Pierre Vallieres: You can be sure of that, there is no worry. The FLQ is alive and well. Most important, the events of October inspired people to the realization that it is possible to confront the system by other ways than the electoral system. In October, many Quebecois related to the actions carried out by the FLQ.

Question: Is the FLQ strong enough and well-enough organized to lead a revolution in Quebec?

Pierre Vallieres: This it is doing, but there is much work yet to be done. It is not tomorrow that the revolution is going to come. We are just at the threshold of the struggle. Previous years have served but to help clarify the tasks which must be carried out today and tomorrow. It is necessary to take the time to build something solid and not rush too rapidly into actions which could cost dearly in terms of organization. Politically, there would be an obviously widespread response, a good response, but we might be left with nothing in the way of organization. It is imperative to ensure a continuity of actions which can be carried out successfully at the desired moment and in the desired manner.

Question: Earlier you stated the need for revolutionaries in Quebec and Canada to make contact with other movements around the world, and yet Cuba has suddenly cut off all contact with Latin America and other revolutionary movements. Do you have any ideas why this is so?

Pierre Vallieres: It is tragic but most revolutions are isolated. Many are not prepared for the rapid changes which take place and the massive dependence on other foreign powers like the USSR. For example, I cannot consider Chile a free country at the present time, for it is limited by its, lack of interaction with other countries. Thus, it will become freer as other Latin American countries achieve their own liberation.

Often during a revolution, the vanguard do not possess a homogeneous ideology--there are too many tendencies which result in purges later on. Furthermore, this leads the leadership to improvise their economic and political programs from year to year. The people's organizations are often not large enough to assure a true independence. While at the same time they demand the confidence of the people, they do not provide them with the essential means by which they can control the decisions affecting their own lives. This process inevitably leads to a bureaucracy of technocrats in whom are vested the expertise and power to carry out decisions. When a people are at an advanced stage of consciousness and indeed have carried out their revolution, and yet are not provided with the real power to make decisions, they become depoliticized.

Question: Do you think the North American movement, and more specifically, the Quebec movement, has the maturity to learn from the mistakes of these other revolutions, in order not to fall into these same errors?

Pierre Vallieres: The Quebecois are capable not only of disciplining themselves for the independence struggle but are also clear that socialism is a necessary aspect of that struggle. The danger of Stalinism exists, that is, it is possible that a group could get into power on the basis of independence and consolidate themselves as a new elite. However, the consciousness of the Quebecois is at such a level that such a thing would be very difficult to forecast. We must develop a category of revolutionary which possesses the technical and organizational skills and ideological clarity necessary to carry out these tasks, at the same time to be able to ally with young people who are questioning present day values and have strong liberatarian tendencies. In the final analysis, it is the people who will liberate themselves. Such a movement must therefore be grounded in the masses in order to serve the people's needs.

*****

Pierre Vallieres still has sixteen charges outstanding, one of which is conspiracy (although all the other alleged conspirators have been acquitted). He returns to court this month.

(Copyright 1971 Dispatch News Service International)