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The Destruction of the Indonesian Communist Party in 1965 and the Road Not Taken

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Published on Friday, 08 March 2013 15:26

Written by Super User

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The slaughter of more than one million Indonesian communists and supporters in a U.S.-backed military coup cannot be understood without examining the history of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) from the 1920s to the 1960s. This article, The Destruction of the Indonesian Communist Party in 1965 and the Road Not Taken, sheds new light on the PKI's politics, particularly the development of a revisionist political line that viewed the Indonesian state as having two aspects, progressive and reactionary. This line politically and militarily disarmed the revolutionary forces when US imperialism and General Suharto made a decisive move in October 1965, with tragic consequences for the Indonesian people.   The analysis of these events provides some important lessons to communist and anti-imperialist forces worldwide, especially concerning countries where peaceful, electoral paths to socialism, or some variant, are being pursued.(33 pages, July 2007 -- Revised and updated, February 2013)