US Imperialism Is a Paper Tiger

#PUBLICATION NOTE

This edition of US Imperialism Is a Paper Tiger has been translated, prepared, and revised for digital publication by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism under the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Switzerland on the basis of the following editions:

• US Imperialism Is a Paper Tiger, in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Vol. 5, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1977.
• Conversation From Audience With Former President Arbenz of Guatemala and His Wife, in Long Live Mao Zedong's Thought!, Vol. 3, Wuhan, 1968.

#INTRODUCTION NOTE

This is a talk between Comrade Mao Zedong and former Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz and former First Lady Maria Cristina Vilanova in Beijing, China on the 14th of July, 1956. It was first published in the Red Guard collection Long Live Mao Zedong's Thought! in 1968.

#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!

#U.S. IMPERIALISM IS A PAPER TIGER

#TALK WITH FORMER GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT JACOBO ARBENZ AND FORMER FIRST LADY MARIA CRISTINA VILANOVA

#Mao Zedong

#14th of July, 1956

#★

MAO ZEDONG: Welcome! The Chinese people welcome you. The world knows your struggle and sympathizes with you. I am afraid that only the imperialists are unhappy about it, and only US imperialism at that — British imperialism seems to be a bit happier about it. What do you think? What is Britain's attitude to the US intervention against you?

JACOBO ARBENZ: Britain does not seem to have an attitude. The British abstained from the UN Security Council vote on stopping the imperialist interference, voicing neither support nor opposition. At the time of the invasion, a British merchant ship and a Royal Air Force aircraft were present.

MAO ZEDONG: What are Britain's interests in Guatemala?

JACOBO ARBENZ: Britain has no interests in Guatemala. In the 19th century, Britain obtained a territorial concession from Guatemala by force, which became the British colony there.

[Comrade Mao Zedong looks at a map.]

MARIA CRISTINA VILANOVA: It is marked as British Honduras on the map.

JACOBO ARBENZ: We have requested its return.

MAO ZEDONG: In my opinion, it is not so important to recover this territory. The main problem is the US war of aggression. What is the attitude of your neighbouring countries? What is Mexico's attitude?

JACOBO ARBENZ: The relationship between Mexico and Guatemala has always been friendly, and the Mexican government is doing its best to stay neutral.

MAO ZEDONG: Is Mexico considered part of North America?

JACOBO ARBENZ: Yes.

MAO ZEDONG: What countries are part of Central America?

JACOBO ARBENZ: Central America includes Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

MAO ZEDONG: Doesn't it also include Panama?

JACOBO ARBENZ: No. Panama was part of Columbia. It was only because of the Panama Canal Zone that it became independent. Moreover, the five Central American countries originally formed a federation when they first became independent.

MAO ZEDONG: What do the other countries think?

JACOBO ARBENZ: The South American people are sympathetic to Guatemala.

MAO ZEDONG: Is the intervention being carried out by sea?

JACOBO ARBENZ: No. The intervention is being carried out by way of Honduras and Nicaragua, obviously directed by the US State Department. Before the invasion, a meeting of American foreign ministers was held. At this meeting, John Foster Dulles proposed «opposition to international Communist interference». The idea is to persecute Communists and patriots who defend their national interests and oppose imperialist aggression. Guatemala opposed the proposal, because it amounted to US interference in the domestic politics of other countries. The United States also uses its monopoly groups to infiltrate other countries.

MAO ZEDONG: When did this happen?

JACOBO ARBENZ: It happened in March 1954.

MAO ZEDONG: The United States is flaunting the Anti-Communist banner everywhere in order to perpetrate aggression against other countries. There are very few Communists in the Americas, and the Council Union is far away.

JACOBO ARBENZ: The United States is anxious to fight against the Communist Parties in the Americas, because they resolutely fight for national liberation, sovereignty, and independence, and against monopoly control. The Guatemalan delegation at the meeting of foreign ministers pointed out that the United States was attempting to infiltrate and colonize other countries under cover of Anti-Communism. Mexico and Argentina abstained from the vote on the US proposal, Guatemala voted against it, and the other countries voted in favour. Guatemala's attitude has won respect from revolutionaries in various countries, not only because it expresses the will of the Guatemalan people, but also because it expresses the will of the people of Latin America.

MAO ZEDONG: We agree. You have many friends, much more than the United States. The US victory is temporary; in the final analysis, Guatemala belongs to you and the people of Guatemala. All oppressed nations want independence.

The United States owes debts everywhere. It owes debts, not only to the countries of Latin America, Asia, and Africa, but also to the countries of Europe and Oceania. The whole world, Britain included, dislikes the United States. The masses of the people dislike it. Japan dislikes the United States because it oppresses it. None of the countries in Asia is free from US aggression. The United States has invaded our Taiwan Province. Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Pakistan all suffer from US aggression, although some of them are allies of the United States. The people are dissatisfied, and in some countries, so are the authorities.

JACOBO ARBENZ: The development of the international situation in the past two years has been conducive to the struggle of the peoples of all countries for independence. The Asian countries have set an example in this regard, which has had a decisive importance for the struggle in other countries. What has happened in Asia will certainly happen in Latin America in the future.     MAO ZEDONG: Everything is subject to change. The big, decadent forces will give way to the small, newborn forces. The small forces will change into big forces, because the majority of the people demand this change. The US imperialist forces will change from big to small, because the American people, too, are dissatisfied with their government.

In my own lifetime, I myself have witnessed such changes. [Comrade Mao Zedong asked those present about their age.] Three of us present were born in the Qing Dynasty, and four after the Revolution of 1911 — they are Nationalists! [Laughter.]

The Qing Dynasty was overthrown long ago. By whom? By the political party led by Sun Yixian, together with the people. Sun Yixian's forces were so small that the Qing officials didn't take him seriously. He led many uprisings, which failed each time. In the end, however, it was Sun Yixian who brought down the Qing Dynasty. Bigness is nothing to be afraid of. The big will be overthrown by the small. The small will become big. After overthrowing the Qing Dynasty, Sun Yixian met with defeat. For he failed to satisfy the demands of the people, such as their demands for land and for opposition to imperialism. Nor did he understand the necessity of suppressing the counter-revolutionaries who were then moving about freely. Later, he suffered defeat at the hands of Yuan Shikai, the chieftain of the Northern Warlords. Yuan Shikai's forces were larger than Sun Yixian's. But here again, this law operated: small forces linked with the people become strong, while big forces opposed to the people become weak. Subsequently, Sun Yixian's bourgeois-democratic revolutionaries cooperated with us Communists, and together, we defeated the warlord setup left behind by Yuan Shikai.

Jiang Jieshi's rule in China was recognized by the governments of all countries and lasted 22 years, and his forces were the biggest. Our forces were small, 50'000 Party members at first, but only a few thousand after counter-revolutionary suppressions. The enemy made trouble everywhere. Again, this law operated: the big and strong end up in defeat, because they are divorced from the people, whereas the small and weak emerge victorious, because they are linked with the people and work in their interest. That's how things turned out in the end.

During the anti-Japanese war, Japan was very powerful, the Nationalist troops were driven to the hinterland, and the armed forces led by the Communist Party could only conduct guerrilla warfare in the rural areas behind the enemy lines. Japan occupied big Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, and Guangzhou. Nevertheless, like Germany's Hitler, the Japanese militarists collapsed in a few years, in accordance with the same law.

During the War of Resistance, our troops grew and became 900'000 strong through fighting against Japan. Then came the War of Liberation. Our arms were inferior to those of the Nationalist Party of China. The Nationalist troops then numbered 4'000'000, but in three years of fighting, we wiped out 8'000'000 of them all told. The Nationalist Party of China, though aided by US imperialism, could not defeat us. The big and strong cannot win, it is always the small and weak who win out.

JACOBO ARBENZ: Wow, 8'000'000!

MAO ZEDONG: Now, US imperialism is quite powerful, but in reality, it isn't. It is very weak politically, because it is divorced from the masses of the people and is disliked by everybody, and by the American people, too. In appearance, it is very powerful, but in reality, it is nothing to be afraid of, it is a paper tiger. Outwardly a tiger, it is made of paper, unable to withstand the wind and the rain. I believe the United States is nothing but a paper tiger. [Laughter.]

History as a whole, the history of class society for thousands of years, has proved this point: the strong must give way to the weak. This holds true for the Americas as well.

JACOBO ARBENZ: Mr. Chairman, thank you for your cordial care and aid.

MAO ZEDONG: Our experience is only meant for your reference, and should not be mechanically copied.

JACOBO ARBENZ: We will definitely rework it into something useful to us. We feel very confident. After five or six years, we wanted to go to China to see the achievements of the Chinese people. These are not only the achievements of the Chinese people, but of the people of various countries as well, including the Guatemalan people.

MAO ZEDONG: The Chinese people are your friends. In the achievements of the Chinese people, there is an aspect of your people; in the achievements of your people, there is an aspect of the Chinese people as well.

Only when imperialism is eliminated can peace prevail. The day will come when the paper tigers will be wiped out. But they won't become extinct of their own accord, they need to be battered by the wind and the rain.

JACOBO ARBENZ: My dear Chairman, we are very honoured to meet you in person. We think that this is a great show of friendship to us and to the Guatemalan people. Chairman Mao is highly respected by our people.

MAO ZEDONG: Thank you.

JACOBO ARBENZ: We want to congratulate you on your achievements in all the work of your country, and we also wish Chairman Mao personal happiness.

MAO ZEDONG: Our friends in Latin America, Asia, and Africa are in the same position as we and are doing the same kind of work, doing something for the people to lessen their oppression by imperialism. If we do a good job, we can root out imperialist oppression. In this, we are comrades.

What use is imperialism? The Chinese people will have none of it, nor will the people in the rest of the world. There is no reason for the existence of imperialism.

We are of the same nature as you in our opposition to imperialist oppression, differing only in geographical position, nationality, and language. But we are different in nature from imperialism, and the very sight of it makes us sick. Qiao Guanhua spent more than two years negotiating with the United States at the 38th Parallel, and he spoke about how uncomfortable meeting imperialism in person was.

When we say that US imperialism is a paper tiger, we are speaking in terms of strategy. Regarding it as a whole, we must look down on it. But regarding each part, we must take it seriously. It has claws and fangs. We have to destroy it piecemeal. For instance, if it has ten fangs, knock off one the first time, and there will be nine left; knock off another, and there will be eight left. When all the fangs are gone, it will still have claws. If we deal with it step by step and in earnest, we will certainly succeed in the end.

Strategically, we must completely look down on US imperialism. Tactically, we must take it seriously. In fighting against it, we must take each battle, each encounter, seriously. At present, the United States is powerful, but when looked at in a broader perspective, as a whole, and from a long-term standpoint, it has no popular support, its policies are disliked by the people, because it oppresses and exploits them. For this reason, the tiger is doomed. Therefore, it is nothing to be afraid of and can be looked down upon. But today the United States still has strength, turning out more than 100'000'000 tons of steel a year and hitting out everywhere. That is why we must continue to wage struggles against it, fight it with all our might, and wrest one position after another from it. And that takes time.

JACOBO ARBENZ: I have spoken about US imperialism here and in North Korea for more than two years, and now I have spoken about it in Geneva for almost a year as well. Maybe I will have to keep talking until the 21st century. If we have to fight US imperialism until the 21st century, then we just have to fight that long.

MAO ZEDONG: Don't be pessimistic. I don't think it will last that long. But it seems that the countries of the Americas, Asia, and Africa will have to go on quarreling with the United States until the very end, until the paper tiger is destroyed by the wind and the rain.

JACOBO ARBENZ: The wind and the rain of the people of the whole world.

MAO ZEDONG: Indeed. Just now, you said that you wanted to visit China for five or six years. Did you think you would have won victory by now?

JACOBO ARBENZ: That's not what I mean. We don't know when we will win victory. But we do believe that we will win victory in the end.

MAO ZEDONG: Your name sounds European; are you from Europe?

JACOBO ARBENZ: My father came from Switzerland.

MARIA CRISTINA VILANOVA: I believe I am of Spanish descent.

MAO ZEDONG: How big a part of the Guatemalan population is of Spanish descent? And how many are indigenous?

JACOBO ARBENZ: In Guatemala, the indigenous peoples account for 70% of the population.

MAO ZEDONG: Are there many indigenous people in other Latin American countries?

JACOBO ARBENZ: In Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil, there are many indigenous people. In Argentina and Chile, most people are descendants of European migrants.

MAO ZEDONG: Is is true that the indigenous Americans came from China?

JACOBO ARBENZ: Guatemalans look quite similar to Chinese people.

MAO ZEDONG: There is no evidence yet. They may have come from China or not. How many indigenous people are there in the Americas?

JACOBO ARBENZ: Probably tens of millions.

MAO ZEDONG: Is it difficult for the European migrants and the native indigenous peoples to work together?

JACOBO ARBENZ: The workers and peasants are exploited, especially the indigenous ones. They used to be branded with numbers like livestock.

MAO ZEDONG: To oppose US imperialism, people of European origin in the Latin American countries should unite with the indigenous peoples. Perhaps the white migrants from Europe can be divided into two groups, one composed of rulers and the other of ruled. This should make it easier for the group of oppressed white people to get close to the local people, for their position is the same.

Your government carried out a land reform to distribute the land owned by the imperialists and landlords to the peasants. You definitely have the support of the peasants.

JACOBO ARBENZ: Yes. We did a lot of work to stop reactionary oppression, and we got rid of all racial discrimination, including against black people.

MAO ZEDONG: Are there black people in Guatemala?

JACOBO ARBENZ: There are a few.

MAO ZEDONG: Maybe your agrarian policy was too progressive. Did you confiscate the land of all the landlords? Is there a national bourgeoisie? Did all the landlords collaborate with the United States? The people do not like the United States, so you can unite with landlords who do not have relations with the United States and form a powerful united front. You can also include anyone who is discriminated against by the United States.

JACOBO ARBENZ: The landlord class is generally pro-US. The national bourgeoisie is opposed to imperialism. We listened to the proposal of the Communist Party of Guatemala and corrected the mistakes of the previous government. In order to win the support of the people, the former government adopted a policy that was generally beneficial to the poor, but not beneficial to the rich, which divided the people. We changed it to support the reasonable demands of the national bourgeoisie. However, we made mistakes. The industrial bourgeoisie and the middle class generally support the government, but we are in exile.

MAO ZEDONG: We left some of the landlords alone who opposed Jiang Jieshi and supported us. Except for the ones who fled to Taiwan, we united with the whole bourgeoisie and all engineering and technical personnel, professors, and teachers. We reeducate them, so that they can serve the people. We also made some «Left-wing» mistakes in our work, which made them feel uncomfortable and caused some resentment. But generally speaking, after five or six years of cooperation, we have unity with them.

As for the Nationalist officers, as long as they did not flee to Taiwan, we also united with them. But some of them just have titles without jobs, which must be corrected. For example, the Ministry of Water Conservancy has one counselor, Zheng Dongguo, who has a title, but nothing to do. How can this go on for long? The Museum of Literature and Art doesn't do anything, and neither do some of the local political consultative conferences, which is a disadvantage.

You should pay attention to the mistakes we have committed in China and compare them with your own. What has been organized for them?

WU MAOJIE: I have organized discussions on the questions of the transformation of capitalist industry and commerce, of the land reform, of agricultural cooperation, and of the united front.

MAO ZEDONG: If somebody tells you that we have made no mistakes, then don't believe them. If somebody only tells you about the good things, then ask about the bad things. How long will you be staying in China?

JACOBO ARBENZ: Until the 14th of August. We must return to France by the end of next month because of visa problems.

MAO ZEDONG: Then you have time to visit various places to have a look around. You should find some people to talk to, such as Communists, democratic figures, Nationalist generals who revolted and came over to our side, capitalists, and religious leaders. You can also meet with some people from national minorities. We have both positive and negative experiences in these spheres.

ZHANG ZIRUO: They already visited the National Academy.

JACOBO ARBENZ: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. We will use our time in China to learn. We have already learned about your political flexibility, how you give everyone a chance to serve the people, and how you admit your own mistakes. Some political leaders in the Americas are not like this at all, and they never acknowledge their own mistakes.

MAO ZEDONG: It is important to be honest. We have made mistakes. In the first few years in the Jinggang Mountains, we adopted a policy of «overthrowing everything». No one wanted to live there except for the workers and peasants. This made Jiang Jieshi comfortable enough to gather a big force to attack us. We underwent innumerable difficulties and were driven from the South to the North, while our forces fell from several hundred thousand strong to a few tens of thousands. At the end of the 25'000-li [12'500-kilometre] Long March, we had only 25'000 people left.

In the history of our Party, many erroneous «Left-wing» and Right-wing lines have occurred. Gravest of all were the Right-deviationist line of Chen Duxiu and the «Left»-deviationist line of Wang Ming. Besides, there were the Right-deviationist errors committed by Zhang Guotao, Gao Gang, and others.

There is also a good side to mistakes, for they can educate the people and the Party. We have had a good many teachers by negative example, such as Japan, the United States, Jiang Jieshi, Chen Duxiu, Li Lisan, Wang Ming, Zhang Guotao, and Gao Gang. We paid a very high price to learn from these teachers by negative example. In the past, Britain made war on us many times. Britain, the United States, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Tsarist Russia, and the Netherlands were all very interested in this country of ours. They were all our teachers by negative example, and we were their pupils.

I don't know if you have made any mistakes, but if you have, you should draw lessons from them. You should also learn from the United States, your teacher by negative example, and from the current President, who can be called your second professor.

JACOBO ARBENZ: Before saying goodbye, I would like to thank you again. We have taken up a lot of your time, but we want you to know that it was not wasted. We must transmit Chairman Mao's advice to our comrades, so that we can improve our work. Thank you so much.

MAO ZEDONG: Thank you for seeing me.