words do not really believe the dictatorship can be destroyed and a new democratic system created. These persons really continue to believe in the omnipotence of the dictators and that the violence of dictators is the real power in the conflict.
Consequently, they are content with making only gestures of defiance and dissent against the dictators and denunciations of any who disagree with them. Gestures and denunciations are tragically all that they believe to be possible -- not actually ending the dictatorship and bringing in freedom.
Those persons may quickly deny that they believe in this way. Perhaps in their hearts they wish it were otherwise, but they see no realistic basis to believe that the goal of freedom can actually be achieved. The consequence is weak protest gestures, unrealistic or unambitious plans, and failure to prepare for bringing an end to the dictatorship and introduction of freedom
Is disintegration of a dictatorship and the institution of democracy really possible?
The answer is simple. It has already happened elsewhere.
Kenneth Boulding and one of the Greek philosophers both understood this, when they observed: "That which exists is possible."
"Lo que existe es posible." An insight which is not very complicated but is profound.
Extreme dictatorships have already been disintegrated.
Extreme dictatorships have already in recent years been disintegrated in several countries. This has usually occurred after some years of severe repression and the slow growth of noncooperation and defiance, which gradually escalated to shake the foundations of the dictatorship
Examples from recent years of this pattern of success include East Germany, Czechoslovakia, the Philippines, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland.
Examples of earlier years include El Salvador and Guatemala in 1944,
Additionally, nonviolent struggle has played important roles in the liberation of South Africa, undermining the military regime in Argentina, contributing to the liberation of Hungary, and freeing India from the British Empire.
Nonviolent struggle has been used in the United States civil rights struggles for the rights of African-Americans, in the Soviet Union for the rights of Jews, and in struggles for civil liberties and for environmental protection in several countries.
This type of struggle has been used, temporarily unsuccessfully, by Chinese democrats in 1989 and by Burmese Democrats in 1988
Symbolic protests, economic boycotts, labor strikes, many kinds of political noncooperation, disruptive demonstrations, sit-ins, and parallel governments have been practiced over the decades and centuries in many countries.
In the past few weeks we have seen the resurrection of nonviolent struggle in Burma by the National League for Democracy and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi in brilliant moves which put the military dictators on the defensive and mobilized significant power from the supposedly powerless masses.
How is all this possible?
All this has been possible in the past and similar and more powerful actions will be possible in the future because:
First, dictators are never as powerful as they want you to believe. There are always some things they want to do but are unable to do.
Second, dictatorships contain important internal weaknesses, problems, and conflicts which are usually hidden from the wider public
Resistance needs to be carefully focused on these weaknesses and their dependencies in order to make the greatest impact
Principal lessons of past struggles include:
Never attack dictators where they are strongest -- in military power, because one will almost always lose.
Always attack dictators where they are weakest and are least able to respond effectively. This will increase the impact of the resistance and aggravate the dictatorship's problems and vulnerabilities.
Why should this be true?
This is possible because of this important insight: all dictatorships, and indeed all governments, are dependent on a constant supply of several sources of power.
Power is essential in all social and political systems.
Power is the combination of all influences and pressures, including punishments, available for use to control the situation, to control people and institutions, or to mobilize people and institutions for some activity.
Political power is intrinsic to politics, and is involved, directly or indirectly in all political action. Without effective power it is impossible to achieve one's goal, to defeat hostile forces, and to defend positive gains.
Political power is not intrinsic to those who wield it. Power comes from the society they rule, and there are specific sources of that power.
These sources of power include:
Authority (or legitimacy, belief in the right of some group or person to lead and give orders);
Human resources (who and how many people obey and assist the power holder);
Skills & knowledge (what kind and to what degree these are available to the power-holder)
Intangible factors (religious, emotional, and belief systems)
Material resources (economic, financial, transportation, and communications)
Sanctions (or punishments, violent or nonviolent)
The extent to which these sources are supplied to those who would wield power determines whether they are strong, weak, or only objects of ridicule.
These sources of power are supplied to the regime by various "pillars of support" in the society.
These pillars of support include:
Religious and moral leaders help in the case of authority
All sections of the population in the case of human resources -- people who cooperate, obey, and assist the regime
Specialists with particular abilities and capacities in the case of skills and knowledge
Acceptance of the pattern of submission and of beliefs which lead to obedience and help in the case of intangible factors
Cooperation in the functioning of the financial economic, transportation, and communications system in the case of material factors -- and
Fear and submission in face of threatened punishments by the regime, and obedience by the police and military of orders to inflict repression on those who disobey or refuse to cooperate
Yet, all of these sources of power are not automatically available because the pillars of support may choose not to provide those sources..
These sources of power can be restricted, their supply slowed, or outright refused.
Undermining and mobilizing power
Consequently, the regime will be weakened and at times subjected to political starvation. Without being "fed" by supply of the sources of power, the dictators cannot remain powerful.
If the acceptance of the regime, cooperation with it, and obedience to it are ended, the regime must weaken and collapse
This explains the phenomenon of 'people power' or nonviolent struggle, and the collapse of the dictatorships which we earlier cited.
Parallel with the weakening of the power to the regime by noncooperation and disobedience is the mobilization of power capacity by the general population, which has previously been thought to be weak and helpless in face of the regime's organizational and repressive capacity.
Repression
This struggle will not be easy or without cost. One must expect repression.
This disobedience and noncooperation will be not be welcomed by the dictatorship because it is nonviolent.
To the contrary, this resistance will be seen to be more dangerous to the dictatorship than opposition violence. The regime is likely to see this type of resistance for what it is -- a realistic effort to disintegrate the dictatorship.
Consequently the dictatorship will respond with denunciations, lies, imprisonments, violent repression, provocations to violence, and assassinations
Four important tasks
If one wants to attempt to undermine a dictatorship by these means, there are four important tasks which need to be undertaken:
(1) study the requirements, history, and strategic principles of nonviolent struggle;
(2) spread the knowledge of this type of struggle;
(3) develop a wise strategic plan for liberation based on knowledge of the specific situation and of the requirements and dynamics of nonviolent struggle; and
(4) mobilize the dominated population to correct its own weaknesses and increase its strengths, so that it is capable of dissolving the oppressive dictatorship and carry out a successful transition to a democratic system.
Strategies of liberation
Several strategies of phased campaigns are likely to be required to undermine a dictatorship and later to achieve its disintegration.
As the long-term struggle develops beyond the initial symbolic strategies into more ambitious and advanced phases, the strategists will need to calculate how the dictators' sources of power can be further restricted.
The time will come when the democratic forces can move beyond selective resistance at key political or economic points and instead launch mass noncooperation and defiance intended to disintegrate the dictatorship.
The combination of strong noncooperation and defiance and the building of independent institutions of civil society is likely in time to produce widespread supportive international action but one must not depend on that.
The dictatorship disintegrates
When confronted with the increasingly empowered population and the growth of independent democratic groups and institutions -- both of which the dictators are unable to control -- the dictators will find that their whole venture is unraveling.
Massive shut-downs of the society, general strikes, mass stay-at-homes, defiant marches, loss of control of the economy, transportation system, and communications, slow-downs and defiance by the civil service and police, disguised disobedience or outright mutiny by the military, or other activities will increasingly undermine the dictators' own organization and related institutions.
As a consequence of such defiance and noncooperation, executed wisely and with mass participation over time, the dictators would become powerless and the democratic forces would, without violence, triumph.
The dictatorship would disintegrate before the defiant population when these actions occur:
When the religious and moral leaders in the society denounce the regime as illegitimate,
When the masses of the people are disobeying orders and noncooperating with the dictatorship (and instead obeying the democratic leadership),
When journalists and broadcasters are defying censorship and issuing their own publications and programs,
When the transportation system operates only according to the needs of the democratic forces,
When the civil servants are ignoring the dictatorship's policies and orders,
When the police refuse to arrest democratic resisters
When the army has gone on strike
Then, the power of the dictators has dissolved.
The democratic forces should be aware that in some situations the collapse of the dictatorship may occur extremely rapidly, as in East Germany in 1989.
The democrats should calculate in advance how the transition from the dictatorship to the interim government shall be handled at the end of the struggle, so as to establish a viable democratic system.
The path should be blocked to any persons or group which would like to become the new dictators.
Advantages of this kind of liberation
Among the advantages of this type of struggle for liberation are these:
It is more likely to bring about an end to the dictatorship than violence, which may entrench the regime.
The struggle can be conducted self-reliantly without dependence on foreign governments, which may have their own objectives and be unreliable allies.
Potentially the whole population can participate in the nonviolent struggle for liberation, and not only a restricted group of the population.
The casualty rates, though potentially serious, are most likely to be significantly lower than in a violent resistance movement.
The struggle will require much lower economic costs than a violent struggle, because no military arms and ammunition will be required.
The society will not suffer massive physical destruction, as is likely in a civil war.
No group in command of military forces will be ready to impose a new dictatorship after 'victory".
Nonviolent struggle has strong democratizing effects through the process of diffusing power throughout the society and 'arming' the people with knowledge of how to struggle against future oppressors.
Conclusion
In conclusion, may I call attention to three main points relevant for planning a liberation struggle against dictators.
Knowledge of the nature and use of nonviolent struggle is power potential.
With new knowledge of this option and confidence in its capacity, people in situations in which they otherwise would passively submit, be crushed, or use self-defeating violence, can apply these forms of nonviolent struggle -- and wield power.
Knowledge of how to act, how to organize, and how to transform one's power potential into effective power through nonviolent struggle enables otherwise weak people to wield effective power and to help to determine the future of their own lives and society.
Coretta Scott King and Jose Basulto of Brothers to the Rescue
Copyright Gene Sharp
The above is a publication of Gene Sharp, Senior Scholar at the Albert Einstein Institution, 50 Church Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
tel: (617) 876-0311, fax: (617)876-0837, e-mail:<einstein@igc.org.apc>
A continuación y a la espera de una traducción (muy util) al español de este importante discurso les dejo esta traducción (desastrosa) de Google.
IntroducciónGracias por haberme invitado. Es un honor estar aquí entre las personas comprometidas con la liberación del pueblo cubano y el desarrollo de una sociedad democrática en un liberado a CubaYo no estoy aquí para decirle a nadie qué hacer, porque no conocer a Cuba bien y yo no soy cubano.Sin embargo, tengo algunos conocimientos de las dictaduras y los movimientos de resistencia, y sobre todo luchar con armas políticas, sociales, económicas y psicológicas - es decir, la lucha no violenta pragmático. Para que no haya ninguna duda, esta discusión no tiene nada que ver con el pacifismo. Esta es una discusión acerca de la lucha, el poder y los medios efectivos de lucha.Sólo pretendo ofrecer algunas ideas para su consideración en el pensamiento a través del problema de cómo poner fin a una dictadura y la planificación de la mejor manera de lograr una sociedad democrática con libertad y respeto a la dignidad humana. Estas son metas difíciles de alcanzar.Espero que estas ideas pueden ser relevantes para Cuba. Sin embargo, esa es su decisión.
La determinación del objetivoUn movimiento responsable que se enfrenta a los dictadores y las esperanzas de libertad, debe decidir cuál es su objetivo. ¿Es para hacer gestos de desafío, para expresar su hostilidad, para glorificar a la libertad, y para identificar a sí mismo como uno de los 'buenos'?O bien, es el movimiento que se comprometa seriamente con la lucha para derrocar a la dictadura y establecer un sistema viable y responsable político democrático basado en la libertad y los principios democráticos?Los gestos de desafío son relativamente fáciles de hacer. Para desintegrar la dictadura y establecer una democracia duradera de trabajo son más difíciles de los objetivos a alcanzar.Requisitos para tener éxitoPara tener éxito en ambas metas requiere que un movimiento responsable incluye a las personas que piensan, evaluar, planificar, preparar, y luego actuar en formas que pueden tener éxitoReflexionar sobre este siglo que está pasandoTenemos que recordar que esto ha sido no sólo un siglo de dictaduras - nazi, comunista, maoista, militar, fascista, y otros. Es fácil sentir que las dictaduras son todas de gran alcance, y que sentir que el mundo está indefensoTambién debemos recordar que esto también ha sido un siglo de la liberación. Ha sido también un siglo de lucha no violenta, empoderamiento popular con la creciente sofisticación estratégica de la lucha noviolenta, y desintegración de las dictaduras.Aquellos que luchan contra las dictaduras que hoy en día se puede fortalecer el conocimiento de que el futuro curso de la historia no está predeterminada. Aquellos que creen en la libertad puede ayudar a dar forma al futuro de sus opciones de qué hacer y cómo actuar.
Hay motivos para la esperanza realistaA condición de que los exponentes de la libertad: usar la cabeza y pensar con cuidado, rechazar el dogma ideológico y doctrinas, planificación estratégica, movilización de sus propias fuentes de poder, aprender a socavar la dictadura de forma inteligente, crear instituciones independientes fuera del control de los dictadores, y aplicar su desarrollado planes estratégicos con buen juicio y valor.El rechazo de los dogmasCuando se desarrolla un plan estratégico para la liberación, es necesario dejar a un lado los dogmas del pasado, como los siguientes:La creencia en la necesidad de la violencia que produce el derrotismo, la desesperación y los desastres.La presunción de que respuestas se encuentran en los golpes de Estado d'état, la guerra de guerrillas, el terrorismo, el aventurerismo militar, o la intervención extranjera.La creencia en la omnipotencia de las dictaduras. En realidad puede ser frágil si se toman medidas de huelga donde son más débiles, donde son vulnerables, en las fuentes mismas de su poder.Las tentaciones a un movimiento democrático que debe ser resistidaUn movimiento por la democracia puede tener la tentación de hacer promesas o tomar acciones que pueden sonar bien en ese momento, pero que en el largo plazo sólo ayudan a los dictadores actuales o futuros.Estas tentaciones incluyen la realización de las promesas excesivas y no se pueden entregar en los esfuerzos para obtener apoyo en la lucha - promesas que luego no se puedan cumplir y llevar a la desilusión e incluso anhelando el regreso de la dictadura.Otra tentación es tratar de luchar con los dictadores mejor arma: la violencia. Esta elección puede llevar a (1) la derrota del movimiento por la democracia o (2) una nueva dictadura por el "ejército democrático" o de una camarilla de golpe de Estado.Al centrar la atención sobre la dictadura puede haber una tentación de ignorar tema de la justicia social (económica, racial, etc.) La falta de atención a la justicia social a menudo deja que el tema de los dictadores (y las manos que los partidarios importantes, que se pierden a las fuerzas democráticas y que son traicionados por los dictadores). Esto es muy importante.Hay varias tentaciones adicionales que deben ser evitados por un movimiento democrático. No incluyen la tentacióna idolatrar a un líder democrático, que por lo tanto, pueden convertirse en blanco de asesinato o la corrupción, lo que debilita el movimiento de masas en el que la victoria dependeOtra tentación es que contentarse con un patrón de reacción a las iniciativas de la dictadura, esta condena del movimiento a la debilidad e ineficacia, y no tomar la iniciativa con la acción de cuidado basado en una estrategia inteligente que ha sido desarrollado para esa situación.Los demócratas pueden a veces ser tentados a violar las normas democráticas, supuestamente para aumentar su propia eficacia. Los resultados pueden ser trágicos.Dos más tentaciones son comunes. Uno de ellos es hacer caso omiso de la posibilidad de un golpe de Estado llevado a cabo ya sea para adelantarse a la lucha democrática o para tomar el control del Estado cuando se derrumba la dictadura. Un movimiento que ha tenido en cuenta este potencial y no se preparan para resistir un golpe de Estado, siempre y cuando se trata, puede encontrar que se enfrenta a una nueva dictadura, potencialmente peor que las anteriores, y uno más difícil de resistir.Cuando la dictadura se desploma, los demócratas pueden entonces al fracaso de institucionalizar un sistema democrático y puede lenguado en las primeras etapas de una democracia. El resultado puede ser la de desacreditar a la democracia, la creación de un anhelo de los 'buenos tiempos' en virtud de los dictadores depuestos, y para abrir el camino para la aceptación de una nueva dictadura.Hay muchos demócratas que no tienen confianza en que el fin de la dictadura es realmente posibleSorprendentemente, hay en favor de la democracia los movimientos a los que a pesar de sus palabras en realidad no creo que la dictadura puede ser destruido y un nuevo sistema democrático creado. Estas personas realmente siguen creyendo en la omnipotencia de los dictadores y que la violencia de los dictadores es el verdadero poder en el conflicto.En consecuencia, se contentan con hacer sólo gestos de rebeldía y la disidencia en contra de los dictadores y denuncias de todo aquel que no está de acuerdo con ellos. Los gestos y las denuncias son trágicamente todo lo que ellos creen que es posible - en realidad no poner fin a la dictadura y poner en libertad.Aquellas personas que rápidamente puede negar que ellos creen que de esta manera. Tal vez en sus corazones lo desean fuera de otra manera, pero no ven ninguna base realista para creer que la meta de la libertad pueden ser efectivamente alcanzados. La consecuencia es débil gestos de protesta, los planes poco realistas o poco ambicioso, y la falta de preparación para poner fin a la dictadura y la introducción de la libertadEs la desintegración de la dictadura y la instauración de la democracia realmente posible?La respuesta es simple. Ya ha sucedido en otros lugares.Kenneth Boulding y uno de los filósofos griegos, tanto entendido esto, cuando se observó lo siguiente: ". Lo que existe es posible""Lo Que existe es Posible". Una idea que no es muy complicado, pero es profundo.Dictaduras extremas ya se han desintegrado.Dictaduras extremas ya han sido en los últimos años se desintegró en varios países. Esto ha ocurrido por lo general después de algunos años de severa represión y el lento crecimiento de la no cooperación y desafío, que poco a poco escaló a sacudir los cimientos de la dictaduraEjemplos de los últimos años de este modelo de éxito incluyen la Alemania Oriental, Checoslovaquia, Filipinas, Letonia, Estonia, Lituania y Polonia.Ejemplos de años anteriores incluyen El Salvador y Guatemala en 1944,Además, la lucha no violenta ha jugado un papel importante en la liberación de Sudáfrica, lo que socava el régimen militar en Argentina, lo que contribuye a la liberación de Hungría, y liberar a la India del Imperio Británico.La lucha no violenta ha sido utilizado en los Estados Unidos los derechos civiles las luchas por los derechos de los afro-americanos, en la Unión Soviética de los derechos de los Judios, y en las luchas por las libertades civiles y de protección del medio ambiente en varios países.Este tipo de lucha se ha utilizado, de manera temporal, sin éxito, por los demócratas de China en 1989 y por los demócratas birmanos en 1988Protestas simbólicas, boicots, huelgas laborales, muchos tipos de no-cooperación política, las manifestaciones disruptivas, sentadas, y los gobiernos paralelos se han practicado a lo largo de las décadas y siglos en muchos países.En las últimas semanas hemos visto la resurrección de la lucha no violenta en Birmania por la Liga Nacional para la Democracia y su líder Aung San Suu Kyi en jugadas brillantes que colocan a los dictadores militares en el poder significativo a la defensiva y movilizar a las masas que supuestamente carecen de poder.¿Cómo es posible todo esto?Todo esto ha sido posible en las acciones de gran alcance del pasado y similares y más será posible en el futuro porque:En primer lugar, los dictadores no son tan poderosos como ellos quieren que usted crea. Siempre hay algunas cosas que quieren hacer, pero son incapaces de hacerlo.En segundo lugar, las dictaduras contienen importantes debilidades internas, problemas y conflictos que normalmente quedan ocultos al público en generalLa resistencia tiene que ser cuidadosamente enfocado en estos puntos débiles y sus dependencias a fin de que el mayor impacto
Principales lecciones de las luchas pasadas incluyen:Nunca atacar a los dictadores donde son más fuertes - en el poder militar, porque uno casi siempre perderá.Siempre atacan a los dictadores donde son más débiles y menos capaces de responder de manera efectiva. Esto aumentará el impacto de la resistencia y agravar los problemas de la dictadura y las vulnerabilidades.¿Por qué debería ser esto cierto?Esto es posible porque de esta idea importante: todas las dictaduras, y de hecho todos los gobiernos, dependen de un suministro constante de varias fuentes de poder.El poder es esencial en todos los sistemas sociales y políticos.El poder es la combinación de todas las influencias y presiones, incluidas las sanciones, disponibles para su uso para controlar la situación, para controlar a las personas e instituciones, o para movilizar a las personas e instituciones para alguna actividad.El poder político es intrínseco a la política, y está implicado, directa o indirectamente en toda la acción política. Sin poder efectivo es imposible de alcanzar su meta, para derrotar a las fuerzas hostiles, y para defender los logros positivos.El poder político no es intrínseca a la de quienes los dirigen. La potencia proviene de la sociedad que gobernar, y hay fuentes específicas de ese poder.Estas fuentes de poder son:Autoridad (o la legitimidad, la creencia en el derecho de algún grupo o persona para dirigir y dar órdenes);Recursos humanos (quién y cuántas personas obedecen y asisten al titular de la alimentación);Habilidades y conocimientos (qué tipo y en qué medida éstos están disponibles para el poder del titular)Los factores intangibles (religiosos, emocionales, y los sistemas de creencias)Los recursos materiales (económicos, financieros, transporte y comunicaciones)Sanciones (o castigos, violentos o no violentos)La medida en que estas fuentes se suministran a los que ejercen el poder determina si son fuertes, débiles, o sólo los objetos de burla.Estas fuentes de poder son suministradas al régimen por varios "pilares de apoyo" en la sociedad.Estos pilares de apoyo incluyen:Los líderes religiosos y morales ayudar en el caso de la autoridadTodos los sectores de la población en el caso de los recursos humanos, personas que colaboran, obedecer y ayudar al régimenEspecialistas con habilidades y capacidades particulares en el caso de las habilidades y conocimientosLa aceptación del patrón de presentación y de las creencias que conducen a la obediencia y la ayuda en el caso de los factores intangiblesLa cooperación en el funcionamiento de la financiera económica, el transporte y sistema de comunicaciones en el caso de los factores materiales - yEl miedo y la sumisión frente a los castigos amenazados por el régimen, y la obediencia por la policía y los militares de las órdenes de infligir la represión a los que desobedecen o se niegan a cooperarSin embargo, todas estas fuentes de poder no están automáticamente disponibles porque los pilares de apoyo pueden optar por no proporcionar las fuentes ..Estas fuentes de poder pueden ser restringidas, su abastecimiento de frenado, o se negó de plano.
Debilitamiento y el poder de movilizaciónEn consecuencia, el régimen se debilita y, a veces sometidos a inanición política.Sin ser "alimentados" por la oferta de las fuentes de poder, los dictadores no pueden seguir siendo intensos.Si la aceptación del régimen, la cooperación con ella, y la obediencia a ella se terminó, el régimen debe debilitar y colapsarEsto explica el fenómeno de "poder del pueblo" o la lucha noviolenta, y el colapso de las dictaduras que hemos citado anteriormente.Paralelo con el debilitamiento del poder al régimen de no-cooperación y la desobediencia es la movilización de la capacidad de poder por parte de la población general, que ya ha sido pensado para ser débil e indefenso frente a la capacidad organizativa y represiva del régimen.RepresiónEsta lucha no será fácil o sin costo. Hay que esperar que la represión.Esta desobediencia y falta de cooperación no será bien recibido por la dictadura, ya que no es violento.Por el contrario, esta resistencia se considera más peligroso para la dictadura que la violencia la oposición. El régimen es probable que veamos este tipo de resistencia por lo que es - un esfuerzo realista para desintegrar la dictadura.En consecuencia, la dictadura va a responder con denuncias, las mentiras, los encarcelamientos, la represión violenta, las provocaciones a la violencia y asesinatosCuatro tareas importantesSi se quiere intentar socavar la dictadura por estos medios, hay cuatro importantes tareas que deben llevarse a cabo:(1) estudiar las necesidades, la historia y los principios estratégicos de la lucha no violenta;(2) difundir el conocimiento de este tipo de lucha;(3) desarrollar un sabio plan estratégico para la liberación basada en el conocimiento de la situación específica y de las necesidades y la dinámica de la lucha noviolenta, y(4) movilizar a la población dominada por corregir sus propias debilidades y aumentar sus puntos fuertes, por lo que es capaz de disolver la dictadura opresiva y llevar a cabo una transición exitosa hacia un sistema democrático.Estrategias de la liberaciónVarias estrategias de campañas escalonadas es probable que se requiere para socavar la dictadura y después de lograr su desintegración.A medida que la lucha a largo plazo se desarrolla más allá de las estrategias iniciales simbólicos hacia fases más ambiciosas y avanzadas, los estrategas tendrán que calcular cómo las fuentes de los dictadores del poder pueden ser aún más restringida.El tiempo vendrá cuando las fuerzas democráticas pueden ir más allá de la resistencia selectiva a los principales puntos políticos o económicos, y en lugar de poner en marcha no cooperación masiva y desafío destinada a desintegrar la dictadura.La combinación de falta de cooperación fuerte y el desafío y la creación de instituciones independientes de la sociedad civil es probable que en el momento de producir la acción internacional de apoyo generalizado, pero no hay que depender de eso.La dictadura se desintegraCuando nos enfrentamos a la población cada vez más poder y el crecimiento de los grupos independientes y las instituciones democráticas, tanto de los cuales los dictadores no pueden controlar - los dictadores encontrarán que su empresa en su conjunto se está desmoronando.Massive las paradas de la sociedad, huelgas generales, la masa se quedan en casas, marchas desafiantes, la pérdida de control del sistema de economía de transporte, y comunicaciones, demoras y desafío por el servicio civil y la policía, la desobediencia encubierta o abiertamente motín de las actividades militares, o de otra índole cada vez más socavar la organización propia de los dictadores y las instituciones conexas.Como consecuencia de este desafío y la no cooperación, ejecutados inteligentemente y con participación de las masas a través del tiempo, los dictadores se vuelven impotentes y las fuerzas democráticas, sin violencia triunfo.La dictadura se desintegrará ante la población desafiante cuando estas acciones se producen:Cuando los líderes religiosos y morales en la sociedad de denunciar al régimen como ilegítimo,Cuando las masas de las personas están desobedeciendo las órdenes y no cooperan con la dictadura (y en lugar de obedecer el liderazgo democrático),Cuando los periodistas y locutores están desafiando la censura y la emisión de sus propias publicaciones y programas,Cuando el sistema de transporte opera sólo en función de las necesidades de las fuerzas democráticas,Cuando los funcionarios públicos están haciendo caso omiso de las políticas de la dictadura y las órdenes,Cuando la policía se niega a detener la resistencia democráticaCuando el ejército se ha ido a la huelgaEntonces, el poder de los dictadores se haya disuelto.Las fuerzas democráticas deben ser conscientes de que en algunas situaciones el colapso de la dictadura puede ocurrir muy rápidamente, como en la Alemania del Este en 1989.Los demócratas deben calcular de antemano cómo la transición desde la dictadura a un gobierno interino se tratarán al final de la lucha, a fin de establecer un sistema democrático viable.La ruta debe ser bloqueado para cualquier persona o grupo que deseen convertirse en los nuevos dictadores.Las ventajas de este tipo de liberaciónEntre las ventajas de este tipo de lucha por la liberación son los siguientes:Es más probable que poner fin a la dictadura de la violencia, lo que puede afianzar el régimen.La lucha puede llevar a cabo auto-reliantly sin depender de gobiernos extranjeros, que pueden tener sus propios objetivos y ser aliados poco fiables.Potencialmente, el conjunto de la población puede participar en la lucha no violenta por la liberación, y no sólo un grupo restringido de la población.El número de víctimas, aunque potencialmente grave, es más probable que sea significativamente menor que en un movimiento de resistencia violenta.La lucha se requiere mucho más bajos que los costos económicos de una lucha violenta, porque no hay armas de guerra y municiones será necesario.La sociedad no van a sufrir la destrucción física masiva, como es probable en una guerra civil.Ningún grupo al mando de las fuerzas militares estarán listos para imponer una nueva dictadura después de la victoria ".La lucha no violenta tiene fuertes efectos democratizadores a través del proceso de difusión del poder en toda la sociedad y "armar" las personas con conocimiento de cómo luchar contra los opresores en el futuro.ConclusiónEn conclusión, me permito llamar la atención sobre tres puntos principales relevantes para la planificación de una lucha de liberación contra los dictadores.El conocimiento de la naturaleza y el uso de la lucha noviolenta es el potencial de energía.Con los nuevos conocimientos sobre esta opción y la confianza en su capacidad, la gente en situaciones en las que de otro modo pasivamente presenten, ser aplastado, o el uso de auto-derrota la violencia, se pueden aplicar estas formas de lucha no violenta - y ejercer el poder.El conocimiento de cómo actuar, cómo organizar y cómo transformar la energía potencial en energía efectiva a través de la lucha no violenta permite a las personas débiles de otro modo de ejercer el poder efectivo y para ayudar a determinar el futuro de sus propias vidas y la sociedad.
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