Carlos Montes, leader in fight for Chicano liberation speaks in Denver
Denver, CO – On May 26, Carlos Montes, a lifelong organizer and a member of the Central Committee of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), came to Denver to speak about socialism and the struggle for Chicano liberation. Colorado has a long history of radical Chicano organizing, most famous being the Crusade for Justice of the 1960s.
In the aftermath of the Mexican-American War, up to 55% of Mexican territory was ceded to the United States, including a large fragment of southern Colorado, leaving many Mexicans under U.S. rule. Since this war, the Chicano community in the American Southwest has developed into a distinct nation. This nation became commonly referred to as “Aztlán” during the first national Chicano Youth Liberation Conference held in Denver, Colorado in 1969 by the Crusade for Justice.
With a new common language, territory, economic life and culture, the Chicano nation faces its own unique struggles within the United States. Carlos Montes points to the need for self-determination.
Montes stated, “Chicanos are the working people of the Southwest. Not only are we farmworkers, but we do construction, we are in the cattle industry, the oil industry, the factories, the service industry, and the warehouses. In the Southwest the Chicanos are the working class but we have no political power.”
According to Montes, “We are a nation, and we have a right to self-determination. We need to get the political power into the hands of the Chicano people who represent a majority of the working class in the Southwest.”
Montes went on to talk about the concrete problem blocking Chicanos from achieving political power, identifying it as monopoly capitalism. Monopoly capitalism creates a link between the struggle for Chicano liberation with other struggles across the world such as the struggle for liberation in the Black Belt South in the United States and the struggle for Palestinian liberation.
“We work in our warehouses and other places, and all the labor that we produce goes up to the riches of the one percent. This country has been ruled by the one percent and capitalism has now turned into monopoly capitalism. Money has been concentrated into a handful of people who then go overseas and rob other countries,” stated Montes.
Montes also talked about how his home was raided by the Los Angeles Sheriffs and the FBI for standing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. This repression was beaten back by a broad defense campaign. Montes declared, “Solidarity is not a crime!”
Montes also talked about the need to organize stating, “Talk to people, go to your community, your coworkers, your fellow students, and look them in the face and be honest. Figure out their problems and what you can do to solve them and bring them into your organizations to help you do it. When you look someone in the face, they can tell whether you are being serious or not, so be serious, and talk to people.” He pointed out that, by starting small, we can link different individual struggles to the larger issues of society and eventually overcome those larger issues.