The bureaucratic headquarters

The anti-federalism of the Third International made it very distrustful of any attempt to promote different policies for different areas, still less to let them take shape, or even be discussed in situ. If Latin America was in some way an exception, it was more apparent than real. When the Comintern, obliged perhaps by geographical circumstances, consented to let the sections of this area convene and discuss particular tactics, it was due not only to the fact that the strategic issues (the main enemy, the character of the Latin American revolution) had been determined from Moscow, but the tactical issues also (class against class, forming of ‘Bolshevised’ parties). It was then less a matter of discussing than of accepting a predetermined policy. But, even in those circumstances, the Comintern preferred direct control, and tried to organize bureaucratic headquarters which could deal with Latin America, prior to any meeting of their sections.

The American Bureau of Amsterdam

The above mentioned rule began with an exception. The European Bureau of the Comintern in Amsterdam (and what could be considered its ‘son’, the American Bureau) was more a product of circumstances than the real will of either the Russian Revolution or the Third International. With Soviet Russia isolated from Europe, it was decided to create a European bureau which would enable Moscow to keep in touch with the followers of the Comintern in the West.