Lombardo Toledano's Lies

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During the twenty months I have enjoyed the hospitality of this country, Mr. Toledano and his advisers and assistants have publicly made a whole series of incredible assertions:

That I collaborated with the fascists in this country and others;

That I was preparing a general strike to overthrow the government of General Cardenas;

That I entered into a plot with Cedillo;

That I had secret contacts with Dr. Atl;

That I inspired the article by General Abelardo Rodriguez in connection with the coming election campaign. Etc., etc.

After the first assertion of this type, I wrote the government, asking it to officially investigate. But the government felt there was no reason to make such an inquiry.

Over and over again, in the press, I characterized the statements of Toledano and his advisers (Laborde, etc.) as willful slander and false testimony. The object of these slander campaigns is to deprive me of the right of asylum and to give the GPU a chance to get hold of me.

Recently—in the November 5 issue of Hoy—I once again publicly proposed to Mr. Toledano to present proof for his assertions to an impartial commission which could be designated by the Mexican government or, for example, the International Federation of Trade Unions at Amsterdam. Instead of replying clearly and precisely to my challenge, Mr. Toledano, in the November 8 public meeting at Bellas Artes, offered a torrent of gross insults and added new slanders on top of the old ones.

I will not enter here into a political polemic with Mr. Toledano. I would simply say that if types like Kerensky-Toledano are considered "revolutionaries," then obviously I must be a "counterrevolutionary." But that is not the question; not at all. The question is whether I prepared a strike against the government of

General Cardenas, whether I entered into a plot with the fascists, whether I had liaisons with Cedillo, whether I secretly met Dr. Atl, etc. Yes or no?

If I really did all that, I have no right to the hospitality of this country. If I didn't do any of that, Toledano is a perfidious slanderer who systematically deceives public opinion in this country on behalf of the GPU.

In that way, and only in that way, is the question posed. The public insults only testify to the shamelessness of those who utter them. They cannot take the place of evidence.

I say once again to the workers, peasants, and all citizens of this magnificent country:

What Toledano is telling you about me is a deliberate lie. Don't believe it!