Information Bulletin #26 [2017]

Opening Speech by Communist Party of Vietnam

Dear comrades, On behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, I warmly welcome all of you to the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties hosted for the first time by the Communist Party of Vietnam in Hanoi, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Our 18th Meeting takes a very actual theme: “Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive – Strategy and tactics of the Communist and Workers’ Parties in the struggle for peace, workers’ and peoples’ rights, socialism”. I believe that the discussions at this Meeting and its outcomes will contribute significantly to our common struggle.

On this occasion, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to communist and workers’ parties in the world for their fervent and wholehearted support for Vietnam during the preparation for this important Meeting.

Comrades, 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern European socialist countries, the humankind today is facing numerous daunting challenges.

It is apparent to us that international capitalism has been exposing clearer its anti-progress and inhumanity by accelerating and imposing neo-liberalism through the process of globalization, directly causing on-going serious economic-financial, socio-ethical, ecological, environmental crises, which exert negative impacts on the lives of billions of people around the world. Advances in science-technology revolution have been controlled and manipulated to intensify exploitation of working people for profit of a few multinational capitalist corporations. The impoverishment and rich-poor division has been constantly widened.

Depleted natural resources, environmental pollution, pandemic diseases and climate change are posing ever historically unprecedented challenges to mankind. Unlike in the 1929-1933 crisis, the global capitalism today is not trying to adjust policies to soften the social conflicts. In fact, it has been stepping up its exploitation, cutting down welfare, thus further impoverishing and infringing upon the rights of the working people.

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Although the Cold War belongs to the past, the world today is becoming increasingly unstable, and indeed vulnerable to unprecedented dangers. The strategy of military intervention and propagation of “colour revolutions” practiced by the US and its allies has caused disastrous plights suffered by the people in the Middle East and other regions, triggered terrorism and directly led to the biggest refugee crisis since the World War II. Strategic rivalry among major powers is getting increasingly drastic.

Military expenses and arms building-up both are on the rise. Tension in territorial and sovereignty disputes escalates, threatening peace and stability in various regions. Neo-fascism, religious and nationalist extremism, xenophobia, racism, etc. rise in many countries. In the face of the discontent and widespread protest by people in many countries, the bourgeoisie and reactionary forces have stepped up their anti-communist activities, launched offensive operations against the left and progressive forces, strengthened their manipulation and control of the mass media, divided up and depoliticised people’s movements. Populism tends to find more ground to grow in many places.

Under such circumstances, the struggle for peace and socialism, for the independence and sovereignty of nations and for the interests of the working people is tasked with new demands and more urgent requirements than ever before.

In retrospect of 99 years from now, the Great Russian October Socialist Revolution ushered in a new era of the humankind history. The first ever worker-peasant State had not only emancipated the Russian working people, but also quickly transformed Russia from a backward country into a world power and played a decisive role in saving humankind from the holocaust of fascism. The Soviet Union and the socialist system come into existence after the World War II had not only scored great achievements in the construction of the realistic socialism, but also helped to sustain and advance the cause of national liberation around the world, served as an important factor in maintaining and protecting world peace in the 20th century. It was its very existence and preeminent features in ensuring equality and social progress of the realistic socialist system that had inspired the struggle of the working people in capitalist countries, forcing the

bourgeoisie to adjust and compromise in favour of the working class in these countries.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe socialist countries is the great loss for the progressive humankind. Though being a setback, it does not mean “the end” of the history and to socialism. Contrary to the projection of many bourgeois politicians and scholars, Vietnam, China and Laos did not fall, but in fact advanced with great achievements scored in their renewal process, opening doors towards socialism. Compounded by embargos, Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are still consistently following the path of socialism. Against all odds and current difficulties, the left movement: “Socialism in the 21st century” in Latin America has been steadfast in realizing the aspiration and the willpower of the working people in these countries to strive for a more equitable and better society.

Observing the contemporary world from our perspective and with the practical outcomes of 30 year of renewal in Vietnam, we believe that only socialism can provide a comprehensive solution to the current economic, social and ecological crises, offering the only effective alternative to the brutal exploitative capitalism, ensuring sustainable development, equality and social progress. We also believe that strict observation of the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and international laws, especially respect for independence, sovereignty, non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs, non-use of force or threat to use force and settlement of disputes by peaceful means, make the foundation for peace and stability of countries in the current world.

Dear comrades, Let me now share with you some thoughts about our country and Party: After defeating the US aggression war, reunifying our country in 1975, Vietnam faced tremendous difficulties due to socio-economic and environmental damages caused by the war. The US and the West then imposed sanctions and carried out activities to sabotage and isolate Vietnam. In the meantime, wars at southwestern and northern borders occurred. The stagnation, crisis and sub-

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sequent collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern European socialist countries also left certain negative impacts on Vietnam.

Vietnam fell into dire socio-economic crises in the mid-1980s with economic downturn, food and commodity shortage, and inflation rate of over 700%. People lived in extreme difficulties with up to 75% of the population under the poverty line. Apart from the above-mentioned objective causes, the subjective reason was that we were too hasty and voluntaristic in adopting mechanisms and models of socio-economic development unsuitable with the specific conditions of Vietnam, including the imposition of production relations incompatible with the actual development of the production forces.

The Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1986 adopted the renewal policy to fix such mistakes and open up new path for the country to develop towards socialism in line with Vietnamese specific conditions in the new context. The application of socialist-oriented market economy aims at unleashing productivity to develop the socialist technical infrastructure in the transitional period. Vietnam’s socialist-oriented market economy has the following key characteristics: (i) First, being managed and regulated by the socialist government under the leadership of the Communist Party to bring into full play good features while minimizing bad effects of the market economy and orientate development according to goals of each stage in the construction of socialism; (ii) Second, being run by market rules combined with the macro-planning, in which resources are allocated according to the market and national programs to implement the set development targets; (iii) Third, the State economic sector plays a dominant role in the multi-sector economy; and (iv) Fourth, social progress and equality are actively and gradually promoted through each economic step and development policies.

In the realm of foreign policy, we have exercised independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, multilateralization and diversification of external relations and active international integration, step-by-step removed blockade and embargoes. As a result, we have normalized and improved relations with other countries, joined ASEAN and other regional and international orga-

nizations, built an environment of peace, stability 3 and created favourable international conditions for national development and defence in the new situation.

The implementation of renewal policy over the past 30 years has brought about great achievements and born historic significance to our people and country. Vietnam has rapidly recovered from the socio-economic crisis and got out of the underdeveloped status since 2010, becoming an averaged income developing country. People’s livelihoods have been improved significantly. From 1990 to 2015, the poverty rate fell from 58% to just over 4%; average life expectancy increased from 62 to 73.5. Vietnam’s foreign relations with other countries have been expanded, strengthening the synergy of the country.

Having said that, our country also encountered a number of difficulties and limitations, and is now facing with emerging challenges, internal and external alike. The level of development, efficiency and sustainability of the economy by and large remain low. Various social and environmental issues have to be further addressed; corruption and ethical degradation among a number of cadres get complicated; impacts of the climate change become ever acute. At the same time, the environment of peace and stability as well as national sovereignty and integrity encounter with new challenges; adversary and reactionary forces are intensifying their interfering and undermining activities, stepping up the “peaceful evolution”; strategic rivalry among powers together with volatilities in the global economy and international security cause complex impacts to Vietnam.

The XII National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, organized early this year, has taken stock of the achievements and lessons learned in the past 30 years of implementing the renewal policy, affirmed to consistently pursuit the goal of national independence and socialism, Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thoughts, and determinedly advanced our all-rounded and whole-system reforms. The Congress has put forward our overall objectives in the coming time as follows: To enhance the Party’s leadership capacity and combativeness, and build a strong political system. To promote the entire nation’s strength

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and socialist democracy. To push forward the renewal process in a comprehensive and synchronous manner; develop the economy fast and sustainably, and strive for Vietnam to soon become basically an industrialized country toward modernity. To improve the people’s material and spiritual living standards. To resolutely and persistently struggle for the firm defence of our Homeland’s independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity as well as safeguarding of the Party, State, people and socialist system. To preserve peace and stability, proactively and actively integrate into the international community for the national development.

On this auspicious occasion, we would like to express the heartfelt gratitude of the Party, State and People of Vietnam to Communist and Workers’ Parties and progressive, peace-loving people in the world for your strong solidarity and support awarded to us so far in our struggle for national liberation, the defence and construction of the Socialist Vietnam. We look forwards to having your continued support and solidarity in the time to come. We take this opportunity to avail our faithful solidarity to the struggle led by communist and workers’ parties in the world for peace, independence, democracy, social progress and socialism.

Comrades, While realising our guidelines of multilateralization and diversification of external relations, the Communist Party of Vietnam always attach great importance to consolidating and enhancing the relationship with socialist nations, our traditional friends, with communist and workers’ parties in the world.

We take note with delight to see the robust friendship and cooperation between the Communist Party of Vietnam and your respectful parties over the years. We highly value the initiative and your efforts invested in the formulating and sustaining the Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties, considering it as an important forum for the exchange of information and experience, promoting cooperation and collaboration for our common struggle.

As such, the Communist Party of Vietnam has been actively participating in the Meeting over the years with its responsible contributions.

In light of the complexities in the international context and the challenges facing us, our Party would

like to join you in the expectation of continued reforms and higher efficiency for the mechanism of this Meeting, so that the unity and solidarity of the international communist and workers’ movement will be further promoted.

As the matter of fact, we are witnessing a new face of the world where correlation of forces becomes so different from the past, characterised by changes in socio-economic structures and working conditions, new environment of communications and political awareness, as well as methods for mass mobilisation and operation. While staying steadfast with the bedrock of Marxism-Leninism and the goal of socialism, the new situation requires us to have innovative strategies and methods for our struggle, suitable with specific period of time and condition of each country. Such an approach is anything but the essence of communist dialectics.

We, therefore, should put more effort in exchanging theoretical issues and practical experience on socialism, on our political-ideological work, on party building and mass mobilisation for the sake of our own struggle and in the spirit of respect for the creativeness and choice forged and determined by each and every party.

We also need to further share with each other our experience on combatting political, ideological and socio-economic attacks launched globally against us by the capitalism.

It is also necessary for us to push forward our fights against all forms of aggression, invasion, expansionism, occupation, military intervention and interference into domestic affairs, attempts to export “colour revolutions”; thus safeguarding peace, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity for nation states.

To commemorate the Centenary anniversary of the Great October Revolution in Russia, we seek to hail our unity and solidarity in the common struggle for peace and legitimate rights for workers and the working people, striving for the goal of socialism.

I do hope that this Meeting would serve as an opportunity for us to advance the aforementioned goals.

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In such an endeavouring spirit, I have the honour to declare the opening of the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties.

Good health to all of comrades, Great success to the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties, I thank you all.

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Algerian Party for Democracy and Socialism (PADS)

Dear comrades Algerian Communist warmly thank the Communist Party of Vietnam to organize the 18th International Meeting of Communist Parties and workers in Hanoi.

They are happy to participate in this meeting in Vietnam, a country that still symbolizes the eyes of freedom-loving peoples the heroic armed struggle for 30 years by the Vietnamese people under the leadership of the communists against the French and American imperialists. The victory of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 has had a great impact in our country then under the yoke of colonialism.

This victory encouraged the acceleration preparations in starting 1 November 1954 armed uprising for national liberation.

Algerian workers who lived through that period can remember the struggle of the Vietnamese people without mentioning in particular the famous speech that General Giap, invited in 1976 by the government to visit Algiers, spoke during a public meeting. In that speech he said that imperialism is a bad student. He does not learn the lessons of history. He does not understand that it can not indefinitely dominate peoples it exploits, that people when they are led by revolutionary parties always come at great sacrifice, to be free from oppression and the capitalist exploitation. He explained that the imperialist wars were engendred by the capitalist system in its race with the highest rate of profit and the incessant division of the world. He also made it clear that the victory of the Vietnamese people was the result of the fighting spirit of the people under the leadership of a party ideologically welded and resolved to build a socialist society free of capitalist exploitation. As perceptive Marxist-Leninist he made the difference between Vietnam committed socialist change and Algeria aspiring to socialism. This differentiation indicated that Giap had understood that the Algerian regime was not a socialist regime, despite the socialist speeches of the leaders and their economic and social measures favorable to the masses. Algerian communists supported these measures within the framework of the struggle for the completion of economic tasks of the national democratic revolution and criticized the left wing of power for its methods contrary to the interests

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of workers and for its reluctance to get rid of reactionary wing sabotaging these measures. Giap had great respect for Algerian communists and knew that their party remained banned since independence. He had not forgotten that it was the Algerian communists and not the nationalists who animated dockers’ refusal to load weapons onto ships leaving for Vietnam. For him it was an important criterion for understanding the contradictions that crossed the Algerian regime. He had no illusions about the real capacity of the Algerian authority to enforce its official Socialist proclamations.

Indeed the Algerian government, which was led by the revolutionary wing of the petty bourgeoisie during the first 16 years after independence, from 1962 to 1978 had nationalized the land belonging to the settlers, natural resources, including oil and gas. He also had limited private land ownership. The public sector employed 75% of the industry, 100% of the banks, a third of arable land and a third of domestic trade. Foreign trade was at the end of 1970 the total state monopoly. In this context many believed among the people in the irreversibility of the choice of socialism. Under the direction of this petty-bourgeois wing, a charter was adopted in 1976. It proclaimed that the goal was to build a socialist society run by workers. At the same time it rejected scientific socialism and did not recognize the proletariat as a class the ability to assume the leadership of the socialist process. The regime was not prepared to allow the Communists to act freely or to allow the working class to organize outside of the single party. As the regime that emerged from the war of liberation, the one-party regime was not homogeneous. It was crossed by political and ideological differences irreconcilable.

These differences reflect the contradictions of its internal composition class. Important sectors in the administration, economy, security services and the army were in the hands of opponents of socialism slyly sabotaged from within the decisions of the revolutionary leadership of power. In fact the supporters of socialism who were within and outside the regime were forced to fight in the adverse conditions of the ban on the party of the Communists and the negative hegemony of a single party on the activity of the masses. They had their hands tied while the Socialist opponents had strong positions in the state to destabilize the economy. Despite the

socialist discourse, the forces of capitalism were 7 rapidly reinforced. Economic positions they held gave them the means to corrupt leaders, civilian and military officials of the State. The money accumulated through rapid economic growth under the leadership of the public sector and the links forged by marriages links with senior officials had given them a new power to attack the officially socialist choice. The hesitations of the revolutionary petty bourgeoisie in power to unite itself resolutely with the Communists and to rely on the independent action of the working class had ended after 20 years lead to the eviction of regime officials opposed to capitalism.

During the first 20 years after political independence, the country was able to defend its sovereignty with the objective alliance formed between the anti-capitalist wing of the regime, the communists, the masses and the socialist camp.

The country was able to build in a short time an important industrial base. But that sovereignty has become a pure subject of deception since the bourgeoisie has managed to impose its political and economic domination, and to strengthen ties with imperialism. From that time until today the industrialization process in the way of economic independence was interrupted and oil revenues are used to finance unproductive expenses of the bourgeoisie. Current speeches of the leaders of the bourgeoisie over the defense of sovereignty and the reactivation of non-alignment principles on the blocks used to conceal a political bargaining between the local bourgeoisie and imperialism for an “equitable” sharing of profits from the exploitation of the working class and spheres of influence.

Algerian Communists have learned important lessons from the critical analysis of this period and the consequences of incorrect positions taken by their party. Their biggest mistake was not to have engaged in a frontal fight against the regime resulting from the swing to the right made in 1980.

This serious mistake was justified by the thesis that it was possible and necessary to keep an internal anti-imperialist front to preserve the independence. This thesis was invalided by the life.

These errors are compounded under the influence of ideas of Gorbachev the “new mentality”. They

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have resulted in the abandonment of class criteria in the analysis of the nature of the economic system and the definition of political tactics. The currents remained faithful to the principles of Marxism-Leninism had been slow to openly engage in combat against the opportunistic defeatist approach taken by leadership and the vast majority of party management. This facilitated the intrigues of the liquidators that led to the disintegration of the party in 1992. This has also created immense difficulties to rebuild it on the Marxist-Leninist foundations.

Dear comrades, Around the world, the faithful communists to the teachings of Marx, Engels and Lenin have huge tasks to end capitalist exploitation, poverty, social inequality, oppression and imperialist wars. The many hotbeds of wars and of tension kindled by the imperialist oligarchy in Arab countries, Africa, Asia, on the borders with Russia, itself driven by her bourgeois oligarchic to expand worldwide, the operations removal of regimes which do not like, even though they were elected according to the rules of bourgeois democracy, are the prelude to new conflagration to apocalyptic consequences for humanity. The fight should be intensifyed to bring together the forces that want peace, reject interference and imperialist interventions, reaffirm the right of peoples to choose their way of developing. But it is clear to us Communists that wars are inevitable as long as capitalist exploitation and private ownership of means of production exist. The struggle against imperialist wars is closely linked to the struggle to overthrow the imperialist bourgeois order. Trends in the war expressed exacerbation insurmountable contradictions of the capitalist system: crisis of overproduction and over-accumulation of capital, inter-imperialist rivalries and imperialist wars for the division and redivision of the world domination zones and influences, for control of resources, energy sources, the work force, wars to protect markets for the benefit of a minority of moguls of finance, banking and industry, frenzied offensive of the bourgeoisie to deprive the working class and formerly colonized peoples from their social and political conquests. These conquests had been torn in the global context favorable to the existence of the socialist camp and coordination of the struggle of the labor movement in this countries with

this camp. The liberation movement of oppressed people certainly would not have managed to free themselves from colonial domination without their objective alliance with the socialist camp and the international communist movement.

Communists must deploy all their energy for returning to attack in order to achieve the great task remains on the agenda of the present time: the revolutionary transition from capitalism to socialism.

Everywhere the Communists are faced with the same task: rebuilding the party of socialist revolution, giving hope to workers operating in the possibility and necessity of the seizure of power by the proletariat and its allies, for the expropriation of the exploiters, for establishment of social ownership of the means of production, for a social management mode based on the planning for the satisfaction of social needs and not the search for capitalist profit.

The resulting tasks for the entire international revolutionary labor movement are clear: - uncompromising ideological fight against the social democratic ideology of class collaboration, against opportunism in all its varieties, particularly against defeatism that continues to paralyze important sectors among the exploited after the victory of the against-revolution in the USSR in the GDR and in the former socialist countries, against the denigration of bourgeois social democratic and Trotskyist propaganda about the experience of building socialism inaugurated by the revolution of October 1917 we celebrate the 100 th anniversary year next; - Struggle to show that the existence of the socialist camp had brought the exploited and oppressed peoples and that its destruction has instead resulted as misfortunes and social regression in the whole planet; - Reaffirmation of the essential proletarian internationalism, solidarity and exchange between different national detachments of the international communist movement, coordination of their struggle.

These control axes are closely linked. They are

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among the tasks that govern the successful reconstruction of the communist movement in each country and internationally.

Long live proletarian internationalism!

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Communist Party of Argentina

Estimados camaradas: Un sincero agradecimiento al Partido Comunista de Vietnam por la cálida acogida en esta gloriosa tierra de Ho Chi Minh.

Un saludo fraterno a todos los Partidos Comunistas y revolucionarios aquí presentes.

Realizamos este Encuentro en el marco de la continuidad de la mayor crisis conocida en la historia del capitalismo, en la que se agudizan los aspectos financieros, energéticos, culturales y económicos, que se manifiestan en términos humanitarios, ambientales y alimentarios.

Este conjunto constituye una única y gran crisis, sobre determinante, múltiple, abarcadora: la crisis civilizatoria del capitalismo.

No se trata sólo de un fenómeno estadounidense impactando sobre el resto del mundo, sino de un proceso planetario. Vemos sus efectos preocupantes en Europa en donde la UE cruje y atraviesa una profunda crisis agravada ahora por la problemática de los refugiados. Pero este fenómeno, como es lógico, tiene su motor decisivo en el centro del mundo capitalista: los Estados Unidos, que despliega su política militarista en buena parte del mundo y avanza en una contraofensiva que, en América Latina, amenaza todo lo avanzado desde el Rechazo al Alca (Tratado de libre comercio) en la IV Cumbre de las Américas realizada en el año 2005 en Argentina, hasta nuestros días.

No pensamos que esta crisis llevará “naturalmente” al fin del imperialismo norteamericano, éste venderá cara su derrota y tenemos que luchar para lograrla. Hablamos de decadencia pero no desde una mirada determinista, sino como un largo proceso de final abierto.

Asistimos a una tendencia a la multipolaridad que cabalga sobre el deterioro del conjunto del capitalismo global, en una etapa histórica de turbulencias en el marco de una reconfiguración del mapa geopolítico, signado por la irrupción como contrapeso al poder imperial de China y Rusia como actores centrales de la política internacional.

Como consecuencia de su crisis, el imperialismo se vuelve cada día más agresivo, persiste en sus

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políticas coloniales como en el Medio Oriente y otras regiones donde descargan su terror destructivo. En la Argentina lo vemos con Nuestras Islas Malvinas, desde donde pretenden controlar el Atlántico sudoccidental, el paso interoceánico sur y el acceso a la Antártida como parte de una ofensiva brutal en contra de la soberanía de las naciones, los derechos de los pueblos y la paz mundial. Alienta políticas y discursos anticomunistas mientras favorece el crecimiento de grupos fascistas y xenófobos.

Esta agresividad se manifiesta en toda su dimensión en temas que se han constituido como grandes negocios del capitalismo: el narcotráfico, el tráfico de armas y de personas.

Los miles de billones de dólares que se mueven en ellos y los tan declamados “combates” o “guerras” a los mismos se transforman, en realidad, en una parte fundamental de la política de intervención del imperialismo en el mundo y de control dentro de sus fronteras.

No en vano nuestros nuevos gobiernos de derecha ponen la “lucha contra el narcotráfico” como una de sus consignas principales.

La realidad latinoamericana actual se caracterizó desde fines de la década del 90 por afrontar la crisis del neoliberalismo y haber logrado en varios países la instalación en el gobierno de proyectos de carácter progresista y de izquierda, reinstalando la idea de Patria Grande latinoamericana y dando fuerte impulso a nuevos procesos de integración regional.

Hoy, nuestra región está sufriendo la contraofensiva imperial y se encuentra fuertemente condicionada por la misma, que despliega una combinación múltiple de reforzamiento y proliferación de bases militares, conjugada con una batería mediática y cultural que busca naturalizar la penetración militar y el dominio ideológico sobre nuestros pueblos, territorios y correspondientes bienes naturales estratégicos.

Las reservas petrolíferas, acuíferas, minerales y la biodiversidad se constituyen en la principal motivación para esta contraofensiva. Desacreditar y desarticular las instancias de integración regional logradas en éste período y detener los incipien-

tes procesos orientados hacia una autonomía 11 de nuestros sistemas financieros, reinstalando la dependencia económica, es crucial para imponer acuerdos y tratados claramente direccionados a favor los intereses de los EEUU. La profundidad de esta contraofensiva queda demostrada también en los golpes de Estado de nuevo tipo ya triunfantes en Honduras y Paraguay y Brasil, o intentos desestabilizadores en ese rumbo como en Venezuela, Bolivia, El Salvador, Ecuador y Nicaragua, mientras continúa el criminal bloqueo contra la Revolución Cubana.

En nuestro país, una fuerte campaña desestabilizadora articulada también desde la embajada de EEUU, aprovechó los límites y debilidades del proceso argentino, llevando al triunfo electoral a la derecha, tanto en la presidencia de la nación como en los distritos electorales más importantes.

Ante esta coyuntura nos preguntamos: ¿Cuáles fueron los límites y debilidades del proceso desarrollado en nuestro país tanto como en otros proceso progresistas latinoamericanos en la última década?

En relación a nuestro país los comunistas veníamos alertando sobre ellos en torno a tres elementos principales que creemos centrales y que determinan este nuevo escenario: • Que no se debía subestimar a la derecha y su reestructuración política, que es parte de un fenómeno internacional y que en la región cuenta con el impulso y coordinación del imperialismo norteamericano.

• Que el Capitalismo es el problema y no la solución. (Ante el enfoque erróneo de que se puede construir un “capitalismo serio o humano o nacional” que elimine las desigualdades sociales). Esta idea consolidó una mirada estrecha en el movimiento popular que impidió volcar toda su potencialidad acumulada en estos años en función de frenar y derrotar a la derecha, paso obligado para consolidar un verdadero rumbo de liberación nacional.

• La falencia en la construcción de una fuerza política integradora de todos los sectores que articule un programa de cambios que pusiera

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al movimiento popular al frente de la lucha por las transformaciones de las estructuras políticas y económicas, que son los principales obstáculos para la liberación nacional y social de nuestro país.

Mientras tanto el establishment, siempre con la coordinación permanente de la embajada de EEUU, ha podido reconfigurar las fuerzas de derecha, deslegitimadas en la región en su alternativa militar de utilización de las dictaduras como vehículos de implementación de sus políticas en los años 70 y 80 y deslegitimadas luego por la crisis neoliberal de los 90 en la forma de alternancia de los partidos burgueses tradicionales, consolidando hoy un nuevo partido de derecha “moderna”, de raíz profundamente conservadora, alineado con el ideario neoliberal, reaccionario y autoritario. Paralelamente trabaja en la contención y el reordenamiento de sectores importantes del peronismo para presentarlo como la oposición de centroderecha necesaria para recrear la alternancia política que le de perdurabilidad a la agenda imperial para América Latina.

Hoy tenemos un verdadero gobierno de clase que actúa de acuerdo a su ADN liberal y autoritario: que impuso una fuerte devaluación de la moneda nacional, quitó las retenciones a las transnacionales mineras y los agronegocios, llevó adelante un tarifazo de servicios públicos, despide a miles de trabajadores en la administración pública ( alentando lo mismo en la actividad privada), promulgó el llamado Protocolo Anti piquetes o anti protestas sociales, se amedrenta a las organizaciones políticas y sociales en lucha, mantiene detenida ilegalmente como presa política a Milagro Sala y sus compañeros en el norte del País cada vez en peores condiciones (Dirigente social, diputada electa del Parlasur que por su detención no pudo asumir), vetó la llamada ley anti despidos, impulsa a través del Poder Judicial la reglamentación del derecho de huelga y vuelve a las relaciones carnales con los EEUU, en detrimento de la integración latinoamericana.

Graves posiciones, genuflexas, expresadas durante la última Asamblea General de la ONU sobre Nuestras Islas Malvinas y la relación con el Reino Unido, son de extrema gravedad y se proyectan a las ambiciones sobre el territorio antártico y sus riquezas,

así como la propuesta del llamado “Plan Belgrano” para diez provincias del norte de nuestro país y las instalaciones militares proyectadas para garantizar el saqueo (extracción y transporte) de los recursos naturales, entre los que cobran particular importancia el litio existente en el noroeste y las reservas de agua dulce presentes en el acuífero guaraní. Ese Plan incluye la introducción de la DEA yanqui y la generación de conflictos fronterizos con nuestro vecino Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia.

Completa el cuadro de situación de la agenda del establishment, la implementación de una reforma política ya en curso. Todo con la complicidad de los grupos mediáticos hegemónicos y el creciente silenciamiento de las voces alternativas.

Más allá de los logros demostrados por la derecha en el campo electoral, su gobierno demuestra dos puntos de debilidad que debemos tener en cuenta quienes queremos debilitarlo y derrotarlo llevando al seno del movimiento popular la discusión en torno a que: La crisis del capitalismo es también la crisis del reformismo burgués, por lo que la idea de un capitalismo “serio” planteada por el gobierno kirchnerista, objetivamente llegó al límite de sus posibilidades y que el modelo que se intentó, dirigido por fracciones burguesas locales, no tuvo el programa ni los motores sociales correctos para prosperar.

Debemos llevar la discusión y el análisis de cómo ubicarnos ante el problema de la dependencia, y así poder avizorar hacia qué escenario político nos dirigimos.

Contamos para ello, por parte de un amplio sector del campo popular, con el saldo positivo de la última década con la revalorización del concepto de “Patria Grande”, de la visión de “Nuestra América”, por lo que para confrontar con la dinámica del capitalismo global nos permite afianzar la idea de que hay que prepararse para confrontar en todos los planos con el poder real, hacia adentro y hacia afuera de las fronteras y que ésto requiere instrumentos políticos de nuevo tipo.

En el oredn nacional, esto nos coloca ante un enfoque táctico de enfrentar al gobierno en

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cada una de las luchas llevando la propuesta de un Frente contra el Ajuste, la Entrega y la Represión sin perder de vista que esto debe servir para fortalecer la construcción del Frente de Liberacion Nacional y Social, como objetivo estratégico que nos trazamos desde Nuestro 16° Congreso y sucesivos; e indefectiblemente en lo regional impulsar la continuidad y profundización en el trabajo en los diversos espacios de articulación de las luchas, fundamentalmente en el Foro de San Pablo, en el marco del cual, buscamos articular un plan común de las fuerzas de izquierda latinoamericanas y caribeñas a fin de trazar un programa político para la construcción de una sociedad post capitalista.

Esta problemática se vio reflejada además, en el Coloquio Internacional de Partidos Comunistas que realizamos en mayo en Buenos Aires donde participaron representantes de Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Perú, Brasil y Cuba asi como en el mes de Agosto en el Encuentro Internacional de Partidos Comunistas y Revolucionarios de América Latina y el Caribe organizado por los partidos Comunista Peruano y Comunista-Patria Roja (en proceso de unificación) al que asistimos organizaciones de Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, México, Nicaragua, Perú, Uruguay y Venezuela.

variados caminos hacia el socialismo.

Necesitamos para eso esforzarnos por crear una articulación internacional de partidos comunistas y revolucionarios construída sobre un debate noble, de elevación moral, política, de respeto y de fraternidad, con capacidad para procesar los elementos distintivos que nos proyecten a los partidos comunistas como las fuerzas más participativas y democráticas de la sociedad.

Tenemos que transmitir las características de la sociedad que queremos construir, una sociedad libre, de productores libres, la sociedad comunista, para eso estamos y a eso debemos consagrar nuestros mejores esfuerzos.

Muchas gracias.

Así llegamos a la Gloriosa Hanoi, en los umbrales del año del Centenario de la Revolución de Octubre, próximos al centenario también de la fundación de nuestro Partido, convencidos del rol que tenemos los Comunistas, nuestra razón de ser, nuestra inserción en el futuro, en tanto vanguardia, en tanto sistema de evaluación racional y de lucha, al servicio de ese sujeto, que visto desde el punto de vista histórico global debe romper sus cadenas burguesas si quiere realmente vivir de manera digna.

Convencidos que en el siglo XXI el comunismo debe asumir su cuerpo plural, universal, su diversidad social oprimida a partir de su experiencia, de una conciencia renovada, realmente planetaria, abarcando una vasta diversidad de identidades en desarrollo para ser capaz de ponerse en la primera línea de combate de los explotados y humillados del mundo, trabajando para unirlos, empujando hacia un horizonte de justicia, igualdad, libertad, de paz y fraternidad, horizonte que nunca pudo alcanzar la burguesía y que sí puede ser logrado por

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Communist Party of Australia

On behalf of the Central Committee of the Com15 munist Party of Australia we thank the Communist Party of Vietnam as hosts of this important gathering and extend our greetings to the Communist and Workers Parties gathered at this meeting.

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is no stranger to the aggression of imperialist forces and have experienced the link that Australian capitalists have with the US aggressors through US-Australia military Alliance. This Alliance has brought untold tragedy to the people of Vietnam and in no way benefits the Australian people. We acknowledge the war crimes committed by US imperialism against the Vietnamese people and support the position taken against those attempting to turn that tragedy and those crimes into an occasion for celebration. Much like the lie that led to the attack on Iraq, the attack on Vietnam was based on a lie; that the peace-loving Vietnamese were somehow on the march south to conquer Australia. The people of Vietnam today still live with the legacy of Agent Orange used by the US and its allies, including Australia as third and fourth generations are afflicted by birth defects.

Preparations for war Australia is currently involved openly in war in Iraq Afghanistan and Syria. Australia’s 2016 Defence White Paper leaves no doubt that the Australian government and military are preparing for war. It is the view of the Communist Party of Australia that the principal target is the People’s Republic of China. US imperialism also has the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in its sights.

Militarism is being promoted, including through the appointment of General Cosgrove as Governor General.. huge celebrations of anniversaries of military battles such as at Gallipoli during World War One or Long Tan in Vietnam. Both of the major political parties in the Australia’s two-party system are calling for “budget repair” . The federal government’s budget is presently running a deficit of around $40 billion (2.5% of GDP). The conservative Liberal Party and Labor Party are in agreement on the US Alliance, military expenditures on the military, and the involvement of Australia in the US’s wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Australia also has forces in the Solomon Islands, East

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Timor and Sudan.

As part of the US Pivot to the Asia-Pacific region, Australia is investing billions of dollars with the aim of boosting the capacity of its navy and air force.

The government has budgeted for military spending of one trillion Australian dollars over the next 20 years! The aim is to lift military expenditure to two percent of Gross Domestic Product. This includes a $50 billion building program for submarines, $1824 billion on warships in the Canberra class and a further $22 billion on F35 Lockheed fighter jets. All of this is claimed to be “to counter the rise of China”. US troops have been stationed in Darwin along with fly-ins of military aircraft, ship visits and military exercises across the north of the country in which Australia’s forces are integrated with those of the US under US command.

Austerity measures Australia’s budget deficit (4% of GDP) and net government debt (18% GDP) are low by international standards but that does not stop the government using them as an excuse to slash social spending while at the same time planning to cut the taxation of company profits!

To fund these tax cuts and the military build-up, the government has embarked on a program of highly unpopular austerity measures, what it calls “Budget repair”. The public sector is increasingly under attack with a massive program of sackings, privatisation, deregulation, user-pays and closure of programs. There is strong resistance to the government’s attempts to cut funding to public education and privatise the public health system. Around 300,000 Australians face losing their age pension or see it reduced in January 2017. Already many others have had other social security payments cut and some face being cut off completely. The unemployment benefit has been allowed to slide well below the poverty line and homelessness has increased alongside cuts to public housing programs. Fortunately strong opposition thwarted government attempts to make youth wait six months before being eligible for unemployment payments. “Budget repair” also involves gradually increasing the age at which the age pension is paid from 65 to 70 years.

As the “safety net” shrinks, poverty and homeless-

ness rise. Women and the most disadvantaged, including Indigenous Australians, have been deliberately targeted by a government that serves the ruling class’s interests. Science and measures to address climate change have also suffered in the hands of a government that is under the control of the resources sector and Christian Right.

The government’s program of deregulation and privatisation is paving the way for a complete corporate takeover, a direct corporate dictatorship, if the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is ratified

by Australia. The conservative government has worked hard to see an agreement reached. It still has to go before the Australian Parliament before Australia can ratify it. In Australia, the movement against the TPP is not very strong. The Communist Party of Australia has done what it can to build opposition and to inform people of its contents and likely impact on Australia’s sovereignty, on their democratic rights, working conditions, employment, the environment, cost of pharmaceuticals and other outcomes.

The future of the TPP, the Trade In Services Agreement (TISA) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) remains uncertain.

It is the US, Japanese, European and Canadian monopolies that stand to benefit from them and the peoples of those countries, in particular, those of the South who will suffer the most. These agreements give corporations the power to sue governments for doing nothing more than protecting the health and safety and other interests of the people and the environment.

They also have an important strategic as well as economic aim in that they would exclude the BRICS countries. The coup in Brazil and the shift to the right in India’s national politics including the signing of a military agreement with the US, raise questions about the operation and possibly the future of BRICS. “War against terrorism” Imperialism is no stranger to lies, to fostering racism and xenophobia, using this to create a climate of fear and hatred and divisions within the working class. The Australian government and mass media are fostering and using anti-Muslim

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sentiments as a distraction from economic conditions and hardships caused by capitalism and as an excuse to introduce repressive, so-called “anti-terrorist” laws that curb basic democratic rights.

Asylum seekers who reach the shores of Australia are branded as “illegal”, treated worse than convicted murderers and arbitrarily incarcerated in offshore detention centres. The UNCHR has repeated called for their removal from these centres to humane conditions with adequate support and services.

Following a visit to the island of Nauru in May the UNHCR said: “There is no doubt that the current policy of offshore processing and prolonged detention is immensely harmful. There are approximately 2000 very vulnerable refugees and asylum-seekers on Manus Island and Nauru. These people have already been through a great deal, many have fled war and persecution, some have already suffered trauma.”

The government has tried to gag medical and other staff who visit the centres with legislation providing for two-year jail sentences if they disclose information about conditions at the centres. Desperate children and adults are self-harming, there have been deaths, children are sexually assaulted and health and other services are woefully inadequate or completely lacking, living conditions are primitive and sanitation is also a serious problem.

The government is taking a cruel, punitive approach with a domestic political agenda of “stopping the boats”.

Australian economy Like many other industrialised economies, Australia’s manufacturing sector has taken a huge hit. The auto industry, once a major employer and user of other manufactures, is in its death throes, with only months before it closes its doors. The steel industry is all but gone. Foreign-based monopolies control most sectors of the economy which was heavily reliant on the resources sector but less so since the recent crash in commodity prices.

A duopoly exists in the food distribution industry.

A parasitic gambling industry has mushroomed with the same two food retailers being the largest owners poker machines. Gambling revenue has become a major source of income for state governments.

The economy was and is heavily dependent on 17 exports to China and increasingly the rest of Asia.

Australia is heavily integrated in the imperialist chain with the largest foreign direct investors being US corporations with an estimated USA $860 billion in accumulated investments, Britain $450 billion followed by Belgium at $238 billion and Japan at $200 billion in 2015 (source Australian Government: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, “Which countries invest in Australia?”). Chinese companies are investing heavily in Australia.

The principal areas being mining, agribusiness, real estate and more recently in health.

Australian corporations investing abroad have mainly focused on the USA, New Zealand, UK, Canada and Papua New Guinea. Some considerable sums of Australian capital have found their way to tax havens in the Caymans, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The source of capital around the world is sometimes hidden by the complexities of tax havens and third party arrangements.

With a total of $3 trillion in accumulated FDI, Australia has an extremely high level of foreign ownership. Corporate decisions affecting workers in Australia are made in board rooms in Tokyo, New York, London and elsewhere. It still has many features of its colonialist origins and operates as an outpost for Anglo-American capital.

Over the last 30 years, Australia’s employment arrangements have changed from a predominantly full-time, permanent workforce to a mix of contract, part-time and casual employment. Youth unemployment is high, in some areas as much as 30 percent.

Australia has a high rate of casualisation of work with less than 60 percent of employees working full-time. An increasing use of automation threatens thousands of jobs in the transport and other industries. Intensification of labour has increased productivity and resulted in thousands of job losses. For example, on the waterfront, which has historically suffered heavy job losses as a result of containerisation and mechanisation workers face the prospect of robotics replacing their labour.

The globalisation of manufacturing and the building of massive plants in fewer centres has reduced the socially necessary labour time and created

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overcapacities in some industries. Calls centres and financial institutions have moved many of their operations to countries such as India and the Philippines in pursuit of cheaper labour.

Shift to the right There is an attempt to prey on the fear and apprehension that are caused by these developments and the manipulation of terrorism to create an environment for the strengthening of the far right. The two-party system that has served capital so well is breaking down in a number of ways. This includes the emergence of the Greens on the relatively progressive side of politics and neo-fascist forces such as One Nation on the right.

Our Party sees the fracturing of the two party political system as necessary to build a left and progressive political alternative, that this alternative can and must lead to a government of a new type, a pro-people, anti-imperialist, anti-monopoly government. It appears at the moment that this the cracks in the two-party system are emerging faster than our ability to build a united front of working people and a people’s movement.

The trade union movement has been under tremendous attack with legislation designed to cripple and bankrupt it. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), in particular, is under a most ferocious attack where it is standing up for workers’ rights in the building and construction industry. The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) is also under increased pressure and is currently amalgamating with the construction union.

The focus of unions has been to elect Labor governments as a defensive measure. The actual outcome has been legislation that relieves a little of the pressure but continues to hit the CFMEU with millions of dollars in fines and restrictions on trade union rights. It is in this complex environment that our comrades are struggling to support and build class consciousness and militancy in the trade union movement.

Both the CFMEU and the MUA have been saddled with multi-million dollar fines. Despite this, they have led actions against Hutchinson Ports in which the dismissal of dock workers was successfully opposed and against building groups such as

AbiGroup reducing wages and conditions.

A new feature is emerging of using existing laws to reduce wages and conditions for workers. The company ends a contract with a contractor who has an enterprise agreement with its employees.

The workers are sacked as there is no work with that contractor. The company then signs on a new contractor who offers to rehire the same workers on inferior wages and conditions. In one recent case the company offered wage rates at 60 percent lower. There is massive public support for the workers and the union is continuing with its determined resistance to the attack. The Party sees a need to develop solidarity activity in support of the workers in this and when we see other attacks on working people in future.

Tremendous losses occurred in our movement at the breakdown of the Soviet Union but we have maintained our activity in the working class movement and have led struggles against privatisations and attacks on working people.

Our efforts are limited by the, as yet, too small contingents of Communists. We have fresh growth amongst young people and are working on educating these young comrades in the enormous tasks that lie ahead. We remain convinced that the Communist movement is the hope of humanity and that, as the political crisis develops in Australia, we will prove up to the task.

Finally, we welcome the recently signed Peace deal by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC-EP and the Colombian government. This wouldn’t be possible without Socialist Cuba and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

The People of Colombia deserve Peace with Social Justice.

We call for the ending of the US blockade on Cuba and the return of Guantánamo Bay to the people of Cuba. We reiterate our solidarity with the Communist Party of Cuba and Socialist Cuba.

President Obama can do more before he leaves office.

Comrades, we would like to express our appreciation of the Vietnamese people in asserting their dignity and sovereignty over their land and thank the Communist Party of Vietnam for its warm

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hospitality for which the Vietnamese people are renowned.

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Party of Labour of Austria

Dear comrades, We would like to thank the Communist Party of Vietnam for successfully hosting this year’s meeting. We also wish to thank the working group and all the parties of the IMCWP for accepting our party as member and giving us the opportunity to participate in this meeting for the first time. We are very grateful and pleased to contribute to this effort to organise and coordinate the communist and workers’ movement on a global scale.

We are a young party. The Party of Labour of Austria was founded on 12 October 2013, after the Communist Initiative was dissolved as an organisation in order to become a party. But our history goes a long way back. We see ourselves in the tradition of the international communist movement of the 20th century and of the Communist Party of Austria before it was liquidated as a revolutionary communist and workers’ party to become a part of the opportunist “European Left”.

In our effort to build a strong new revolutionary party in Austria we are confronted with many challenges. The objective situation and the balance of power are very negative for a rapid development of a class-oriented workers’ movement and a strengthening of the lines of a revolutionary communist party. Social democracy still dominates the unions, and its failures mostly work to the advantage of the most reactionary, nationalist and racist camp of the bourgeois class. The people are divided along false fronts and dilemmas. The bourgeoisie is using the contradictions among the working class to disorientate and divert them from their real problems and common interests.

But we have managed to create the conditions for a reversal of the situation in the future. We have taken the first steps in building party structures all over the country. We are represented in the union movement and our work in important sectors of production and services is progressing.

We participate in the most important protests of the people and express our solidarity with the migrants and refugees in our country in various ways.

Of course, we have a long way to go before becoming an important political factor in the coun-

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try and thus posing a threat for the bourgeois establishment. We are not represented in the national parliament and our efforts at local elections have so far failed due to objective conditions and subjective weaknesses alike. But we are not giving up our struggle or allowing ourselves to be discouraged by this situation. We are convinced of the historical necessity of a strong revolutionary workers’ party in Austria and its role in the transition from capitalism to socialism and communism.

Dear comrades, 25 years after the completion of the counter-revolution in the Soviet Union and the socialist states in Eastern Europe, we are still experiencing the consequences of this major setback for the working class movement on a global, regional and national scale.

The domination of capitalism and imperialism is being felt by billions of people in the world. Economic crisis and anti-worker policies are the reality in all capitalist countries regardless of which bourgeois party currently governs. Imperialist interventions are destroying the living conditions of whole nations driving them to mass migration. The danger of a general war is also coming closer, as the antagonism between imperialist countries, monopolist groups and bourgeois factions is escalating.

In this situation we as communists have the obligation to analyse the current situation, the problems of the peoples and the history of the working class and communist movement and to draw conclusions that help overcome this negative balance of power. We have to organise the struggle of the working class, direct it against capitalism, imperialism and the bourgeois state and formulate concrete proposals to relieve the working masses, promote their initiative and ensure their well-being.

Each party fights on different fronts, under different circumstances and using different means and forms of struggle according to its circumstances. Each party analyses the objective factors in its country and seeks to formulate its political line according to the principles of Marxism-Leninism and the needs of the situation.

But our struggle is also common. We share the common goal of socialism-communism. We are all confronted with the global development of mo-

nopoly capitalism and its imperialist aggression. In 21 the face of this barbarity, internationalist solidarity among the workers of all countries and joint action of the communist parties on a revolutionary line are necessary conditions for a successful outcome of our struggle. For this reason it is important to work closely together, to exchange our experience and also discuss our often different strategic and tactical approaches.

Dear comrades, It is important to strengthen our lines and establish deeper roots in the working class and the popular strata of society. We have to organise a broad militant front against the policies of monopolies and the bourgeoisie in every country.

But we also have to strengthen our political unity and our ideological awareness. As, among other things, the experience from our country shows, the destructive effects of the development of deviations and the often uncontrolled action of opportunist elements inside our parties – especially in the second half of the 20th century – has proven that we are obliged to guard our political-ideological line, to be a vanguard against the influence of bourgeois and petty bourgeois ideology on the working class. Our tactics must thus not contradict our strategy and strategic goal of socialism and communism.

Dear comrades, The international communist movement today lacks a unified organisational centre. Of course, this will not be overcome easily or soon. But the need for it is undoubtedly present. For this reason it is important to consistently discuss and investigate important issues such as the stance of the communist and workers’ parties in the imperialist war, the experience from the construction of socialism in the 20th century and our stance towards opportunism and bourgeois parties. It is only through such a process that true unity and effective internationalist action will become reality.

In conclusion, we want to state our conviction that the 21st century will be characterised by new forms of fierce class struggle and that it will be our task to play a leading role in this struggle that will determine its outcome.

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Long live the Communist Party!

Long live Marxism-Leninism!

Long live Proletarian Internationalism!

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Workers’ Party of Bangladesh

Dear Comrade Presidium and Comrades of dif23 ferent fraternal parties of the world, At the outset I would like to thank the Communist Party of Vietnam for organizing the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties. I would like to take this opportunity to pay my deep respect to the great communist leader Comrade Ho Chi Minn. On behalf of the working class, people of Bangladesh and Workers Party of Bangladesh would like to render our fraternal greetings to all the parties and working class of different parties and countries of the world.

The global economic recession, started on 2008, is being taken care by the global capitalism, by intensifying exploitation further more and by mercilessly squeezing the working people through the so called “austerity” measures, which has not only failed to bail out of the crisis rather has created a more deeper crisis, engulfing the world for the last seven years and the capitalist world and its leaders are failing to find an exit from this crisis.

US imperialism in collaboration with the Pakistani Military and communal ruling forces while opposing the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, gave birth to Talibanism and after the incidence on 9 September 2011, US imperialism started its war against terrorism – a new global agenda - came into being. This was initiated with its aggression on the soil of Afghanistan with a ploy to combat Talibanism. After that, Iraq and Libya became the prey of the imperialist forces, which gave birth to IS in the Arab soil. The fundamentalist forces under the banner of Taliban and the IS are the creation of the imperialist forces. We would like to mention that the fight against religious fundamentalist forces is associated with the struggle against imperialism. It is to be mentioned that in the middle east all the secular forces are being targeted by the imperialist and fundamentalist forces and that is why at present Syria has been a target of IS and US imperialism. The role of Russia in this regarded is surely a matter of appreciation. Taking into consideration all these matter the present summit of the international communist and workers parties should take a strong stand against the religious fundamentalist forces, the IS and US imperialism.

The terrorist activities of the Israeli government

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on the Palestinian people need to be protested and necessary programme should be taken in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Many thought that the Arab Spring would allow the region self-determination. It was a resounding protest of the Arab people against the neo-liberal policies of the Western countries along with the corruption of the West’s corporate and it’s local allies. The freedom from oppression, exploitation, corruption and a servile existence was a cry of the Arab people, but unfortunately, the Arab Spring failed to attend the aspiration of the people of the Arab world and was an abortion in it’s’ embryo.

Dear Comrades, Now I would like to say a few words about our country. Bangladesh came into being after a bloody liberation struggle in 1971, with an intent, to establish a democratic-secular country with its goal for social emancipation. In 1975, the leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of the national liberation struggle was killed and thus the rule of the army, backed by its allies, the rightist and fundamentalist forces came into power. After a long down trodden struggle, in 2008, the democratic-secular forces came into power. Our party Workers Party of Bangladesh is one the component of the alliance of this democratic-secular force. This very government, while coming to power initiated the trial of the War Criminals. As a result, all the fundamentalist religious and the rightist forces formed an alliance and created anarchy to disrupt the democratic process and obstruct the trial of the War Criminals.

These forces all throughout have been backed by US imperialist and its Western allies, by terming them as moderate muslim. Yet this government was successful not only in continuing the trial process as well as the democratic process, by holding the parliamentary election in time on 2014. The US and its Western allies along with the present ruling elite of Turkey and Pakistan has always being questioning the very existence of the International Crime Tribunal, which was constituted under the constitution of Bangladesh, following the international standard of judiciary. The rightist and fundamentalist forces of Bangladesh with the support of the imperialist forces from the very birth of Bangladesh have been trying to create an atmosphere, detrimental to the secular and democratic environment. We are aware

that the economic discontent among the people, might be used as a tool, to the advantage of these fundamentalist forces to destabilize the strained secular polity of the country. Our experience dictates that in all the Muslim dominated countries, the struggle for secularism should be an integral part of our day to day struggle. In Bangladesh taking into consideration the fight for secularism, we have developed a front of all democratic and secular forces, which at present is in the government and due to this front we were able to overcome the tragedy of Gulshan Artisan episode. In the other tier, taking into consideration, the struggle for the emancipation of the peasant and working class we are striving to develop a unity among all the left forces, which ultimately will develop as an alternative.

Workers Party of Bangladesh at present has 7 parliamentary seats. At present there are 13 seats in total represented by the lefts. We are passing through a complex situation and there is no straight cut road of struggle. We are a part of this government to uphold the secular and democratic values and on the other hand in some of the issues, we are opposing this government on its anti-people stand, in the parliament as well in the street. We are with the struggle of the working class and the peasantry on a daily basis as well as on the struggle against the neo-liberal policies of imperialism.

This type of meeting of IMCWP will enrich each and every party participating in the meeting and I myself do agree in holding the international meeting of communist and workers party every year.

Thanking You

Long Live IMCWP.

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Communist Party of Belarus

Уважаемые товарищи! Дорогие друзья! От имени Центрального комитета Коммунистической партии и всех коммунистов Беларуси горячо и сердечно приветствую участников 18-ой Международной встречи коммунистических и рабочих партий. Символично, что обсуждая стратегию и тактику борьбы коммунистических партий в условиях капиталистического кризиса, мы проводим свою традиционную встречу во Вьетнаме, где Коммунистическая партия является правящей и определяет путь социалистического развития страны. На фоне обострения в мире национальных, социальных, экологических и межимпериалистических противоречий и проблем у нас есть уникальная возможность приобщиться к теоретическим и практическим наработкам наших вьетнамских товарищей, поделиться собственным политическим опытом и обменяться мнениями по широкому кругу актуальных проблем. Для Коммунистической партии Беларуси период между нашими традиционными встречами был насыщен важными общественно-политическими событиями. В Беларуси прошли президентские и парламентские выборы, внеочередной и отчетно-выборный съезды КПБ. Мы рассматриваем Выборы как работу в массах, как дополнительную возможность общения с широкими социальными слоями населения с целю донесения до избирателей наших программных целей. Такой подход в организации избирательной кампании КПБ, соответствует стратегическому курсу на укрепление и укрупнение нашей партии. В основе такого подхода лежит марксистсколенинское учение о классовой борьбе как движущей силе развития общества и народовластии, что предполагает широкое участия трудящихся в делах государства. Мы не раз отмечали, что в Республике Беларусь принцип народовластия успешно реализуется на практике. На всем постсоветском пространстве только в

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Беларуси политическая власть не допустила повальной приватизации, резкого расслоения населения, и действует в интересах большинства трудящихся. В партийных решениях различного уровня, мы не раз акцентировали внимание на совпадении программных целей КПБ с политическим и социально-экономическим курсом, проводимым Президентом Республики Беларусь А. Г. Лукашенко, который сверяет его на всебелорусских народных собраниях при активном участии, ученых, депутатов, представителей трудовых коллективов, лево патриотических партий и общественных объединений. Главный результат прошедших электоральных компаний это то, что белорусский народ продемонстрировал приверженность принципам народовластия, социальной справедливости и традиционным нравственным ценностям. Не исключением стала и очередная программы социальноэкономического развития страны на 20162020гг., которая широко обсуждалась в белорусском обществе, а затем была одобрена пятым Всебелорусским народным собранием в июне 2016 года. В результате белорусское общество получило ответы на ряд актуальных вопросов. Во-первых, государство продолжит реализацию социально ориентированного курса и не допустит ломки и либерального радикализма в экономике. Во-вторых, собрание определило основные экономические контуры будущей пятилетки. Это дальнейшая модернизация промышленности и сельского хозяйства; поиск и внедрение прорывных, наукоемких отраслей экономики, комплексное развитие национальной инновационной системы; осуществление внешнеэкономической деятельности на основе развития кооперационных связей ЕАЭС и освоения новых рынков сбыта в странах, так называемой «дальней дуги»; цифровая трансформация экономики и ускоренное формирование высоко технологического сектора, снижение затрат и повышение качества продукции; развитие транзитной привлекательности и индустрии гостеприимства; рост эффективности строительства, обеспечение населения качественным и доступным жильем;

повышение качества услуг и снижение затрат 27 в жилищно-коммунальном хозяйстве. В-третьих, будет совершенствоваться политика в области занятости населения, цель которой – создание возможностей для каждого гражданина своим трудом обеспечить материально себя и свою семью. Для создания новых рабочих мест будут предусматриваться меры стимулирования, включая налоговые послабления. В-четвертых, приоритетом социальноэкономической политики станет развитие человеческого потенциала и повышение качества жизни белорусского народа через обеспечение демографической безопасности страны, укрепление здоровья нации, поддержку физической культуры и спорта, совершенствование системы социальной защиты уязвимых категорий граждан, рост качества и доступности образования, поддержку национальной культуры и творческого потенциала, социализацию молодого поколения и его вовлечение в создание экономики знаний. В этой связи наша партия, как и прежде, ставит перед собой задачу осуществлять конструктивное сотрудничество со всемиветвями власти и всемерно содействовать реализации намеченных планов и программ, направленных на построение социально-ориентированного государства. Вместе с тем, внешние политикоэкономические факторы оказывали доминирующее влияние на осуществление внутренней политики Беларуси. Зависимость от внешних рынков, и, прежде всего, от российского, сказалась негативно на состоянии открытой, экспортно-ориентированной национальной экономики. Падение цен на нефть и кризис на валютном рынке лишили нашу страну значительных финансовых опор, ограничив объемы притока валюты. Следует отметить, что в этой сложной ситуации оказались и наши партнеры

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по Евразийскому экономическому союзу. Казалось бы, все должны объединить усилия и совместно искать пути преодоления кризиса. Однако на деле Евразийский Экономический Союз оказался несостоятельным: помогать друг другу пока никто не собирается. Российский олигархический капитал больше озабочен собственными прибылями, нежели реальной интеграцией в интересах миллионов простых граждан. Мы глубоко убеждены, что в рамках интеграционных процессов на постсоветском пространстве экономики субъектов интеграционного образования должны взаимодополнять друг друга, а не конкурировать между собой. Только такой подход позволит наладить тесные кооперационные связи, которые в свою очередь сформируют устойчивый общий рынок. Вместе с тем мы должны признать, что ухудшение экономической ситуации в Беларуси начиная с 2015 года – это не только влияние внешних факторов, но и результат некоторых просчетов правительства. Об этом мы подробно говорили на своих съездах. Эта тема была ключевой и на совещаниях у Президента страны и на 5-ом Всебелорусском народном собрании. Несмотря на принимаемые меры, мы пока не смогли преодолеть экономический спад и в первую очередь в крупном промышленном производстве, что сказывается на формировании валового внутреннего продукта. Так по итогам января – августа 2016 года ВВП составил – 97 процентов, а объем промышленного производства 98,2 процента к аналогичному периоду прошлого года. Вместе с тем, активная работа по созданию новых рабочих мест и обеспечению занятости населения уже дает свои результаты. Если в начале 2016 года уровень регистрируемой безработицы был 1,1 процента от экономически активного населения, то на 1 октября текущего года он составил 0,6 процента. Экономическая ситуация находится в нашем постоянном поле зрения, поскольку именно она является важным фактором общественнополитической стабильности в государстве

и обществе. Рассматривая процесс социально-экономического развития как системную работу по совершенствованию производительных сил и производственных отношений, мы коммунисты активно разъясняем населению будущую перспективу. Или наша страна скатится в пучину либерального хаоса, где спрос рождает предложение, а в условиях перепроизводства предприятия сворачивают свою деятельность, массово увольняя наемных работников. Или все будут напряженно работать над продвижением отечественных товаров, над освоением новых рынков сбыта, созданием новых рабочих мест, над снижением энергоемкости и себестоимости выпускаемой продукции, повышением ее качества и конкурентоспособности ради обеспечения и развития социальных стандартов в интересах трудового народа. Для нас очевидно, и в этом мы солидарны с нашим Президентом, что второй путь хоть и более трудоемок, но способен обеспечить будущее экономическое развитие, рост благосостояния белорусского народа и социальную стабильность. Этот вывод подтвердили результаты президентской и парламентской избирательных кампаний. В этой связи мы констатируем, что вторая попытка либерально-националистического реванша в Беларуси не удалась. Напомню, что первая попытка деструктивных антигосударственных сил осуществить его на практике имела место в декабре 2010 года. Тогда основной упор был сделан на радикальные националистические группировки при поддержке внешних сил. Однако попытка радикальной смены власти провалилась, благодаря единству белорусского общества и его поддержки эффективных действий руководства страны. Сегодня же на первый план вышла новая либеральная интеллигенция, прежде всего экономисты, политологи, разного рода аналитики и журналисты. Именно с их подачи в обществе разгорелись

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жаркие и напряженные дискуссии о выборе пути развития национальной экономики и государства. И здесь мы имели дело с новой попыткой реализовать в Беларуси сценарий либерально-националистического реванша. Этот сценарий состоит в том, что, используя экономические трудности, либеральные круги навязывают обществу дискуссию об отсутствии иной, кроме либеральной, альтернативы развития экономики. Используя свое лобби во властных структурах, они начинают реализацию либеральных подходов и «рецептов» в социально-экономической сфере. А реализация либеральных реформ всегда сопровождается недовольством граждан, тем самым подрывая стабильность в обществе. Возмущенные граждане выходят на улицы с протестом, радикализацию которого обеспечивают так называемые оппозиционные силы,финансируемые из-за рубежа. В результате так называемой «цветной» революции к власти приходят прозападные либеральные деятели. Главная их цель - за короткий период захватить в частные, лучше иностранные руки лакомые куски экономики, запретить коммунистическую идеологию и партию, советскую символику, ввести уголовное наказание за критику проводимой либералами внутренней и внешней политики. Антикоммунизм, антисоветизм и русофобия – отличительные черты деятельности мировых правящих либеральных элит. Яркое тому свидетельство – братская Украина, где правящий либерально-националистический режим использует антикоммунистическую истерию и русофобию для сведения счетов с оппонентами олигархической власти. Либеральнонационалистические режимы только на словах констатируют плюрализм мнений. На деле мы наблюдаем тотальную борьбу с инакомыслием, вплоть до физического устранения оппонентов. К сожалению, это не хотят замечать Европейские структуры и международные организации. В последние два года мы тоже столкнулись с практикой внедрения либеральных принципов в финансово-экономической сфере Беларуси. К чему привела монетарная политика и либерализация цен – мы видим на состоянии

экономики сегодня: девальвация рубля, 29 высокие процентные ставки по кредитам для реального сектора экономики, рост безработицы и цен, падение реальных доходов населения. В результате – снижение доверия к власти и отсутствие социальной перспективы у части наших граждан. Только благодаря политической воле Президента Беларуси А.Г. Лукашенко реформаторский пыл либералов был остужен. Радикальным либеральным реформам в Беларуси не бывать – это принципиальная позиция Главы нашего государства. В свою очередь Коммунистическая партия Беларуси всегда выступала и выступает против попыток направить социально-экономическое развитие страны по либеральному курсу, который не отвечает основам ментальности, системе ценностей и идеалам белорусского народа, сложившемуся укладу жизни общества. В этой связи, определяя стратегию и тактику политической борьбы мы выдвигаем на первое место тезис о консолидации всех лево патриотических сил с целью не допустить либерально-националистического реванша у нас в стране. Второй тезис – это дальнейшее развитие белорусской социальной модели на основе социалистических принципов и разумного сочетания государственного и рыночного управления. Далее следует необходимость совершенствования системы политического и экономического просвещение трудящихся с целью аргументированно и профессионально противостоять навязываемым либеральным доктринам. Для нас, очевидно, что экономика должна обеспечивать социальные гарантии и рост благосостояния людей. И люди должны понимать, что экономические знания в отрыве от общественно-политических и идеологических процессов не обеспечат развитие производственных отношений на новом, качественном и высоком уровне. В этой связи наша партия выступает за возобновление в университетах учебного курса «Политической экономии» как науки

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о законах, управляющих производством, распределением и обменом жизненных благ в человеческом обществе. И наконец, для повышения качества просвещения граждан, формирования устойчивого мировоззрения необходимо укреплять и расширять структуру партии, ее идеологическое влияние через участие коммунистов в работе всех ветвей власти. Я не буду перечислять все мероприятия которые мы осуществляем в этом направлении, лишь подчеркну, что наша партия уже сегодня представлена как в парламенте страны, так и в исполнительных органах власти и местных советах депутатов. Для реализации более эффективной молодежной политики нами создано и уже зарегистрировано молодежное общественное объединение «Лига коммунистической молодежи». Просил бы вашего содействия, уважаемые товарищи, в налаживании отношений нашей молодежной организации и молодежными организациями, действующими при ваших партиях, а так же со всемирной организацией демократической молодежи. В завершении своего выступления хочу внести несколько конкретных предложений относительно нашего дальнейшего взаимодействия в рамках международного коммунистического и рабочего движения. В следующем году мы будем отмечать 100-летие Великой октябрьской социалистической революции. В этой связи предлагаю принять на нашей встрече совместное обращение, посвященное этой знаменательной дате. На наш взгляд назрела необходимость укрепить координацию и взаимодействие наших партий, а для этого нужно сформировать международную структуру по принципу Коминтерна. Думаю, будет правильно, если рабочая группа наших встреч проработает этот вопрос организационно и юридически, включая финансирование и размещение штаб квартиры. Особую роль здесь могли бы сыграть партии, которые являются правящими в своих странах.

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Workers’ Party of Belgium

“Defending workers’ rights, opposing capitalism and militarism, building forces for socialism” Dear comrades, We want to thank the Communist Party of Vietnam for organizing the 18th IMCWP, for their warm welcome and for the perfect conditions that we can work in.

Dear comrades, 1. I’ll give in 7 minutes some insides about the way the PTB is trying to develop the class struggle in Belgium via some concrete political struggles.

All this in a context wherein the capitalist crisis is expanding and imperialist wars and acts of terrorism continue to put at risk the lives of people around the world.

Defending workers’ rights 2. Two weeks ago, the Belgian government finished the state budget. As in many countries it’s a document that shows clearly that the government is tied to the interest of the capitalist class. To give just a limited overview of the decisions taken: the wages will be blocked for the 10 coming years, the 38 hour working week can be stretched to a 45 hours week in several sectors, the obligation to work an extra 100 hours a year overtime can be imposed by the employers.

3. Next to that, working at night will be generalized in e-commerce without any collective bargaining, € 1,3 billion will be cut in the social security system and health insurance, the pension age will go up and pensions will be lowered in several sectors. Using the terror attacks in Brussels as an excuse, the government imposes also it’s anti-democratic security agenda.

4. On the other hand the existing privileges of shareholders and financial corporations don’t change a bit. Last year the 50 biggest companies payed an average tax on profit of 2,7% in stead of the legal 33,99%. In Belgium it stays very easy and cheap to fire workers. To illustrate, in September 2016 only, Caterpillar (industrial gear), ING (bank), Douwe Egberts (coffee), AXA (insurance) and some other companies announced closures, relocations and restructuring plans. As a consequence, more then 10.000 workers and their families risk

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to end up in poverty. This shows you how violent capitalism is.

5. Since 2008 the structural crisis of overproduction is deepening and spreading further every day.

The EU framework of austerity can in no possible way get us out of the crisis. The working class is getting poorer and a growing part of the wealth they produce goes directly to the bank accounts of shareholders.

6. The objective situation is changing quickly and the PTB is doing all its best to help to build an organized answer to these challenges, side by side with the trade unions and social movements. To defend the workers’ and peoples rights and to be able to put offensive demands on the table, the unity of the working class in our country is essential. This implies a unity between the unions with different political background, unity between unions in the private and public sectors, among unions in the different regions in our country and between the organized working class and the social movements. This orientation we defend during demonstrations, picket-line visits and media performances. At the same time we challenge people to join the actions to build a large movement against the austerity measures imposed on them.

Opposing militarism and NATO 7. Belgium is hosting the political and military headquarters of NATO. For the Belgian government NATO is “central in Belgium’s efforts for peace”. Belgium is active in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. It serves the interests of US imperialism but is also actively participating in the “Common Security and Defense Policy” of the European Union and the implementation of the EU battle-groups. The United Nations comes third in line only. The control of energy supplies, transportation lines and markets to invest in to keep profits high, are the main objective of their military spending. And spending is what Belgium is planning to do.

8. Last week the government decided to invest in the coming 14 years €9.400.000.000 in new military equipment. This decision is in line with the NATO demand to allocate 2% of the Gross National Product to military spending. The biggest part of this amount will go to the renewal of the F16 fighter

jets. These investments will engage Belgium for 33 years to come in the NATO nuclear-war-machine.

It will undermine the state budget for many years to come.

9. This situation creates big challenges for the peace movement in Belgium while the era of humanitarian interventions has an important ideological influence among progressive forces.

10. At the same time the combination of austerity measures and the investment in military equipment is an opportunity to mend a new alliance between the peace movement and the working class. Without this alliance it will not be possible to push back the government decisions, leave alone to develop a peace policy. The party, as a member of the peace movement, tries to argue in this direction and to connect both struggles together.

11. In 2017 special attention will go the NATO summit that will take place in Belgium. The peace movement is working hard to unify all forces against NATO in Belgium and abroad, in order to debunk the war agenda of NATO and its member states.

Blocking trade agreements 12. For several years a Europe-wide network is active against the signing of the free trade agreements CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the European Union and Canada) and TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – between the EU and the US). In Belgium the popular network #StopTTIP #StopCETA is composed of unions, social movements, peasant organizations, women and youth organizations and NGO’s.

13. Both agreements help to reinforce the position of the EU, the US and Canada on the world market in competition with Japan and the emerging countries. The agreements aim to break down trade barriers that are standing in the way of profit maximization. Limitations related to workers’ protection, health security, environment protection ... are targeted. The Investment Court System (ICS) will privilege corporate claims against governments that protect peoples’ rights, if these rights stand in the way of corporate interests.

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14. The proposed agreement is another tool to secure profit for the capital class. That’s why the PTB is actively participating in the peoples’ movements.

We defend the complete rejection of the agreement and don’t want to leave the space to the tendencies that only want to adapt some points in the agreement to secure the core of it.

15. For the moment it’s not clear if the Walloon government will stand its ground. When a small region as Wallonia blocks a 500 million people wide trade agreement, a lot of pressure is exercised to review its positions. Several (former) EU commissioners, Canadian ministers, the Belgian federal government and Belgian employers all push for a signature. It shows that the struggle against the federal government and the EU go hand in hand because both are institutions in the interest of big capital.

16. We participated actively in the mass demonstrations, published several articles, we are writing a book, declared our solidarity festival ManiFiesta CETA free, introduced resolutions in municipalities to make them CETA free and intervened actively in the different parliaments. Because of this it is harder for the social-democratic head of the Walloon government to give in to easy. He is afraid our party would grow further.

members live with an average workers wage. This is much appreciated by the working class. As we tend to say, “If you don’t live as you think, you start to think as you live”.

18. Our presence in parliament gives us an extra tool to reach out to many people and to get them involved in the popular movements that struggle for their rights. It’s only through the experience of struggle that the masses learn about the real character of the system that has nothing to offer them. In all these struggles it’s the parties first task to build its own strength via a process of sensitizing, organizing and mobilizing the many workers, women en youth we fight together with.

19. We have to take every opportunity to learn from the working class. But we also have to educate them that our history is build primarily through social struggle. In all the struggles the working class is waging, our party is active and tries to bring the struggles together for a real change of society, for socialism.

Thank you for your attention.

I want to add here the news that came in today. Although the popular movement in all its diversity put in a very good struggle, the Walloon government decided to sign the CETA-agreement after some non binding remarks were listed in a letter added to the agreement.

Building forces for real change, socialism 17. Our growing visibility in the media because of the first 8 parliament members (2 federal, 6 regional) we have ever, creates big expectations within a growing group among the working class. It is an important challenge to our representatives not to loose contact with the reality of the working people while in parliament. Street-council-street is the principle applied by them. They bring the struggles of the working people in parliament and go back to the people after the debate to inform them. Applying strict financial rules is another means to keep checks and balances right. All cadres and parliament

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Brazilian Communist Party

The Central Committee of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) salutes all the communist and revolutionary parties in this international meeting and congratulates the heroic Communist Party of Vietnam, revolutionary organization that make proud all revolutionaries of the world, not only for having defeated the biggest imperialist military machine but also for having resisted the disaggregation of Soviet Union maintaining the construction of Socialism.

We live in a complex moment, hard for the humanity: while the global systemic crisis castigates the capitalist system for more than 10 years, when the managers of the capital are unable to resume economic growth and stability, the big capital undertakes a brutal offensive against the rights of workers. Even so, imperialism, hurt at its entrails, deepens the policy of war invading sovereign nations and trying to destabilize all the countries that disobey the imperialist policy.

This social and economic crisis hits all the economies linked to the hegemonic country in the field of imperialism. This may be observed clearly in Europe, where these phenomena raise in practically all the countries of the region, and hits also Japan whose economy is for two decades in stagnation. Even the USA, in spite of the manipulation of the media presenting a scenario of stability in this country, has a stagnated economy.

USA has the biggest external debt in the world, has an infrastructure in ruins and an effective unemployment much larger than official statistics proclaim.

But it is important to note that the struggle and resistance of workers all over the world against capital is permanent. In all Europe general strikes and demonstrations take the streets. In other parts of the world there is also a resistance of workers and youth. These movements, albeit defensive and without a revolutionary direction, indicate a strengthening of the class struggle as the world crisis deepens.

In our Latin America imperialism is performing a great offensive in order to revert some loss of domain occurred in the last decades, not only due to popular uprisings and mobilizations that result-

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ed in elections of progressive governments, particularly in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, but also in consequence of an integration process that was taking place.

Even in the framework of capitalism, the creation of Unasul, Celac, ALBA, the Bank of South and several political initiatives of countries in the region made USA deeply disturbed.

Facing this conjuncture the imperialism of USA is trying to re-conquer positions by “free trade” agreements with several countries so as to increase its area of influence. They undertake initiatives to institutionally depose governments that no more serve their objectives. That offensive includes the settlement of military bases in countries of the region and a retake of the IV Fleet as a way to intimidate and even to intervene in Latin American countries.

In an orchestrated movement, the imperialism is endeavoring efforts to isolate and militarily threatening Venezuela, because of its more radical process of changes and its large oil fields. They demagoguery do approximate to Cuba with a vain objective of promoting a capitalist restoration. At the same time they sap the efforts for a political solution of the Colombian conflict, intending to make unfeasible the right of rebellion of peoples, and torender Colombia into a large military base against the struggles of Latin American peoples.

Nevertheless, these initiatives of imperialism do not refrain us from a balance of the so called progressive governments in Latin America. The crisis that hit today Latin America is, in considerable part, a consequence of limitations and hesitations of these governments. They were elected departing from mobilizations, strikes and uprisings against neoliberal policies, but these governments essentially performed policies that strengthened the interests of big capital allowing for the poor population only a social compensation policy.

Several of these governments acted to co-opt the workers and popular movements and to renderpassive the masses. Some of these governments even took measures against the workers. Some, as in Brazil, were discarded when they no more served to the bourgeoisie, because of both the deepening of the global systemic crisis and of disastrous internal

political practices.

Regarding Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, where the popular mobilization processes were advanced and measures were taken for effective national sovereignty and anti-imperialism, the result of these processes didn’t promote deeper social changes.

Since they didn’t develop a control over the economy and a popular democracy, with an incorporation of strategic sectors by the state and a control of public spaces by Popular Councils, they end up opening spaces for the re-articulation of the bourgeoisie linked to imperialism, jeopardizing the conquests performed under these governments.

In political terms, this means that reformism - both the makeshift as well as the social democrat- do not represent real options for the liberation of peoples of our Latin America. The first creates institutional illusions, confusion and disorientation of the proletariat, depolarize society and effectively leads to demoralizing setbacks, as it happened in Brazil. On the other hand, the second type, in spite of institutional and popular advances, when it does not deepen the transformation process, bringing control of the economy and promoting the power of the people, gives space for the bourgeoisie and imperialism to destabilize the economy and to a reversion in the process of changes.

For the communists of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) the way for social transformations in our Latin America is the strengthening of popular and workers movement with the construction of an anti capitalist and anti-imperialist minimum program able to set broad masses in action to defeat the local bourgeoisie and imperialism, creating the popular democracy.

The Brazilian crisis In Brazil the situation is somehow more dramatic because of the large geographical, demographic and economic dimensions of the country. After 13 years of government of the “Workers Party” (PT) the country lives the most serious crisis in five decades. A deep economic crisis, a dramatic social crisis with more than 12 million unem-

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ployed workers and a political crisis that resulted in the impeachment of president Dilma Roussef and the takeover of power by gangsters of regional and profiteering oligarchy.

The government of PT had a political performance favoring essentially the Big Capital, but the bourgeoisie and the imperialism decided to use no more its services and to constitute a pure breed government. This process was a result of the deepening of the world crisis and consequences in Brazil, of disastrous mistakes in internal policy, besides the fact that PT was no more able to control the movements of masses: in 2003 broad sectors of youth and badly employed or unemployed proletariat, carried out demonstrations in more than 600 cities in Brazil, despising political institutions and labor unions.

These facts represented an alarm light to the bourgeoisie so that it decided to take over the government, in order to implement anti workers and anti popular adjustments in a faster way, instead of using PT to negotiate with workers and implement the same adjustments in a slower pace.

With this usurper and illegitimate government in power, a new step of the class struggle started in Brazil. The brutal attack against the workers, retired people and the population in general, opened clear the struggle between Capital and Work. There are no more intermediaries to cushion the social unrest.

By one hand, the offensive of government makes more difficult the action of workers but, on the other hand it opens space for a reconstruction of labor union, popular and youth organizations and to reorganize the socialist left.

The measures that this usurper government is taking up, such as a fiscal freezing for 20 years, degradation of education, social care and labor laws, the delivery of oil fields to multinational corporations, bring an enormous setback to the Brazilian society.

But it is necessary to make clear that these same measures were being taken by the PT government.

The coup only accelerated and deepened an ongoing process.

At the same time when the illegitimate government advances in its offensive it also raises the revolt of population against it. Albeit still diffuse it

can be easily verified in street demonstrations all over the country, protests in soccer stadiums, music and theater shows, and spontaneous people teasing against members of parliament and government ministers in airports and planes, in restaurants and public places and events.

Since these measures will lead, inevitably, to a sharpening of class struggle with an increase in demonstrations and protests, it is important to remember that the illegitimate government will intensify the repression against workers and the youth (who is having an important role in this step of action), against the popular and social movements, and will try to restrict even more the democratic freedoms in order to achieve its targets.

We want to say to the comrades that our Party was always present in all the actions of our people in this hard step of our history and will keep firm in the struggle disregarding difficulties and sacrifices that the combat will bring. We have strong militants going to the streets with these flags and expressions, without fear facing the enemy. The comrades will note this in the struggles to come.

The development of the crisis It is important to understand that the Brazilian economic, social and political crisis takes place in a period when the long cycle of social struggles, initiated in the end of the seventies with the strikes in industrial areas around SĂŁo Paulo city, is ending dramatically with the exit of PT from government. At the same time a new cycle is being in gestation, starting with the demonstrations of June2013.

In practice, we are in that historical moment when the old is dying and the new will be born but is still in gestation. In this empty space bizarre and unforeseen manifestations take place, but this is also a moment of new opportunities, since the crisis is forcing a process of reorganization of the socialist left. The conjuncture itself of sharpening of class struggle will force workers in this direction.

Whoever insists in a way of arrogance and self proclaimed sectarianismis condemned to insulation and to an insignificant role in this new cycle.

The next step will be of intensive reorganization of the left and decadence of the old organizations

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that were fostered during the cycle that is ending.

We are participating of all the initiatives of popular and anti imperialist fronts in Brazil, such as the Fearless People, the Unit in Action Space, the Block of Socialist Left. These are still modest initiatives but with a high potential of becoming references to the workers and the youth in this period opened with the usurper government.

Our Party is working with the idea of a great meeting of the working class and popular movements intending to unite anti-capitalist social movements born from grassroots in an effort to establish a minimum program able to motivate workers, youth and the poor people for the social transformations in Brazil. There is in our country a broad space for the construction of a social and political tool rejecting neoliberals and the policy of class conciliation, opening spaces for the construction of the Peoples Power.

Dare to fight, dare to win.

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Communist Party of Britain

The world is entering its most dangerous phase since imperialism proclaimed eternal victory over the Soviet Union and socialism in the early 1990s.

Peoples everywhere were promised a “New World Order” of peace, disarmament, democracy and social justice. Instead, capitalism’s general crisis has reasserted itself with two decades of war, genocide, repression, mass migration, economic and financial crisis, global warming and environmental degradation.

Through NATO and the European Union, imperialism has extended its operations across Europe, much of the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.

Its three inter-related objectives are to widen and deepen capitalist exploitation in order to maximise profit; to dominate the world’s major energy sources and trading routes; and to combat any potential challenge, whether from capitalist rivals, anti-imperialism or socialism.

This is the context in which we see the imperialist drive to destabilise the BRICS countries and to pressurise or bring down their governments.

It’s why the Communist Party of Britain: • Opposes British imperialist intervention in Syria, Afghanistan and Libya as we did previously in Iraq and the former Yugoslavia.

• Campaigns for comprehensive sanctions on Israel to achieve a comprensive two-state settlement with the democratic representatives of the Palestinian people; and • Demands an end to Britain’s support for regimes which arm and fund sectarian terrrorist groups such as ISIS-DAESH and Al Qu’ada.

Imperialist expansion, backed by belligerent rhetoric against Russia and China, is increasing the risk of a military confrontation between the major powers.

This underlines the role that the World Peace Council and anti-war movements everywhere must play if catastrophe is to be avoided. In Britain, as well as continuing to support the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Stop the War Coalition, the Communist Party has played a

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leading role in re-establishing the Peace Assembly as Britain’s affiliate to the World Peace Council.

We also played a central role in the left-wing, anti-imperialist campaign for Britain to vote to leave the EU in our referendum on June 23. While both official campaigns, for and against EU membership, deployed reactionary arguments, Communists and their allies emphasised how the EU and its neoliberal, militarist, and racist ‘Fortress Europe’ policies — enshrined in the basic EU treaties — would block advance on every front by a left government in Britain.

Our struggle now is to rebuild labour movement unity around an agenda for an exit from the EU to the left — a “People’s Brexit” — which rejects submission to EU Single Market rules or to its pro-NATO common foreign and military policy.

The prospect of winning such a government has come closer with the election — twice — of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party.

A lifelong socialist and anti-imperialist, he has always had warm and comradely links with the Communist Party and the Morning Star daily newspaper, which he supports and writes for.

Again, our Communist Party plays a significant 41 role in the People’s Assembly Against Austerity.

The Morning Star enjoys growing support in the labour and progressive movements, with circulation up 15% last year.

Comrades, we draw inspiration from our part in the international communist movement. Avoiding sectarianism and dogmatism on the one side, or social democratic class collaboration and pro-imperialism on the other, we must strengthen and project our movement.

In 2017, we urge Communist and workers’ parties to: • Campaign for freedom for Marwan Barghouti and all Palestinian political prisoners.

• Protest against the ban on the Communist Party of Ukraine.

• Organise events in every country to celebrate and popularise the achievements of the Great October Revolution, the Soviet Union and socialism.

But the state and monopoly mass media are determined to destroy him politically, with the support of big business and a significant section of his own party, inside and outside parliament.

Furthermore, the movement for Scottish independence has already taken many votes and seats away from Labour. Scottish separatism divides the fight against British state-monopoly capitalism, for a bogus Scottish “independence” still dominated by the Bank of England, the EU and NATO. The Communist Party alone calls clearly for a federal Britain of England, Scotland and Wales, combined with a massive redistribution of wealth to the working class of each nation and region.

Above all, to secure the election of a left-led Labour government, we have to step up popular and industrial action against the new Tory government and its policies of public spending cuts, lower taxes for the rich and big business, privatisation and nuclear rearmament.

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Communist Party of Canada

Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive - Strat43 egy and tactics of the Communist and Workers’ Parties, in the struggle for peace, workers’ and peoples’ rights, socialism” Intervention of the Communist Party of Canada Presented by Elizabeth Rowley Leader Communist Party of Canada Dear Comrades: i bring warm greetings from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada to this important international gathering of Communist and Workers’ Parties.

In particular, we thank the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam for hosting this meeting.

It is a great privilege to be meeting in the homeland of Ho Chi Minh, - a towering figure in the international communist movement - and the Communist Party of Viet Nam, under whose leadership the most powerful imperialist country in the world was defeated in 1975. This great and heroic victory remains a beacon of inspiration to all those struggling against imperialism and neo-colonialism, for national liberation, peace and socialism.

We salute you, and the difficult struggle- you are engaged in to build socialism in Viet Nam, in a world dominated by decaying capitalism, and increasingly aggressive US, European, and Japanese imperialism.

As we meet, US imperialism and NATO threaten a direct confrontation with Russia, utilizing Russia’s support for the Syrian government as a pretext for war. The danger of a nuclear war between the two, engulfing the world, is at the highest level since the 1980s, The anti-war forces must be mobilized to block this threat, and to force the US back to the negotiating table to find a peaceful political solution that respects Syrian sovereignty and includes withdrawal of all US and imperialist troops and mercenaries from Syria.

In Canada, the peace forces are asleep, blinded by the pro-war propaganda of the monopoly owned media, and cocooned by imperialism’s doctrine of ‘responsibility to protect’. The new Liberal government, elected a year ago on a promise to change Canada’s aggressive foreign policy, has continued

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the previous Conservative government’s support for NATO and the fascist government of Ukraine; has sent 500 troops to Latvia, 700 troops to Africa, increased Canadian participation in the ground war in Iraq and Syria, and maintains a $20 billion annual defence budget.

On foreign policy, the new Liberal government is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Part of the disguise for its war policies, is the government’s decision to accept 35,000 refugees - far fewer than Canada could and should take - but in sharp contrast to European countries that have closed their borders. But these humanitarian gestures don’t alter the fact that Canada’s support for NATO and its continuing participation in imperialism’s dirty wars is the cause of the refugee crisis.

Canadian Communists are working hard to awaken the peace forces to the dangerous new global situation and to rebuild the powerful pan-Canadian anti¬war movement that mobilized hundreds of thousands of Canadians into the streets in the past. In particular, we seek to rebuild the strength and influence of the World Peace Council’s affiliate, the Canadian Peace Congress - the anti¬imperialist voice in the anti-war movement. We also work to rebuild the ties between the trade unions and the peace movement that are essential to mobilize the working class into the peace struggle.

In Latin America, US imperialism seeks to roll-back every advance - its bloody hands visible in the soft coups in Venezuela and Brazil, and in Colombia where the ultra-right forces seek to overturn the historic peace accords. While restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba, the US continues its economic blockade aimed to strangle socialist Cuba. In Canada the forces of reaction are increasingly active with small fascist organizations appearing across the country. As in the US and Europe, this is a consequence of capitalist globalization, de-industrialization, mass unemployment and precarious work; falling wages, pensions, and living standards. Combined with neo-liberal policies of free trade, privatization, deregulation, corporate tax cuts, and a frontal attack on the trade unions; on labour, democratic, social and civil rights; the conditions for ‘a perfect storm’ for reaction are created. Add to this the crisis of social democracy, and the weakness of

the left and progressive forces, and the danger is obvious.

Yet the labour and democratic forces are stirring, and the Communist Party is active, and the struggle is picking up momentum. This includes broad based opposition to CETA, the TPP and TTIP which all contain the investor state dispute settlement mechanisms that render national governments impotent and national sovereignty nul and void in the face of corporate globalization.

A massive struggle over oil and gas pipelines has opened up across Canada, galvanizing the indigenous movement and the environmental movements to stop the pipelines and the export of dirty oil and gas from the Alberta tarsands in the interior to the deep-sea ports for export.

The youth and students are also mobilizing on these issues, on access to education, increased minimum wages, and jobs.

In Quebec, the trade unions have made the fight for a $15 minimum wage part of their collective bargaining strategy.

Women’s organizations are also fighting for equality, including pay and employment equity, reproductive rights, universal childcare, and freedom from violence. Indigenous women led the fight for a public inquiry into Missing and Murdered Aboriginal women, and for implementation of the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the genocide of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

The fight against racism is rebuilding with the militant Black Lives Matter movement, and the struggles of the Indigenous Peoples for land, sovereignty and justice.

The fight for LGBTQ rights continues with mass support in the labour and people’s movements.

For the past year, the trade union movement in Canada has been paralyzed by the promise of a ‘labour-friendly’ Liberal government and its tri-partite policies of cooperation and class collaboration between labour, government and employers. This includes collective bargaining, and the global corporate trade agreements that labour has always opposed. The Liberals’ promis-

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es to amend the TPP have finally been exposed as sops to stop mass protests in Canada.

The government supports these trade deals, but has kept quiet because of protectionism and protests in the US that could kill the TPP, in the same way CETA and the TTIP could be stopped in Europe.

Canadian Communists are campaigning to block these deals, which will profoundly undermine Canadian sovereignty and independence, destroy thousands of jobs in value-added manufacturing and secondary industry, strengthen the power of the energy and resource transnationals, and threaten democracy, civil and labour rights, and public services.

These deals will also tie Canada more closely to the US war machine. We call instead for mutually- beneficial, multi-lateral trade, with long term credits on favourable terms to developing countries.

In Canada, social democracy has suffered significant setbacks with the electoral gains of 2011 melting away in 2015, after the NDP campaigned on a platform of austerity and balanced budgets. This political recipe has cost the NDP all of its provincial governments except one, and left it ‘sleeping in separate bedrooms’ with the Canadian Labour Congress.

However, while the Congress’ social democratic leadership is shifting further to the right, workers are resisting and a sharp struggle has opened up between those advocating class collaboration, and those - led by the postal workers’ union - advocating class struggle and a pan-Canadian Solidarity Coalition comprised of labour and its social allies.

italist crisis is loosening the stranglehold of bour45 geois ideology, in response, capitalist ideologues are working overtime to promote anti¬communism on a mass scale. Increasingly, communism and fascism are equated in the news media, in popular culture, and in schools and universities.

The history and reality of socialism isaltered to fit the capitalist narrative of the end of history, and the absence of any alternative to capitalism.

But cracks continue to appear. Working people, and particularly youth - who are largely excluded from the benefits enjoyed by previous generations, are challenging capitalism, its exploitation of humanity and nature, its tendency to war and reaction, its inhumanity and immorality.

Our Party is growing, together with the Young Communist League, though we are hampered by lack of resources, lack of cadre, etc. The times demand a larger, stronger, more influential Communist Party that can play its leading role in the struggle for fundamental social change, for peace, for socialism. The decisions of our 38th Convention will help us to carry through our responsibilities to the working class in Canada, and to the international working class movement.

Thank you.

A larger struggle and more cooperation by labour on the international level also needs to be developed soon, connecting the policies of the WFTU with the struggles of Canadian workers.

We fight for a sovereign, independent, and united trade union movement committed to class struggle policies and to mass independent labour political action. This is the key to bring the strength and the force of the labour movement to bear, and to help move the struggle strategically from the defensive to the offensive. .

While the political consciousness of the working people in Canada is reformist, the deepening cap-

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Communist Party of Chile

Queridos compañeros del heroico Partido Co47 munista de Viet Nam, que nos brindan la entrañable oportunidad de encontrarnos en la tierra de Ho Chi Minh y de este pueblo hermano, que hoy nos acoge con su hospitalidad.

Estimadas compañeras y compañeros.

Llegamos hasta este encuentro para intercambiar visiones y experiencias a partir de nuestras largas historias de lucha, en nuestro caso ya centenaria, de nuestro origen enraizado en la clase obrera y de nuestra responsabilidad en la definición de los destinos de la historia de nuestro pueblo.

Actuamos convencidos de que las conclusiones de nuestros intercambios, para materializarse, requieren traspasar las fronteras de los comunistas para encarnarse en los trabajadores, los jóvenes, las mujeres, los artistas, la comunidad científica, los pueblos originarios y los intelectuales.

A fin de cuentas, la razón de nuestra existencia radica en nuestra capacidad para abrir los caminos que permitan transformar nuestras sociedades en aras de la igualdad de derechos, la justicia social y la democracia, que es más que el sólo ejercicio del voto.

Nuestro Norte es el socialismo, pero cada pueblo, conforme a su propia experiencia y sus potencialidades, logrará encontrar el camino y las formas de avanzar hacia él y de desarrollarlo, según sus propias particularidades.

La vida nos ha demostrado que no existe una fórmula única, aplicable indistintamente en cada lugar como quien copia una letra de molde. Lo que sí es igualmente válido pese al tiempo transcurrido, es que la historia de la Humanidad continúa siendo trazada por la lucha de clases, y que ésta se expresa hoy con especial vigor en el plano internacional, como consecuencia de un mundo cada vez más interdependiente y desigual.

En un mundo sacudido por las sucesivas crisis del capitalismo neoliberal liderado por EE.UU. y las transnacionales, que buscan por todos los medios tomar el control de nuestros países y de regiones completas para ahogar nuestro derecho inalienable a la autodeterminación, se reafirma en nuestros pueblos la convicción de que bajo ese orde-

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namiento social no se encuentra la solución a la destrucción del planeta, la corrupción a gran escala, el aumento de las desigualdades y la guerra, el drama sin salida de los refugiados, el desmantelamiento sostenido de las políticas sociales, la acentuación de la pobreza y la dependencia estructural.

Los intentos de desestabilización golpista en Venezuela, las maniobras de desestabilización violenta de las policías en Bolivia y Ecuador, los golpes de Estado en Haití y Honduras, los golpes de Estado parlamentarios en Paraguay y Brasil, o la mantención de las políticas criminales de bloqueo contra Cuba, dan cuenta del escenario de nuestra región, con derechas históricamente aliadas de EE.UU. En Chile existe un gobierno de coalición (la Nueva Mayoría) que no es de izquierda, pero en el que participan partidos de izquierda junto a sectores que no lo son y expresan sus propias contradicciones internas.

Esto se traduce en un proceso de unidad y lucha en torno a una alternativa plasmada en un programa, previamente concordado, al cual concurrimos los comunistas sobre la base de que la contradicción principal del período en nuestro país es neoliberalismo o democracia.

Las demandas de una redistribución de la riqueza y la justicia social, el término de la exclusión y la reforma del sistema electoral, las reformas laboral, del sistema de pensiones, del sistema tributario y la eliminación del lucro en la educación, el término de la impunidad de los violadores de los Derechos Humanos durante la dictadura y otras reformas, adicionalmente a la definición de una política exterior orientada a la integración latinoamericana sobre la base de la convergencia en la diversidad, han sido parte de lo construido.

Con esas banderas, los comunistas incrementamos nuestra presencia en el Parlamento y los municipios, conquista que ha sido clave para el impulso de los pasos logrados.

Como es lo propio de tales circunstancias, se han producido avances y no pocas dificultades, propias de la coexistencia de diferentes sectores en el Gobierno y el Parlamento, donde la derecha tiene presencia. Pero lo importante es y será nuestra capacidad de incidir en el cuadro político para evitar

el retroceso de lo alcanzado, cerrando el paso a la derecha y proyectando la articulación de los sectores democráticos para hacer frente a las políticas neoliberales.

Saludamos la nueva victoria alcanzada por la Revolución Cubana, que logró que en la reciente votación en Naciones Unidas 191 países contra dos demandaran el fin del bloqueo de EE. UU. ; reivindicamos los esfuerzos por alcanzar una salida política para la paz en Colombia, y reafirmamos la condena al intervencionismo norteamericano contra la soberanía del pueblo venezolano.

El capitalismo está en crisis, pero sería un error suponer que va a caer por sí solo, por su propio desgaste. Es necesario echarlo abajo y superarlo, pero para ello se requiere levantar alternativas impulsadas por amplias mayorías, construir una correlación de fuerzas favorable a las transformaciones políticas, sociales y culturales.

No basta con la caracterización de un sistema injusto; la movilización social en torno a las demandas básicas de nuestros pueblos y su exigencia de justicia requiere de nuestra capacidad para darle conducción, construir alianzas y desarrollar las formas de lucha que logren convencer a millones de la existencia de un camino y un objetivo a conquistar.

Nuestra fuerza, como siempre ha ocurrido, radica en la presencia protagónica del pueblo en todas sus formas, y no contar con ella sólo nos limitaría a una presencia testimonial.

Las oligarquías así lo han comprendido, y hacen uso del control monopólico de los medios de comunicación, fomentan la despolitización y el abstencionismo electoral, porque saben que cuando la mayoría no participa es la minoría la que gana; siembran el individualismo y el consumismo; el cohecho y el descrédito de las grandes causas; sacan provecho del discurso posmoderno “del Fin de la Historia” para reinstalar la versión de que habrían caducado las ideologías y la lucha de clases e inducir la desesperanza.

Buscan desmovilizar, sembrar la resignación y promover la actitud del acomodamiento individual del “sálvese quien pueda”.

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El reverdecimiento de América Latina, como era lógico, generó la reacción desesperada de la derecha en todos los planos, incluyendo influir en sectores que, de distinta forma, proclamaron el fin del ciclo progresista, pero los movimientos sociales y políticos que generaron esa oleada siguen existiendo, no han cesado porque los problemas que los motivaron se mantienen, son objetivos y hasta se agravan.

El escenario actual y sus complejidades nos plantea el desafío de abordar más intensamente la lucha ideológica, la disputa por la conciencia de quienes son la fuerza motriz de las transformaciones. Las transformaciones políticas pasan por una transformación cultural y el desarrollo de la subjetividad de los pueblos que las deben sostener, y esa, más que una responsabilidad de los gobiernos, depende de la labor nuestra, ya sea dentro o fuera de ellos.

Estimadas compañeras y compañeros,

Reciban el saludo fraterno y de lucha de los comunistas chilenos.

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Communist Party of China

It is my great pleasure to attend the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties.

This meeting has been successfully held for eighteen sessions. “Eighteen” is an age that defines whether a person has come of age in many countries and regions. But in China, it represents auspiciousness, symbolizing tangible outcome of one’s wishes.

Over the past 18 years, the international meeting of communist and workers’ parties has turned itself into an influential platform of exchanges among progressive forces in the world, driving the progress of the world communist movement after the severe setback of drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. We have every reason to believe that the world communist and workers’ parties will scale up exchanges and exploration through this platform and make greater headway along the path of the realization of communism and new contribution to a brighter future of mankind.

Comrades, July 1st, 2016 marks the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Over the past 95 years, the Communist Party of China has grown into a long-governing party with over 88 million members and more than 4.4 million party organizations, governing a country of over 1.3 billion people.

At his important speech at the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping summed up the three historic contributions made by the Communist Party of China—founding the People’s Republic of China, establishing the basic system of socialism, and pursuing the policy of reform and opening-up.

General Secretary Xi also pointed out that the great victory achieved by the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China has -- enabled the over-5,000-year-old Chinese nation to embrace modernization across the board;

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-- made the 500-year-old socialism highly relevant and practical in the world’s most populous country, injecting fresh vigor into scientific socialism in the 21st Century; -- and helped the over-60-year-old New China to register remarkable achievements in national construction, creating a growth miracle in the history of mankind by making the world’s largest developing country shake off poverty and become the second largest economy in the world in a short span of some 30 years.

General Secretary Xi reminded the whole Party to carry on the unremitting efforts of the Party’s founding members and stay true to the people. One who wants to stride ahead should not forget the path that was trodden. No matter how far one has travelled and how glorious a future one will have, they should never forget what they have experienced and why they have started the journey. Looking forward in the face of the challenges, all Party members must stay true to the mission and forge ahead.

General Secretary Xi called on the whole Party to uphold the guiding role of Marxism, integrate the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s conditions and the underlying trend of the times, make theoretical and practice innovation, and continue to adapt Marxism to China’s conditions. The Communist Party of China has never wavered in the faith in Marxism. Moreover, it will continue to enrich and develop Marxism in practice. Marxism does not mark the end of truth; rather, it blazes a trail toward truth. Engels said long before: “Marx’s way of viewing things is not a doctrine but a method. It does not provide ready-made dogmas, but criteria for further research and the method for this research.”

The Communist Party of China holds the view that the change of times and the breadth and depth of China’s development have gone far beyond the imagination of the writers of Marxist classics. Given the limited decades of China’s socialist practice and the primary stage of socialism we are at, we will encounter more new situations and problems, which requires the Communist Party of China to make innovation in practice and constant breakthroughs in theoretical development.

The Communist Party of China bears in mind that since the founding of our Party, we have set the

Communism and Socialism as our guiding prin51 ciple, upheld the lofty ideals of communism and common aspiration for socialism with Chinese characteristics, and moved ahead with the great practice of striving for these objectives.

What the Communist Party of China works to build is Chinese socialism, not any other ism. History has not come to an end, nor will it be ended. We have full confidence in the path, theories and systems of Chinese socialism and in Chinese culture, never waver in the Party’s basic line, and continue to push forward the great cause of Chinese socialism. Whether socialism is good or not is determined by hard facts and the judgment of the Chinese people, not the subjective assumption of those who have bias about socialism. The CPC members and the entire Chinese people are fully confident of providing a China solution to exploration of a better social system.

The Communist Party of China believes that our Party is rooted in the people, and serves the people. We must rely on the people, fully mobilize their initiative, enthusiasm and creativity, and take their wellbeing further.

The Communist Party of China will lead the Chinese people to unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development and a win-win strategy of opening up. We will increase friendly exchanges with all countries, and work with the people of other countries to push forward the lofty cause of peace and development.

Leadership by the Communist Party of China is the most essential feature of Chinese socialism, as well as its greatest strength. Upholding and improving the Party’s leadership is the foundation and lifeblood of both the Party and the country, and affects the interests and wellbeing of people of all China’s ethnic groups. The CPC has no other alternative but to maintain its advanced nature and purity, steadily improve its art of governance and leadership, increase its ability to ward off risks, resist corruption, and prevent degeneration, and enhance the building of the Party itself in response to the trend of the times. Party building should always keep in pace with the cause of the Party and the people.

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As the governing party, the CPC is confronted with the biggest threat—corruption. Since its 18th National Congress in 2012, the Partyhas caught “tigers” as well as “flies”—senior officials as well as junior ones guilty of corruption. We have shown no mercy to those “big tigers” bringing calamity to the country and people, and worked hard to resolve problems of corruption that directly affect the people. Through these efforts, the people can see the practical results of the fight against corruption, and the officials will be deterred from committing corruption. Initial progress has already been made so that officials cannot and do not want to be corrupt.

An anti-corruption momentum is releasing its full force on all fronts.

Comrades, More than thirty years’ reform and opening-up has brought tremendous changes to China. At the start of reform in 1970s, western capitalist economy developed fast; gap between socialist China and developed capitalist countries were widening; and our national economy was on the verge of collapse. Facing the severe situation, Comrade Deng Xiaoping, chief architect of China’s reform and opening-up, succinctly pointed out, “If we do not ever again engage in reform, our modernization drive and socialist cause will come to an end.” The idea of reform and opening-up has not been simply conjured up, nor a compromise or back-peddling; rather, it is a choice of history, times and the people.

The Communist Party of China has united and led the Chinese people to carry out the great cause of reform and opening-up, which has significantly boosted the creativity of our people, emancipated and developed social productivity, and enhanced the vitality of social development.

During more than thirty years of rapid economic development, --China has turned from the verge of economic collapse to a booming economy and an engine of the world economy; --people’s livelihood has improved a lot, undergoing a historic transformation from inadequate food and clothing to a moderately prosperous society in all respects;

--and notable progress has been made in social development, with the fruits of reform and development benefiting the entire population.

Through reform and opening-up, China’s overall national strength has grown considerably, and Chinese socialism has gained fresh vigor and vitality.

Reform and opening-up is significant in that --the path, theories and systemof Chinese socialism have been established; --China has caught up with the times; --and Chinese people have achieved great progress from standing up to getting richer and stronger.

Chinese socialism is a cause that has never before been pursued. Description and forecast about socialism by Marx and Engels was based on the law of development and a study on proletarian revolution in capitalist society. No clear answer was provided by them about description and building of socialist society in real world. Comrade Deng Xiaoping once said that poverty is not socialism, and that the superiority of the socialist system is demonstrated, in the final analysis, by faster and greater development of the productive forces than under the capitalist system. It is clear from this perspective that without reform and opening-up, there will be neither economic and social achievements over the past three decades, nor socialism with Chinese characteristics.

At the new historical starting point, the Communist Party of China declares solemnly to the world that we will follow the correct direction of reform and opening-up, rejecting both the old path of a rigid closed-door policy and an erroneous path by abandoning socialism.

--We have set the overall goal of deepening the reform comprehensively, which is to improve and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, and to promote the modernization of the national governance system and capacity.

--We will ensure that institutions in all areas become more mature and complete, improve quality of development and governance, and deliver to

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the people a stronger sense of satisfaction.

--We will forge ahead along the path of reform, opening-up, and socialist development, and honor our commitment to the people with new progress in building Chinese socialism, a commitment that the people’s aspiration for a better life is our goal.

Comrades, History always marches on without waiting for those who hesitate, look on, relax their efforts, or remain weak. Only those who keep pace with the times will have a bright future.

The world today has come to a critical juncture in development. The dynamism provided by the last round of scientific progress is waning while the new round of scientific and industrial revolution is yet to gain momentum. The world economy is on the whole along the path to recovery, but still confronts multiple risks and challenges. Economic stagnation, social crisis, and democracy dilemma appear in western capitalist countries. However, do the crises in capitalist world necessarily mean opportunities for socialist forces? How can communists translate the crises in capitalist world into historic opportunities for self-development and the progress of socialist cause? All these questions are major tasks for us that merit serious exploration.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the major initiative of building the silk road economic belt and the 21st Century maritime silk road.

The Belt and Road that goes through Eurasian continent extends from the Asia-Pacific region in the east to Europe in the west, involving 4.4 billion people from 65 countries. The initiative represents a major strategic move for expanding China’s opening up. In doing so, China will not only develop itself, but also share the benefits of development with all countries along the Belt and Road. During the past three years, over 100 countries and international organizations have participated in the initiative, and a series of landmark projects have been launched. The Belt and Road upholds the spirit of peace, cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit, providing a China solution with distinctive socialist features to the common development of the world, South-South cooperation, and progress of mankind.

The Belt and Road initiative, cross-border con53 nectivity, enhanced trade and investment cooperation, and international cooperation on production capacity and equipment manufacturing—all these advocated by China boil down to stimulating new demands through effective supply, and addressing lack of growth engines and global economic imbalance. The Belt and Road, initiated on the basis of wide consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits as well as the principle of equality and mutual benefits, identifies development as the biggest common interest to promote common development of China and all other countries along the Belt and Road for the benefit of our peoples.

Getting stronger through unity is the common aspiration and best wishes of developing countries. In the 21st century, quality and upgrading of South-South cooperation have once again become a priority for developing countries. As the biggest developing country, China has all along been a firm representative of the interests of the developing world, and an active participant and promoter of South-South cooperation. In pursuing the Belt and Road initiative, China aims to work with other developing countries to improve economic and social development, share experience in development, and explore a path of diversified development.

The Belt and Road initiative represents the view of Chinese communists on the future of the world and mankind. The world economy is still in a period of deep adjustment after the international financial crisis. The triangle cycle, with markets of capitalist countries, production in emerging economies, and raw materials in resource-rich countries, has been broken. New drivers of global economy are yet to emerge. The world is in need of new growth models and new forms of regional cooperation. At the crucial moment when crises and opportunities coexist, the Communist Party of China, being the largest governing party in a socialist country, has the obligation to actively explore a new path of substituting socialist globalization for capitalist globalization.

Comrades, In pursuing Chinese socialism, the Communist

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Party of China values exchanges, dialogue and cooperation with international political parties. We have established various forms of contacts with more than 600 political parties from over 160 countries and regions. At the just concluded third conference of“ the CPC in Dialogue with the World” held in Chongqing, China on 14-15 October, 260 participants representing 78 political parties and organizations from 52 countries, attended and conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on the theme of “Innovation in Global Economic Governance: CPC’s Proposition and Practice”.The participating political parties all agreed that the 11thG20 Summit, heldin Hangzhou, China in September, was not just a summit for its 20 members, but a milestone summit in the development of global governance. It offered a China solution to global governance and transformation, and set forth China’s position on establishment of a fair and equitable international order. The Hangzhou Summit, under the theme of “Towards an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy”, offered new thinking on tackling the difficult situation of the world economy in light of the practice of China’s reform and opening-up. President Xi Jinping proposed at the summit his outlook on global governance featuring equality, win-win, cooperation, and shared benefits, charting the course for shaping a fair and equitable global governance system.

Twenty years have passed since the drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Over the past two decades, communist parties, workers’ parties, and other socialist forces across the world have reflected on themselves and made self-adjustment to improve themselves and extend their influence.

Capitalism, though suffering setback, prepares to come back through self-recovery and shifting crisis to others. Imagine the intense struggle between capitalism and socialism, and between conservative forces and progressive forces in the future. In this context, all communist and workers’ parties should seek common ground while shelving their differences, be united as one, increase exchanges, and draw on each other’s useful experience, so as to strengthen self-development and improve our capability to defuse risks. Along that line, let me make the following proposals.

First, all parties should seek common ground while

shelving differences. Every country and Party has its own particular conditions. As the realities vary, they may have different understanding of the definition of socialism and of the ways to build socialism. These differences should not be obstacle to their cooperation. Instead, they should be a driving force for their mutual learning, which will be conducive to independently exploring, in light of their conditions on the ground, a path of building socialism suited to their own national and party realities.

Second, all parties should increase experience sharing. Rejuvenation and development of the world socialist movement depends on the concerted efforts of the world communist and workers’ parties. Only when we grow strong can we have comparative advantage over capitalist political parties in competition and make our ideas and proposals gain recognition in a wider area. To this end, we suggest that the international meeting of communist and workers’ parties create more opportunities for all participating parties to exchange views on party building, draw on each other’s strength, and explore ways to grow stronger through this platform.

Third, all parties should strengthen solidarity and support each other. Communism is a value and an objective pursued by the world communist and workers’ parties. It determines their shared strategic interest, which is to defend the ideal of communism. One should not be afraid of differences.

What we need to do is to have timely consultation and communication, minimize the negative impact, and refrain from increasing or playing up those differences to uphold solidarity among communist parties. Only when we are united and forge synergy can we accomplish things where possible.

Comrades, No matter which country or which part of the planet we come from, our presence at the meeting means we are part of the big family of the world socialism, and we are brothers and sisters sharing the same ideal and following the same path.

As long as we join hands to increase exchanges and draw on each other’s strength, we can reinforce each other and grow stronger. When that

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day comes, no difficulty or challenges can stop the march of communism. I am confident that the world socialist movement will tide over this long “severe winter�, and embrace the next splendid spring.

Long live socialism! Long live the communist parties!

Thank you.

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Communist Party of Cuba

Queridos compañeros: Ante todo queremos agradecer la acogida y las atenciones brindadas por nuestros camaradas del Partido Comunista de Vietnam, que indudablemente garantizan la exitosa realización del XVIII Encuentro de Partidos Comunistas y Obreros en la heroica tierra de Ho Chi Ming.

Estoy seguro que para todos presentes aquí, representantes de los partidos comunistas y obrerosde diferentes regiones del mundo, este país ha sido y continúa siendo una fuente inagotable de inspiración.

El enorme heroísmo del pueblo vietnamita durante la guerra antiimperialista dio una lección inolvidable al mundo sobre el valor de las ideas y los principios revolucionarios; A su vez la posterior reconstrucción del país y los admirables logros alcanzados en el desarrollo de la nación constituyen un ejemplo para los pueblos del Tercer Mundo y para todos aquellos que luchan por un futuro más digno.

Sirva esta maravillosa sede para intercambiar sobre las experiencias en la lucha por el socialismo y en el enfrentamiento de los retos que enfrenta hoy la humanidad.

Quisiera compartir con ustedes algunos de los aspectos fundamentales debatidos por nuestroVII Congreso,realizado en La Habana del 16 al 19 de abril del presente año. El evento más importante de los comunistas cubanos analizó aspectos fundamentales del desarrollo del país y ratificó que el socialismo próspero y sostenible al que aspiramos se fundamenta en el basamento ideológico del marxismo-leninismo, el ideario de nuestro héroe nacional José Martí y del líder de la Revolución Cubana, compañero Fidel Castro.

El socialismo cubanose construye teniendo en cuenta nuestras especificidades nacionales, nuestras gestas sociales, las tradiciones de lucha y la vocación internacionalista de nuestro pueblo, con la convicción firme de que el capitalismo carece de futuro y no es una alternativa socioeconómica válida para el desarrollo de la nación cubana y la defensa de su soberanía.

El VII Congreso de los comunistas cubanos

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aprobó documentos y políticas definitorios para el futuro de nuestro país y de nuestro proyecto social.

Como continuidad del proceso de transformaciones económicas que vivimos en Cuba y del trabajo que viene haciendo el Partido para construir un modelo socio económico que se ajuste a nuestras necesidades y a las realidades de la actualidad, hemos elaborado las bases un plan de desarrollo hasta el año 2030 y una conceptualización del modelo económico y social de desarrollo socialista que llevamos a la práctica.

Ese proyecto de la conceptualización expresa sintéticamente los principios de nuestro socialismo, sustentados en la igualdad, la dignidad y libertad plenas del ser humano y tiene sus antecedentes en los más de cincuenta años de construcción del Socialismo en Cuba, con sus aciertos y desaciertos, así como también en la experiencia histórica de otros procesos de desarrollo socialistas exitosos, y no exitosos, los que aunque en dimensiones diferentes han sido objetos de nuestros estudios.

El documentoestá concebido sin pretensiones de extrapolarlo a otros países, pues su fin es dar solución a los problemas de nuestro desarrollo en un contexto histórico y regional muy concreto.

Es esta etapa en que se construyen las relaciones socialistas de producción, no es posible aspirar a una socialización directa y masiva del trabajo, debido al insuficiente nivel de desarrollo que tiene aún la economía cubanay eso implica que sea necesario reconocer el papel del mercado regulado y nominar otras formas de propiedad, reconociendo espacios para la propiedad privada y cooperativa, vinculadas a la construcción del socialismo, quedando bien claro que las empresas estatales socialistas son el sector mayoritario, más importante y estratégico de nuestro desarrollo socioeconómico y que la planificación económica rige para todas las formas de gestión existentes en el país.

Sería una ingenuidad ignorar que la nueva situación crea nuevos retos y desafíos, sabemos quepoderosas fuerzas externas apuestan a lo que llaman el “empoderamiento” de las formas no estatales de gestión, con el fin de generar los llamados agentes de cambio para acabar de esa forma con la Revolución y el socialismo en Cuba por otras vías.Estos son hechos que imponen un perfeccionamiento del tra-

bajo ideológico y que nos llaman a ser rigurosos 57 en la decisión de no permitir la acumulación de la riqueza ni desviarnos de la exigencia de que las formas de propiedad no estatales cumplan con objetivos sociales concretos.

Desde luego, Cuba vive y se desarrolla interactuando con un mundo también complejo y contradictorio. Como expresamos antes, la solidaridad internacionalista seguirá siendo un rasgo distintivo de nuestra Revolución, por lo que en momentos que marchamos en un proceso restablecimiento de relaciones con Estados Unidos, no dejamos de denunciar y condenar la política imperialista de su gobierno.

En nuestra región se implementa un plan de restablecimiento de los modelos neoliberales que convirtieron a nuestro continente en el más desigual del mundo hace ya varias décadas. Hemos sido testigos de golpes de estado parlamentarios, guerras económicas y una amplia campaña mediática y desinformativa contra los procesos populares de la región.

No hay una receta única para detener y revertir la contraofensiva del imperialismo y las oligarquías nacionales, sino principios que deben ser observados por las fuerzas progresistas del continente, siendo los fundamentales la unidad de acción y el apego a la defensa de los derechos de los explotados.

Hoy es más necesaria que nunca la movilización contra los intentos de la derecha de revertir los logros sociales alcanzados en América Latina.

Estamos seguros que el llamado “regreso” del neoliberalismo es frágil y posible de revertir. Los pueblos de la región han conocido una alternativa diferente, quizás perfectible, pero con toda seguridad mucho mejor a la opción de la derecha pro imperialista.

Los partidos comunistas y obreros debemos estar al frente de esta alternativa emancipadora y ser ejemplos en la lucha por la búsqueda de la unidad de las fuerzas revolucionarias.

El aporte fundamental del Partido Comunista de Cuba será la renovación y el desarrollo de un socialismo fuerte e incluyente, que constituya una opción alcanzable para los oprimidos del mundo.

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Muchas gracias.

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Progressive Party of The Working People (AKEL, Cyprus)

AKEL expresses its heartfelt thanks to the Com59 munist Party of Vietnam for hosting the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties. It is a great honor and joy because the struggles of the people of Vietnam, the homeland of Ho Chi Minh, represent an international symbol of anti-imperialist struggle.

The 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties is being held in the international conditions of a generalized capitalist crisis.

The crisis of the system has led to the profound intensification of the contradictions and competition between the world’s powerful centres and to the exacerbation of the class contradictions between capital and labour. The crisis of the system, the dozens of armed conflicts and the danger of a general war breaking out, the very real environmental threat to the planet, the explosive inequalities, the severity of the exploitation of the working class, the mass poverty, hunger, misery and unemployment billions of people are suffering throughout the world, the vicious cycle of debt that is undermining the very sovereignty of dozens of countries, the crisis of the bourgeois political system in the developed capitalist countries, the resurgence of nationalism and fascism confirm the structural deadlocks of capitalism. At the same time underline the timeliness and necessity of socialism as the alternative and as the new step forward in the history of mankind.

International situation The process of capital’s internationalization is broadening and deepening continuously. One characteristic example of this trend is the huge agreements for the integration of the European Union’s markets with the US (TTIP) and Canada (CETA) respectively, which, in spite of the difficulties they are encountering currently, will signal the establishment of an “economic NATO”. The G7, the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the specific processes underway within the framework of BRICS and in Latin America illustrate these trends, despite the differences between them in the type and depth of cooperation.

The various regional capitalist integrations, with the most advanced example being the European Union itself, have assumed a deeper and more

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permanent form.

Similar processes are also underway in other regions of the world, such as the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) led by Russia, ASEAN in Southeast Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). A supervisory role in the global capitalist economy is being played by international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

This process, by its very nature is contradictory, simultaneously also releasing centrifugal tendencies within the blocs formed, but also internally in countries themselves between different sections of capital whose interests correspond to different international orientations (for example, «Euroscepticism”, the growth of nationalist secessionist tendencies).

All these developments have intensified dramatically as a result of the capitalist crisis which is provoking upheavals in imperialism’s international pyramid, changes in the balance of power, the resurgence of old and new hotbeds of military tension, the formation of new alliances, the promotion of transnational cooperation and deepening regional integrations whose purpose is to ensure access to markets, sources of energy and raw materials to the monopolies of their countries, but also the export of capital in order to cope with the fierce competition.

The relative decline in the G7 countries (US, powerful EU countries, Japan) share of the world’s GDP, the inability of the EU and the Eurozone area to overcome the crisis, coupled with the emergence of China and India above all, but also of the other BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, South Africa) with the gradual movement of capital, trade and manufacturing from the West to the developing countries in recent years, forms the foundation on which the competition for hegemony in the world’s system is changing. These trends are also reflected in relation to industrial production, which the IMF has predicted will reach its epicenter in the East and Asia by 2030.

It is precisely this situation which has sparked a new intensity in the economic, political and military aggression on the part of the US, NATO and the EU

in order to defend their hegemony. At the same time, the growth in the influence of “non-Western” forces is also changing their stand on the geopolitical chessboard. It shouldn’t escape our attention that Russia is a capitalist economy and that the Peoples Republic of China has proceeded to serious openings in its economy. Nonetheless, the main feature of our era is the Euro-Atlantic block’s aggressive plans for the geopolitical encirclement of both Russia and China, respectively, within the context of the ongoing competition for the control of energy sources. The intensification of these rivalries is becoming explosive in three distinctive parts of the world with huge stakes regarding the enormous battles of our time for energy.

Eastern Europe and the Caucasus: Here we observe NATO’s enlargement to the east, the drastic militarization of Eastern Europe and the EU’s financial and political penetration in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics. A more recent and striking example is the coup d’état in Ukraine, with the support of the US, EU and NATO and with the participation of fascist forces, aiming at the dismantling of the country’s ties with Russia in order to detach Ukraine from Russian influence and for Ukraine to join the EU-NATO bloc. The NATO Summit decisions approved in Warsaw in July 2016 for the further concentration of NATO forces on Russia’s borders and for the completion of the “anti-missile shield” also serve this strategy.

In addition, the path of integrating the Western Balkans to the EU and NATO is being further promoted, which however is interwoven with signs of an upsurge of nationalisms in the volatile region.

Southeast Asia: The US’ “turn to Southeast Asia and the Pacific” signaled the channeling of investment and drastic strengthening of US military presence in the South China Sea and the Pacific in general. The EU is also attempting to become involved in bilateral disputes in the region, while the process of Japan’s militarization can only cause concern.

Eastern Mediterranean (Middle East - North Africa): The troubled neighborhood of the Eastern Mediterranean is once again being targeted by the imperialist powers. The American-engineered plan for the ‘New Middle East’, assisted by the EU’s 2003 European Security Strategy and its de-

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velopment in the foreign and defence policy of the EU, represents the guiding compass for the overall rearrangement of the region to suit the West’s interests, which is literally taking place with the shedding of the blood of the peoples.

At the same time, a trend towards the re-colonization of the strife-torn African continent is being noted, given that judging from all the developments unfolding in the Mediterranean African countries, intense activity by foreign business groups is being observed in sub-Saharan Africa (the EU has established an Investment Fund for Africa), mainly American and Chinese, since the labour force is extremely cheap and the unexploited mineral wealth there is huge. The civil war strife and actions of terrorist organizations in the region are being exploited to justify foreign interventions and the continent’s militarization. The EU is present in military missions in Somalia, in the Horn of Africa, Mali and the Central African Republic, while the US Africa Military Command in Africa is deploying forces, holding military exercises and forging military cooperation with the majority of the continent’s countries.

In Latin America, the social and economic progress that has been achieved during the previous years as a result of the election of progressive governments, which the Communist Parties also support, are now facing an all-out attack waged against them conducted by the right-wing forces, under the direct guidance of the US, who are engaging in a war of attrition of these governments, attempts at staging coup d’états and increasingly the organization of political coup d’états such as the recent example of Brazil. Cuba continues to be a shining beacon and an inspiration for the peoples of the world, where the socialist construction is ongoing despite the unending economic blockade of US and the objective difficulties. Developments in US-Cuba relations do not signal in any way an end to the aggression and plans for the overthrow of socialism socialist in Cuba. The US were forced to change their tactics, but their goal hasn’t changed.

International developments are accompanied by an unprecedented militarization of the world and international relations. NATO’s New Strategic Concept is developing further the globalization of its

activity (through its continuous enlargement, the 61 establishment of regional cooperation and the generalization of its military actions beyond its periphery) and the strengthening of its military machine. NATO has broadened its arena of activity by including the type of threats that “legitimize” its interventions, such as migration, threats to cyber security, security of energy infrastructures up to and including the internal security of its Member States. At the same time, the military use of murderous drones by the US and NATO (and the development of corresponding EU technology programs) are leading to a new arms race and launching a new kinds of wars. The militarization of space is also a strategic choice made by the USA and the EU. The danger of nuclear devastation remains unabated, given that the NATO nuclear states are obstructing the prospect of global nuclear disarmament. At the same time, they are fully covering up Israel which has nuclear weapons in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In response to all this, Russia is upgrading militarily and expanding its military presence globally.

Also part of international imperialism’s arsenal is the extensive network of legal and illegal surveillance at the disposal of the secret services of powerful countries, headed of course by the US and Britain (NSA and GCHQ), EU terror laws, mass profiling, the curtailing of democratic freedoms and rights, as well as the utilization of the internet and social media by multinationals and secret services. At the same time, the flagrant violation of International Law and the principles of non-intervention in the internal affairs of sovereign states, the manipulation of issues relating to democracy, human rights and issues concerning minorities, as well as the undermining of the United Nations by the US and Britain is being consolidated further.

In relation to the ideological arena, the different national and supranational centres of the system have a variety of tools that are utilized depending on interests. Anti-communism, nationalism-chauvinism, the cultivation of notions about “the clash of civilizations”, anti-terrorist struggle against “radicalization”, liberal cosmopolitanism, religious fanaticism, Islamophobia, the denigration of political participation and struggle, populism targeting political parties are tools used for manipulating

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the masses in order to achieve their involvement or consent to their imperialist objectives and plans.

Anticommunism in particular, which is combined with the campaign to equate fascism-communism and the arbitrary terminology about “totalitarianism” represents a strategic choice of the system in order to keep the masses of the people, and especially the young generation, away from the communist Left, the one force that can organize and give an orientation to key struggles.

Also connected is the growing trend of historical revisionism which is seeking to delete from humanity’s collective memory the crimes committed by imperialism and fascism, the contribution of the socialist system and the international communist movement in the 20th century, the historical experience of the power the popular struggles can have, but also the theoretical superiority of Marxism-Leninism in the understanding of the modern world and the exploitative nature of capitalism.

Eastern Mediterranean The Eastern Mediterranean is an extremely important area at the heart of the new regional order. Data surrounding the Eastern Mediterranean confirm its importance, as well as the sources of the intensifying antagonisms. According to figures released in 2012, 75% -80% of the world’s trade is carried out from sea. At the same time, profits from maritime trade have reached $ 400 billion. Figures from the same year show that 30% of the world’s maritime trade is conducted in the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as 25% of the transport of oil by the sea. Around 200,000 ships move annually in the Eastern Mediterranean. In 2010, the US Centre for Geological Research in its report, estimated that the value of the Eastern Mediterranean energy reserves amount to approximately $ 1.5 trillion. The Middle East, which is the region’s wounded heart, is the most militarized area in the world and also contains 49% of the world’s oil reserves.

On this very ground, the Western imperialist’s plans are ongoing in the region. For two decades now, the strategy to impose a “New Middle East” is being promoted which was prepared by the Bush administration under the slogan of promoting the “democratization” of the region’s regimes. This

strategy involves the overthrow of governments, turning states into protectorates, militarization, the redrawing of borders, the division of states and of course preparing the ground for the West’s financial monopoly giants to operate and bring energy under their control.

The common path of the EU and US with regards their plans for the Middle East was sealed with the elaboration of the European Security Strategy which set as its strategic goal “the establishment of a network of well-governed countries to the east and the Union’s Mediterranean borders.” Its enough to point out the hypocrisy and contradictions in the pretexts the imperialists used in recent years: they were accusing Syria and Libya of being authoritarian regimes, but are cooperating excellently with Saudi Arabia, one of the most brutal regimes in the world. They were searching for nuclear and weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and Iran, but are pretending even today that they do not see Israel’s awesome nuclear arsenal.

These plans are linked with pending international problems (Palestine, Cyprus), as well as with the new dramatic developments, such as the imperialist intervention in Syria, the uprisings of the socalled “Arab Spring”, the rise of Islamic extremism etc.).

Today, we can underline with certainty that the international communist movement’s assessment of the so-called “Arab Spring” has been verified.

These uprisings did not result in the liberation of the countries from imperialist dependencies, while in some cases they brought to the fore extreme fundamentalist movements.

In Syria one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history is raging. The funding and arming of armed extremist groups of the Syrian opposition

by Turkey, the US, Britain and the Gulf monarchies to overthrow the Assad government has provoked a bloody war and unprecedented waves of refugees. Furthermore, it has released the obscurantist forces of the “Islamic State” whose crimes, despite the horror they have caused to humanity as a whole, are always being used by the imperialists to justify new military interventions in the region.

The State of Israel continues to consolidate the fait accomplis of the occupation and coloniza-

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tion of Palestinian territories so as to render a twostate solution practically unfeasible. Libya, which in 2012 experienced NATO’s raid, has been plunged into chaos and has virtually ceased to function as a state. In Afghanistan, the US have ensured the permanence of their military presence, while Iraq continues to face the threat of division and Islamic terrorism.

The militarization of the Eastern Mediterranean has risen in recent years to unprecedented levels, given that in the region there are already key parts of the NATO machine (HQ’s, naval base, missile firing range, the centre of maritime training, parts of the anti-missile missile shield), the NATO “Active Endeavour” naval operation – according to Article 5- that is was patrolling the Mediterranean over the last 15 years, while two military and civilian programs, two NATO satellites, the “Mediterranean Dialogue” and “Istanbul Cooperation Initiative” are focusing on the region. On the part of the EU, the Maritime Dimension of the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy is openly promoting the militarization of the seas, focusing on the eastern Mediterranean in particular. The most worrying development is the exploitation of the refugee issue to further NATO control and militarization of the Mediterranean. NATO has been actively involved in the management of refugee flows in the Aegean Sea, with the participation of Germany which for the first time since the Second World War is sending troops beyond its borders. The EU has deployed off the coasts of Libya the military operation EU NAVFOR MED «Sophia» to halt the flows of refuges. At the same time, it has upgraded FRONTEX to a border-coastguard force and is promoting plans to bolster the navy of North African states. The last NATO Summit decisions in relation to the Alliance’s southern borders are even more alarming. «Active Endeavour» is evolving into a marine security operation «Sea Guardian» with extended powers and functions, while NATO will also be involved in the EU NAVFOR MED «Sophia» operation. Libya’s association to the “Mediterranean Dialogue” is being promoted. NATO is involved in training the Libyan navy and the Tunisian intelligence services. Finally, a NATO aerial squadron of sophisticated AWACS spy planes has begun the direct channeling of information to the “International Coalition against ISIS”. The picture of the region’s militarization is complement-

ed by the growing presence of Russia.

Particular mention should be made to Turkey’s role in the region, which had been projected in previous years as a “model state” that would play a leading role in the Muslim world. Today, Turkey’s explosive domestic problems are being expanded as aggression against its neighboring countries.

However, neither the brutal repression of the opposition, the worker’s movement and the country’s Kurds, nor the invasion of Syria and Iraq, Turkey’s support to “ISIS”, the continued occupation of Cyprus for 42 years, the provocations against Greece, the blatant extortion and blackmail in relation to the refugee question bother the bloc of NATO, the US and the EU which continues to provide support to Erdogan’s government in order to prevent a Turkish reorientation towards Russia.

In the wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean, also including the Persian Gulf, where the six states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), who own 40% of the proven global crude oil reserves and 25% of natural gas reserves with a total GDP of $ 1.6 trillion, are teaming up in an alliance in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In the GCC Saudi Arabia is dominant which in an increasingly aggressive way is asserting a hegemonic role in the wider area, within the framework of its long-standing confrontation with Iran that is disguised with the mask of a religious conflict. Saudi Arabia, a privileged ally, trading partner and buyer of Western weapons, is upgrading itself militarily. In 2014, 25% of government expenditure was devoted to strengthening its armed forces. It is leading the formation of a permanent military alliance of the Arab States, but also the allied intervention of the Gulf forces in both Syria, as well as in the strategic important for international shipping country, Yemen.

This situation in the Eastern Mediterranean region, and especially in the Middle East, reflects the result of the “creative chaos” of US and NATO interventions and raids over the last 20 years, but not only that. It is obvious that the US and its allies, without having lost the upper hand, face difficulties in handling the situation which they themselves have created. This enhances the importance of the West’s regional allies (Turkey, Isra-

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el, Saudi Arabia and Egypt). This fact in turn creates the arena to assert greater autonomy from these forces and a greater share of the geopolitical and economic “pie”, and therefore for a greater aggressiveness of the ruling class by each of them, both internally but also asserting a hegemonic role in the region.

The right-wing Anastasiades government in Cyprus, since the 2013 presidential election, has demonstrated its willingness to actively support the imperialist plans in the region. From the very outset it announced the reorientation of the foreign policy of the Republic of Cyprus, approaching the US and NATO with a declared position in favour of Cyprus’ accession to NATO or the NATO “Partnership for Peace” program, (something which the previous government of Cyprus, the Christofias-AKEL administration, had managed to prevent despite the fierce pressure exerted then by the opposition), damaging Cyprus-Russia economic and political relations and acting fully in line with the EU’s decisions on Syria. It is no coincidence that the DISY-Anastasiades government described our country as “an advanced outpost of the EU and the West in the eastern Mediterranean”, agreeing unconditionally to the use of the British military bases and offering every kind of facilities for the carrying out of air strikes in Syria and Iraq without reflecting on the dangers posed to our people’s security as a result of Cyprus’ involvement in these operations. In addition, the ruling party characterized Cyprus as “Israel’s shield” and the government took a series of actions that constitute an unacceptable shift from Cyprus’ principled positions with regards the Palestinian issue. It also proceeded to take steps for the militarization of the Cyprus-Israel energy cooperation (for example, the Convention on the Status of Cyprus-Israel Forces), cooperation feeding various adventurist theories about a military alliance between Greece-Cyprus-Israel that will supposedly confront Turkey. AKEL also strongly disagreed with the policy of the Anastasiades government, who, evidently as a result of foreign encouragement, abandoned the plan for the creation of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, which, unlike the pipe lines, does not create additional dependencies and commitments for our country regarding the exploitation of its natural wealth.

However, due to the strong economic ties between Russia and Cyprus, the refuting of the government’s expectations for the support that it would receive from the US on the Cyprus problem and the rapprochement between Turkey and Israel, the policy that was initially pursued by the Anastasiades government has now been toneddown, without however losing its pro-Western orientation.

AKEL supports that there is considerable scope for developing the joint action of the Communist and Worker’s Parties of the Eastern Mediterranean region against the imperialist interventions and wars in the region, against the exploitation of the natural wealth of our countries from the multinational monopolies in favor of the struggle of our peoples for peace, democracy, popular sovereignty and socialism.

To this end, we must strengthen anti-war mobilizations, solidarity initiatives towards the struggling peoples of the region and refugees, the mutual briefing between the members and friends of our Parties on our region’s issues, the utilization of the podium of parliaments for projecting the region’s issues. The specific goal of struggle is the demand for declaring the Middle East a zone free of weapons of mass destruction, a goal with an anti-imperialist and peace-loving content which can rally broader progressive forces of the region.

European Union The European Union is enhancing its character as an advanced form of capitalist integration. On this basis, processes are taking place that are deepening the integration of the EU on a path of neoliberalism, militarism and federalism in which the sovereignty of States and peoples is being dramatically limited and transferred to an EU level.

The much debated democratic deficit of the EU, that is to say the deeply undemocratic structure and excessive powers of unelected bodies of the Union, represents a structural characteristic of its construction which enables the continuation of the same policies, despite widespread social discontent.

At the same time, the leading EU countries, in between contradictions and alliances, are playing

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an increasingly greater role in imposing their policies and interests, a fact which highlights the structural inequalities that the structure of the EU has.

The confrontations between EU member states and the rise of reactionary Euroscepticism, which in the case of the United Kingdom led even to the decision to withdraw from the Union, concern conflicting capitalist interests and rivalries between sections of big capital. Besides, there is complete harmony between the Member States, institutions and ruling political forces in the EU when it comes to the imposition of measures in favor of big capital and against the peoples and workers.

However, in our view, the decision of the UK to leave the Union, was not only the result of the reactionary populist demagogy and xenophobia as the ruling political forces want to portray it. Popular discontent about the EU’s anti-worker policies and undemocratic functioning is real, undoubtedly justified and constantly growing.

The imposition of the Lisbon Treaty, the establishment of the Single Economic Governance and the Banking Union that is promoting a gigantic centralization of financial capital and the adoption of a series of packages towards a single economic and budgetary policy of strict austerity of the Member States under the control of the EU, are increasing the exploitation of the working class and working people across EU countries, selling off public wealth and property, protecting the profits and power of the multinational monopolies, abolishing whatever social gains are remain and sharpening the contradictions between strong and weaker member states.

Furthermore, the institutionalized cooperation of the EU with the IMF, is exacerbating the anti-peoples nature of the Union’s policies and subjugating the peoples, primarily from the periphery, more intensely. In some member states, the burden of the crisis has been shifted entirely on to the backs of the working people through the “Memoranda of Understanding” imposed by the EU together with the IMF (“Troika”) and the respective national governments, including the Cypriot Anastasiades government.

The Cyprus Memorandum, apart from vicious austerity and privatizations, also imposed the unprece-

dented measure of the haircut on bank deposits, 65 which, at the same time aimed to strike at Russian capital too in Cyprus which is in competition with the Eurozone economies. It is evident that the dramatic economic situation in a number of EU states is generating despair and insecurity for millions of Europeans, which in turn provokes among a section of them fear, conservative reflexes and a distancing from popular struggles.

The nature of the EU reproduces the barbarity against the people’s interests within it and spreads out to interventionism and militarism abroad. It is increasingly asserting an increasing share in the global market and geopolitical spheres of influence, in competition with the other powerful centres of the planet in order to constantly be expanding the scope of its giant business companies and ensuring access to energy sources. This pursuit is expressed through the EU’s external action’s economic and political content on a number of open fronts (the economic war with Russia, the backing provided to the Syrian opposition, the conclusion of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which triggered the bloodshed, and subsequently the support rendered to the coup d’état in Ukraine), on its institutional policies (see, EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), Common Trade Policy, Neighborhood Policy, agreements integrating markets with the US, Canada, etc.), as well as through its partnerships with other countries and regions of the world.

Even more characteristic is the EU’s continuous militarization with the ever deepening engagement and coupling with NATO, the creation of combat-ready military forces, the sending of military-civilian operations around the world, the wide-spread arms trade with dictatorships and warring States, military “solutions” to the refugee crisis, the shift in investment in the war arms industry and the return of “thoughts” about creating an EU army.

At the same time, it is evident that the reality of the EU is also illustrated by a number of other fields, such as the curbing of democratic freedoms and individual rights in the name of combating terrorism, the creation of “Fortress Europe” with anti-immigrant repression and the acute exploitation of immigrants as a cheap labour force, institu-

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tional anticommunism etc. It is on this ground that the rise of xenophobia and racism is growing, which with the support of the system and sections of the ruling class in each country, are feeding the extreme right and neo-fascism.

The reality that the status of an EU member state formulates sets additional tasks for the Communist and Workers’ Parties of the European states. Although the national arena of struggle remains the primary field, our type of parties have the duty to also struggle on a European level to elaborate their positions towards the EU and its policies, to continually strengthen the exchange of views between them and to promote their coordination and joint action against further curbing of the national sovereignty of EU Member States and the transfer of additional powers to Brussels. At the same time, we pay particular attention to the developing joint actions and solidarity at the level of the European trade union movement through the leading role of the European Regional Office of the World Trade Union Federation.

Cyprus – The Cyprus problem Cyprus, the southeastern point of the EU, is the only EU member state located in the middle of the eastern Mediterranean. The 42 year old occupation and colonization of 37% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus by Turkey and the de facto partition of the island and the division of its people on a community basis constitutes Cyprus’ big wound.

The Cyprus problem is primarily an international problem of invasion, occupation, illegal colonization, ethnic cleansing and imperialist interventions.

At the same time however, the Cyprus problem has its internal aspect which concerns the relations of the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot community and in particular the constitutional state structure of the Republic of Cyprus.

AKEL has as its strategic goal the solution of the Cyprus problem, so that the occupation and division of Cyprus will be terminated, and the people, the land, the economy and society of the island will be reunified. For AKEL, the liberation from the foreign occupation and the reunification of the Cypriot people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, constitutes an essential prerequisite for setting the target of the socialist transformation of Cypriot society.

In addition, the solution of the Cyprus problem has become urgent, given that the passage of time creates serious negative faits accomplis on the ground, but also with regards the demographic composition of the population, through the colonization in the northern occupied part of the island, where Turkey in 1983 illegally declared the non-recognized formation of the so-called “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”. In recent years, the Erdogan government has intensified the policy of cultural-religious, economic and political assimilation of the occupied part of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot community itself, through colonization, the blatant interference in the political affairs of the Turkish Cypriot community, the imposition of an Islamic agenda (for example, the construction of minarets, the establishment of theological schools, the introduction of religious lessons) and the enforcement of the policy of privatizations and austerity to the benefit of Turkish big capital.

The intense international interest in the Cyprus problem in recent years should also be noted, after the discovery of significant natural gas reserves in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus. Despite the threats and aggression by Turkey, the Republic of Cyprus has every right to exercise its sovereign rights for research and exploitation of its natural wealth to the benefit of both communities and form mutually beneficial energy partnerships with all its neighbors. This development represents a serious incentive to find a solution for both communities, as well as for Turkey itself. Both the US and EU favour the finding of a settlement of the Cyprus problem in order, inter alia, to advance the energy plans for the region, but isn’t however interested whether or not the principles of the solution of the Cyprus problem and International Law are respected. Therefore, what is at stake is the type of solution the various involved parties are seeking or are willing to accept.

Based on these given facts, AKEL remains committed to finding a solution of the Cyprus problem as soon as possible, but at the same time it stresses that the most important issue is the content of the solution. The solution which AKEL is struggling for must liberate and reunify Cyprus and its peo-

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ple through: • the termination of the occupation and colonization • the abolition of any rights of intervention and the anachronistic system of guarantees. AKEL rejects any NATO involvement on the issue of security or any scenarios for the Republic of Cyprus’ accession to NATO or the NATO program “Partnership for Peace”.

• the restoration of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus • the restoration of the unity of the state, the people, institutions and economy.

• the safeguarding of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Cypriots, including the refugees’ right of return to their homes and properties • the complete demilitarization of Cyprus In relation to the internal-constitutional aspect of the Cyprus problem, AKEL is firmly focused on the transformation of Cyprus into a bizonal bicommunal federation with a single sovereignty, a single international personality, a single citizenship and with political equality of the two communities as defined by the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. This solution has been agreed to by the leaders of the two communities in 1977 and has since repeatedly been reaffirmed and adopted by the UN resolutions and more broadly by the international community. This is the solution that can unite the forces in the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities who oppose the division of our country and people, who support the independence and unity of Cyprus.

AKEL considers that any abandonment of a federal solution will offer the opportunity to the occupying power, namely Turkey, to demand from the international community the recognition of the pseudo-state and the legalization of the division of Cyprus through confederation or partition.

AKEL supports that there is no other way for the solution of the Cyprus problem other than the peaceful struggle through the intercommunal talks within the framework and under the auspices of the UN that will solve the internal aspects of the Cy-

prus problem. The international aspects must be 67 agreed within the framework of an international conference to be convened under UN auspices, with the participation of the five Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, the Republic of Cyprus, the existing three guarantor powers and the two communities. A comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem, the content of which will be agreed by the leaders, must subsequently be judged by the people through simultaneous separate referendums to be held in both communities.

AKEL supports the current procedure of the negotiations between the leaders of the two communities and sets out its position on the developments surrounding the Cyprus problem on the basis of the above positions. If the intercommunal negotiations reach within range of an agreement, then the way will be paved to make the occupying power, that is to say Turkey, face up to its responsibilities, which must abandon in practice the dogma that there are “two peoples-two states” on the island, the demand for sovereignty over Cyprus with its troops and rights of intervention remaining. The verbal statements of Turkey’s leadership in favor of the solution of the Cyprus problem will then be verified in practice. Today no one can prejudge whether this procedure will result in any agreement or failure. AKEL has stated repeatedly that one cannot expect our support to a solution that is not based on the fundamental principles as they have been outlined very clearly by the Political Bureau of the C.C. of AKEL on 17th September.

AKEL’s line on the Cyprus problem could be summarized in the following position: We are ready for an honorable compromise between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, but we will not accept a compromise with the occupation, partition and NATO. AKEL is working within this framework to convince the people of Cyprus for the need of a solution to the Cyprus problem based on principles, given that inside Cyprus there are other schools of thought and political lines on the Cyprus problem.

Within the Greek Cypriot community there is on the one hand the trend of the Greek Cypriot

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bourgeois cosmopolitan Right-wing which has always been prone to a “loose federation” solution with NATO involvement and on the other hand, the rejectionist line of the center-right and the extreme-right is governed by the disguised or open nationalism which refuses the compromise between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots for a federal solution.

Inside the Turkish Cypriot community, apart from the progressive forces that accept the federal reunification and demilitarization of the island, positions in favour of the permanence of the Turkish army and Turkish guarantees, for confederation and even for Turkey’s annexation of the occupied areas are being recorded with varying degrees.

AKEL is the leading pioneering force in Cyprus in favour of the rapprochement, cooperation and fraternity between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots through the forging and construction of a common front of struggle against the partition, the presence of foreign armies and guardians and nationalism-chauvinism. The Communist Party of Cyprus - AKEL was the force that united the Cypriot working class in the struggles for bread and freedom and has a long and glorious history of struggles and sacrifices in support of the friendship between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and of the struggle for a free and united homeland for all Cypriots.

In these conditions, the continuation of the internationalist solidarity of the international communist and progressive movement towards the struggle of the Cypriot people is extremely valuable.

In relation to the socioeconomic situation in Cyprus, the dominant aspect is the stark contrast between the celebrations of the Anastasiades government about the country’s formal exit from the regime of the Memorandum and the social reality experienced by the majority of the popular classes.

The meagre growth registered by the Cyprus economy, in fact relates to the increase in profits of a handful of big businessmen. Labour relations in the private sector are in fu state of full deregulation.

Unemployment is at 14.1%. Profitable Semi-governmental organizations (electricity, ports and telecommunications) are being sold off, while public hospitals are in danger of collapsing. 28.9% of the

population is at risk of poverty and social exclusion. For 14 consecutive quarters wages have been falling continuously and pensioner’s standard of living is recording a reduction of up to 30%. The Cyprus is currently the Eurozone’s champion in increasing income inequality, the percentage of underemployed and in the percentage (over 50%) of non-performing loans corresponding to € 25.5 billion. The last figure is extremely critical, given that the Anastasiades government, together with the bourgeois parties of the opposition, approved the framework for foreclosures which does not really protect the primary family home.

AKEL is the most consistent force against the class attack waged by the Anastasiades government, the EU and the IMF. It reveals to the Cypriot people the realities that the economic team of the government and the mass media are concealing.

It is the force that is in the front line of whatever popular and social mobilizations have taken place over the last three years in Cyprus. At the same time, the class-based trade union movement of the Pancyprian Federation of Labour (PEO) at its last Extraordinary Congress conveyed a message of counter-attack and set at the forefront of its goals the recovery of wages and labour rights, the assertion of increases, mass resistance to privatizations, the regulation of collective agreements through legislation and the protection of unorganized workers.

The international communist movement The Communist and Workers’ Parties are united by the common ideological starting point of Marxism-Leninism, internationalism and our faith in the socialist future of humanity. We are united by common historical struggles and sacrifices, common values and common ideals. Nonetheless it is well-known and we would say natural that among the parties of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties there are minor or major differences on both strategic and tactical issues and on specific issues.

AKEL considers that these differences can and must be discussed within the framework of a dialogue that should be characterized by comradely

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mutual respect, equality and the avoidance of paternalistic approaches and interventions in the internal affairs of other Parties. AKEL also considers that every one of our parties has the right to determine on its own its positions on all the issues about which it believes that it should set out its position.

Nevertheless, AKEL considers it always useful on the issues relating to a particular country to study and heed/listen to the positions of the party or IMCWP parties that are struggling in that country and which are solely accountable to their peoples.

At the same time, and despite the differences, AKEL strongly believes and it is proved in practice that there is huge scope for joint action of all the Communist and Workers’ Parties on a number of issues and that we must continuously develop all that unites us.

1. Support for the anti-war and peace movement and the international solidarity movement through the World Peace Council, which must maintain and reinforce its broad, mass political and anti-imperialist character through common campaigns (for example, on nuclear weapons).

2. Support to the organizations of the international movement (WFTU, WFDY and WIDW).

3. Solidarity with the peoples of Palestine, Syria and the entire Middle East against imperialist interventions and wars.

4. Solidarity with the peoples of Cuba, Venezuela and Latin America as a whole.

5. Joint actions on the front to save the environment.

6. Actions and joint initiatives to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.

7. Common front against anti-communism, the campaign to equate communism with fascism, the distortion and falsification of the history of the 20th century and the contribution of the socialist system.

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Communist Party of Bohemia & Moravia

Дорогие товарищи, Прежде всего я хотел бы поблагодарить наших хозяев от Коммунистической партии Вьетнама за гостеприимство и прекрасную организацию 18.Meждународного совещания коммунистических и рабочих партий здесь в Ханое. Это первый раз, что наша встреча происходит в стране, во главе с коммунистической партией. У нас есть возможность ознакомиться с практическим опытом построения социалистического общества. Реформы, запланированные национальным руководством, успешно способствуют широкому развитию вьетнамской экономики и социальной сферы. Благодаря этим результатам, можно показать миру, что идея социализма жива и у неё есть что предложить людям. Товарищи, Со времени последнего международного совещания в Стамбуле чрезвычайно обострилась международная обстановка. Дальнейшие террористические акты в различных частях мира, открытая агрессия Запада против России, создание военных баз НАТО и США вокруг Российской Федерации и Китая, жестокая нападения на демократические процессы в Латинской Америке, Брексит,к сожалению неудачи левых на выборах, лишь некоторые из событий, которые характеризуют прошедший период. Мир погружается все глубже и глубже в депрессию. Одним из немногих позитивных факторов стало принятие Парижского протокола по защите климата. Продолжается ситуация, когда “деньги правят миром”. Финансовая олигархия доминирует политике, экономике, обществу, событиям на земле и в космосе. Нет, это не преуменьшает ситуацию. Совсем наоборот. Если мы говорим о кризисах в мире, войнах или нищете, у нас еще есть коммунистических и рабочих партий, мы должны иметь в виду, что В.И.Ленин сказал: “Политика есть концентрированное выражение экономики». Сегодняшними словами, это выражение неограниченных финансовых сил, которые двигают мирoм. Им

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подчиняется политика и все вокруг. Они влияют на жизнь людей и всего глобального общества. Они вызывают разрушение политических режимов. Главным представителем этого разрушения является Международный валютный фонд. Не надо последующих доказательств, хватит ответить на следующие вопросы: Кто вынуждает государства и его граждан в долговую ловушку? МВФ. Кто подрывает и ограничивает суверенитет стран? Кто заставляет государства принимать жесткие экономные антинародные меры экономии? МВФ. Эрнст Вольф в своей книге, изданной в 2014 году “Грабеж мира. История и политика МВФ », четко описывает практику МВФ. И, как он говорит, не нуждается иногда даже военное вмешательство, чтобы доминировать над государством. Даже во времена кризиса, МВФ помогает самым богатым увеличивать их богатство. Социальное неравенство растет до невероятной высоты. До уровни какое человечество никогда до сих пор не испытало. Тем не менее, ни огромные прибыли,которые приносит современные вооружения, не незначительным фактором для финансовой олигархии. Ссылаясь на хаос, наряду с проектами как новый мировой порядок, новый Ближний Восток, Тихоокеанская доктрина или планы Бржезинского расширить НАТО на восток к границам России. Эти дорожные картины или „road maps“ Соединенных Штатов, при поддержке финансовых кругов, через которых США расширяют свое влияние. Как это предотвратить? К сожалению ООН уже давно перестала выполнять роль, которую её присудили при возникнавении. Будучи хранителем мира и прав человека. Многие страны сегодня призывают к реформе Совета Безопасности ООН. Её бездействие и поддаваясь давлению со стороны стран сферы США, стала причиной многих войн, геноцид, миллионов людей, умирающих от голода. Недавно 17-я встреча на высшем уровне Движения неприсоединеных стран открыто указала на недемократическое управление избирательными системами и

процессами принятия решений в рамках ООН. Мы, коммунистические и рабочие партии в Европе, видим, что с момента, когда былы затоптаны принципы Хельсинкского заключительного акта, наблюдается беспрецедентный рост центров напряженности и войн в Европе. Увеличение фашистских и нацистских сил. Организация по безопасности и сотрудничеству Европы должна быть гарантией мирного развития европейского континента. Все это постепенно под влиянием интересов США и её компаньоном бырократическим Евро Союзом, начало исчезать. Мы считаем, что Совет Европы должен в этой ситуации сыграть более важную роль. Предотвратить тому что бы Европа не стала местом новых военных действий. Не только для Европы, но и для всего глобализованного мира, теперь необходимо, чтобы оживить Хельсинский мирный процесс и идею коллективной безопасности. Возвратиться к его корням и целям. Так видим это мы, коммунисты вЧехии. И мы несем на себе бремя ответственности за будущее Европы и мира. Мы хотим, чтобы намного больше работать с миротворческими организациями в целях мобилизации общественности. Мы в КПЧМ начали кампанию сбора подписей за проведение референдума по вопросу прекращения членства Ческой республики в НАТО. Что важно для нас, это вопросы дальнейшего развития Европейского Союза. Наши действия выражают недовольство руководством ЕС и чешским правительствем, для его подчинения Брюсселу. ЕС потерял свое социальное измерение. Брексит только подтвердил разногласия внутри ЕС. Санкции в отношении России оказывают, кто определяет политику ЕС, и кто стоит за этой политикой. Если проанализировать сегодня проблему в некоторых частях мира, мы видим, как его последующее влияние постепенно распространяется как колесо на воде. Рано или позднее они каснутся нас всех, где бы мы ни находились. Современный мир это мир денег

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и информации, за которые надо уплачивать. Это глобализованный мир, который создается за счет капиталистической системы. Ее законы жестоко навязываются обществу. Ясно,что даже тот мир имеет трещины. Можно ожидать, что перед нами стоит новая промежуточная стадия общественного развития, характеризованна как деглобализация. Это наводит на мысль 4ую технологическую революцию. Многие компании уже рассматривают возвращение их бизнеса и инвестиций из стран с наименьшими затратами и дешевой рабочей силой домой во свои регионы. Снижение нормы прибыли, использование новых технологии, транспортные расходы, вызывают адекватную реакцию со стороны транснациональных корпораций и финансовой олигархии. И также возникает другая проблема. Нехватка вода и земли сельскохозяйственного назначения в целях обеспечения продовольственной безопасности и независимости. Эти факторы могут стать беспрецедентным стимулом. Новые технологии могут начаться в странах третьего мира повышать уровень безработицы. Такие явления углубляют уже невыносимую нищету. И также становится источниками конфликтов в завладении водными ресурсами и живительной почвой. Капиталистическая система не сдается, ищет следующие возможности как себя сохранить. Когда это не удастся, в противном случае, будет искать решения в мировой войне, на этот раз третей. В нашом движении было и есть против капиталистической системы один из офензивных и оборинительных валов, пролетарский интернационализ. Благодаря ему мы смогли привести много успешных сражений с империализмом. В то время, когда мы им не пользовались, наши партии начались размежеваться или разрушаться. Не менее важным фактором является политическая и идеологическая закрепление наших членов. Часто говорится о комумнистических и некоммунистических левых. Это деление устраивает не только правых, но и различные новые движения и партии. Они пытаются

получить на свою сторону наших членов, а 73 также социально-настроенное общество, которое постоянно пугают словом коммунизм. Некоторым из этих субъектов удалось установить себя в обществе. Получить поддержку граждан. В конце концов, оказывается, что их не интересует в сущности изменение капиталистической системы, но только незначительные изменения и реформы существующей капиталистической системы. Основная задача коммунистических и рабочих партий является разоблачать империализм во всех его формах и сделать все, чтобы сохранить мир. Для этого нам необходимо объединение левых, новый левый фронт. Даже ценой определенных уступок, знакомых как два шага назад. Мы не думаем, что бы таким путём мы потеряли наши политическое убеждение. Наоборот, здесь мы увидим, у кого есть подлинный интерес к строительству социализма. История учит нас, что революционный период возникает тогда, когда ослаблена важная часть системы. В нашем случае, капиталистической системы. Примером может служить Великая Октябрьская социалистическая революция. Сегодня капитализм ещё не рушится. Что бы он сохранилься он использует все доступные средства. На земле и в космосе. Основными и наиболее эффективными средствами являются войны. Главная опасность это ядерное оружие. Некоторые источники утверждают, что в мире приготовленно к немедленному использованию до 1800 ядерных боеголовок. Это огромная невообразимая опасность для всего человечества. Поэтому громкий призыв к миру, к борьбе за мир. Можно возразить, что людей сегодня больше интересует, будут ли их дети иметь завтра еду, есть ли у них работа. И вы были бы правы. В конце концов, эти проблемы являются одной из причин текущей миграции миллионов людей. Но главным стимулом миграции, это вооруженные конфликты в различных частях мира, которые вызваны внешними или внутренними факторами. За ними скрытно находится снова ненасытный капитализм.

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Перед коммунистическим и рабочим движением стаит ряд задач. Некоторые из них общие, некоторые вытекающие из специфических условий конкретной страны или региона. КПЧМ поддерживает предложение Рабочей группы, которое касается международных встреч. Мы также поддерживаем состаяние международной встречи-конференции в Петербурге в наступающем году.

Спасибо за внимание.

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Communist Party of Denmark

It is a great honour for me – and probably for all 75 of us – to speak here in Hanoi, the capital of the country of heroic resistance against US imperialist aggression – a resistance which inspired an entire generation of young people, my own generation, modelled our view of the world and was the object of a solidarity movement which considerably helped mobilizing and strengthening all democratic forces throughout the world.

In the crisis-ridden world of today, the focus of imperialist aggression is on Syria and in Ukraine.

The wars in these countries are interconnected.

They are labelled as civil wars, but in actual fact they are imperialist aggressions in disguise; they are bringing the great powers of the world into direct confrontation.

Last year, I mentioned very cautiously the possibility that the fightings in Syria and Ukraine might develop into a global conflict. Very few at that time dared go as far as that. This year, several have used the words ”third world war” – among those a former prominent figure of the Communist World Movement, Mikhail Gorbachov. More are speaking of a ”new Cold War” or, even more cautiously, of an ”approaching” new Cold War. Of course, it is of no use crying wolf, but it must be said that the ”new Cold War” is not only approaching – we are in the midst of it, if not beyond it. The situation is dire indeed.

The term ”cold war” was used about the prolonged period of peace in Europe following the Second World War. This period was one of peace because the Soviet Union and the Socialist Camp were strong enough to deter imperialism from risking yet another continental war. War were waged in other parts of the world – here, for instance – but for almost fifty years not in Europe.

The situation today is much more fraught with danger, because there is no Soviet Union and no socialism in Europe, and because imperialism is stronger and more united. Once again, we have seen war in Europe; once again, the great powers are confronting each other, and though Russia is not the Soviet Union, the attitude of the USA towards her is the same; war is raging in the Middle East and has been so for many years now in the Black Sea Region; the Americas are, once again, threatened by dark forces of reaction.

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These looming threats to mankind are, luckily enough, one migt say, although it has nothing to do with luck, countered by opposite tendencies.

Imperialism may be stronger and more united than fifty or just forty years ago, and indeed it is, but it is also haunted by strong centrifugal tendencies. The European Union was the decisive factor in uniting imperialism; today, the EU is breaking apart. The first blow was dealt already at its founding, by the Danish No to the Maastricht treaty early in the 90’s and the subsequent introduction of four Danish derogations or ”reserves”. This meant that Denmark remained in part independent from the EU superstate. This partial independence was confirmed in 2000, when the Danish people rejected by referendum for the second time the introduction of the Euro; and it was confirmed once again this winter, as yet another of the derogations was put to the vote with the same result: Abolition of the judicial derogation was rejected, which means that Denmark will not fall under the authority of the new Europol supranational EU police force, but will continue to have its own police force, control its own borders and so on – important features of national independence.

The most serious blow sofar came this summer with the British decision to leave the EU – the Brexit. This really shattered the confidence of EU politicians, and the possible dissolution of the EU is discussed openly. Already, the Danish resistance movement is launching a campaign for a new referendum to have Denmark follow Britain and leave the EU altogether – just as, back in ’72, we followed Britain into the EEC, as it was at that time.

voice serious doubts about its ability to function politically.

Those are three serious blows to the EU project within a single year. They mean not only the liberty of Britain and Denmark and of the peoples of Europe from destructive trade deals; they threaten the very existence of the EU and, thereby, the brakes the EU has put on every progressive development in Europe and in much of the world. In a further perspective, they open a way for lessening of the tensions in the world.

The most important task of Danish communists today is to help get Denmark out of the EU – to support and strengthen the resistance movement, united in the National Movement Against the EU and to take part in the campaign for a Dexit. I think all Danish communists agree to this, despite the division of the movement into no less than 4 different parties. Another important task is to inform the public about what is really going on in Ukraine and Syria and try to break the almost universal media and political consensus. This is a very tough task because the majority of Danes firmly believe in the fairy tales of Putin’s agressiveness and so on; they have never been told anything else.

The Communist movement in Denmark is not only divided, but very weak; maintaining 4 different party organizations wastes a lot of efforts.

The two tasks I mentioned very much exhaust our combined forces.

Finally, just a couple of days ago the CETA trade deal between Canada and the EU collapsed because of resistance from the region of Wallonia in Belgium. This was a good thing in the first place, because the CETA like the TTIP is tailored to the needs of transnational capital, requiring the world to be one single market with the same rules applying everywhere and the governments being subordinate to the transnational companies, which is the real meaning of the investor protection provisions of the two deals, and for the same reason it is against the interests of ordinary people. But this failure also exposed the weakness of the EU construction and caused even the most high-ranking EU officials to

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Communist Party in Denmark

Dear Comrades, First of all our thanks to the Communist Party of Vietnam for hosting our annual meeting.

As you know, Denmark is a small country and the Communist Party in Denmark is a small party, but this does not mean that what we do is not important.

In 1972, a population majority voted to join the European Economic Community or the EEC that was later to be called the European Union, the EU. But this does not at all mean that the Danes are happy with being part of the EU system. Since 1972, our EU enthusiastic rulers have been defeated in several referendums on EU matters. In the latest referendum on December 3rd last year, the majority of the population voted NO to allowing the EU to expand its power over the Danish justice and home affairs legislation.

To a large degree, it is thanks to the nonpartisan People’s Movement Against the EU that the popular scepticism towards the whole EU project has been kept alive. Our party is an active participant in this movement both nationwide and locally – we have representation in the top leadership and party members play a large role in many of the local district committees. Because of this continued work the Danes are among those European peoples who are best informed about EU matters and they have preserved a healthy scepticism and resistance to further concessions to the EU of Capital.

As of right now, the fight against the TTIP free trade agreement is an important matter for the EU resistance in both Denmark and the rest of the EU. The People’s Movement Against the EU represents a broad political spectrum, and this means that its members have many different reasons to oppose the EU. The membership ranges from bourgeois nationalists to communists. The nationalists base their resistance on the fact that the EU membership nullifies much of Denmark’s sovereignty, whereas the communists naturally consider the EU an instrument for Big Capital to further exploit the peoples inside and outside of the EU borders. To the communists, a break with the EU will be a major step towards our goal: to carry out

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the socialist revolution and begin the building of socialism and communism.

The struggle for peace is extremely important, but with some shame we have to recognize that at present the peace movement in Denmark is rather weak. This is all the more sad because Denmark has for now many years now been leading what our country’s rulers call ”an activist foreign policy”.

A result of this policy has been that our country has participated in wars in the former Yugoslavia, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Libya, in Syria and other places.

As a matter of fact, for the past decades Denmark has been among the first to go to war when the United States, NATO or the EU have asked us to. As communists we of course hold the clear conviction that war and military build-up do not strengthen peace – quite the contrary!

Within the sphere of the peace question the Arctic Region calls for particular consideration. Greenland, the world’s largest island, is part of the Danish socalled ”Unity of the Realm” (as are the Faroe Islands and Denmark proper). This means that Denmark has a special role to play to ensure that the Arctic will not be militarized, that the environment will be protected, and that climate change is brought to a stop before all of Greenland’s ice cap has melted away. There is an ongoing international cooperation on this matter between the communist parties of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Russia, the United States, and Canada.

At present, Denmark is ruled by a deeply reactionary bourgeois minority government which – if it can muster the power to pursue its intention – will initiate a drastic demolishment of the welfare system for which Denmark’s working class has fought for more than a hundred years. There are two principal sides to the government’s policy: first of all, the public sector is to be downsized which will affect schools, child care institutions, public health service and so on. Secondly, benefits for the weakest and most needy in the country are to be eroded. Recently the social assistance and the special benefits for immigrants were severely hit. On the other hand, businesses and the country’s richest will enjoy tax cuts.

On this background it was encouraging to witness large demonstrations against the government’s aus-

terity measures a short while ago. At about 100 79 town and city halls around the country demonstrations were staged by trade unions, political parties and various other organisations.

Unfortunately, one particular question has brought Denmark into the international limelight.

Whereas Denmark earlier has played a significant role in for instance the United Nations with regard to assisting peoples in distress, the situation has now been reversed: among the European countries, Denmark now stands out as one of those with the most restrictive policy towards refugees!

The stated objective of this policy is this: if we can make life in Denmark sufficiently miserable for refugees, they will hopefully stay away and look for shelter and security in more hospitable countries.

The driving forces behind this distasteful policy are the present government and the extreme right-wing and xenophobic Danish People’s Party, but also the Social Democrats who are in constant competition with the extreme Right to pinpoint new cutbacks and reductions in the refugee field.

Fortunately these inhuman viewpoints are not shared by everybody. When the rush of refugees was at its highest a great many Danes spontaneously reached out to help the refugees in various ways, even if they were fined for their help efforts. In the municipalities the authorities cannot shut their eyes to the problems. With the recent cuts in benefits, refugees will be unable to find accommodation they can afford – and then the municipal authorities must then step in with further assistance.

Sadly, our party is a small one, but we do our best to participate in the various movements and organisations working for a better society. We always try to demonstrate that when the people is hurt by cutbacks or other measures, or when we take part in wars, the blame cannot be put on incompetent or evil government leaders and politicians alone. No, the whole monopoly capitalist system is to blame which in its quest for still higher profit pushes other people into poverty and misery.

In recent years we have witnessed a growth of anti-communism, not least in Eastern Europe. Communist parties and communist symbols are suppressed or outright banned. In official statements,

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the EU has put an equation sign between communism and Nazism although the two, of course, are absolute opposites. It is crucially important that we strengthen the struggle against anti-communism.

The coming year will provide us with suitable opportunities to do so as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Great October Revolution in Russia in 1917.

Capitalism is the problem – socialism is the solution.

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Communist Party of Equador

Estimados camaradas del Presídium Estimados camaradas asistentes a este revolucionario e histórico encuentro.

Con gran satisfacción asistimos en nombre del Partido Comunista del Ecuador, al 18 ENCUENTRO DE LOS PARTIDOS COMUNISTAS Y OBREROS DEL MUNDO, en especial por realizarse este, en Viet Nam, cuna del c. HO CHI MING, , uno de los mas grandes revolucionarios del mundo, héroe de su pueblo y ejemplo de los revolucionarios del mundo.

Como bien se reconoce en el documento central haciendo base en los logros y experiencias en la permanente lucha histórica de nuestra organizaciones, nuestro Partido encuentra su aliento y fortaleza orgánica en la gran revolución de obreros y campesinos de Rusia, la Revolución de 1917, la revolución de Lenin y del gran pueblo soviético, vilmente traicionada y cuyo pueblo, Partido y organizaciones de masas, revolucionarias están prontas a levantar la bandera roja de la hoz y el martillo al cumplirse sus cien años el próximo 2017.

La defensa de la ideología marxista-leninista hoy mas que nunca constituye la esperanza de los pueblos del mundo, nuestros partidos fieles a sus principios ideológicos, han logrado en la práctica que la filosofía marxista este tan viva como cuando Carlos Marx y Federico Engel la expusieron ante el mundo.

Nuestro Partido Comunista del Ecuador sin separase un centímetro del carácter revolucionario con que se organizara, a sabido aplicar en la practica y de conformidad con las particularidades de nuestro país, la teoría revolucionaria con las condiciones y niveles del proceso en esta etapa.

Nuestro pueblo, la clase obrera, campesinos, organizaciones indígenas, fuerzas democráticas y progresistas, se enfrenta en proceso electoral en el próximo mes de febrero del 2017 a la pretensión de la derecha ecuatoriana de unificar los intereses de los principales Bancos del País y de los centros mediáticos de prensa escrita, radio, y televisión y la agresión económica imperialista para volvernos al pasado de miseria, hambre, desocupación y condiciones de vida miserable y rastre-

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ras. Si bien es cierto, el sistema capitalista no ha sido desterrado, los logros alcanzado en esta época deben ser defendidos en la convicción de que mas temprano que tarde las organizaciones revolucionarias y nuestro partido llevaran al pueblo a sus mas caras aspiraciones social y políticas en la lucha por la liberación social y nacional.

En nuestro continente la valentía y tesón del pueblo cubano y de sus grandes lideres como Fidel, el Che y Raúl, en los últimos cincuenta y seis años, lograron mantener nuestro espíritu revolucionario y reafirmar nuestra lucha antiimperialista y el planteamiento democrático y popular de la lucha de nuestros países y pueblos.

En nuestra época resalta la insigne Figura del Comandante Hugo Chaves y la esperanza de su legado fuerte y revolucionario que fue asumido por las fuerzas democráticas y progresistas de América Latina a la que nuestros partidos no han dudado en prestarle todo el apoyo revolucionario para lograr los objetivos mas inmediatos y sentar las bases de procesos mas profundos hacia la causa de la revolución nacional liberadora y el socialismo.

La solidaridad internacional de todos los partidos comunistas y obreros reunidos en este gran país revolucionario de Viet Nam con toda seguridad dará un tratamiento contundente a las intenciones del imperialismo de dividir nuestras fuerzas, de continuar las guerras en el medio oriente y Asia, de imponer practicas fascistas, de intervención y del asesinato de miles y miles de ciudadanos y pueblos del mundo y de esa manera defender y desarrollar las ideas del socialismo y el comunismo como única fuerza salvación de la humanidad.

VIVA EL INTERNACIONALISMO PROLETARIO VIVA EL MARXISMO - LENINISMO VIVA EL GLORIOSO PUEBLO VIETNAMITA

Nuestro Partido rechaza los golpes de Estado organizados contra legítimos gobiernos en América latina en especial el ultimo procurado contra Venezuela.

El encuentro de los Partidos comunistas de América Latina realizado en Lima – Perú, destaco la importancia de los procesos revolucionarios que con todos sus defectos y dificultades se realiza en nuestro continente, actualmente seriamente amenazado por las fuerzas del imperialismo norteamericano y las oligarquías nacionales que pretenden regresar al neoliberalismo y el poder mediático del sistema económico bancario y corrupto.

En Encuentro Latinoamericano Progresistas reunido el 29 y 30 de Septiembre pasado en Quito – Ecuador conoció y aprobó la lucha de los pueblos latinoamericanos en contras del imperialismo y sus lacayos nacionales y la decisión de seguir en la lucha por sus transformaciones nacionales en el contexto solidario por la defensa de la soberanía nacional, la independencia económica, el buen vivir para las clases sociales mas pobres y la liberación de la clase obrera, campesina, indígena y de todo el pueblo.

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Communist Party of Finland

Comrades It is easy to see the difficult and unclear situation of different international big powers and their alliances at war operations in the larger Middle-East.

Peace movement and we the communist and worker’s parties have to stand out for peace.

There are no possibilities to resolve Syrian war with arms of any big power; Peace in Syria will not be achieved with US-guns, not with Russian guns, not with guns of the ISIS, not with guns of al Assad. Peace in Syria will not be built with the guns and actions of anonymous war criminals hitting European cities. We need now politics that firstly makes the killing stop and allows negotiations start.

Larger Middle-East is an imperialist hot spot place of action. Political elite in the European Union and in my country Finland, have silently observed and accepted how the imperialist powers are building up a new confrontation of interests also in the Baltics and Scandinavia.

New permanent military troops and military vehicles in the Baltics make unnecessary confrontation with our closest neighbors the Russian Federation.

During current year 2016 Finland and Sweden have signed a defense cooperation pact on increased military collaboration with the United States and Britain. The newly signed agreement seeks to deepen bilateral military ties through the exchange of information and joint research and development in areas like cyber defense and training.

New military cooperation pacts make unnecessary confrontation on our 1200-kilometer-long borders with the Russian Federation. Here in this insupportable situation Communist Party of Finland stand on the side of the Peace movement demanding a U-turn to the current defense politics to keep Finland out of wars, military exercises and Nato.

It is of high importance to be able to participate in the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties here in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive - Strat-

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egy and tactics of the Communist and Workers’ Parties,in struggle for peace, workers’ and peoples’ rights, socialism unites us all parties in a collective class struggle against imperialism and its concrete attacs. Thak You for the hosting party and all participants for the important analysis on imperialism today.

I wish to end my intervention by a concrete action we have been able to do together with other antiimperialist and anticapitalistic forces.

Arctic Initiative ARCTIC INITIATIVE was a joint initiative of the Environmental Working Group of the Party of the European Left and the Communist Party of Finland to invite in Helsinki to an Open Forum; political parties of the European Left and the Arctic region, activists of the civil society in Arctic Region countries and Europe, NGO´s, environmental – Indigenous rights and peace organizations, academic people, investigators and researchers, artists, intellectuals and activists in the Arctic Region countries and Europe to discuss three topics; security, environment and human rights.

10 communist parties from the Arctic region; Communist Party of the USA, Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Communist Party of Sweden, Communist Party of Norway, Communist Party of Denmark, Communist Party in Denmark, Communist Party of Norway, Communist Workers Party (Finland), Communist League (Finland) and Communist Party of Finland Participants from 13 countries USA, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Belgium, France, Greece, Portugal and Italy.

Two political youth organizations Left Youth and The Communist Youth League of Finland.

Speakers from three Universities University of Lapland, Finland, University of Wienna, Austria and University, Giellakas Instituutti, Finland. gathered together last June in Helsinki, Finland to

discuss Arctic Region Security, Environment issues 85 and Indigenous Rights Arctic Initiative took place in situation where International global neoliberal plans to exploit the natural resources hit the Arctic. Confrontation of the NATO and Russia is present. Indigenous rights are oppressed by the interests of the big capital.

Arctic Initiative stated that Time urges political parties, NGO´s, environmental – human rights and peace organizations activists, investigators and researchers, workers, artists and intellectuals to stand out, seek for collaboration and make a statement and participate in common discussion about environment-security and human right issues in the Arctic.

Arctic Initiative from its beginning stated clearly to function as a tool to make collective radical leftist argumentation in Arctic issues stronger. In the Spirit of Arctic Initiative several concrete initiatives were formulated for all participants to take the Initiatives as new collective tools for the work in demanding change in current political situation in the Arctic.

10 Initiatives were formulated and taken to World Social Forum in Canada for further discussion.

1. to support the movements and activities of the indigenous peoples for self-determination and to support the activities of the indigenous peoples against the capitalist exploitation of the environment and the natural resources of their territories.

2. to end collaboration with NATO, leave Partnership for Peace and the Host Nation Agreement.

3. to struggle for peace inseparable from the anti-capitalist struggle 4. to coordinate and strengthen common actions between all parties and organizations in the future 5. to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement on the climate 6. to promote the campaign “keep it in the ground” and demand as requested by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), of

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the States concerned to leave fossil fuels in the Arctic subsoil.

7. to stop the military escalation and to remove the surface soil-, sea- and air-presence of national armies or a block such as NATO 8. to demand more public research on climate evolution, the preservation of biodiversity and on renewable energy systems.

9. to work for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation with the Arctic peoples and the respect of indigenous peoples’ traditions.

10. to ask Europe to contribute to the development of a treaty, within the Arctic Council and together with indigenous peoples, similar to the Antarctic one, which would silence the territorial claims.

Such a treaty would ensure, in the interest of all mankind, that the Arctic would be used only for peaceful purposes and research, as well as it would not become the scene or object of international dispute.

Comrades Together we are strong Long live international anti-imperialist front!

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German Communist Party

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Dear comrades, first of all I would like to convey DKP’s gratitude towards the organizers of this meeting, the Communist Party of Vietnam! We suppose that all of us are glad to meet in an Asian country, and even more that we do so in a country which is on the road to socialism.

(I) In the last meeting in Istanbul our party spoke about the refugee crisis and its reasons. After the first „refugees welcome“ politics of chancellor Angela Merkel in 2015, the Government now is facing hard defeats in regional elections. The rightwing xenophobic party „Alternative for Germany“ (AfD) is growing strongly in voters’ preference and has achieved about 15 percent in those elections.

AfD defames refugees who flee hunger and misery as lower-rung refugees, or “economic refugees”.

This party, which is open to fascist groups who are supporting AfD, uses the dominating media campaign successfully to obtain its election victories.

Although they can count “only” with every sixth vote of the German electorate, they can celebrate that now nearly their complete party programme is put into practice by the Government who fears to loose even more voters. Germany yet declared some African countries with repressive Governments as secure states, and the German Government now is characterizing even countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan or Egypt as allegedly “safe states”, in order to avoid that persons who come from there could stay as refugees in Germany. This also means that Syrians who flee the war in their country can be deported to those states which they have crossed before.

We totally reject the cooperation treaty between the European Union and Turkey which serves as a natural barrier for those human beings who flee war and misery and prefer to go through Turkey instead of risking their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea. This cooperation with the Turkish Government means that they do not speak about the repression in that country because they handed over an excellent tool: Turkey can always decide to end this well paid treaty and let hundreds of thousands of refugees pass their boarders to Greece.

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The ongoing refugee crisis has logical reasons.

Some of them we have to find in the US-imperialism, but in the last years there are more factors to be considered. After the end of the German Democratic Republic, Germany now is going to carry out an own imperialist role. One of the results of that process is that the European Union is now under the economic and political leadership of the German imperialism. Now there is no war in the Middle East without or the military or political and logistic support of the German government. We state that the Middle East region is actually facing the most dangerous chapter in its history. The imperialist forces want to create their „New Middle East“ project, with the attempt to divide and to destroy Iran, Iraq and Syria and the declared aim to create new states under their control. They are cooperating with Saudi-Arabia, Turkey or the Gulf monarchies, regardless of their support to forces like the „Islamic State“. We should be aware of the danger of an upcoming war between Saudi-Arabia and Iran who now are fighting for the predominance in the region by supporting different forces in the wars in Yemen and Syria. Our first task is the defence of the integrity of Syria and Iraq as states. We have to defend the sovereignty and the no-interference which are declared in the United Nations treaties! By the way, the only foreign force who is acting in the Syrian conflict with the consent of the Syrian Government is the Russian Federation.

On the other hand, Germany supports the right wing government of Ukraine which came to power by the coup d’etat in 2014. The aggressive politics against the Russian Federation - who is continually blamed by the main media in Germany to be the reason of the Ukrainian conflict - show the interest of Germany to be a bigger player in the international affairs. Our party analysed this new role of German imperialism, in its 21st congress in november 2015, shortly after the last IMCWP meeting. Our conclusion is to continue our antimilitarist and antifascist work in the peace movement, with the aim to stop more war attempts, and finally to stop the aggressive politics of German and US-imperialism which is designed to look for oil and other ressources and, of course, greater influence areas.

Regarding the EU, our position is that it is correct to go on fighting for political achievements, but not

to believe in a general reformability of the EU. Generally spoken, reforms have a double character as we all know: on the one hand they can improve some living conditions of the people, but on the other hand just those victories could make the people believe in the „good sides“ of the capitalist system.

So it is important to sharpen the class consciousness of the exploited. This means to show them that reforms never can be sufficient, because of their limited. Regarding the reformability of the European Union we state that Europe needs a new cooperation including all European states, without the dominance of some imperialist countries which is the case of the EU. Europe does not need a European Union as a capitalist construction guided by imperialist ideas and practice. The EU never could play an active role for a world with equal possibilities for the people – this is only achievable with socialist principles.

(II) To be more offensive and aggressive in foreign politics, always means to act similar in the internal affairs. Regarding the relationship between capital and work, the mere numbers can bluff. Germany managed to go through the crisis quite unharmed.

Now Germany has the lowest unemployment rate since decades. But the people pay it with low incomes, compared with the high labour productivity in Germany. A lot of people will have completely unsufficient retirement pensions. The start of the legal pension age was increased from 65 to 67 years by the socialdemocratic-green Government twelve years ago - now it is discussed once again. Instead of considering the high productivity and making the capitalists pay for the pensioners, the pension age shall be raised to 69 or 70 years in the next twenty years.

The German Communist Party has recently released a so called „programme of immediate demands“. It contains demands against curtailing of social and democratic rights, investment in public property, new jobs, improvement of social benefits, taxation of the rich. And in that programme we explain that our „refugee welcome“ isn’t merely humanitarian, but it means that we will fight together with them, for equal rights for all working

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class people.

The experience with the socialdemocratic-green coalition (1998 – 2005) makes us believe that a new coalition of those parties in 2017 - because of their unsufficient electoral results then including the Left Party who openly promotes that „Red-Red-Green“-coalition – will neither stop the capitalist offensive in Germany nor the imperialist role of German outside. Beside our will to make our Communist Party stronger as an independent party, this is another reason that the DKP will present own candidates to the parliamentary elections in one year.

(III) The German CP continues to work for peace and socialism on national and international level. In the last period we could strengthen our relationship specially with some parties in eastern Europe, like those from Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic or some from the former Yugoslavia. It is important to support them in their struggle against party bans or every type of persecution.

the communist movement in general to start with 89 regional cooperation groups. Independent from differences on some issues, for all Communist and Workers’ Parties do exist a lot of common opinions. And although the analysis maintains correct that the CPs and WPs in capitalist countries have to fight first of all against their „own bourgeoisie“, the globalization sometimes brought very similar problems in neighbouring countries that require a common answer of the working classes in those countries.

On the functioning of our international meetings: as DKP we consider that it would be useful if the inviting parties would not have to cover all the lodging expenses. In case of parties with less economic possibilities – like our one – there is no chance to organize a meeting considering the costs. Perhaps we could think about a change in that procedure.

Thank you for your attention!

We sent a representative of our Central Committee to the upcoming Peoples’ Republics in eastern Ukraine to get direct information and demonstrate solidarity. On the other hand, we invited a representative of the Central Committee of the CP of Ukraine to Germany where we had a manifestation and a political meeting on the ban of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), sixty years ago. At the same time, we could evidence our solidarity with the CP of Ukraine which is facing such attempts to ban their party, by the right-wing Ukrainian Government.

At the same time, we continue with our annual 4-party-conferences with the Workers’ Party of Belgium, the Communist Party of Luxemburg and the New Communist Party of the Netherlands, since 2006. The next meeting in april in Germany will discuss the role of imperialist Germany in the European Union. It serves to sharpen our understanding of Germany’s third attempt to dominate Europe and to challenge the unipolar leadership of the United States.

We consider the 4-party-conferences as a political success. From our point of view, it would be useful for

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Communist Party of Greece

Dear comrades, The Communist Party of Greece salutes the 18th International Meeting of the Communist and Workers Parties and warmly thanks the CP of Vietnam for its hospitality.

Our party has expressed its internationalist solidarity and has stood for many decades at the side of the Vietnamese people in their struggle against French and Japanese colonialism, against the imperialist intervention and crimes of the USA. The glorious victory of the working class, of the people of Vietnam under the leadership of the Communist Party and its leader comrade Ho Chi Minh was a great victory of international significance and demonstrated that when the people are determined, well organized and armed, they can defeat the strongest opponents-dynasts and break the shackles of exploitation and oppression.

The history of the communist movement is full of heroic pages and is a valuable source for study and the drawing of conclusions that will lend strength to the communists so that they can meet the challenge of the complex conditions of the class struggle, fighting for the overthrow of capitalist exploitation and the construction of socialism-communism.

Dear comrades, The international, synchronized capitalist crisis of capital over-accumulation that manifested itself in 2008-2009 leaves its mark on the developments up until today and its causes are to be found in the capitalist ownership of the means of production, the profit motive which is the motor force of anarchic development, in the sharpening of the basic contradiction between the social character of production-labour and the capitalist appropriation of its results.

Bourgeois and opportunist forces are silent about the real causes of the crisis and present other factors as being the causes e.g. neoliberal management, the banks and bankers. This causes confusion and fosters illusions about the potential for a pro-people management of capitalism.

The reality is that regardless of whether the form of the crisis’ outbreak is connected to disturbanc-

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es in the banking-financial system, to “bubbles” and other similar phenomena, the crisis is born in the productive process on the terrain of the exploitation of wage labour by capital.

The general staffs of the imperialist organizations are once again concerned. The capitalist machine is not advancing, the studies of the bourgeoisie are revising the growth indicators to lower levels, the crisis is continuing in countries with an intermediate position in the imperialist system like Greece, as well as in stronger ones like Russia and Brazil. We are witnessing stagnation in the EU and Eurozone and a slowdown of the Chinese economy.

The assessments for the next period take into account the impact of the imperialist competition and wars, the problematic situation of financial institutions (Deutsche Bank, Italian banks etc.), the consequences of Brexit.

In these complex conditions, the analysis of the communists about the real causes of the crisis as well as the class character of capitalist growth acquire great importance for the preparation of the labour-people’s movement and the strengthening of the class struggle, so that the importance of the socialist organization of production is understood by the working class, which is the only way to eradicate the causes of the crisis and capitalist exploitation.

Dear comrades, In our country, the capitalist crisis (2009-2016) is deep and prolonged and over its duration the management policy of all the bourgeois governments has been implemented, which in cooperation with the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), widely known as the Troika, thrust the burdens of the crisis onto the working class and popular strata, advancing the strategy of increasing the competitiveness and profitability of the big businesses.

The liberal party ND and the social-democratic party PASOK implemented the two memoranda and very harsh anti-people measures that provoked intense popular indignation. The illusions about choosing a “lesser evil” and the false expectations that SYRIZA fostered increased in the con-

text of poverty and high unemployment. SYRIZA, an opportunist party, with a “leftwing” label, that is a “mixture” of renegades from the communist movement and officials from social-democratic PASOK and formed a government with the nationalist ANEL party (“Independent Greeks”).

SYRIZA ascended to government in January 2015 with the support of powerful sections of big capital and demonstrated in practice that it is a social-democratic party that serves the interests of the monopolies, implements a very harsh anti-people political line, uses all means at its disposal to deceive our people and abroad is presented as being a force for resistance, attempting to mislead the peoples with fake left sloganeering.

The SYRIZA-ANEL government with the support of the other bourgeois parties passed the 3rd memorandum. With this memorandum, it implements the strategy of capital, the reactionary capitalist restructurings of the EU in order to intensify the rate of exploitation of the working class, the destruction of the farmers and the bankruptcy of the urban middle strata.

Recently, the government passed harsh anti-people laws through parliament, dismantling workers’-people’s rights, in order to pass the assessment of the 3rd memorandum by the Troika.

It attacked the social character of insurance, dramatically reduced pensions, increased the age of retirement.

It imposed unbearable direct and indirect taxes on the people.

It privatized ports, airports and proceeds to privatize strategically important enterprises in energy, water etc.

It follows the path of the previous governments, maintains the laws that have abolished the collective labour agreements and have dramatically reduced salaries, advances measures to abolish labour rights, reinforces flexible forms of labour, uses repression against the workers’ struggles.

Unemployment is above 25% and above 50% amongst the youth, instead of supporting the unemployment it gives related benefits to the businessmen.

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In this period, in the framework of the 2nd assessment of the 3rd memorandum it is preparing to impose new harsh measures against the workers, mass dismissals, employer Lockouts, restrictions on the right to strike etc.

The class-based political line of the SYRIZA-ANEL government entails funding for big businesses, new tax exemptions for big capital etc.

In this period, the promotion of a so-called “just” capitalist development is being used in as a tool to mislead the people.

It is possible that there will be sluggish economic growth, but the essence is that this growth will be in an anti-people direction, as it will have as its criterion the increase of monopoly profits; it will be based on the destruction of rights and will form the conditions for a new economic crisis.

We note that the directions and anti-people measures being implemented in Greece through the memoranda are part of the more general anti-people strategy of the EU, which is being promoted in various ways in all the countries of Europe, regardless of whether a memorandum has been imposed or not, regardless of whether liberal or social-democratic parties are in government.

The bourgeois propaganda about the “acquis communautaire” of the EU is refuted by the capitalist reality of high unemployment, underemployment and poverty, the intensification of work etc.

The SYRIZA-ANEL government is also following a very dangerous foreign policy. It is promoting the interests of the monopolies, systematically entangling the country in the imperialist plans, with the policy for the “geostrategic enhancement of Greece” as its vehicle.

It provides military bases for the aggressive needs of the USA and NATO in the wars in Syria, Libya and Iraq. It maintains military forces in the imperialist missions abroad; it develops wider military cooperation with Israel; it has invited NATO forces into the Aegean Sea; it participates in the implementation of the recent very dangerous decisions of the NATO Summit in Warsaw.

The imperialist wars uproot millions of refugees and immigrants from their homes and trap thou-

sands of families of persecuted people in Greece, 93 who are living in wretched conditions. They have other European countries as their destination. The KKE in these conditions holds to a stance based on internationalist principles, struggles against imperialist wars, condemns the repressive policies of the EU, stands at the side of the refugees and immigrants, contributes to the organization of the people’s solidarity, confronts racism, xenophobia and the criminal fascist organization of “Golden Dawn”.

It has once again been confirmed by the experience of the anti-people political line of SYRIZA that the so-called left-social-democratic governments are the choice of capital to do the “dirty work”, to advance the policies that serve the interests of the monopolies and assimilate the labour-people’s movement into their aims.

It has been demonstrated by the example of SYRIZA and many other examples that the socalled “left governments” are an apparatus for the management and reproduction of capitalist exploitation, foster illusions about the humanization of capitalism and a dangerous expectation that the people’s problems can be resolved, the people’s needs can be satisfied in the conditions of capitalist exploitation.

Experience demonstrates that these governments impede the real radicalism of the working class. They become bankrupt due to their anti-people political line in the eyes of the people.

They reinforce views that “they are all the same”, their political line strengthens conservative forces and leads to the return of rightwing governments.

The examples of “left” governments in Europe, as well as in Latin American countries confirm this assessment.

The CPs that participate in or support governments of bourgeois management provide social-democracy with an alibi. Their stance is utilized in many ways in order to trap the working class inside the framework of capitalist management, to reduce the demands of the people and delay the anti-capitalist struggle.

The CPs that supported or still support SYRIZA bear serious responsibilities. Their stance is uti-

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lized in the attack against our people and is directed against the struggle of the KKE and the class-oriented movement.

The KKE has always kept to the principle of proletarian internationalism in a very responsible way.

It supports the struggle of the working class against capital and capitalism. It expresses its internationalist solidarity with the peoples of Latin America, Asia, Africa, the peoples in every corner of the world.

class-oriented forces, via which hundreds of trade union organizations are organizing their struggle to abolish the anti-worker measures, for satisfactory collective labour agreements, for the recovery of the losses the workers suffered during the crisis.

The communist men and women are playing the leading role in the struggle of the poor and medium farmers, the urban self-employed, the youth and women.

Today, important conclusions can be drawn about the principled stance the KKE maintained, exposing the role of new social-democracy, highlighting how dangerous and corrosive it is for a communist party to participate in a government of bourgeois management.

A basic issue is for the ideological-political and mass struggle to strike against the real enemy, the bourgeois class and its state, not to be limited to targeting the bourgeois parties and governments, to contribute to the development of class consciousness.

The KKE is in the front line of a difficult struggle and tries on a daily basis to strengthen its bonds with the working class, the poor farmers, the urban self-employed, the women and youth of the popular families.

Through the everyday struggle, the strikes, the demonstrations, the occupations, the dozens of multifaceted mobilizations, the class-oriented movement measures results in terms of the organization of the working class. It contributes to the increase of the level of the workers’ demands in order to strengthen the front against capital and the anti-people political line of the government and other bourgeois forces and to reinforce the confrontation against employer-government led trade unionism and the dangerous notion regarding class collaboration and consensus between the exploiters and the exploited.

The party organizations, the organizations of the Communist Youth Organizations (KNE) carry out constant ideological-political activity, wage battles in the factories, in the workplaces and popular neighbourhoods to organize the workers’-people’s struggle. They focus in particular on party building in the factories, in strategically important sectors of the economies. They confront their weaknesses and deficiencies.

The party forces, the friends of the party, KNE and its friends organized hundreds of mass events for the 100th anniversary of the KKE that will take place in 2018, very important events were held for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the “Democratic Army of Greece” (DSE) and its heroic struggle during the confrontation against the bourgeois class, British and US imperialism in the civil war, in the majestic armed struggle of 1946-1949.

The communist men and women support the struggles of the All-workers’ Militant Front (PAME), the class-oriented movement in which dozens of federations, labour centres and hundreds of trade unions and struggle committees, thousands of trade unionists participate.

There is a particularly important initiative of the

The communist men and women are struggling to regroup the labour movement in order to strengthen the line of class struggle, to lend mass characteristics to the trade unions and to acquire strong bases in the workplaces, to intensify the struggle with a line and demands connected to the contemporary needs of the workers and people, to change the correlation of forces.

A strong labour movement will be the heart of a great social, people’s alliance of the working class, poor and medium farmers, the urban self-employed. An alliance that will gather together and mobilize organized forces, will intervene decisively in the daily struggles with an antimonopoly-anticapitalist direction, aiming at the overthrow of capitalist barbarity and the conquest of workers’ power.

The Greek people will be freed from the shackles

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of capitalist exploitation and the imperialist unions, when the working class together with its allies carries out the socialist revolution and proceeds to the construction of socialism-communism.

The revolutionary change in Greece will be socialist.

This is objectively necessary. The fact that the correlation of forces today is negative and that there is a delay in the subjective factor does not change the character of the revolution.

The motor forces of the socialist revolution will be the working class as the leading force, the semi-proletarians, the oppressed urban popular strata of the self-employed and the poor farmers.

The KKE in non-revolutionary conditions devotes its forces to preparing the subjective factor so that it can respond to its historical duties when a revolutionary situation is created-when those at the top cannot go on ruling in the same old way and those below will no longer submit to them etc.

Views (inside the international communist movement) that underestimate the antimonopoly-anticapitalist line of struggle and the necessity for comprehensive preparation for the overthrow of capital do not take into account the potential for the developments to sharpen and for a revolutionary situation to manifest itself, which as an objective phenomenon that can be created in the conditions of capitalist crisis and imperialist war.

We must learn from the historical experience which demonstrated that CPs found themselves unprepared for the conditions of the escalation of the class struggle and could not fulfill their historic tasks.

Dear comrades, It is well-known that the communist movement is facing an ideological-political and organizational crisis, is seriously affected by the counterrevolution and opportunism has a major influence in its ranks.

After capitalist restoration in the Soviet Union and the states of socialist construction in Eastern and Central Europe, the dominance of capitalist relations of production in China, the strengthening of capitalist relations in Vietnam and Cuba, the conditions in the D.P.R. of Korea, the situation in the international communist movement has deteriorat-

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ed.

In these conditions, the struggle for the regroupment of the international communist movement is a decisively important task and the KKE considers it necessary for a discussion to be initiated about the serious problems of strategy-tactics, assessing that every delay worsens the situation and poses serious dangers.

First, the issue of imperialism must be engaged with by the communists, as it is a point of more general discussion.

The Leninist position refers to the fact that imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism, in the context of which the dominance of the monopolies and finance capital has been formed and the export of capital has acquired particular importance. In this framework there is a struggle between the various monopolies and capitalist states over the division of the markets.

The position that limits imperialism to the aggressive foreign policy of the USA or other powerful capitalist states does not take into account the economic base of the system in our period, the monopolies, the large stock companies that have developed and are developing in all countries.

We believe that this position cannot see the imperialist (capitalist) system in all its dimensions.

The capitalist states are its links, which have differences amongst them due to uneven development and each one has a different position in the system, with relations of unequal interdependence in line with their economic, military and political strength.

Second, we are interested in the issue related to the character of our era and the character of the revolution. This is an issue of decisive importance.

We live in the 21st century, bourgeois power overthrew feudalism many centuries ago. Capitalism has developed and in its imperialist stage has led to a major socialization of production and labour, the fruits of which are enjoyed by the bourgeois class.

The major monopoly businesses have bases and networks all over the planet, the sciences, technology, many forms of infrastructure and transport

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etc. have developed.

It is undeniable that the material preconditions have matured which determine the character of our era as the era of the passage from capitalism to socialism. This is something which is more necessary and timely than ever for the working class, the popular strata, the future of the youth.

The Great October Socialist Revolution, which will have its 100th anniversary in 2017, shows the way.

This socialist revolution at the beginning of the 20th century in a backward agricultural country, where the development of capitalism created the material preconditions for the construction of the new socialist society, which gave impetus to the development of the productive forces.

The counterrevolution and the negative change in the correlation of forces does not change the fact that socialism was constructed, and does not change the character of our era, which was inaugurated by the October Revolution, as the era of the passage from capitalism to socialism. The conditions that highlight the exhaustion of capitalism’s historical limits (crises, wars, unemployment, poverty etc.) have intensified and the socialist character of the revolution expresses the urgent need to resolve the basic contradiction of the system between capital and wage labour.

Capitalism has given birth to its own gravedigger, the working class is the leading class of society and the socialist character of the revolution itself specifically poses the issue that this class must struggle for and acquire power.

On many occasions reference is made to Lenin’s position on the “ Revolutionary-Democratic Dictatorship of the Proletariat and the Peasantry” in order to substantiate the outdated view about intermediate stages, but it should be clarified that this position corresponded to the conditions of Tsarist Russia during the revolution of 1905, while after the overthrow of the autocracy the Bolshevik party moved forwards and worked in the Soviets with the aim of the revolutionary conquest of workers’ power, the dictatorship of the proletariat (April Theses 1917).

Consequently, the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution

must lend impetus to the examination of the strategy of the CPs so that it can be adapted to the needs of our era, to the Leninist direction that expressed the strength of the Bolshevik Revolution and as Lenin stressed “The abolition of capitalism and its vestiges, and the establishment of the fundamentals of the communist order comprise the content of the new era of world history that has set in.” (Lenin, Collected Works, volume 31, “On the struggle of the Italian Socialist Party) Third, the capitalist states participate in imperialist alliances in order to effectively serve the interests of the bourgeois classes in the international capitalist competition, to buttress the power of capital and to deal with the labour movement in a coordinated way.

These interstate alliances cannot negate the nation-state organization and the inter-imperialist contradictions that are still manifested inside the alliances themselves as well, as each capitalist state functions on the basis of advancing the interests of its own monopolies.

The KKE has much experience in the struggle against NATO, the gun hand of imperialism against the peoples.

Our party has been struggling for many years against the European Union, the interstate imperialist alliance that expresses the interests of the European Monopolies against the working class, poor farmers and other popular strata of Europe, a fact that exposes the forces of social-democracy and opportunism which prettify the imperialist character of the EU, as the Party of the European Left (PEL) does.

The KKE, on the occasion of the referendum in Britain and the Brexit, tabled its own positions that highlight the internal contradictions in the EU, the unevenness of its economies and the struggle between the imperialist centres, which sharpened in the conditions of economic recession.

The positions that propose the change of currency or an exit from the EU in the framework of capitalism cannot objectively serve the workers’-people’s interests. On the contrary, they lead to the perpetuation of the regime of the exploitation of man by man; power remains in the hands of the

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bourgeois class, the means of production remain under capitalist ownership.

Our party argues that the necessary condemnation of the EU and NATO, for the struggle for the disengagement of every country from the imperialist organizations to be effective it must be connected to the necessary overthrow of capital’s power by workers’-people’s power. The social alliance of the working class and the other popular strata, the regroupment and strengthening of the international communist movement are preconditions to pave the way for this prospect of hope.

The interstate alliances are not limited to NATO and the EU in today’s conditions.

Alongside them, we have, for example, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, interstate unions in Latin America etc. The differences that exist flow from the position which the capitalist states in the imperialist system possess and from the aims of the bourgeois classes. However, there is a common basis and this is determined by the fact that capitalist states which represent the interests of monopolies participate in these interstate alliances.

This is the basis of the contradictions inside the EU or between the USA and the EU, as is demonstrated by a number of facts, like the management of the capitalist crisis and debt, the negotiations over the anti-people TTIP etc., or by the contradictions that manifest themselves in the Asia and Pacific regions.

Our party very carefully follows the developments in the South China Sea, a region that is an important passage for international shipping, is rich in fish and is also rich in energy resources. Major monopoly interests, both from this region and from further afield (as is demonstrated by the USA’s constant involvement and “interest”) have focused on exploiting this enormous wealth. Our party believes that the issues of territorial differences between states (.e.g. over the establishment of Exclusive Economic Zones et al), with the intervention of the people’s movements as well, should be resolved peacefully on the basis of the international law of the sea and through multilateral negotiations and decisions, when many countries are involved in a specific matter.

In recent years the so-called “multi-polar” world 97 has been promoted as a pro-people development, but the issue should be examined more carefully because in essence it is comprised of capitalist “poles”, which are formed to advance the interests of the big businesses. It is an expression of the inter-imperialist contradictions.

The task of the CPs is to advance forwards and open up a path for the peoples so that they do not follow the flags of any bourgeois class, any imperialist alliance, so that they develop their struggle in line with their own interests and needs.

Fourth, the recent years have been marked by the interventions and wars of NATO, the USA and EU in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, in African states.

A characteristic feature of the imperialist interventions and wars is the use of a number of pretexts, amongst which are the fight against terrorism, dealing with the criminal organization of the Islamic State and other similar organizations, which are in fact imperialist creations and supported by the USA, strong EU states, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia in order to promote their interests in the Middle East, North Africa and the wider region.

We have a duty to highlight the real causes of the wars. These causes are to be found in the inter-imperialist contradictions and competition expressed all over the planet amongst the USA, NATO, the EU, Russia, China, other capitalist states, over energy resources and their transport routes, strategically important regions and maritime routes, the control of markets.

The Middle East, North Africa, the Sahel, the Caspian, the Persian Gulf, the Balkans, the Black Sea, the South China Sea and the Arctic are particularly important arenas of imperialist contradictions.

NATO is transferring significant military forces to and creating military bases in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Romania and Poland are the centres for the installation of US missile system aimed at Russia. More than 60% of the US navy has been moved to the Pacific region.

The danger of generalized regional conflicts is

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on the increase. We are even concerned about the possibility of a generalized imperialist war.

The Communist Movement is faced with important tasks and must widen the discussion on the stance of communists against the imperialist wars, to specify the criteria and the important role of the just, revolutionary wars.

The KKE has its own contribution to the organization of the struggle against the imperialist interventions and wars, against the involvement of the Greek governments, for the return of the Greek military forces from the imperialist missions, for the closure of the Euro-Atlantic bases.

Our party argues that the struggle for the defense of the borders, the sovereign rights of Greece, from the standpoint of the working class and the popular strata is inextricably linked to the struggle for the overthrow of the power of capital. In any case, whatever form the participation of Greece in the imperialist war takes, the KKE must be ready to lead the independent organization of the workers’-people’s resistance and connect it with the struggle for the defeat of the bourgeois class, both of the domestic one and the foreign one as an invader.

Fifth, the KKE in the framework of its long study concerning the analysis of the causes and factors that led to the overthrow of socialism assessed that the counterrevolution in the USSR came “from within and from above” as a result of the opportunist mutation of the CP and the corresponding political direction of Soviet power, in an environment of multifaceted interventions by imperialism, leading to the development of opportunism and its development into a counterrevolutionary force.

The overthrow of socialism was connected to the use of capitalist tools in order to deal with problems of socialist construction.

Socialist construction begins with the revolutionary conquest of power by the working class and the communist mode of production is created through the socialization of the concentrated means of production, central planning, the formation of institutions of workers’ control.

The class struggle of the working class continues in other conditions and with other forms both in the

period when the foundations of the new society are being laid and during the development of socialism, in a constant struggle to eradicate every form of group and private ownership, to extend social ownership and to strengthen central planning, communist relations of production.

It is our unshakable conviction that positions that talk about various “models of socialism” in the name of national specificities do not operate within the framework of the principles of scientific socialism and the laws of socialist construction.

Unfortunately, this is not just related to the petty bourgeois/social-democratic framework of the so-called 21st century Socialism, which fosters illusions about the humanization of capitalism and perpetuates bourgeois power and capitalist exploitation, as is demonstrated by the developments,e.g., in Latin America.

The problem is deeper.

There is an attempt to replace the necessity of the socialist revolution with the bourgeois parliamentary road, with the vehicle of the management of “leftwing governments». A mixed economic system with capitalist businesses replaces the socialization of the means of production. The state intervention to regulate the capitalist market replaces central planning.

These positions have nothing to do with remnants of the old (capitalist) system inside the new, socialist economy, or the small commodity production that can continue to exist for a period (and is a force for the maintenance or reemergence of capitalism), but are related to a specific political line that retreats from the laws of socialism-spearheaded by the dangerous position that says that socialism can be constructed with the presence of capitalist businesses and capital, which is an exploitative social relation.

Dear comrades, The Great October Socialist Revolution is a historic milestone, a magnificent creation of the working class, of the class struggle.

The socialism that was constructed in the 20th century, despite the weaknesses, mistakes, opportunist influences and deviations, is characterized

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by the historical achievement of the abolition of the exploitation of man by man, thanks to workers’ power, the socialization of the means of production, central planning and workers’ control, the participation of millions of workers in the construction of the new society.

The major advantages of socialism are to be found in the elimination of unemployment and the planned safeguarding of work for all, in the high level of free education and healthcare, in the development of the people’s culture and sports, in women’s equality, in the coexistence of different nationalities, in the support of the peoples’ struggle against imperialist aggression and wars, the abolition of colonialism and much else besides.

Workers’ power in the Soviet Union and the sacrifices of the Soviet people made their mark on the victory against the fascist axis in the 2nd World War. The historical contribution of socialism to social progress, as well as the study of the real causes that led to its overthrow must motivate the CPs, the communists all over the world in order to raise the level of demands and to decisively answer the forces of anticommunist reaction and opportunism that applauded and supported the counterrevolution, as did forces that later founded the Party of the European Left (PEL) and other similar networks.

sibility played a leading role for the beginning of 99 the International Meetings of Communist and Workers Parties (IMCWP), contributed and contributes to maintaining its character as a meeting place for CPs in opposition to positions that aim at the participation of social-democratic formations which are labeled as being “anti-imperialist”, “left”, “progressive” forces.

Our party has clarified for a long while that what today is helpful is the substantial exchange of views inside the IMCWP, the ideological-political discussion and debate over crucial issues of strategy-tactics, as well as the common activity we can develop for the interests and rights of the working class.

The KKE will devote all its forces in this direction and at the same time will continue together with dozens of other CPs the efforts to coordinate their activity with many forms, in Europe, in the Balkans, in the wider region and will support even further the serious step that has been taken with the formation of the “European Communist Initiative”, where a significant number of Communist and Workers parties of Europe participate and the publication of the journal “International Communist Review” (ICR) which studies contemporary theoretical issues.

The communists believe in the strength of the working class, in the class struggle which is the motor force of social development and the international character of the class struggle requires that we make the greatest possible efforts and to form the bases to acquire programmatic-ideological unity and a unified revolutionary strategy in conflict with capital and the system of exploitation.

The difficulties of our struggle are serious. The bourgeois and opportunist pressure is strong. But the communists are obliged to demonstrate great endurance and determination in the defense of the Marxist-Leninist worldview, to play a leading role every day in the workers’-people’s struggles, in the antimonopoly-anticapitalist struggle, to try to achieve the connection in all conditions between the daily activities and the struggle for revolutionary workers power.

The KKE with a sense of internationalist respon-

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Hungarian Workers’ Party

Dear Comrades, On behalf of the Hungarian Workers’ Party I would like to thank the Communist Party of Vietnam for inviting us to Hanoi.

For us communists it is a great event to be in a socialist country. We wish you great success in realizing the strategy of the 12th Congress of the CP of Vietnam and to persist in Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought, to apply creatively and develop them in conformity with Vietnamese reality; to persist in the goals of national independence and socialism.

The Hungarian Workers’ Party considers socialism a social system where the political power is in the hands of the working masses, where the majority of means of production belongs to the working people and where planning economy exists instead of market economy.

We have our negative experiences how far we can go in applying the methods of capitalism. We always share these negative experience with other parties. But we think that we should be open to any new ideas andeach party should decide itself how to construct socialism.

Comrades, 27 years passed since the disruption of the Soviet Union and other European socialist countries.

Capitalists of the world were convinced that they had liquidated socialism forever and peaceful years of capitalist flourishing would come.

We know it is not the case. Capitalism got in crisis worldwide. Capitalists try to come out of the crisis with different methods.

The US tries to solve the crisis by sustaining the U.S. dollar’s supremacy and the country’s hegemony in military, political and cultural fields. That’s why American capitalism is the source of turmoil in the world.

US interventions are behind unrest and disputes in many places, including the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Ukraine and here, in Asia, the South China Sea.US maneuvers in the Asia-Pacific region are just part of its overseas expansion and interventionist diplomacy to maintain its leading inter-

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national role.

The logical consequence of this US policy is war.

It is what we see in Syria. Instead of stopping the war and recognizing President Assad as the basic guarantee of the independent Syrian state, the US continues supporting terrorist elements and pressing Russia to be involved in the war deeper and deeper.

European capitalism is also in crisis. Some of the capitalist forces try to solve it by establishing stronger cooperation between the American and European monopolies. It is the TTIP and the CETA. Other capitalist forces see the future in a more centralized European Union led by the German and French capital.

The third group of capitalist forces, first of all the Eastern Europeans, dream about a national way and demand much more rights and influence in the European affairs.

“Uneven economic and political development is an absolute law of capitalism.” – Lenin wrote in his article “On the Slogan for a United States of Europe”. The contemporary developments confirm this thesis.

The European Union is in crisis. European capital wants to conquest new markets in order to solve its problems. On this way they get into conflict with the Russian capitalism. They are adapting sanctions and playing with the idea of a general war against Russia.

On the other hand Russian capitalism has been consolidated and as a result Russia wants to take back its lost positions.

The Eastern European countries, the four Visegrad-countries – Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic – are awakening and looking for themselves a new place in the capitalist Europe.

The conflict between the Western European and Eastern European capital was inevitable. The political war around the migration-issue is one of the expressions of this conflict.

We live in fragile situation. We cannot exclude even the most radical changes. Imagine just some possibilities!

What will happen if a war begins in Europe?

What will happen if the EU pushes through its idea on relocation and resettlement of migrants?

What will happen if the TTIP will be not only a distant threat but a close reality?

What will happen if the EU collapses?

What will happen if any other factor radically changes the political situation in Eastern Europe?

We are convinced: the communist movement should be prepared for the moment when class conflicts are strengthened and the fight against capitalism turns into a face-to-face class war.

We should agree on the main point: our aim is not to manage capitalism. Our aim is not to save capitalism but to overthrow capitalism. That’s why we are communists.

We should see the difference between modernization of our policy, language, methods and the reformist reorientation of our movement.We need modernization but we are against reformism.

We should see that reformist ideas and even clear reformism is present in our movement. Fortunately, it is not dominant. We should fight against the wolf in sheep’s clothing to save the ideological-political and organizational independence of the communist parties.

We should save and develop our cooperation.

The fact that we have now our 18th international meeting clearly demonstrates that our movement exists and we want to rise our influence on world affairs.

We recommend to organize special forums to discuss such living issues like party-building, formation of young communists, new methods of Internet work.

Generally speaking, the Internet and IT represent not only a new political instrument but a new direction of our work. We can and should take the lead in putting them into practice.

Comrades, The situation of the Hungarian Workers’ Party has improved in the recent period.

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First, there is a positive change in the public opinion towards our party. The aggressive anticommunist rejection has practically disappeared. People say that we have been fighting for the interests of the working people for 27 years and our commitment to the cause of working people has not changed. It is a very big moral capital.

_______________________________________ 103 _ Ȁ Report on the Activities of the Council of People’s Commissars (24 January 1918); Collected Works, Vol. 26, pp. 459-61.

People allow us to participate in the elections but they do not consider us as the only political force which can change their life. We must be patient, we must work, things will change.

Second, we have learnt how to work under modern circumstances. We have learnt to concentrate and to use in the most efficient way all material and human resources of the party.

Third,we have strengthened the political unity of the party. We go neither with social democrats nor with liberals and social democrats. We follow our own way. We are a left and national party.

Now we are the strongest party outside of the parliament, we want to strengthen this position.

Our aim is to help the trade union movement. In Hungary only 3% of the employees are in the trade unions. There is no revolution without the activation of trade unions.

We defend the national interests of the working masses in a situation when the liberals and social democrats follow the instructions of the US and the EU and the conservatives try to monopolize the representation of the Hungarian nation.

We should explain that it is an illusion to restore sovereignty and independence in the framework of capitalism. It is also an illusion to change the EU into an organization which serves the interest of the people. We can realize the national interests of the working people only by overthrowing capitalism-imperialism.

Comrades, Let me finish with words said by Lenin in 1918: “We shall not achieve socialism without a struggle.

But we are ready to fight, we have started it and we shall finish it.”[1]

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Communist Party of India

Dear Comrades, At the outset let me express our sincere greetings and gratitude to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam for hosting this important international meeting of the Communist and Workers Parties of the world. This is the first time that the international meeting of the Communist and Workers Parties is taking place in a Socialist Country which has a revolutionary history of defeating three imperialist powers to liberate their country. We salute the people of Vietnam for their achievements.

Dear Comrades, When we are meeting in Vietnam the international situation is getting more complex and in this context the theme of our meeting “Capitalist crisis and imperialist Offensive-Strategy and tactics of the Communist and Workers Parties, in struggle for peace, workers’ and people rights, socialism� is very timely and we hope the outcome of this meeting will be very meaningful in our common resolve to fight against the twin attacks of neo-liberal offensive and imperialist aggressions.

Dear comrades, The XXI century entered its second decade with an unprecedented economic crisis that is the specific crisis of finance capital in the very citadel of imperialism, the United States of America, that resulted in deep crises in the national economies of developed and developing countries. India is no exception. The present regime in India also is step by step surrendering to the dictates of International finance capital.

In the wake of disintegration of the erstwhile Soviet Union and collapse of socialist countries in eastern Europe it was proclaimed that history has come to end and the only path of development is capitalist path. They propounded the theory of globalization, privatization, and liberalization.

What actually meant by this mantra was a total freedom for maximization of profits by all means and a license to loot natural resources in any part of the world. As finance capital has neither national character nor grooming in industrial activity, it was bound to be brutal and inhuman in all its endeavours. We witness it in its manipulation

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for pliable regimes by means of war, fratricide, civil war and ethnic and sectarian clashes and ruthless promotion of right wing political forces and dictatorial regimes.

We are witnessing rightward shift in the policies of most of the countries, particularly the member countries of European Union. Rightist forces have ascended to power in most of these countries. The new rightist ruling cliques are taking measures to suppress the rising protest movements against neo-liberalism. In the crisis-ridden countries, the trends of fascism and racism are on rise. Rightist parties in almost all EU countries have adopted racist slogans and hate campaign against migrants as the main electoral plank.

To keep their control on natural resources, USA and its allies are militarily intervening in regions and countries by sparking conflict among neighbours are propping up disruptive movements that lead to civil strife. The nascent Arab Spring movement has been totally thwarted.

Dear Comrades, Capitalism, has been striving hard in vain to convert the entire world into a society where material and spiritual production is governed by the market laws of deriving maximum profits and accumulation of capital. Attempts are consistently being made to turn everything into a commodity, money being the main criterion in the relationships among people.

With such moves, the International Finance Capital has been assigned an enhanced role to exploit and subjugate others for the very survival of capitalism.

Unbridled exploitation of human and natural resources has become the order of the day ignoring the harmful consequences for the life of future generations and for the environment. As finance capital tries to strive and establish its monopoly in all segments of society, it is promoting consumerism and a concept of debt based economy. Debt based economy is the main stay of the finance capital.

As the neo-liberal crisis deepened the whole system has increasingly depending on the ‘Super exploitation� of impoverished workers in the developing countries including India. The exploitation generates massive surplus value for MNC and domestic big businesses. Outsourcing, contractluali-

sation and casualization, which help deployment of cheap labour to maximize profits have grown enormously, and neoliberal capitalism depends upon them for its existence and survival. Neoliberal globalization in practice is imperialism without colonies.

In its bid for monopoly and to overcome the present crisis of finance capital, conflicts, wars, aggressions and rivalry among nations are being promoted. In Middle East, In Iraq, Libya and Syria.

As a result of the direct and indirect intervention of the imperialist powers, these countries are suffering the horror of civil war. Like Al Qaeda, the ISIS was also initially groomed by the American intelligence agencies and that has turned into a monster. It has occupied certain parts of territories in Iraq and Syria. With oil fields under their control, they pose a serious threat to the entire region. Saudi Arabia and Qatar that had actually financed and helped ISIS on behalf of USA are now facing the threat from their own progeny.

In Latin America US and their allies are doing their best to destabilize the elected progressive governments there. The recent developments in Venezuela and Brazil are the example of their aggressions.

In Europe to the atmosphere of Cold War is looming large due to the aggressive policies of NATO and EU towards assertive Russia.

The development in Asia-Pacific region is becoming more complex. Unprecedented imperialist military build-up, plan for building up NATO like alliance in Asia with the increasing presence of US army, the stationing of nuclear weapons in South Korea, the build-up of these forces in South East Asia, the South Pacific, the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, along with this a number of regional conflicts are persistently exacerbating the situation in the region. Present tension between India and Pakistan is one such example.

Another negative development is growing influence of the religious fundamentalist and terrorist groups. The imperialist agencies already have successfully used religious fundamentalism and terror as a tool, to divide the communities on religious

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line and destabilized normal and friendly relations among the countries. The people of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India too are the victim of such policies.

Dear Comrades, History shows that imperialism has always been thriving on arms race which is not a war-deterrent.

It only leads to war. Only a handful of monopolies and war mongers are interested in the arms race. In the capitalist countries, the people constantly demand that military expenditures be reduced and the funds thus released be used to improve the living conditions of the masses. In each country, it is necessary to promote a broad mass movement, against growing threats of war.

At present attempts are being made to isolate the labour, mounting fierce inhuman attacks on the rights of workers, youth, students and women. New stooping lows in exploitation are being created by imperialism to dominate over the nations and exploit natural resources and human labour. Thus while on one hand capitalism has ensured a high level of consumption for a small group of countries, it has consciously created new contradictions between peoples and nations. The contradictions are growing everywhere in the world with the passing of every single day and has been deepening the economic crisis all over.

In today’s world the gulf between the rich and the poor is widening. Working people have been deprived of most of their social, economic and civil rights. As the systemic crisis deepens there is a growing popular indignation and resentment against capitalism and imperialist meddling into the affairs of independent nations. Hence the present-day need is to mobilise the widest possible sections of population including trade unions, workers, peasants, women, youth, students and all other activists who accept an anti-imperialist programme into a single popular front against imperils atrocities, often spearheaded by rightwing forces in developing countries including India.

Dear Comrades, Indian communists and especially the Communist Party of India are in the forefront unleashing mass struggles to defeat the designs of imperialist circles

and their henchmen in our country. The general 107 public and the working masses no doubt have created history in the developing countries including ours to arrest though not fully the accelerated onward march of those anti-people, anti-democratic forces. In our country the ruling clique is using all divisive tactics so that the people’s attention from the real socio-economic issues can be diverted.

Our Party congress has described that the present government as “The new government represents the combination of corporate capital, right wing ideology and rabid form of communalism”.

For the first time, a rightwing communal government with fascistic tendencies has come to power, posing serious threat to the secular-democratic set-up of our country.

The CPI in coordination with other left and democratic forces is conducting the campaigns to counter the ideological offensive of the ruling clique of corporate capital and religious communalism, the party is also engaged in widespread struggles, working class, the peasantry, the rural workers, women, youth and students. On 2nd September, 2016 a countrywide general strike was organized by all the major trade union organisations unitedly. Over 180 million workers, both organized and unorganized took part in the strike.

An essential part of the economic policies of Narendra Modi government is to deprive the working class of all its hard-won trade union rights. The prime minister and finance minister are repeatedly assuring that their government is committed to “industry friendly” and “investment friendly” labour law reforms.

Our universities have become the battle ground of ideological struggle, as the governmental is trying to impose its fascistic ideology there.

All these struggles have opened new vistas for a much bigger alliance of Left and Secular democratic forces in the country.

As the right wing forces devise covert and overt means to win over the masses and thereafter implement their anti-democratic and anti-people hidden agenda, the ideological issues become more significant. A determined offensive on the ideological front needs to be re-launched with

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added vigour against the pernicious influence of reformism making earnest attempts to disseminate among the masses the dynamic laws of social advancement, democratic freedom and scientific socialism.

As has been established by now unchallenged, Marxism-Leninism is a great integral revolutionary doctrine, the lodestar of the working class and working people of the whole world at all stages of their great battle for peace, freedom and a better life, for the establishment of the most just society.

Its great creative, revolutionizing power lies in its unbreakable link with life, in its continuous enrichment through a comprehensive analysis of reality.

It must be noted here the ideology of Marxism-Leninism alone has helped the accomplishment of every success in the socialist countries and by the international Communist, working-class and liberation movements.

With this wish, let me allow once again to express our greetings and gratitude to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam for hosting of the 18th meeting of the Communist and Workers Parties in Hanoi and providing wonderful hospitalities to the delegates.

Long live the fraternal relations of Communist and Workers Parties.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Dear Comrades, I wish to draw your attention to the necessity of joint struggles of the communist and workers parties. Last few years we could organize some joint actions but that is not enough. We have to coordinate more in this regard.

In this context the broadening and strengthening of the international democratic mass organisations like WFTU, WPC, WFDY, WIDF is becoming issue of paramount importance. We do believe that these organisations can play very important role against the twin attacks of neo-liberalism and imperialism.

We can promise that our Party will do its best to strengthen these organisations.

Dear Comrades, Within few days the whole world is going to commemorate the 100 years of Great October Revolution. We believe that the relevance of the great October revolution and its lessons are still valid in 21st Century. This historic occasion in our opinion, will provide us ample opportunity to strengthen our resolve to develop science of Marxism-Leninism for charting the path to Socialism based on specific historical conditions, its history, tradition, culture, social composition and level of development, as well as the particular characteristics and features of our respective countries.

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Communist Party of India [Marxist]

Dear Comrades, On behalf of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) we congratulate the Communist Party of Vietnam for making excellent arrangements for hosting the 18th International Meeting of the Communist and Workers’ Parties, being held for the first time in a socialist country. The victorious anti-colonial struggle of the Vietnamese led by Comrade Ho Chi Minh and the Communist Party of Vietnam is one of the most defining moments in the last century. The Vietnamese struggle had inspired millions to join the anti-imperialist struggle and turn to communism. Ho Chi Minh wrote in the early twenties: “Only in socialism and communism can we find our liberation”.

Inspired by Lenin’s Colonial Thesis and armed with a thorough understanding of Marxism-Leninism, Comrade Ho correctly formulated the strategy and tactics of the anti-colonial struggle.

Lenin, in his Colonial Thesis stated, “In conformity with its fundamental task of combating bourgeois democracy and exposing its falseness and hypocrisy, the Communist Party, as the avowed champion of the proletarian struggle to overthrow the bourgeois yoke, must base its policy, in the national question too, not on abstract and formal principles but, first, on a precise appraisal of the specific historical situation and, primarily, of economic conditions; second, on a clear distinction between the interests of the oppressed classes, of working and exploited people, and the general concept of national interests as a whole, which implies the interests of the ruling class; third, on an equally clear distinction between the oppressed, dependent and subject nations and the oppressing, exploiting and sovereign nations, in order to counter the bourgeois-democratic lies that play down this colonial and financial enslavement of the vast majority of the world’s population by an insignificant minority of the richest and advanced capitalist countries, a feature characteristic of the era of finance capital and imperialism”. It is this Marxist-Leninist underestanding that should guide us in our analysis of our contemporary world situation and help us in formulating our strategies.

As we had been discussing for the past few years, the global capitalist system continues to remain in crisis. The World Bank in its Global Economic

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Prospects Report (June 2016) states that the world’s economy is still struggling to regain momentum. It has downgraded its growth projection of January 2016 by 0.5 points i.e., from 2.9 to 2.4 in July 2016, stating that the global ‘headwinds’ had been consistently underestimated in the recent years. The exuberance displayed by many world powers in declaring that the world is out of recession is also a reflection of this underestimation. In this background, it warns that the balance of risks for the global economy are increasingly tilted towards the downside.

On the other hand, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised concerns over ballooning global debt that has reached 225 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), and warned that it could lead to yet another financial crises.

Two-thirds of it consists of liabilities of the private sector which carry great risks and as the IMF itself states, ‘excessive private debt is a major headwind against the global recovery and a risk to financial stability’. The IMF warns that Deutsche Bank poses the greatest risk to global financial stability as it has a capital level of less than 3 percent, while its risky asset base that boasts notional derivatives exposure of more than $70 trillion, roughly the size of world GDP. Italian banks are sitting on over 360 billion euros in bad loans. Similar is the situation in Greece and in many other countries. All these show that the global economy, under capitalist system is still under turmoil.

What had happened during these years of crisis is that while profits are soaring, peoples’ incomes are falling. The Mckinsey Global Institute has estimated that during the course of the 8 years of present crisis, 81 per cent of the US population are in net income brackets that continued to remain flat or declined. Similar figures for Italy were 97 per cent, for Britain 70 per cent, France 63 per cent and so on.

The 80 wealthiest people in the world, all together own $1.9 trillion, nearly the same amount shared by 3.5 billion people who occupy the bottom half of the world’s income scale. This clearly shows how the wealth is getting concentrated in few hands.

The richest 1 per cent of population controls nearly half of the world’s total wealth, a share that is also increasing. In almost all countries, the mean wealth of the wealthiest 10 per cent of the population is

more than 10 times of the median wealth; for the 111 top one percent, it exceeds 100 times the median wealth in many countries; in the most unequal nations, it can approach 1000 times the median.

Another alarming feature is the increasing power of multinational corporations, which has reached a level ‘never before seen in human history’. According to a recent Report: “Today, of the 100 wealthiest economic entities in the world, 69 are corporations and only 31 countries. This is up from 63 to 37 a year ago. At this rate, within a generation we will be living in a world entirely dominated by giant corporations”. Further, the Report states that MNCs like Shell, Apple, and Walmart earn more revenue than the world’s 180 ‘poorest’ countries, a list that includes Ireland, Greece, Israel, South Africa and Colombia – combined.

Some of the trade agreements that the US wants to push through – the Trans Pacific Partnership pact (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – also showcase finance capital’s preferential treatment to corporates over people.

Finance capital, which is enforcing a cut on social welfare in the name of ‘austerity’ is on the contrary encouraging an increase in the spending on military and defence. Except for the three years between 2011 and 2014, global military expenditure has never seen a fall. Data released by the NATO in July 2016 shows an increase of military expenditures by all the alliance partners put together. The spending by the alliance in 2016 is targeted to reach US $918 up from US $892 billion in 2015. The increased military spending is not only to cater to the needs of the military-industrial complex, but also to use its military arm as a threat to prise open the markets for resources and end products. It is with this objective that US led imperialism is intervening in all the regions of the world – whether it be West Asia, North Africa, Latin America, Asia-Pacific or the Korean Peninsula. These nefarious designs of imperialism should be resisted and fought back by strengthening our struggle for peace and people to people bonds of solidarity and friendship.

Thanks to imperialism and its rapacious plunder of natural resources, we are living in a time of

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‘uncertain destiny of human species’, as Fidel Castro, calls it. A fraction of the monies spent on arms and armaments, if spent on developing sustainable models of alternative energy, the future of the world could have been much more safer. But here again profits are playing a key role in defining the priorities. As communists, we should take an active role in addressing the question of environment and in the survival of human race.

Comrades, Contrary to projections, in India too there is an all round deterioration in people’s livelihood. The economy continues to plunge into a deeper crisis imposing greater burdens on the vast majority of our people. The country’s foreign policy is in shambles and importantly our social fabric is sought to be assiduously torn apart. Notwithstanding the claims of this government of high GDP growth, which is now officially estimated to be 7.1 per cent this year, the ground realities suggest otherwise. That these figures are suspect, is now being confirmed by international agencies. The Financial Times has said that India’s GDP growth rate according to the earlier standard of measurement should be 4.3 per cent instead of what this BJP government is projecting, according to its new measurement criteria, as 7.1 per cent.

The latest figures show that there is a serious crisis that has engulfed the Indian industry. The index of industrial production in July has registered a minus 2.4 per cent growth, the manufacturing sector which is the crucial provider of employment has registered a growth of minus 3.4 per cent. 12 out of the 22 main manufacturing industries have registered an absolute decline in growth.

The agrarian crisis continues to deepen. The real rural wages have been in the negative i.e. fall in absolute terms since October 2015. This happening in the drought year means a greater rural distress.

Peasants suicides are estimated to have gone up by 40 per cent from 5650 in 2014 to 8000 plus in 2015.

Official figures estimate that urban employment in August was 11.24 per cent and rural 9.18. As is well known these estimates are deeply flawed. The burdens on the people through price rise continues to

intensify.

On the other hand, Indian corporates owe banks over a whopping $127,767 millions in terms of the loans that they had taken which are not being paid back. The top ten corporate groups owe $8623 million as of March 2016. The government is now seeking to wave off such loans or to restructure them. Such a huge loan waiver for the corporates is given down when the poor peasant is prosecuted for the meager loan of a few thousands and his property and cattle confiscated. It is this debt burden which is the main cause for growing peasant suicides. The government refuses to provide relief to the victims of this agrarian distress by a loan waiver but is willing to waive loans to the corporates on such a mega scale.

In opposition to this sharp decline in the livelihood standards of the working people in the country and to safeguard the legitimate democratic rights of the working people and against these policies of neo-liberal economic reforms that this government is pursuing, the recent call for general strike given by the central trade unions evoked a widespread response in the country.

Nearly 180 million workers have participated in the strike.

In order to ward off the growing discontent against the economic policies, religious intolerance and hatred are being sown in the society. Attempts are to divide the society on various lines of identity – religion, caste, ethnicity, nationality, etc.

Our Party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is trying hard to expose the designs of the ruling classes and unite the people. Sustained, militant, class and mass struggles against the exploitative economic policies will be the basis on which we are trying to mobilise people on an alternate platform. Together with these, we are taking up the issues concerning education, health, culture and other myriad aspects that are directly under threat from the ruling classes. It is on this basis that we are putting in our best efforts to build a broadbased unity of all the Left and democratic forces.

This unity can be built around a strong Communist Party. Towards this end we are concentrating all our efforts.

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The ruling classes in our country have launched one of the most vicious attacks on our Party to physically and ideologically eliminate it. In Bengal, hundreds of our comrades are murdered, thousands are driven away from their homes and their properties are forcibly confiscated. Rape is used as a political weapon. Even in Kerala, where we are heading the provincial government, there is a planned attempt to murder our comrades and destabilise the government.

stand up to this huge challenge and thwart such 113 attempts of the right-wing forces.

As Comrade Ho Chi Minh had stated: “There is nothing easy, nor anything difficult”. It is our unshakable faith in Marxism-Leninism and an iron will to fight and to win that should guide our struggle for a classless society.

“We have to win for the enemy to be defeated”.

Thank you

Throughout the country authoritarian trends are on the rise and attempts are on to curtail dissent and protest. Labour laws are sought to be amended to favour the corporates. Student rights too are sought to be curtailed in an attempt to depoliticise university campuses. It is in this overall background that the CPI(M) led Left governments in two provinces – Kerala and Tripura – are trying to project and provide an alternative before the people, being aware of all the limitations that the existing State structure imposes.

Comrades, We are aware that resisting the attacks of the ruling classes on the people and building of a strong communist party should go hand in hand. As Comrade Ho Chi Minh had stated, it should be “building while fighting”, all the while “upholding the thorough revolutionary stand of the working class” and “keeping close contact between the Party and the masses”.

Comrades, Ho Chi Minh identified “Capitalism and imperialism” as “very dangerous” enemies that need to be fought and defeated. This is a task that can be performed only by the communists. Of course, neither defeating capitalim nor building socialism is going to be easy. The Great October Socialist Revolution, whose centenary we are going to observe shortly had demonstrated this historical truth.

History teaches us that if we are not up to the task on hand, the right-wing and divisive forces that are always on the prowl will pounce upon the opportunity and divert the growing discontent into sectarian channels. This will cause immeasurable harm to the revolutionary movement and heap further hardships on the shoulders of the working class and common people. As communists, we should

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Tudeh Party of Iran

Dear Comrades The Tudeh Party of Iran would like to take this opportunity to thank the fraternal Communist Party of Vietnam and through them the leadership of the People’s Republic of Vietnam, for facilitating the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all fraternal parties for extending internationalist solidarity with the people of Iran in their complex struggle for peace, democracy and social justice.

The 18th IMCWP is taking place at a very critical juncture in contemporary history. The political developments in all corners of the world, from Latin America to Eastern Europe and the borders of Russia; and from the Middle East to South East Asia, indicate that the global struggle for peace and progress is encountering massive obstacles.

The United States and its allies in Europe are attempting to block and reverse the forward march of the forces of progress and human development and to reinforce the economic and cultural hegemony of imperialism across the globe.

Despite claims to the contrary, the economic and monetary crisis that engulfed the world in 2008 still lingers on. It is a fact that the capitalist system has been unable to find a lasting resolution to this systemic crisis. The impact of the crisis is felt in the very heart of Europe and in Japan. Policy makers in key global capitalist institutions have tried to shift its burden onto the shoulders of workers and of poor and marginalised people. Inequality has become endemic in capitalist countries. Inevitably the danger of instability, terrorism and wars has become more widespread.

Simultaneously, the Middle East is going through a major crisis of war and destruction. The region has been the focus of carefully orchestrated attempts by US-led world imperialism to consolidate its hegemony and to ensure unrivalled control of the flow of oil, the ability to freely plunder the region’s resources and to exploit its markets.

In relation to the Middle East, the US and its allies in Europe and in the region have been able to dictate the course of events there by orchestrating crises, wars and conflict.

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The dispute with the theocratic regime in Iran over its nuclear technology programme and the regime’s direct and covert encouragement of the forces of political Islam in its different manifestations, as well as the exploiting of disputes between neighbouring countries, have been fully utilised by the US and EU and their allies to plunge the region into an unending series of wars and conflicts.

Dear Comrades; US strategy to maintain its hegemonic influence in this oil, gas and mineral rich region during the last decade has been focussed on the promotion and implementation of the “New Middle East Plan”.

At the core of the US administration’s strategy has been the goal of advancing the ‘Project for the New American Century’: “to promote American global leadership”. The implementation of this policy process in the Middle East is being facilitated by a new breed of comprador bourgeoisie, who have come to the fore since the turn of the century by means of the most advanced and destructive forms of social and environmental exploitation, i.e. the fusion of neoliberal economics into a version of ‘political Islam’ that is practically acceptable to the US and its strategic allies.

An example is the theocratic regime in Iran where political Islam is combined with neo-liberal anti working people economic policies. - The repressive theocratic regime provides the coercive force necessary to crush the workers’ movement, trample on human and democratic rights and ban trade union organisations.

Despite massive global Islamophobic propaganda and the real or perceived threat of ‘Islamic Terrorism’, US strategists are unlikely to consider ‘political Islam’ on the whole to be an - major strategic threat.

In fact, on the contrary, both historical and logical analysis has shown a strong, intrinsic economic link between the objectives of imperialism and ‘political Islam’. The strong ties between the US and Saudi Arabia, as the main financial backer of forces such as ISIS in the region, is a good example of this.

In recent years we have witnessed a meticulously planned reorganisation of US military forces in the Middle East. This process has accompanied the careful reconfiguration of US policy towards

“multi-lateral containment”, encompassing the key players of the Middle East – the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and even, to some degree, Israel. The US policy-shift in the Middle East simultaneously counters and supports the regional contradictions in relation to each key player. The US is relying on its hegemonic position in order to exploit the internal tension and contradictions between the aforementioned countries by means of the so-called “carrot and stick” approach to its diplomacy. This has already resulted in even sharper sectarian divisions and setbacks for the forces advocating peace and progress in the region and increased the risk of further military conflict in the region. The situation in Syria is a case in point.

The destructive policies of US imperialism and local reaction has plunged Syria, Iraq and Yemen into the flames of internal strife, terror and foreign interference. Libya has been reduced to a place in which tribal warlords vie for power and Islamic terror rules. These are all the byproducts of the attempt by US-led world imperialism to consolidate its hegemony and to plunder and exploit the region.

The TPI is extremely concerned that the conflict in Syria will develop into a large-scale military conflict enveloping the region. From the outset of the crisis in Syria, we have stated that this conflict has no military solution and hence we have advocated a negotiated settlement in Syria respecting the sovereignty of the country and opposing every manifestation of foreign direct or indirect interference. The TPI has called for the immediate return of all key players in this crisis to negotiation based on the provisions of the UN Charter. There must be no place for any terrorist organization at the table. The future of Syria and its government should be decided freely by the Syrian people and the removal of the Bashar al-Assad government should not be a pre-condition for an end to violence and a lasting peace.

Dear Comrades The economic and social data proves that the ruling dictatorship in Iran serves the interests of the big mercantile and bureaucratic bourgeoisie.

While the facade of the power structure of the

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theocratic regime includes organs of “government” led by the president, a parliament and the judiciary, the reality is that all key instruments of power and decision-making are tightly controlled by the Supreme Religious Leader. The Iranian people have no say in the governance of our country.

The “revolutionary guards”, and their paramilitary wing, the “Basij”, play a significant role in Iran’s economy and this is a major source of internal factional conflicts and competition within the regime’s ruling elites. The “revolutionary guards” leaders report to and are appointed by Ali Khamenei, as the commander of the armed forces.

Iran has been engulfed in a deep and widening socio-economic crisis. The effect of more than two decades of neoliberal-oriented economic restructuring combined with the harsh paralysing sanctions imposed by the US and EU has ruined the economic production system. The sanctions benefitted the “revolutionary guards” leadership, bazaar merchants, speculators and profiteers who have used the situation to quadruple the prices of goods, commodities and smuggled products. This has resulted in the huge concentration of private wealth, mass unemployment and structural poverty. The concentration of private capital in Iran is broadly in the spheres of parasitic and non value-added activities such as finance, importation and property.

It is important to note that, during the past three years, the unique feature of the negotiations between the US and Iran, sanctioned by Iran’s supreme religious leader, has been that the IRI has had to negotiate and compromise from a weak bargaining position. The top level and highly confidential meetings during the past five years between the US and the IRI have covered a wide spectrum of issues beyond Iran’s nuclear industry. The main objective of the IRI negotiators has been to alleviate the deadly pressure of US financial sanctions in order to prevent the collapse of the economy and resultant political crisis and ensure the perpetuation of the ruling theocratic regime. The US, using its strong bargaining position, has been able to force the IRI to accept aspects of the US’ “New Plan for the Middle East.

The process and the speed of the easing of the economic sanctions against Iran post the 5+1 nu-

clear agreement was largely dictated by the US, 117 therefore the US and its imperialist allies have again been able to secure important critical leverage allowing them to dictate the path of the economic restructuring of Iran. This in turn has been and will continue so to strengthen the position of specific sections of the bourgeoisie in Iran that their power, and indeed survival, is directly dependent on deepening economic ties with the global financial capital system.

President Hassan Rouhani and factions supporting him - in particular the influential forces around former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani - are among the important political representatives of the above-mentioned sections of the bourgeoisie which are seeking to strengthen ties with imperialist economic circles.

Iran’s low technology and unproductive economy is wholly reliant on the export of crude oil and import of most goods. Thus the link to the global financial system is vital for Islamic Iran’s economic revival.

The most likely scenario as a condition of the real reduction of economic sanctions by the US is that Iran’s future economic recovery is made to depend on the intensification of neoliberal restructuring and a strong linkage to global financial capitalism.

The Tudeh Party of Iran believes the above mentioned scenario for economic growth and its linkage to US influence in shaping our country’s future balance of power is against our national interests and will lead to the plundering of our country’s human and natural resources. Our analysis shows that the outcome of this scenario will be the perpetuation of the dictatorship and oppression. We have already seen that during the last three years, for the duration of Hassan Rouhani’s presidency, the suppression of the democratic rights of the working people has continued. Iran’s working class is denied the opportunity to organise in order to challenge the neoliberal diktats of global capitalism.

The Tudeh Party of Iran believes that there is an important link between Iran’s internal situation and key developments in the Middle East and especially in respect of how the Islamic Republic of

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Iran is being incorporated into US policy in the region, i.e. the “New Middle East Plan”. This process may not follow a linear path but rather may involve twists and turns, but it is difficult to see how the IRI can escape from being sucked into the vortex of the US new plan for the Middle East which provides the lifeline for the perpetuation of the ruling regime in Iran.

Therefore our party’s overall objectives are interrelated and these can be summarised as: •

Protection of Iran’s national sovereignty,

• Formation of a united front for transition from dictatorship into democracy,

Since the attempt by the clerical regime in Iran to eliminate the party of the Iranian working class thirty years ago, we have rebuilt it into an effective force for progressive change in Iran. The Tudeh Party of Iran today is leading the struggle for a united front of all progressive, national democratic and anti-imperialist forces in the country fighting to achieve the above mentioned goals and traverse the path for fundamental progressive change. In this vital struggle the consistent solidarity of the working class and communist movement internationally has been and will remain crucial.

We are confident that the final victory belongs to the Iranian working people.

• Collaboration with the progressive forces in the region for speedy peace and security.

Dear Comrades; To achieve these goals our party has drawn upon all of its resources in order to mobilise the widest spectrum of popular forces who at present suffer the consequences of the regime’s bankrupt policies.

Even according to official government statistics the economy is stagnant, Iran’s national industry is declining fast, millions of people are living below the regime’s defined poverty line, over 3 million people are unemployed (in some provinces this comprises more than 60% of the population) and there is rampant corruption and growing inflation.

The Tudeh Party of Iran works closely with the movement for progressive and effective reforms in the country and believes that there is a growing consensus that unless all democratic and freedom-loving forces work together we will not be able to push the dictatorial regime into retreat. We are conscious that the best cover for a Party, such as ours, that is banned and working under the most difficult conditions, with membership outlawed and carrying a heavy prison sentence, is to be part of the mass movement and able to influence the direction of the struggle. In short, some of our key analysis and views are reflected in the slogans of the peoples’ movement to end the dictatorship in Iran. That is the strength of the work done by our comrades in the country and in exile and why the Iranian leadership is seriously concerned about the influence of the Party.

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Communist Party of Ireland

Despite the claims of bourgeois sociologists that there is no longer a working class, the working class in fact is growing and now is also globalised.

More nations are proletarianised, more women have joined the workforce - the proletariat more closely resembles the face of humanity than ever before.

The challenge facing the Communist movement is to unite the struggles of the working people and all anti-imperialist forces on a global scale and organise them for the defeat of capital and for socialism.

How are we to challenge this capitalist onslaught?

It is necessary to go beyond reacting to each cut and each outrage: we must go beyond defensive reactions, which leaves the initiative with the capitalist class. Our struggles must be framed within a purposeful strategy of breaking with capitalism.

Imperialism itself has become centralised. Although dominated by the United States, the imperialist core of North America, Europe and Japan are no longer in serious dispute with each other.

They have developed global management tools, such as the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, NATO, the IMF, the OECD, and G8, as a means of ensuring continued imperialist hegemony and managing inter-imperialist rivalry, thereby preventing the possibility of most peripheral economies breaking out of the imperialist orbit.

Even China, with its massive economy, is vulnerable and is under attack through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Capitalism is by its nature polarising and imperialist. Uneven development is one of the laws of capitalism. Many peripheral economies have become partially industrialised , but these economies are subordinated to the interests of the core imperialist economies. The methods of production, componentisation of production, contract production and monopolistic control over distribution and retail networks, in tandem with the huge burdens of increasing national and personal debt, militate against the ability of the peripheral economies to emerge from the shadow of the imperialist centre and become fully capitalist economies in their own right.

The worst excesses of monopoly capitalism are played out in the global periphery. High levels of

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unemployment, greater precariousness in employment, wage reductions, higher and more taxes, the loss of public services, increasing inequality, and massive transfers of wealth from workers to the capitalist class are the main features.

The three interlinked characteristics that define this period of capitalism—neo- liberalism, financialisation and global labour arbitrage — are shaping the 21st-century form of imperialism. Imperialist hegemony is entrenched in the core capitalist economies, while it is extending into regions where it has previously not been as strong. Trade agreements such as NAFTA, CETA, TTP, TTIP and TISA have been designed to copper fasten that hegemony and to further centralise economic and political control in the imperialist core and away from peripheral states.

The secret negotiations by the EU with Canada and the United States on CETA and TTIP will, if ratified, further increase the dependence of individual states on both the EU and TNCs, with the power of national governments to conduct trade deals and to enact legislation being severely curtailed. Under the terms of these proposed treaties, TNCs will be able to sue states through private courts, administered by corporate lawyers. The threat of these courts will curtail any action by governments to improve the lot of their people, including minimum wages, health and safety, the environment, and financial regulation. Indeed the pursuit of profit will formally and legally take precedence over any consideration of the well-being of the people .

Since the 1970s we have witnessed a new international division of labour, seeing corporations move production from high-wage to low-wage economies in order to lower production costs and increase profits. These developments are part of a global neo-liberal programme of accelerated policies, with capitalist states around the world pursuing strategies of deregulation, liberalisation, and privatisation.

The report also shows that the assets held by foreign affiliates of transnational corporations rose from $3.9 trillion in 1990 to $102 trillion in 2014.

Global sales by foreign affiliates of transnationals rose from $4.7 trillion in 1990 to $36.4 trillion in 2014. In 2013 UNCTAD estimated that 80 per cent

of global trade took place between and within 121 transnational corporations, i.e. affiliate companies conducting business with one another within a corporate conglomerate. This is one of the means that TNCs use to dodge tax.

According to a recent report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) there has been a global decline in wage share from 64 per cent in 1980 to 54 per cent in 2008, signifying a huge transfer of money from workers, communities and society at large to the owners of capital. This amounting to the staggering figure of $7 trillion in 2013.

In both cases we see a massive transfer of wealth from the working class to TNCs and the shifting of the tax burden from TNCs onto the shoulders of working people, resulting in the scaling back of socialised public services and their replacement with privatised, commodified services for profit.

In the imperialist core we see declining wages, lower nominal taxes on capital, and lower corporate taxes, again resulting in massive corporate profits. By looking at Apple and at Trans National Corporations (TNCs) in general, we can discern the broader interconnecting trends that are shaping the economics of both the powerful core of imperialist states and the peripheral weaker states.

In the periphery we see the super-exploitation of low-waged workers and the capture of imperial rent by means of financial and structured incentives, and tax-dodging, resulting in massive corporate profits. We have just witnessed, in Ireland, a scandal involving the giant Apple Corporation, who flushed its global profits through an Irish address to avoid paying taxes; this with the connivance and support of the Irish government. These profits were derived from the super-exploitation of the lowest paid workers across the globe.

These important struggles must be used to help working people understand, especially in this Centenary year of the 1916 Rising, that the fight against imperialism is not something belonging to the past, but must be consciously at the heart of their daily struggles.

Working people have been driven into a campaign of mass resistance by the imposition of a

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water tax which they see as a prelude to privatisation. The scale of the resistance from trade unions and especially community groups forced the Government to back down on the collection of this unjust tax. The demand is now for a referendum to enshrine the people’s ownership and control of our water in the Constitution of the State. This, if carried, would be a major obstacle to the plans of the Irish ruling class, the EU and TTIP. The Irish working class too is now beginning to rediscover its fighting traditions after years of kow towing to their class enemies through the process of ‘Social Partnership’ – in fact, class collaboration.

Bus and tram workers have recently won important victories after strike action to restore pay levels and undo pay cuts imposed over the past number of years. Teachers and the police have served notice of industrial action over the next few weeks. It is unprecedented to see the Garda Siochana, the national police force, taking strike action.

Working class resistance has been, in general, slow to assert itself, but now is growing in intensity throughout Europe. In this context, it must be recognised that the Greek working class led the way, putting up a heroic resistance at an earlier stage of this assault. It is the task of the Communist Parties to give ideological clarity and direction to this new militancy.

The decision of the people of Britain to leave the European Union is posing great difficulties for the EU and has caused panic in the Irish ruling class.

Their subservience to the three centres of power in London, Brussels and Washington has them in a state of extreme confusion. Also, the Sinn Féin party, which previously opposed European integration, opportunistically campaigned in the North of Ireland on the “Remain” side, thereby allowing themselves to be co-opted into the strategies of the Irish establishment and the European Union.

The assault on the working class, and the drive to privatise state enterprises, natural resources and social services in the interests of monopoly capital have been conducted by national governments in tandem with the EU institutions. The Irish government and the Irish bourgeoisie, North and South, and the Stormont administration in the North of Ireland are willing partners in this process, happy to

ally themselves with the imperialist powers, the USA and the EU. Yet there are those on the so-called Left, the raggle taggle army of failed social democracy, who believe that the EU can be reformed, that somehow the mirage of a “Social Europe” can still materialise. And this while the EU is increasingly militarised and interfering openly for example in the Ukraine, and whilst the decrepit old imperialist powers of Britain and France try to reassert themselves in Libya and Syria. These social democrats, of the Left and Right vartiety, are still in denial that the EU is anything other than an aggressive, reactionary super state in the making, the reforming of which into a ‘better, fairer capitalism’ would go against the very nature of the beast. As ever, they provide succour to and a fig leaf for imperialism and capitalism.

In fact, they are quite open about their aims; Mogherini said last month ‘Defence is one of the great building blocks to relaunch the process of European integration. Europe was built up in waves: the single market came first, then the currency and the freedom of movement. It is now time to lay the foundations of a common defence’.They seek to ensure that every step in this direction is difficult if not impossible to reverse.

This theme echoes that of a ‘resilient Europe’ put forward in the new global strategy by the EU’s chief diplomat Federica Mogherini. Europe needs to proactively prepare itself for future shocks and threats rather than just reactively respond when they happen. This means a continuation of the “European project” a greater concentration of powers in the centre. This trend is already evident, as shown by supervision of fiscal policy to ensure that national governments comply with the rules and dictates of the EU, by the co-ordination of policing with Europol and by the EU military units.

The centralisers want to advance this process towards an EU fiscal policy, an EU police force, and an EU army.

They want to tighten fiscal and budgetary control which can only mean further undermining any notions of democracy and sovereignty at the national level, taking further powers from individual states and weakening the ability of working peo-

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ple to effect ‘their’ government’s policy. This will be felt even more profoundly in the heavily indebted countries at the periphery of Europe, of which Ireland is one.

The recent EU summit in Bratislava sent a clear signal that working people need to be aware of.

The European Council President Donald Tusk stated that “all of Europe expects that the EU, will again be a guarantee of stability, security and protection – protection in the widest meaning, including social and economic protection.” This is clearly coded language for further and deeper integration and consolidation of power at the centre. Shaken by the vote of the British people in favour of leaving the EU, the response of the major powers, Germany and France, is to accelerate centralisation, further enhancing their power and influence.

est empire the world had seen, sent shock waves 123 throughout the empire ‘on which the sun never set’ (or, as the more cynical have said, ‘on which the blood never dried’). A year later the Bolshevik Revolution broke the chain of imperialism at its weakest link and marked the onset of the general crisis of capitalism.

Comrades, Hanoi, October 2016 Communist Party of Ireland

Now in 2016 the crisis of the system continues to deepen and the various ‘solutions’ imposed by monopoly capitalism serve only to intensify the crisis.

Each alleged solution creates new problems. Quantitative easing was to have been the solution to the banking crisis but, as recent developments around Deutsche Bank and the Italian banks have shown, quantitative easing has boosted share prices but not addressed the economic problems.

Yet within a few short years the crisis of 2007/8 hit and shook capitalism to its core, shattering illusions of endless, crisis-free, growth and development.

The world has changed greatly in that past century: we witnessed the victory of the first socialist revolution, the rise and subsequent defeat of fascism and Japanese militarism, the development of the national liberation movement and the victory of socialist revolutions in Europe, Asia and America. The defeat of socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe has been a huge and bitter defeat for us. According to the apologists for capitalism, this represented ‘the end of history’; capitalism had triumphed and the troubling Spectre of Communism was no more.

This year marks a notable anniversary in the history of our people’s struggle against imperialism, the Centenary of the 1916 Rising in Dublin. In the middle of the first Imperialist World War the Rising, at the heart of what was at that time the great-

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Workers’ Party of Ireland

Dear Comrades, The Workers’ Party of Ireland would like to thank our comrades from the Communist Party of Vietnam for hosting this IMCWP and for providing the facilities in which we can conduct our work. We extend our best wishes and solidarity to the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Lenin made clear that in its struggle for power the proletariat has no other weapon but organisation. Therefore, the task of establishing a revolutionary workers’ party capable of leading the struggle for the emancipation of the working class and the construction of a socialist society remains a fundamental requirementfor parties committed to socialist revolution and the overthrow of capitalism. The need for such a party is essential - to provide a disciplined, ideologically coherent and effective force to promote class struggle and revolutionary change among working people and to secure the transition to a new society. The task of raising and consolidating the level of class consciousness falls to the revolutionary party.

The threat to the social and economic conditions of workers and small farmers across the world and the escalation of imperialist war has sharpened the ideological struggle and provides new conditions for building class consciousness and preparing workers for political action.

Capitalism has been rampant since the counter-revolution removed many of the limitations it had been forced to accept by the existence of the socialist states.The importance of a militant and effective vanguard party of the working class with a coherent ideology and a firm presence within the working class and its organisations remains essential. A revolutionary transformation of society requires a revolutionary party to define clearly where it stands and to set out its political strategy and tactics for a rupture with capitalism.

At its last Ard Fheis (Congress) in 2015 the Workers’ Party of Ireland confirmed its ideological orientation as a Marxist-Leninist party committed to the revolutionary transformation of society, the abolition of capitalism and the building of a Socialist Republic in which power is firmly in the hands of the working class. Without this scientif-

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ic outlook and without a proper understanding of the nature of class struggle a revolutionary strategy is impossible. We have set ourselves a programme of work focussed on building the organisational, administrative and political capabilities of the Party and developing a strategy for better and more effective political and ideological work to enhance its capacity to challenge and contest the centres of power at every level.

The task of socialist revolution is difficult and complex. The central issue of a socialist strategy is, accordingly, to attain the objective and subjective conditions for a revolutionary transformation of society. In order to realise such conditions it is necessary not only to build the vanguard party but to have on board the broad popular masses of the working class, the working people of the country. The leading role of the working class is secured by conscious planned action. In this respect the revolutionary party must be prepared to take the necessary steps to raise and strengthen class consciousness and to build an organisation capable of establishing a society built on workers’ power.

Every class struggle is a political struggle. The negative consequences of an economic crisis for working people do not spontaneously lead to an intensification of class struggle. The development of class consciousness remains a central task of the ideological and political work of the Communist and Workers’ parties.

This year, the Workers’ Party of Ireland has been fully engaged in peoples’ struggles, in the fight against water charges and privatisation; in exposing the outrageous levels of homelessness and the absurdly high cost of accommodation, especially in the capital city, Dublin. In a country filled with empty houses built in a period of frenzied property speculation, so-called “ghost estates” remain unoccupied while thousands of people remain homeless. The intensive work of our Party on the housing crisis in which the Workers’ Party of Ireland has led the way,has brought our Party into conflict not only with the anti-democratic, bureaucratic structures of government and the land speculators and private builders but also with the bourgeois parties and the “new social democrats” who protect their interests. The Workers’ Party of Ireland has used this struggle not only to stand with working people in

their day-to-day struggles but also to expose the true character of opportunism and class collaboration while seeking to heighten class consciousness in working class communities. Our Party has demanded the nationalisation of Ireland’s oil and gas resources and opposed the sell-off of state and semi-state enterprises to private interests.

Our Party has also been active in the struggle for workers’ and trade union rights; against unemployment; for integrated, secular, publically funded education; for properly funded and accessible childcare; against the continued erosion of public health and care services; against racism, sectarianism and violence against women.

Our Party has also been actively engaged in the struggle for peace, participating in the Peace and Neutrality Alliance and the protests at Shannon Airport and taking part in the protests and events against the NATO summit in Warsaw organised by the European Communist Initiative and the World Peace Council.

The WPI in Northern Ireland was activein a campaign for the United Kingdom to exit the European Union from a class and anti-capitalist perspective. Our Party called on workers to vote in the interests of their class, exposing the steady erosion of the sovereignty of peoples as well as the restriction of democratic and trade union freedoms in the EU member states, the reinforcement of the EU as a centralised, militarised, imperialist inter-state alliance which acts in the interests of big capital while pointing out that all EU member states act directly in the interests of their own capitalist class. Our Party underlined the attacks on popular support for Irish neutrality; the assaults on social and economic conditions; the impoverishment of working people and the increased power of the monopolies as evidence of the anti-people political line of the EU and its member states which is further manifested in persistent offensives against labour rights; social protection; public health, education and employment and the provision of public services which have dealt a devastating blow to working people while serving to increase and expand the power of the capitalist class.

Our Party stated its belief that only a rupture with the EU will create the necessary conditions

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for progressive social development while recognising, of course, that withdrawal from the EU will not, of itself, solve the problems of the working class and that the struggle against capitalist exploitation and for the construction of a socialist society is still timely and necessary.

The Workers’ Party of Ireland hasalso been engaged this year in an intense campaign to secure the reproductive rights of women. In neither state in Ireland do women have the right to control their own bodies. Our Party believes that this is fundamental to gender equality, rejecting the paternalism that regards women as second class citizens.

Large numbers of women every year are forced to go to Britain for abortions for which they must pay themselves – and many working class women cannot afford to do so. In the Republic of Ireland, our Party has campaigned actively for the repeal of the 8th Amendment to the Irish Constitution which acts as a prohibition on a woman’s right to choose. In Northern Ireland the Workers’ Party of Ireland has demanded the immediate introduction of legislation to facilitate the right of women to free and safe abortions. For our Party, this demand represents one vitally important part of our wider struggle for secularism in Irish society, to break the stranglehold of religion in political life. It is also provides another opportunity to highlight the inextricable link between gender oppression and the class oppression of capitalism.

During 2016, we also fought elections in both states in Ireland, putting forward the democratic, secular, socialist alternative against the right-wing consensus that governs both states and the false hope offered by the social democrats. We stood on a platform which related the problems facing working people such as unemployment, precarious work, a dramatic decrease in real income, increasing prices for food and the essentials of life, decreasing expenditure on the public provision of health, education, housing, welfare and social services, raised retirement ages, attacks on pensions, increased levels of poverty, homelessness and emigration to the inevitable consequence of the capitalist system of exploitation.

It is an essential prerequisite of a political strategy to determine a path for revolutionary change. Lenin called upon communist parties to focus their atten-

tion and forces on the “search after forms of the 127 transition or the approach to the proletarian revolution”. (Collected Works, Vol 31 p 92) A communist party must have a revolutionary programme for change. This programme must have as its goal the establishment of workers’ power, the abolition of the capitalist mode of production and the construction of socialism. The Party must rally the majority of the working class and inculcate within them the need for revolutionary change and organise the working class in a sense of anti-capitalist consciousness. The existence of a working class is not sufficient, it must be formed into a revolutionary force.

It is necessary to clearly and unequivocally express the position that real and fundamental change requires a break with capitalism in which workers are exploited and abused – a revolutionary transformation to create a world which maximises human potential, dignity and development rather than a system driven by the relentless pursuit of profit for the benefit of the few.

It is within this framework that progressive demands can be articulated - demands which, for example, include permanent and stable work for all, with full social insurance, working and wage protection, full occupational, health and safety measures and full trade union rights; social protection for the sick, disabled, pensioners and the unemployed; the satisfaction of health, education, welfare and housing needs; democratic rights and trade union freedoms; an end to privatisation of public assets; environmental protection etc.,exposing the class nature of society; raising class consciousness, encouraging workers to develop a sense of their power as a class, underlining and emphasising the nature and basis of class struggle, facilitating the organisation of mass campaigns while simultaneously demanding measures to improve conditions for working people and articulating in a concrete and understandable way that only socialism is the alternative.

2016 marks the centenary of the 1916 Rising, when the men and women of Ireland’s democratic and progressive forces, including the socialist Irish Citizen Army led by James Connolly, struck a blow against the imperialist First World War and

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for the neutrality and independence of Ireland. The revolutionaries of 1916 remain an important source of inspiration for our Party. This year the Workers’ Party of Ireland publishes a major new analysis of the 1916 Rising and its meaning today. Our Party has also published a new edition of Connolly’s classic Marxist analysis, Labour in Irish History (1910), which applied a systematic Marxist approach to Irish politics and society for the first time.

We are fast approaching an important anniversary for the communist and workers’ parties. Next year we celebrate the Great October Socialist Revolution which transferred power to the working class, broke down the machinery of the bourgeois state, established the world’s first workers’ state and set in train a revolutionary political experience the impact of which was felt across the world. There are many lessons to be learned.

Political struggle is impossible without an ideological struggle. This requires the communist and workers’ parties tocombat anti-communism, expose opportunism and reformism, defend the achievements of the historical attempts to build socialism and the historical experience of the international communist movement and to implement the principles of socialist internationalism and solidarity in our dayto-day work. It is our duty to contest the prevailing ascendancy of bourgeois ideology at all levels of political, economic, social and cultural life and to stand in solidarity with and assist those communists who are suffering the onslaught of anti-communist aggression across the world.

We live in a time of increasing aggression and war by the imperialist powers. In Syria, for example, the machinations of imperialism has brought war and terror to Syria and beyond. Today Syria is exposed to a humanitarian catastrophe. As a consequence of this war millions of Syrian citizens have fled their homes and have become internally displaced refugees in neighbouring countries living in miserable conditions requiring food, shelter and medicine. The vital infrastructure of the Syrian state and its cultural heritage are being destroyed. Death, suffering and destruction is on a massive scale. It is imperialism which has led to the devastation of Syria and which threatens further and widening conflict in the region. We extend our comradely solidarity to the Syrian communists recognising the very difficult conditions in which they have to operate. We demand respect for the territorial integrity of Syria and for a solution which secures lasting peace for the people of Syria, in a secular state free from sectarianism and terror where the working people of Syria can conduct their own struggle for the construction of a socialist society.

The question of strategy and tactics is not incidental to our struggle. It is a central question.

We are engaged in an historic mission to put an end to the domination of private ownership and exploitation, to the end of the capitalism system and the construction of a socialist society.

It was Lenin who demonstrated that the strategy and tactics of every communist party should take into account the experience gained by the revolutionary movement in its own country and elsewhere. Proletarian internationalism remains a vital constituent of the work of the international communist movement and working class. Internationalism is an inseparable and unique characteristic of the revolutionary struggle and a fundamental concern of the communist and workers’ parties whose object is to transform the world. Of course, at a time of systemic capitalist crises and increasing imperialist offensives, proletarian internationalism assumes ever greater importance for the communist and workers parties. Solidarity and co-operation remain at the centre of our internationalism.

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Iraqi Communist Party

Dear Comrades, I convey to you the wholehearted greetings of Iraqi Communists, and their best wishes for the success of the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties, so as to contribute to developing the role of our movement in building a global front against neo-liberal globalisation and imperialism, for peace, democracy, social progress and socialism.

We express our thanks to the fraternal Communist Party of Vietnam for hosting this International Meeting, which will also provide an opportunity for strengthening the relations between Communist and Workers’ parties, exchanging views and analyses, determining the tasks facing our movement, and developing initiatives for joint action.

We also seize this opportunity to express, from this international forum, our gratitude for the international solidarity extended to our Iraqi people, democratic forces and Communist Party in the ongoing struggle against sectarian politics and anti-democratic policies, to defeat terrorism, reactionary forces and external interference undermining national unity, and to build an independent and unified democratic and federal Iraq.

On this occasion, we thank all fraternal parties that sent messages of solidarity with the Iraqi people and our party, strongly condemning the barbaric bombing carried out by terrorist Daesh (the so-called ISIS) in the Karradah district in Baghdad on 3rd July 2016, in which 300 innocent civilians, mostly youths, were killed, including 4 young party members and several of its supporters.

Dear Comrades, Our International Meeting is taking place in a world climate that is still suffering the consequences of the deep crisis of globalized capitalism, and the vicious onslaught by the ruling classes, posing enormous challenges to the working class and peoples all over the world. This situation has fuelled tensions and contributed to increased aggressive tendencies of imperialist states; instigating conflicts and wars in many areas around the world, including the Middle East. It has produced a fertile ground for the growth of extremist right-wing, fascist and ultra-reactionary terrorist

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movements, gravely threatening world peace.

The united action of progressive forces on the international level will contribute to the fight against fascism, racism, neo-liberalism, capitalist exploitation and imperialist schemes, as well as promoting socialist ideas and goals. This is closely interconnected with strengthening international solidarity against the warmongering policies of imperialism, and the need to provide genuine support for the ongoing struggles all over the world for peace, freedom, democracy and social progress.

Dear Comrades, The Middle region and its countries are going through difficult and complex conditions, while extremist reactionary and terrorist forces intensify their onslaught, serving imperialist schemes and anti-people agendas. This grave threat must be combated on all levels, employing broader options; political, economic, social, cultural and media, and not to be confined to violent means.

Communist, Left and democratic parties should contribute in an effective way to this crucial battle, because a triumphant outcome will open up better prospects for our peoples and their development and prosperity.

The battle raging on this front actually goes hand in hand with all the political and mass struggles against undemocratic and dictatorial regimes, aimed at establishing truly democratic regimes in the region that would guarantee freedom and progress. This is a fundamental condition for mobilising the peoples’ potential to confront imperialism’s schemes of hegemony, destabilization and fragmentation aimed at restructuring the Middle East to serve its interests.

The continuation of senseless wars and conflicts in several countries in the region inflicts enormous losses on their peoples’ peaceful and normal life, and causes grave human and material losses, squandering what the peoples had built in their long march. It is time that these destructive wars are ended, resorting to sensible and peaceful solutions that halt the destruction and bloodletting.

This is what should take place immediately in Syria, Yemen and Libya, in order to allow the peoples of these countries to choose systems of government

in accordance with their own free will, away from 131 violence, terrorism, and suppression of freedoms.

We express our full support and solidarity with the Syrian people for ending the war, confronting terrorism, rejecting external interference in their internal affairs, restoring security and stability and opening up the path of democratic change.

Seven decades have also clearly pointed out that it is difficult to ensure security and stability in the region without fulfilling the rights of the Palestinian people, ending the historic injustice they have suffered and enabling them to establish their own independent national state in their homeland.

Confronting imperialist schemes of hegemony and control, defeating terrorism and achieving the aspirations of the peoples of the Middle East for freedom, democracy and social justice, require further developing exchanges, coordination and cooperation among various patriotic, democratic, Left and communist parties. This is indispensable for standing up to the challenges, changing the balance of forces, undertaking radical changes that serve the interests of their peoples, and opening up the path of desired democratic change with a socialist horizon.

Dear Comrades, Ten days ago, the Iraqi armed forces began the battle for liberating the province of Ninevah and the city of Mosul from terrorist Daesh. As this battle continues, Iraq is facing enormous challenges.

It has also provided a unique opportunity for national unity and solidarity against terrorism, cutting across sectarian and ethnic divisions. Our party has called for giving this patriotic and national battle top priority. All the efforts must focus on defeating Daesh and restoring normal life to liberated areas, ensuring respect for human rights and rejecting any attempt to divert attention from this task. The lessons drawn from the fight against Daesh have clearly shown that a military victory does not mean a final defeat over terrorism. This requires a host of measures on security, social, economic and cultural levels, in addition to combating corruption and achieving societal reconciliation. Only this would ensure drying up the sources of terrorism and prevents the recurrence of Daesh under new titles and forms.

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Furthermore, all regional and international powers must respect Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and refrain from interfering in its internal affairs.

Any assistance and support in the battle against Daesh and terrorism must be provided through the Iraqi government. It is therefore totally unacceptable that Iraq’s current difficult circumstances are exploited to impose certain agendas and plans that are against the country’s interests, people and unity. Accordingly, Turkey’s continuing refusal to end its military incursion into Iraq and to withdraw its forces, as well as the recent statements of its leaders hinting at further intervention, have been strongly condemned. They constitute a blatant interference in the affairs of our country and a violation of good-neighbourly relations.

Dear Comrades The Iraqi Communist Party, which is preparing to hold its 10th National Congress soon, is an active participant in the ongoing mass protest movement, that has been continuing every Friday for the past 15 months, since 31st July 2015, in Baghdad and other provinces against corruption and sectarian politics. This popular protest movement is a vital force in the struggle against the sectarian-ethnic quota system and sectarian politics, and to build a democratic civil state and social justice in a free unified federal democratic Iraq.

in the balance of forces to achieve the civil democratic alternative.

In this difficult struggle and current complex conditions, we look forward to wider support and international solidarity with the Iraqi people and their democratic forces, including our Communist Party, in the fight to defeat terrorism and sectarianism, achieve societal reconciliation and national unity, and build a civil democratic state based on social justice.

Dear Comrades, Once again, we thank our Vietnamese comrades for hosting this International Meeting and for their efforts to ensure its success. The Iraqi Communist Party reaffirms its determination to continue its efforts to strengthen internationalist ties and relations with fraternal Communist and Workers’ parties, and with all peace loving, progressive and democratic movements in the world, in the joint struggle for freedom, democracy, social progress, and socialism.

Long live International Solidarity!

Several attempts by the authorities in recent months to intimidate, sabotage and suppress the protest movement, including the use of live ammunition, the killing of peaceful protesters, detentions and “disappearance” of a number of civil activists, the protest movement has adhered to its the peaceful and civilized character. It has not been deflected from its main demands against corruption and sectarian politics. The protest movement has shaken the foundations of the sectarian-ethnic power-sharing system that was installed by the U.S. occupation authorities after the war in 2003. But putting an end to this system is a big challenge. The very limited reforms introduced by the Iraqi prime minister have not even touched the essence of the deep political crisis engulfing the country. Our party firmly believes that the legitimate demands of the people for real political reform and change can only be achieved through developing and intensifying popular pressure, in order to bring about a change

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Communist Party of Israel

Dear comrades, First, allow me to express the deepest gratitude to our comrades in the Communist Party of Vietnam, on behalf of the Central Committee of our party and all of its cadres, for organizing this important and much needed meeting. We also wish for more accomplishments for your party and for the great Vietnamese people.

Dear comrades, We come to you amidst deep and important global changes since we are witnessing the end of the single-polar era that draws events and imposes it on an international level. A new axis is forming with Russia and China at its center. There is also the accordance of boorish colonization and Arab reactionary which is currently ruining the Arab world, especially Syria; Yemen; Libya; Iraq and other countries in order to strengthen the modern colonization in the region and to exploit its energy resources.

We come to this meeting from countries most loyal to colonization and imperialism, countries that have recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement between Israel and USA for a period of five years. In fact, this is a military settlement which guarantees Israel’s military and economic superiority in the Middle East. The agreement does not include any stipulation on behalf of the US government regarding the advancement of the Peace process with the Palestinian people.

We come to this meeting from Israel, the only remaining country in the world occupying another people, denying it from its primary and essential right of freedom and independence. This coming year we commemorate 50 years of Israeli occupation over Arab lands in the West Bank and the Syrian Golan.

Israel practices the most brutal and ugly oppression through confiscation of Palestinian land and the building of settlements, while disregarding all international treaties in order to abolish the Palestinian right of independence.

The daily oppression; killing; occupation and death sentences for Palestinian youth in the streets of Jerusalem, Hebron and others; the re-

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peated assaults on Islamic and Christian sanctities are criminal acts that should be brought to justice before the International Law. These acts show Israel’s insistence on continuing its abhorrent occupation of Palestinian Lands while not providing the two peoples with a peaceful solution for this crisis.

The solution proposed by our party remains the most practical and applicable solution, despite the settlements; the killing; the Apartheid Wall; the political, social and economic persecution of the Palestinian people; and the theft of resources such as water and land. This solution is the “Two States” solution according to the borders drawn on June 4th, 1967, with Eastern Jerusalem as the Palestinian Capital, and a just solution for the refugees according to the resolutions of International Law. The attempts of the occupation’s government and its Prime Minister, the radical right wing, Benyamin Netanyahu to annihilate the Palestinian dream will ultimately fail, as the people will continue their national struggle for freedom and independence.

An occupying nation can never be free itself, the extension of the occupation led to the aggravation of the moral and political crisis in the Israeli society as a cause of the increase in the racist and fascist developments against other minorities living in Israel, not only the Palestinian minority, but towards Ethiopian Jews; foreign immigrants and others.

The perpetuation of racist policy against the Palestinian people and the Palestinian population citizens of Israel will lead to a public congestion that will ultimately explode. This policy extends to all areas of life for the Palestinians in Israel, the educational system; infrastructure; hamper of construction permits for Arab cities and villages; and the absence of industrial areas providing job opportunities. This is a showcase of the racist policy approach as a part of the Zionist mentality of the Israeli rulers.

The fascist right-winged lash in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel draws its legitimacy from the official acts of the Israeli government represented by its ministers and Prime Minister that do not hesitate in inciting against the State’s Arab citizens.

The racist statements made by the government leads to fascist assaults against the Palestinian

people, the including those citizens of Israel, and 135 the progressive Jewish groups supporters of real peace. The most recent of these statements is the one made against the General Director of B’tselem organization, so allow us to greet all the conscientious objectors who refuse to be a part of Palestinian blood shedding and pay the price for this stance in military detention.

In our party, we remain obliged to our internationalist values since we view this is the right way for both peoples and we make sure that our unity is built on common work and clear resistance principles.

The Zionist movement, represented by the ruling parties, attempts to remove Israel from the historical continuum, as if the class struggle does not apply to the Israeli society since it is a unified society facing one fatal destiny. Yet, this is a lie refuted by a reality where the unemployment reaches 5.5%, and is up to 25% amongst the Arab citizens. One million and 700 thousand people in Israel live in poverty, 60% of which are Arab children and 50% are of Arab families.

The Israeli economy is controlled by ten families who dominate all walks of life. This is why our key principle goal of our class struggle today, is to raise awareness amongst the working class and Israeli society regarding the basic link between the daily struggle for bread and social justice, and the fight for a just peace, the end of the occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. This link is not an easy one to draw, not only because of the right wing government-politically and socio-economically- headed by Netanyahu, but also because of the loiter of the opposition parties represented by Hertzug. We have witnessed this through the Israeli aggression on Gaza 2 years ago, and earlier when hundreds of thousands protestors’ struggle for social justice and against the high cost of living was dismissed in the streets of Tel-Aviv. We are also witnessing this through the current Palestinian Intifada, and the frightful racist mood in the Israeli public and in workplaces.

We also work within the Israeli work unions for strengthening the link between politics, economy and social justice. Based on a minimal program

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consisting of: 1.

Unifying the working class and all others affected against the policy of the right-winged government; its catastrophic occupying policy and its devastating blows against weakened groups. This is in order to fight against privatization; contract jobs; private agreements and against the continuing discrimination against weakened communities, especially the Palestinian workers.

2. Strengthening the professional unions as a social movement with the power to influence a social change, bridge the gaps and protect workers’ rights.

3.

Protecting Palestinian workers’ rights in Israel. Their official number is 45,000 workers, yet their unofficial number is over 80 thousand.

4.

Protecting the rights of foreign workers, especially from china; Thailand; The Philippians and Sudan. There are around 12,000 workers and a state document declares additional 20,000 workers from china (to replace the Palestinian labor).

5.

Fighting unemployment and poverty. These have a national character, since the unemployment percentage amongst the Arab citizens is five times higher than the Jewish society. Poverty consists 55% of Arab families (13% Jewish families).

6.

Union organization: entrusting in the union struggle. Only 30% of the labor force in Israel is organized in unions.

7.

Fighting against the national and racist separation between workers as a result of political opinions.

We are facing an apartheid government and the working class – especially the Palestinian-Arab workers- is the biggest victim.

Greetings to the communist movement and its parties Greetings to the Communist Party of Vietnamand the Brave Vietnamese people

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Lao People’s Revolutionary Party

Dear Comrade Chairman, Distinguished delegates, guests,

First of all, let me convey to all of you the fraternal greetings from the Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party.

Today, it is a great honor and pleasure for me to lead a delegation of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party to attend the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP-18) under the theme: “Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive - Strategy and tactics of the Communist and Workers’ Parties in the struggle for peace, workers’ and peoples’ rights, socialism” which being held in Hanoi, a beautiful capital of Vietnam.

This is a good opportunity for us to discuss main issues of international political life.

On this occasion, I highly appreciate the Communist Party of Vietnam for its warm welcome and excellent preparation for this meeting.

Dear Comrades, Recently, the international situation has been changed quickly and complicatedly: There are many conflicts in different regions, refugee crisis due to the war in the Middle East, terrorist activities of ISIS, relationship between Russia and Western countries etc… that directly impact on the development of our respective countries, as well as impact on the activities of our Communist and Worker’s Parties.

In such situation, the Communist and Worker’s Parties in the world have never given up their struggle for peace, for workers’ rights and for the future of socialism. We highly value those activities of the Communist and Worker’s Parties in the world that have done a lot for their activities, improving their role in their respective countries, participating in the Governments through elections, motivating the people’s demonstrations, protecting the rights of the working class, solving social problems and improving the workers’ living standard, etc…

In the socialist countries, the Communist and Worker’s Parties are leading their peoples to de-

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velop the economy, improving their people’s living standard, paying an important attention to solve social and cultural problems, ensuring all the people’s rights, gender equality in accordance with the country’s laws and the reality. By doing so, the peoples have the trust in the Communist Parties’ leadership and the countries’ development towards socialism.

Dear Comrades, The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party is the ruling party since 1975, after several decades of its leadership in struggle for its independence. Now, the Party is leading its people for social - economic development, paying attention to maintain the political stability, ensuring national defense, security, social order, sovereignty and territorial integrity, enhancing its national solidarity and unity for construction of a strong, harmonious society, of wellbeing of the people, justice and civilization.

In January 2016, our Party held the 10th Congress, attended by 685 delegates, representing more than 268,000 Party members nationwide. The Congress has assessed the achievements for the last 5 years of implementing the 9th Congress’ resolution; its economic growth has been continuously increased by 7.9% per year, per capital income of the people continuously increased, only 6.59% of households are still poor throughout the country. The Congress had set out the guideline for 5-year period by focusing on graduating the country from least developed status by 2020, basically eradicating the people’s poverty, setting out the development strategy up to 2025 and the vision till 2030. The Congress had elected 77 Central members.

ways; maintaining the solid local political system 139 by carrying out 3-build policy in order to develop the rural areas comprehensively.

Dear Comrades, As we are aware that the world situation is complicated, and the capitalist, imperialist forces have not given up their conspiracy to sabotage, destroying the progressive forces, therefore, it’s time for the Communist and Worker’s Parties to cooperate in the struggle for our people’s benefits, to combat capitalist offensive by continuing to exchange our experiences and information, in theoretical and practical exchanges of views and also the experiences of our countries’ development, finding the appropriate forms of mobilization of the working class to participate in the struggle against the capitalist offensive; the most important tasks for us now, it is to consolidate the unity of the Communist and Worker’s Parties, in the socialist countries as well as in the other countries of the world. By doing so, we can have enough strength to struggle for peace and for the workers’ rights, for socialism which it is the future of our humankind.

Once again, I appreciate the Communist Party of Vietnam for its excellent organization of this important meeting and may I wish the meeting a great success.

Thank you very much for your attention.

In March 2016, the Lao PDR had held the National Assembly Elections and among 149 were elected, there were 41 women, equivalent of 27,5% of the total members of the National Assembly. In April, the first session of the 8th National Assembly was held and adopted new leadership of the Lao PDR. Now, our Party’s focus is on the implementation of the 8th five-year National Economic - Social Development Plan till 2020. The main goal is graduating the country from least developed status by 2020, paying an attention on economic development through industrialized, modernized and sustainable

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Lebanese Communist Party

First, we at the Lebanese Communist party ex141 tend our gratitude to the Communist Party of Vietnam for their gracious hospitality and indefatigable efforts at organizing the 18th international meeting that comes at a very crucial juncture in world history and the history of our movement marked by the theme of the conference: capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive that are with no uncertainty intertwined.

Comrades, Anyone who lived and struggled in the aftermath of the end of the socialism in the USSR and other actually existing socialisms, knows the extent of difficulties that presented themselves on all fronts: theoretical, political and for many ruling communist parties economic. These difficulties seemed at the time insurmountable. However, today we live in a different world in which the deepening crisis of capitalism, the severestsincetheGreatDepression in 1929, which started in 2008 raised the question that was for a long time forgotten “Is there a future for capitalism?”

For many, this crisis seemed like all others and for long time predicted. However, predicting capitalist crises all the time is no prediction at all and this is the pitfall of some Marxist analysis that sees capitalist crisis around every corner. But only in understanding the specific nature and causes of this crisis, would allow us to discern the opportunities it presents.

The crisis this time is real not only as a manifestation of or a phase in the business cycle or a manifestation of the long run tendency of the rate of profit to fall, but also in the emergence of a long term crisis of capitalism. First, this crisis manifests itself in the exhaustion of the “Keynesian solution” as mounting public debts and overextendedbalance sheets of central banks and the barrier of zero-interest rates haunt capitalist policymakers and paralyze the tools for “saving capitalism” from the secular stagnation it faces now and from any foreseeable financial crisis in the future.

Second, capitalism faces a more sinister enemy in the development of productive forces that are accelerating at an unprecedented pace namely: robotization and artificial intelligence.

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Comrades, We live today in what was called “The second machine age” marked by the substitution of labor by intelligent machines. Marx was the first economist that codified the phenomenon of “technological replacement” driven by capitalist competition. The first wave of such replacement, that wiped out unskilled jobs, was absorbed by capitalism through different measures from state intervention to geographical expansion. However, the second wave that started now and will continue in the future substituting skilled labor will eliminate half of the skilled jobs in the next 20 years and will generate very high structuralunemployment in the next few decades as predicted by prominent non-Marxist economists and technologists.

Marx in the “fragments on machines” in the Grundrisse foresaw such development where large scale industry and science and technology become the creators of wealth and labor is marginalized. In this state of capitalist development, the contradictions between the forces of production and the relations of production reach their peak. Questions like “Where will consumption come from as workers lose theirincomes at such a fast pace?” will haunt the capitalist order. Solutions like the basic income scheme that is being discussed today in many countries will not suffice.

Only in the transition to socialism will such contradictions get resolved.

In this context, we witness the intensification of imperialist offensives around the globe. In Latin America, fostering right wing onslaught on progressive left wing governments; in the Middle East where the imperialist intervention reached its peak with the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent strife across the Arab world engendering sectarian/ethnic divisions and the spawning of political criminal organizations such the IS and Qaeda-inspired movements; in Europe where the offensive reached its peak in the troika-led assault on the people of Greece and in austerity imposed on European working classes in addition to the rise of neo-fascism; in Eastern Europe and the Ukraine where NATO militarism abounds; in East Sea/South Sea where high seas US militarism and dreams of “Gunboat diplomacy” threaten regional peace and prosperity.

Comrades, We live in “The wasteland of capitalism” and the tasks for the international communist and workers parties are legion. On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, we will surely celebrate next year in Russia and around the world but more importantly we need to develop political and economic programmes that take into account the objective material conditions presenting themselves to our, should be alerted, Marxist minds. We should abandon all forms of dogmatism and learn from the errors of the past great project of building socialism in the USSR and not cover them under any vague apologistic cloak or mantle.

Comrades, An international communist movement and not some vague intellectual leftist movement must present itself as a political and intellectual force in the face of the right wing and religious fundamentalism and reaction that have rushed, sometimes manufactured, to inherit voids left by the failure of the neoliberal capitalist project.

We in the LCP are closely following with high interest the different paths towards socialism undertaken by many countries. The paths currently undertaken, with all their great achievements, in addition to their inherent risks and pitfalls, represent differences within unity; a unity towards the achievement of socialism which will replacecapitalismwhether it will end in a bang or a whimper.

Such unity of objectives must reflect itself in open, equal and fraternal relations between communist and workers parties in the world. This meeting must be strengthened by making it more flexible, more effective, and further institutionalized. In such a task, the ruling communist parties and communist centres of gravity bear special responsibility; in addition to all of us.

We promise that the LCP will devote whatever it can devote towards the achievement of this crucial task.

Long live the communist and workers parties Long live socialism

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Communist Party of Nepal [UML]

It is my great pleasure to address this International Meeting of the Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP) hosted by the Communist Party of Vietnam in the historic capital city of Hanoi.

Here I recall the participation of our party in series of these annual conferences and I myself was there during the conferences in Brazil and Lebanon and this is my third personal attendance.

Today, we feel honored to have a meeting of communist and workers parties of the world in the capital city of the heroic socialist country of Vietnam for the first time in its history.The communist parties and the working class of the world take great pride on the progress made by Vietnam in the present day and her glorious past.

At the outset, on behalf of the Nepalese people, our party and on my personal behalf, I would like to pay deep respects to late founding leader of Vietnam President Ho Chi Minh. The current leadership of the Vietnamese party has built on very well on the foundation laid down by the earlier generation of communist leaders.

I am very glad to know that the 4th plenary session of 12 Central committee of the Vietnamese communist Party was recently concluded successfully. Besides reviewing the process of current rapid economic growth rate, the Party had paid attention to the socio-economic situation and international economic integration. My party and myself are fully confident that under the able political leadership of the Vietnamese party, the country will make further progress on economical, social and cultural field and will also be active on the international arena.

Let me now start with some introductory notes.

Nepal is renowned in the world as a strategically located country between China and India. But more important than this fact is its long independent history of almost 5,000 years and it is one of few countries in Asia which is never subjugated by any colonial and imperial powers. As the birthplace of Buddha, Nepal was also able to lend the early ideas of egalitarianism in the form of Buddhism to Asia via countries like China, Korea and Vietnam.

Introduction of our Party CPN(UML)

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The communist Party of Nepal was established in 1949. But due to legal ban imposed on political parties, it has to operate underground from 1960 to 1990. During this period, the party was split and unified several times. During 1970s, efforts were made to unite all small revolutionary groups into a coordination centre which later was established as CPN(ML) in 1978. While the party strengthened its underground organisation, it also started to participate in legal local elections and later in the Panchayat national legislature under a group called People-oriented group.

In the late 1980s, the left forces of Nepal led by the Party joined hands with the Nepali congress party representing the liberal democratic forces to form an alliance against the autocratic rule of the King.

The first people’s movement was crowned with success due to the unity of the people and unpopularity of the Panchayat regime. So the king was forced to reach an agreement with the agitating alliance of Parties and there was a historic change in 1990.

Multi-party democracy was restored in the country after 30 years.

As a result of People’s Movement of 1990, a new interim Coalition government was formed comprising of Nepali congress and CPN(ML). In January 1991, the party was unified with several other left groups including the Marxist Communist Party and the Party was renamed as CPN(UML). The coalition government was able to promulgate a new democratic constitution of the country in 1991 and also held a fresh election. The result of election brought two major parties in the forefront. They were the congress and CPN(UML). The latter sat as the main opposition party in the parliament.

The first parliament was dissolved before its full tenure and a mid-term poll was held in 1994. The CPN(UML) emerged as the largest party of the country but not with clear majority. Still, the first communist government of the country was formed under the leadership of the party chairman Com. Manmohan Adhikari. This event was rare in the history that even under the old state structure, a communist party was able to be the largest party in parliamentary election and was able to form a communist communist government.

The government lasted for 9 months. But this first

communist government in Nepal left a historical 145 landmark for the establishment of a welfare state in the country. For the first time in history, the central funds were directly delivered to village level governing body under the program of Build our village ourselves (BOVO). All senior citizens, widows and disabled persons were paid a monthly stipend and workers were given such legal rights as building unions and equal pay for equal work. The unique programs of this government was carried on by other subsequent governments of Nepal. In the nationwide election for local authorities held in 1997, the party won majority in 75 percent of districts, 60 percent of municipalities and 51 percent at the village level, proving our party’s grasp at the grassroots level of the country’s masses.

The party also participated as a partner of some of the coalition governments formed later but none of them lasted full term. On 1st February 2005, the King of Nepal staged a coup and dissolved the parliament and took over as absolute monarch. The political parties got united against this action. The CPN(UML) played the main role in bringing the then insurgent political group of Maoists into the peace process and the legal fold.

A joint peoples movement was launched and it had the final thrust in April 2006, which is famously called as the Spring Revolution. It resulted in the complete end of monarchy by the restored parliament in 2006. In the election for a Constituent Assembly(CA) held in 2008, the Maoists came as the largest party followed by the Congress and CPN(UML). In this election, various left parties won 62 percent of parliamentary seats and 55 percent of popular votes.

But the CA could not draft a constitution till 2013 and a new election was held in November 2013 which brought Congress and CPN(UML) as two major parties commanding nearly two-third majority in the CA. They formed a coalition government. Maoists came as a distant third political force. Until recently, our party was in power in coalition with Maoists. Presently we are working as the main opposition party.

Now I would like to enter into the subject of issues mainly to be discussed in this forum.

1.Global Financial Capitalist Crises and Socialist

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Alternatives Excessive centralization of capital is the source of internal crisis of capitalism and the crisis keeps occurring in a cyclical form. This analysis of Karl Marx of some 150 years ago has been proven true in the first decade of the 21st century, when the United States and some European countries faced a series of financial crises with global consequences. Immediate steps taken in the face of the crises protected this global financial capitalism from a total collapse for the time being. However, the capitalist world does not have its permanent solution. These developments justify that this financial crisis, which in fact is the characteristic feature of capitalism, and its ramifications will eventually end capitalism and lay the socio-economic foundation for the establishment of socialism.

The storm of the crisis has shaken the ideological and moral basis of the proponents of the unbridled market economy. The proponents who used to advocate for an uncontrolled market economy and see the state only as a facilitator in the economic process immediately turned to be staunch advocate of state interventionism following the crisis.

While uncontrolled market economies are struggling in crises, the states under the coordinated market economy are relatively doing better. China, Vietnam, Brazil, India and other emerging economies in East Asia and south and Southeast Asia are playing a key role in protecting the global economy from collapse.

This economic and ideological crisis of neoliberalism reconfirms once again that socialism is inevitable and communist-leftist values are worth pursuing as ever.

2. Expansion of Peacebuilding and Conflict Reduction Efforts Reduction of conflict possibilities and constructive conflict handling has been an increasing trend in the world now. As far as possible, preferences are given to find negotiated settlements to any crisis or dispute. This constructive trend is emerging because of the changing power balance in the world, particularly due to the failure of the US to lead a unipolar world; the changing dynamics in US-/Europe-centric global power politics; and, the rise of

China, Russia, India and Brazil as new economic-strategic power centres. In a welcome trend, the importance of interdependence is being felt and realized in the world now.

Economic interests and issues related to control over natural resources and security determine inter-state relations in the world politics today. And, this creates a new challenge to national security of small, landlocked and least developed states.

3. Effective Role of Social Movements Social movements have been influential in global politics as ever before. These movements take on various forms, including the movements for gender equality, labour rights, human rights and democratization, and the movements against anti-farmer policies of the World Trade Organization, against the exploitation by and monopoly of multinationals on, say, seeds. There have been strong counter-movements in various parts of the world, particularly in the developing world, to ensure the rights of local communities over natural resources, and also to resist wrong and hazardous policies imposed by capitalist states in the name of industrial development, specially the policies that would have negative impacts on environment and climate change. Social movements have thus emerged as a new front against global financial capitalism.

4. Our Foreign Policy: Protection of National Interest We want to expand and develop relations with all countries in the world based on friendship, mutual cooperation and respect. We have realized it very well that for a small and economically weak country like Nepal, we must pursue an effective diplomacy and maintain friendly relations with all. As provided by the party principles of people’s multiparty democracy , our foreign relations will be maintained as per the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, Panchsheel and the NonAligned Movement.

Since 1991, Nepal had enshrined Panchasheel and Non-Alignment as the basis of her foreign relations on the constitution of the country. Accordingly, we respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the countries and we expect the

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same from our friendly countries and we do not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and expect the same from others. So our relations with our friendly neighbours are based on sovereign equality and territorial integrity. As one of oldest independent country of Asia, we always take pride of our independence.

5. On the issues of environment and people’s rights.

As a leader of the party which has fought more than 5 decades of peoples struggle for justice and just society, I can vouch for the importance of peoples struggle based on such mass organisations as workers, peasants, women, intellectuals, students and various other organizations.Only such mass organizations can ensure the establishment of peoples right firmly at the various geographical and administrative levels.

Similarly issue of environment degradation caused by wild speed of industrialisaiton of the west has brought many harms in the form of global warming and melting of glaciers in the Himalayas which is also called the Third Pole of the world. The rapid process of climate change has threatened the life of people in particular those living in island and coastal nations and high mountain communities. It was in this context that as then prime mister of Nepal I called for special attention to issues of mountain countries during the Copenhagen climate conference in 2009. The burning issues which still remain are of rapid snow melt, disappearance of glaciers and formation of more glacial lakes with imminent risks of their outbursts. Subsequently, our country also made an Everest declaration on 4 December 2009 to call for attention on the environmental threats to Himalayas. I have noted with satisfaction that all those activities have culminated into the Paris climate agreement and but the measures are still not adequate for the hard hit poorer countries like Nepal and we hope to have more urgent measures on this in the days to come.

Dear comrades, Nepal, a small nation sandwiched between two Asian Giants, India and China, lies on the lap of the lofty Mount Everest, acknowledged as the land of Lord Buddha and the land where Buddhism first

sprouted. In this land, the home of Lord Buddha, 147 we, the Nepali Communists, Workers, Left and democratic forces have fought several years for democracy, social justice, equality, sustainable peace, meaningful progress and equitable prosperity and played vital role in the democratic movement against the Rana oligarchy, Panchayati autocracy and absolute monarchy witnessing myriad of vicissitudes in term of arduous struggles. Today we the Nepalese communists have seen the seed of Marxist thoughts in egalitarian ideas propounded by Buddha. We have applied Marxism in our country’s concrete context.

The achievements of the peoples’ struggle have been institutionalized by the constitution enshrining universal democratic values, social justice and inclusive democratic system. Fundamental rights to basic education and health, right to food and shelter and right to employment and safer environment have been ensured. Gender equality has been guaranteed, 33% seats for women in every state organs is secured and preferential rights as well the affirmative provisions for Dalits, indigenous community, minorities and differently able people are declared. The constitution has recognized the diversity of Nepali society and enshrined the multi-lingual, multi-cultural and secular set up of the society. Our constitution has acknowledged the three-pillar (the state, public/private and cooperatives) economy of the socialist orientation guaranteeing the right of decent work for the working class.

Distinguished delegates, All the achievements are bagged through inclusive democratic procedure in the Constituent Assembly. The draft constitution was widely circulated among the people, public opinion and suggestions were incorporated in the final draft. Out of 597 Constituent Assembly members, 90% had voted in favor of the constitution and around 10% of the members had been abstained from voting.

Mean while, Nepal faced devastating and reoccurring earthquakes in April 2015 that led to arduous situation, unbearable hardship and unimaginable grievances to the people. We came together to cope up the disaster playing vital role for effective measure, prompt actions to emer-

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gency response and relief as well the reconstruction at the people’s level.

Nepal is still going through political transition until election at different tiers (village, municipalities, districts, province and federal parliament) are held stage-wise as per the provisions of the new constitution. The deadline for all of these elections to be held and the new federal government to be formed is set for January 2018. Our party is currently preparing for the election and hope to do well.

Finally, I have great pleasure in having this opportunity to exchange information, ideas and opinions among international comrades in this wide forum.

During our deliberations, it is necessary to exchange ideas and experience on party building, economic development and socio-economic and cultural transformation. Through this conference, we need to consolidate solidarity, cooperation and interaction between all communist and workers parties so as to strengthen international left and communist movement. I hope that we will be able to reach common ground and common conclusions on this basis.

The shape of your old and thin body With dizzily bearded but sacred face !

I extend salute to you !”

Once again I sincerely thank the host VCP and the other active members of organizing committee for their hard work to make this meeting successful.

Thank you all.

Before concluding, I would like to recite part of a poem written by Nepal’s renowned poet Bhupi Sherchan around 1968, when B52s were bombarding all over Vietnam. The poem was titled: A Letter to Ho Chi Minh.

“Standing behind the shadow cast by The Fish-tail Peak, The height of which is bolstered by a pillow of Blessings, I extend salute to you As if you are also a Himalayan Peak.

While I write letter to you, Dear Ho Chi Minh, The silence in my room has turned into The serenity of a Buddha Vihar The incense burnt in the Vihar has given rise of A smoky humanly shape Standing in front of me

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Communist Party of Pakistan

1. International Crisis of Capitalism Dear Comrades, The crisis of overproduction and the inevitable unemployment for the workforce have been persistent since 2008. The techno-scientific revolution is the result of mankind’s collective wisdom and the workforce should be the first to benefit from it in the form of less work hours and better working conditions. But, in its pursuit of profit, the capitalist class is curtailing the workforce and increasing work hours, instead of creating more jobs.

Cutbacks in wages and job positions decrease the cost of production. Despite these factors and the excessive production, prices are raised, with the aim being the capitalist class’s piling up profits. On the other hand a major part of population is made redundant, and consequently the market shrinks.

Nowadays, industry is being relocated from the developed countries to developing ones, but definitely this is not for the progress of poor nations but for exploitation of cheap labor to reduce the cost of production.

In these new industrial hubs, a day’s remuneration for a laborer is just equal to an hour’s pay for a worker in developed countries. Along with this, raw materials are also exploited at cheapest rates.

This trickery is also played in the service sector and financial institutions. This dreadful act is also being done in agriculture. Increasing the prices of fertilizer increases the cost of production, pesticides and agricultural machinery, while the prices of produce are kept stable. The government does not bother to subsidize the farmers or grant support prices. For these reasons, the agricultural sector is losing its viability and poverty rates are soaring.

In agricultural countries like Pakistan, where farmers’ hard work has yielded good crops, 70% of the rural population is suffering from malnutrition. According to the recent report of International Food Policy Research Institute, 800 million people of the world are starving and Pakistan is standing at No. 107 from the bottom. This shows that investment in poor countries is deceitful.

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Dear Comrades, Secure and extremely profitable investment in developing countries is the investment of financial capital. Through neoliberal policies the profitable institutions of developing countries are sold under the guise of denationalization, regularization and structural adjustments. The weapon of open-door policy is used to cut down taxes on imports. As a result the expenditure of the government becomes unmanageable and the governments have no choice but to borrow from imperialist financial institutions.

Currently Pakistan is indebted to 72.97 Billion Dollars of foreign debt. This situation transforms states like Pakistan into neocolonial states and dancing puppets of imperialism. Interferences in Government affairs by the imperialist powers, changing the regime if deemed necessary, and looting the resources is the result. Even in the recent crisis the profits of the capitalist class are accumulating rather than decreasing. The enormous accumulation of wealth is in the hands of few, who have captured 90% of the resources, while billions of people have been deprived of their own resources.

2. Imperialist Assault Dear comrades, The states that refuse to comply with the policies of international capitalists and try to save their national economies are facing numerous sorts of conspiracies from imperialist powers.

• Imperialist try to buy the rulers, and if this does not work, they try to overthrow the regime.

• If these tactics also fail, either direct war is imposed on these states or the social fabric is destroyed through civil war by creating social, national, linguistic, religious and cult anarchies.

• The world has witnessed this in Libya, Iraq, Syria, Tunisia and Algeria.

• In the countries, where these contradictions cannot be created, the privileged labor class is bribed into creating political chaos through shutter downs and strikes, which is happening in Venezuela, Brazil and South Africa.

This imperialist assault has destroyed world peace.

People are slaughtering each other. Consequently,

the imperialists are taking advantage of Chaos to 151 loot the natural resources, especially oil and precious minerals.

Dear Comrades, The bourgeois government of Pakistan has surrendered our country’s gold, copper, and lead mines to the multinational companies. Not only is this wealth being looted but the workers are also being exploited. The safety measures in these mines are inadequate rather non existent . And workers are frequently exposed to fatal accidents.

People’s resistance to this is suppressed through extortion. Political activists, writers and intellectuals are kidnapped and killed. Their disfigured bodies are found in the wild. Religious organizations are used to suppress the people’s resistance against exploitation of resources and labor. Baluchistan is the most afflicted area in this regard.

Dear Comrades, Imperialism had organized proxy religious organizations to confront revolutionary movements and defeat the socialist revolution. Today their role has expanded. In this day and age, various capitalist countries of the imperialist world are using at large these religious mercenaries and proxy war forces. Al Quaida, ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Nusra Front and Taliban or Mujahidin are the mercenary militias of the various countries and they are fighting for the vested interest of their masters disguised as religious movements. Some circles of leftists consider these mercenaries as resistance movements, but they are in the wrong. By doing so they are helping imperialist strategies. Religious and sectarian polarization has posed a greater hurdle for the forces of revolution, resistance and social change.

The religious mercenary armies have destroyed world peace. Religious lunacy has polarized society along sectarian and doctrinal lines, while class struggle is being pushed back.

Dear Comrades, during times of peace the contradiction between capital and labor, imperialism and neocolonialism become sharp and clear and it is easy to involve the working classes in the struggle for economic rights and sociopolitical change. With the help of proxy war forces

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and puppet regimes, imperialism has drastically increased the threats of civil war and regional tension, which is creating a war phobia in the minds of people. The war industry of capitalists is flourishing on the one hand and on the other hand the real issue of the class struggle is overshadowed by this phobia. We must struggle for peace by highlighting unemployment, demanding higher wages, social welfare funds, potable water, civic liberties, peasant rights and deflation .

For this purpose, we must further mobilize the activities of the world peace councils and affiliated organizations of different countries.

Dear Comrades, We should not search for solutions to people’s problem in corrupt bourgeois democracy. The solution to these problems lies in making all means of production a public property. This is only possible through scientific socialism. For this, socialist revolution is a must. Socialist revolution is the only way which can liberate the people from capitalist exploitation. Only socialism can stop accumulation of wealth. Only through socialism is freedom from imperialism, racial, religious and sectarian prejudice is possible.

Let us return to our class.

Dear Comrades, In various countries, problems like reduction in wages and welfare funds, inflation and joblessness have now become global. More or less, in different parts of the world, the widening gap between the huge accumulation of wealth in few hands and deprivation of billions of the people is becoming unhinged and critical. It is our responsibility to analyze in depth the present-day conspiracies and tactics of capitalism and find new ways to tackle with.

Long Live Socialism Long Live Marxism - Leninism Long Live International Solidarity.

Some of the confused leftist groups, pseudo-intellectuals and imperialist agents are trying to mislead us by saying that present-day circumstances are very much different to those of 1848 and 1917.

They suggest adopting a new ideology; the name of their new ideology is rotten and obsolete bourgeois democracy.

The need of time for us is to tailor new strategies on the basis of Marxism. The strategies which will establish our base in working classes, the strategies which will initiate cooperation between working class struggles and vast social groups who bourgeois democracy has given nothing but corruption, and who are deprived of civic amenities like drinking water, education, health facilities through trickery of privatization. We should not copy the issue-based politics of so-called mass parties and mainstream parties.

Mass mobilization on the basis of issues is a must, but we should not change the basis of cadre parties and parties of working class. We should design strategies of struggle after profoundly analyzing neocolonialism and religious fascist movements.

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Philippines Communist Party [PKP-1930]

Dear comrades : The Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP-1930, the Philippine Communist Party) thanks and congratulates the Communist Party of Vietnam for hosting this 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties. We also send our warmest fraternal greetings to all the participants of this very important and historic event.

This international meeting is being held as the world capitalist system is mired in deeper and more acute contradictions, such as the following : --- the sharper contradiction between the exponential growth of the social nature of globalized production, and the more limited private appropriation of the tremendous wealth produced ; --- the crying contradiction between the great advances in science and technology resulting to over-production and the over-accumulation of capital, even while millions of people are consigned to conditions of unemployment and destitution ; and --- the sharper contradictions and more tense competition among imperialist countries and centers, now primarily between the trilateral alliance of the USA, EU and Japan on the one hand, and the China-Russia alliance on the other hand.

These contradictions, which are basically internal to the world capitalist system, point to the fact that the world capitalist system has reached its historical limit, and cannot continue with the usual business of exploitation without bringing humanity to barbaric poverty levels, and even to the brink of global war and extinction. This historic limit points to the need to overthrow this system on a global scale, and the concomitant need to build socialism in all countries.

An important aspect of the general crisis of capitalism is the continued struggle of the world revolutionary forces against imperialism and reaction --- the continued struggle of the socialist and socialist-oriented countries against imperialist interference and subversion ; the continued working class struggles against the bourgeoisie in imperialist and other developed capitalist countries ; the national democratic struggles in developing coun-

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tries against the neo-colonial impositions ofimperialism ; and even the remaining struggles for national liberation in racist-controlled colonies such as Palestine and Puerto Rico.

The present cycle of the world capitalist crisis is the inevitable end result of the last two and a half decades of the globalization of production and marketing –- the globalization of finance capital since the socialist community was treacherously subverted from within by special agents of imperialism who wormed their way to the top leadership of ruling communist and workers’ parties. The squeezing of more profits from labor and from the destruction of the environment, which initially was made possible with the opening up of the former socialist community, and their allies in the developing world, to neo-liberal policies designed for the global penetration by finance capital, has proven to be truly unsustainable.

The global penetration by finance capital only led to global over-production, to the inevitable saturation of international markets, to more cut-throat inter-imperialist competition, and to the greater diversion of wealth towards investment ventures of the fictitious type (the non-productive “hedging” or speculation on commodity trade, on “derivatives”, and even on stock market or currency movements).

Such rise in casino-type investments only resulted to the graver magnitude and impact of the financial and economic crisis of capitalism, the burdens of which are being passed on as yokes upon the working masses.

Deprivation and suffering in the midst of plenty is the real face of capitalism, not only in our country but in imperialist countries as well, where millions of workers have lost their jobs and homes. Millions more of peoples around the globe are dying with growing famines, homelessness, poverty and incapacity to secure basic nourishment and health care.

In reaction to the deepening crisis of capitalism, and in greedy pursuit for greater profits, imperialist forces are escalating their economic, social, political, and military offensives to the detriment of the working peoples in the whole world.

In the economic field, imperialist powers employ the debt trap to consolidate their hold on countries as their sources of super-profits. Imperialist-con-

trolled multilateral financial institutions such as the 155 World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and other such regional banks, are responsible for perpetuating a system of international debt slavery by imposing onerous terms in the granting and renegotiation of “development”, “budget stabilization”, “structural” and other loans. The newly-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is on the same track, funded

by China’s dollar hoard amassed since the start of China’s business and political partnership with US imperialism during the maoist period.

Imperialism applies the debt trap not only against developing countries, but even against developed capitalist countries. European and other developed capitalist governments which are unable to pay their foreign debts and to bail out their own banks and investment firms, are forced to accept EU/IMF control of their economies. Additional debts are incurred with more conditionalities, primarily the cutting of public employment levels and benefits, and the slashing of outlays for education, health, housing, social security, retirement and other social services which are badly needed by the working peoples.

It is also through government indebtedness to supra-national financial institutions that the development and social progress of “Third World” countries (like the Philippines) is impeded, and past gains of national sovereignty and even territorial integrity are subjected to a process of re-colonization. It is the greed for greater profits that fuels the imperialist drive for global domination, which is imposed on some resisting countries through covert and overt interference to organize coups, to cause “regime change” and install despotic puppet regimes, or to fuel ethnic and religious conflicts leading to their territorial balkanization.

The imperialist drive to retain and expand regional and even global domination is usually done through the forging of military alliances with countries under their influence or domination, through the installing of more military bases around the globe, and the open violation of international law and of the role of the United Nations through unilateral and direct military invasions and interference --- as witnessed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya

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and Syria. Such invasions and interference are even justified under such aims of “fighting terrorism”, “dismantling weapons of mass destruction”, “saving failed states”, “humanitarian assistance”, etc.

Whatever the justification, imperialist aggression denigrates national independence and sovereignty, territorial integrity, the people’s right to self-determination, and the democratic and other human rights of the working masses.

The escalation of imperialist aggressiveness can clearly be seen in the military offensives of the USA and other NATO countries against the Arab peoples--- the deposing of old puppets to give way to new ones in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen ; the savage war to re-colonize Libya and to re-privatize her oil resources ; the propping-up and rearming of the archaic monarchies in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar and Oman ; the intensification of divisions and battles within Sudan ; the support for the Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, and the backing up of the Israeli threat of aggression against the Lebanon ; and the whipping up of a war against Iran in an attempt to finally realize the US-Israeli plan for a “New Middle-East” that aims to perpetuate the humiliation of the Palestinian and other neighbouring Arab peoples.

The gravest tragedy today is the catastrophic war being waged by world imperialism against the socialist-oriented Syrian Arab Republic. Syria stands at the forefront of the present struggle against imperialism and international reaction, which seek to destroy stable societies, killing hundreds of thousands and leaving millions homeless in the process. Syria now faces imperialist aggression and proxy terrorism which are part of the vile plan to reconfigure the whole region into the US-Israeli blueprint for a “New Middle East” that would chop up countries into small warring sectarian and ethnic sub-states.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, US imperialist aggressiveness could clearly be seen in its continued destabilization plots against Cuba, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the other countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) ; in the building up of new US military bases in Colombia ; in the continued US control over Puerto Rico, the Panama Canal and Guantanamo Bay ; and in the continued support for British control over the Malvinas Islands.

In East Asia and the Pacific, an Asian version of NATO is also being developed, with Japan, South Korea and Australia serving as the regional acolytes for aggressive US plans to “contain” China.

The military “encirclement” of China is the objective of the new “pivot”, or increased “rebalancing” and redeployment of US military forces, towards the Asia-Pacific region. For this purpose, new arrangements are being pursued for the constant visit (or increased stationing) of US forces in the Philippines, Singapore, Pakistan and India ; the build-up of US facilities in Diego Garcia ; and even the introduction of US forces into Mongolia. Fortunately for the Philippines, the new Duterte regime is bent on ending the Philippine-US military alliance.

Dear comrades : Contending territorial claims over different parts of the South China Sea have figured in the USA’s present anti-China campaign. The Philippines, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Malaysia, Brunei and even Indonesia are the ASEAN countries which feel threatened by China’s claim of socalled “indisputable sovereignty” over almost 90% of the whole of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer South China Sea. This absurd claim is based on a “9-dash-line” map which was presented by China to the United Nations in May 2009 –- or 27 years after the forging of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to which China is also a signatory.

Incidentally, China’s “9-dash-line” map emanated from an “11-dash-line” map produced by the Guomindang (Kuomintang) regime in 1947, where the “dashes” have no exact coordinates but allegedly traces the extent of the fabled sea explorations by the long-extinct Song (Sung) Dynasty (960-1279 AD). In violation of the 1982 UNCLOS, China in 1995 seized Mischief Reef which is within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the area of the Spratlys.

In 2012, also in violation of UNCLOS and of the November 4, 2002, ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (which required the parties to refrain from inhabiting on then-uninhabited islands and other features) China started reclamation and military

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constructions on Mischief Reef, and also started to permanentlystation warships to prevent Filipino fishing vessels from approaching their traditional fishing area at Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal. The Philippines can only protest China’s aggression, faced with China’s show of military might in these 2 areas.

Pushed to the wall, the Philippine government on January 22, 2013, filed a motion for arbitration with the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, Netherlands, to challenge China’s claim to most of the West Philippine Sea, to compel China to respect the Philippine right to its EEZ, and to stop Chinese incursions. The Philippines also asked for the nullification of China’s “9-dash-line” claim which covers not only a large part of the West Philippine Sea but also a large part of the South China Sea, and demanded that China desist from unlawful activities which violate the sovereign rights and jurisdiction of the Philippines under UNCLOS. On July 12, 2016, the Ad-Hoc Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague handed its decision which primarily ruled that China’s “9-dash-line,” under which it claims “historic rights” over almost all of the vast South China Sea, is contrary to the UNCLOS and is thus invalid. Consequently, the Philippines is legally and solelyentitled to exploit and develop the mineral deposits, marine life and other natural resources within its EEZ. Consequently also, the South China Sea is open to navigation and overflight by all countries, and cannot be subject to China’s imposition of an “air defence identification zone (ADIZ)”.

The repudiation of China’s “9-dash-line” map by the Ad-Hoc Arbitral Tribunal is a victory not only for the Philippines, but for the said other ASEAN claimant countries as well.

Considering China’s intransigence, it needs the international community to call upon China to respect UNCLOS and the Arbitral decision, to cooperate in the forging of a comprehensive ASEAN-China Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, to respect freedom of navigation and of overflight over the area, and to agree to special international jurisdiction and control over China’s artificial island-fortresses in the South China Sea. Of course we know that US imperialism would want to have a foothold on the resources of the

South China Sea, with or without the territori157 al dispute between China and the concerned ASEAN member countries. We demand that the USA and its allies in the area (Japan and Australia) stop their military patrols and overflights over the South China Sea. Further, we call on all parties to the various territorial claims over parts of the South China Sea to refrain from any action that could lead to the escalation of tensions, and to foreign military intervention, in the South China Sea. Dear comrades : The all-round offensive of imperialism cannot solve the capitalist crisis, and can only worsen it.

The deepening or worsening of the systemic crisis of capitalism means the maturing and ripening of the objective conditions for the revolutionary advance to socialism, in the context of the present epoch of transition from capitalism to socialism ushered in by the Great October Socialist Revolution.

The working class, as the “grave-digger” of capitalism, has the power to reverse today’s situation and undertake the revolutionary advance to socialism. But for the working class to become conscious of its mission, and to shape a revolutionary strategy for the implacable class struggle against the bourgeoisie, the strengthening of its revolutionary party is necessary. The revolutionary party must be able to perform its role as vanguard of the working class struggle. This is the role that we as communist and workers’ parties are trying to undertake in each of our countries, in uneven conditions set by historical experiences and subjective capabilities in the face of the actual balance of forces.

Even with the unevenness of capitalist development in different countries, the PKP-1930 stands for the international projection of the need to overthrow (and not to “reform”) capitalism, as the unifying platform for all progressive and left forces. The PKP-1930 also stands for the projection of the class nature of the international struggle against imperialism and reaction. Working class interests remain the basis for unity in the anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist struggles in all parts of the world.

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Dear comrades : The Philippines is an example of capitalist unevenness and inequality, with the bourgeois state serving the interests of the monopolies. The national bourgeois class itself chooses the path of subordination to US, Japanese, Chinese and other monopoly interests, in order to have a part in the joint exploitation of our people and natural resources.

It is true that some oligarchs in our country have featured in large capital mergers of such diverse mega-businesses as banks, malls, power generation, telecommunications, call centers and infrastructures. Others have even grown to become members of international cartels and syndicates exporting capital to China, Spain, the ASEAN and some other countries. However, the imperialists and their local oligarchic partners have ensured the continuing low level and non-integrated nature of local industries, and even the absence of basic industries, such that there is not much to be socialized and immediately turned into independent or self-sustaining worker-controlled production enterprises --- aside from a few industries run by transnational corporations in the petroleum, cement, export-crop and a few other fields.

This reality prevents us from projecting socialism as our immediate aim. Also, given the unsolved land hunger of the peasants and of the more numerous agricultural workers, the growing number of squatters or “informal settlers” in urban areas, as well as the prevalence of micro-enterprises and informal trades, the immediate socialization of land and small businesses would only meet with resistance on the part of the poor masses that we aim to liberate.

Thus our immediate aim in the Philippines is national democracy --- for national freedom from imperialist control and exploitation, for a mixed economy with a socialist-oriented public sector setting the direction for development planning, and for a democratic system where the machinery of state could ensure that the working peoples’ rights are safeguarded and their basic needs progressively met. The PKP-1930 maintains that this can only be achieved through the organized strength of the Filipino working masses themselves, in unity with a national leadership that is aware of the historic need

to re-nationalize utilities and infrastructures, and to build a strong public sector in order to attain economic independence and social progress.

In the particular situation of the capitalist crises engulfing our country today, our most pressing concerns in the economic field are the following : ending the privatization of public services ; re-nationalization of the privatized electric, water, petroleum and other strategic utilities and infrastructures ; establishment of a strong state sector of the economy ; ending the policy of import liberalization which has allowed the dumping into our country of commodities by transnational corporations ; ensuring transparency and accountability in government dealings with imperialist-controlled multilateral institutions and banking groups ; and the thorough audit of all the foreign loans secured by the past regimes (with the aim of repudiating all onerous loans which benefitted only the partnership of foreign banksters and local kleptocrats).

On the political front, our most pressing concerns are the following : removal of governmental measures preventing or limiting the participation of progressive parties in electoral exercises ; ending of warlordism and political dynasties ; empowerment ofprogressive mass organizations through their participation in advisory councils (of national agencies and local governments) concerned with the sectors represented by such mass organizations ; and the elimination of graft and corruption in all branches of government (executive, legislative, juridiciary and special constitutional bodies).

On the social front, of urgent concern are the following : opening of more jobs through the government’s direct undertaking of all its infrastructure projects ; setting of a nationwide minimum living wage ; safeguarding and advancement of workers’ benefits and social security ; defense of trade union rights ; extension of agrarian reform (primarily land acquisition by the government, and their redistribution to landless peasants or their cooperatives) in all crops and agricultural fields ; expansion of public schools, universities, hospitals, day-care centers and homes for the aged ; and the massive opening of housing projects to allow the relocation of present residents in typhoon- or flood-prone waterways, earthquake fault-lines and other calamity-prone areas.

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On the cultural front, of particular concern are the ending of local mass media reliance on US and other imperialist news agencies and entertainment industries ; control of fundamentalism or bigotry engendered by religious institutions ; safeguarding of education from anti-science teachings and superstitious rituals ; and the development of a more tolerant or liberal atmosphere for the battle of ideas where the merits of socialism, and concepts of the national democratic path towards socialism, will surely win more adherents.

Our main thrust in our national anti-imperialist struggle is the ending of the “Visiting Forces Agreement”, the “Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement”, and the “Mutual Defense Treaty”, under which the USA practically controls the national security and other military policies of our country.

Our party’s main national task is to unite the broad patriotic sectors of our people to struggle for national democracy, and to strengthen the struggle of the working class against capitalist exploitation, without losing sight of the aim of building socialism in the Philippines through the national-democratic path. While capitalism is rooted on the “freedom” of a few to amass private profit to the detriment of the many, a new socialist order --- with social ownership and centralized planning under working-class political power --- will always be centered on human welfare.

Our party’s tasks of educating, organizing and mobilizing the working masses into political action in defense of society’s collective interests will always be geared towards the attainment of national democracy and eventually socialism in the Philippines.

This of course will be a struggle to wrest the power, wealth and privilege that the oligarchy and their imperialist masters will never surrender for the sake of the good of society’s greater majority.

The anti-imperialist struggle in the Philippines is intertwined with the anti-imperialist struggles in other countries. Our different national struggles give strength to each other, and thus the issue of anti-imperialist solidarity is more crucial than ever.

Continuous adherence to the principles of Marxism-Leninism, particularly the principle of proletarian internationalism, is of great importance in our present jointstruggles against capitalist exploita-

tion and imperialist aggressions everywhere --159 towards the building of socialist societies in all countries.

The PKP-1930 remains convinced that the worldwide struggle of the working peoples for socialism will triumph over imperialism, and that the building of socialism remains the only hope for humanity’s survival and humane future. This is something that we have learned not only from the recent history of the former USSR and the former socialist community, but also from the continuing revolutionary example of socialist Cuba and the other socialist-oriented countries in Latin America and elsewhere. Vietnam’s continued development of the socialist path, even while utilizing market mechanisms to supplement the state sector’s capacity for national development, is further proof of this general law of mankind’s advancement towards socialism.

Dear comrades, In closing, please allow me to say that our delegation is honoured to be here with the valiant people of Viet Nam which has a glorious history of victoriously struggling against French colonialism, Japanese militarism, French colonialism again, US imperialism and then Chinese hegemonism. It is an honor to be here in the herocity of Ha Noi which the US imperialists tried to bomb back to the stone age, but which fought off the diabolical forces of imperialism with the all-round internationalist support of the then socialist community led by the land of the Great October Socialist Revolution.

Viet Nam has shown the world that a united people can defeat the most powerful foreign aggressors. Viet Nam will always be thanked and admired for itself extending internationalist solidarity which saved the Cambodian people from maoist barbarism. And despite the continuing toll wrought by “Agent Orange” and other wicked legacies of the US war of aggression, we are happy to see that the benefits of freedom and independence, and of the socialist system, ensure the continued building of a country which periodically becomes many times more beautiful. We salute and wish every success to the Communist Party of Viet Nam, the Government of the Socialist Re-

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public of Viet Nam, and the revolutionary people of Viet Nam who are the proud inheritors of a valiant and victorious history of anti-imperialist struggle, internationalist solidarity, socialist construction and world peace promotion.

Thank you for your kind attention.

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Portuguese Communist Party

The Portuguese Communist Party expresses its 161 fraternal greetings to the parties participating in the 18th. International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties and particularly to the Communist Party of Vietnam, reaffirming its everlasting solidarity and friendship to the heroic Vietnamese people and wishing the best success to the CPV in the important tasks it is engaged in, in the economic and social development of their homeland, to answer the aspirations of the Vietnamese workers and people, to build socialism.

The PCP participates in this International Meeting reaffirming its commitment to contribute to the strengthening of the international communist and revolutionary movement, its cooperation and internationalist solidarity, with the conviction that it will contribute to the exchange of information and experiences among our parties, for better mutual understanding, for the development of our common or convergent action for peace, for the rights of the workers and peoples, for socialism – exchange and action all the more important when the current international situation is characterised by the structural crisis of capitalism and the violent imperialist offensive.

-/In PCP’s view, the international situation remains marked by the deepening of the structural crisis of capitalism and the continuation of a complex and contradictory process of rearrangement of forces on a world scale, a context where imperialism intensifies a violent and all-round offensive which increasingly meets the resistance and struggle of the workers and peoples in defence of their rights and sovereignty and of States in defence of their independence and development.

A situation where, among other expressions of the worsening of the more negative traits of capitalism, stand out the domination of financial and speculative capital on the economy and the heightening of centralisation and concentration of capital, monopolistic appropriation of wealth and raw materials, exploitation, assault on social rights, attack on freedoms, democratic rights and national sovereignty and independence, the liberalisation of world trade as a tool for economic and political domination or the centralisation of pow-

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er in supranational bodies dominated by the major imperialist powers.

The world continues to face a cyclical crisis that started in 2007/8. A crisis centred on the Triad (US, EU, Japan) – where the situation is of stagnation or anaemic growth – whose effects spread to the entire planet. A cyclical crisis that is inseparable from a deeper reality, the structural crisis of capitalism, reflected in the inability of the dominant system to find solutions to overcome it. Determined by big financial and speculative capital and without tackling the real causes, the measures that are taken to overcome the crisis only protract it and turn even more violent the peak of the explosion of the next crisis.

Although, in the context of inter-imperialist concertation-rivalry, class concertation continues to dominate against the workers and against the people, with the deepening of the crisis the contradictions among the great imperialist powers will tend to sharpen.

The complex and dangerous situation in Europe is the consequence of the deepening structural crisis of capitalism and, simultaneously, of the development of the European capitalist integration. The EU’s class nature – an instrument of domination at the service of big capital and of major powers in Europe, deeply contrary to the rights, interests and aspirations of the peoples - intensifies the contradictions around the class issue, the national question and inter-imperialist rivalries. These contradictions are present in recent and major developments such as the referendum in Britain.

Union policies – of which the EU policy regarding the refugees humanitarian crisis is a clear example – deepen further the imperialist character of the European Union.

The big capital, the major powers and the forces that have driven the capitalist integration process – right-wing and social democracy – are now trying to launch a new leap forward based on the idea of saving Europe of the threat of the extreme right. But the question is exactly the opposite. To save Europe from this and other dangers passes by defeating the European Union.

The question posed to people, to communist parties and other progressive forces in Europe, is how to deepen the struggle leading to the defeat of the European capitalist integration. In our opinion the path to build another Europe of workers and peoples, of sovereign states equals in rights, of peace, progress and cooperation, depends on the convergence of several factors that are interrelated: the development of the workers’ a peoples’ struggle defending their rights and sovereignty and political awareness of the class nature of the European Union; the affirmation of the right to sovereign economic development; changing the correlation of forces in different countries, including through the strengthening of the communist and workers’ parties; the coordination and cooperation of progressive and left forces, especially the communists, based on a clear position of breaking with the process of European capitalist integration, rejecting illusions about the refounding and the so called democratization of the European Union.

The response of big capital to the crisis in and of the European Union is itself a deepening factor of these contradictions. The fact that today the possibility of deep reconfiguration, or end, of the euro and even of the European Union is openly considered is an example of these deepening contradictions.

In view of the exploitative and oppressive offensive, the class struggle sharpens and narrows the social base of support of capitalism, adding to the struggle of the working class and workers other classes and social strata who fight to defend of their specific interests.

Faced with the violent offensive against social, labour, democratic and sovereign rights the peoples of Europe increasingly look towards the European Union not as a solution to their problems but as a problem. The militarist and securitarian drift, the deepening reactionary character of the European

In a situation where there are setbacks, but also significant advances by the progressive and revolutionary forces, the struggle of the workers and peoples is characterised by a persistent and determined resistance. Various struggles are taking place all over the world. Struggles for the right to work and other labour rights, trade union rights,

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social rights, implementation of the social functions of the States, like healthcare, education and Social Security; struggles against the privatisation of strategic sectors and in defence of public services, the right to water, the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources; fights for the right to land and food sovereignty and safety; struggles against all types of exploitation and discrimination; struggles in defence of freedoms, guarantees and democratic rights, against anti-communism, against the rise of fascism; struggles in defence of national sovereignty, for democracy, against blackmail and supranational impositions dictated by the interests of big business and the major powers, against free trade and services agreements.

Imperialism, particularly US imperialism – the great hegemonic power of the capitalist world – tries to counter the decline of its relative economic weight by intensifying exploitation, asserting its supremacy in economic relations and sharpening its aggressive escalade, aiming to yield or destroy those who in one way or another resist it, like forces and countries (and various articulations among countries) which, affirming and defending their sovereignty and national independence, choose paths for their development outside the hegemonic rule of imperialism, in particular of US imperialism.

In this context, imperialism seeks to deny the right to self-determination of the peoples and condemns several countries to underdevelopment, is bent on disregarding the principles of the United Nations Charter and of International Law and in the instrumentalization of the UN, promotes militarism and war, reinforces NATO and a multitude of alliances and offensive military partnerships, intensifies the arms race and the installation of new and sophisticated weapons, fosters terrorism, including State terrorism, interference, destabilization and aggression against sovereign States, practically on every continent, with the danger, and even the threat of an escalade and spreading of military conflicts around the world of incalculable proportions.

The US, NATO, with their allies, are responsible for all major military conflicts of today, with their offensive constituting the great threat that the peoples face.

Expression of the escalade of imperialist confron-

tation are the wars of aggression in the Middle 163 East - as in Syria, Iraq, Yemen or the occupation of Palestine by Israel – and in Central Asia; the destabilizing offensive in Latin America - as in Brazil, Venezuela and other member countries of ALBA, including the blockade against Cuba; the processes of destabilization and re-colonisation in Africa; the advance of NATO towards Eastern Europe and the instrumentalization and fasciszation of Ukraine, aimed at the Russian Federation; or the growing militarization in Asia and the Pacific promoted by the US and Japan, aimed at China.

A reality that brings urgency to the strengthening of solidarity with the peoples victims of imperialist destabilization and war and to the struggle for peace, against militarism and war, against NATO and the militarization of the European Union.

Imperialism’s aggressive offensive aimed at the sovereignty of the peoples and the independence of States extends and diversifies the forces that objectively converge for the anti-imperialist struggle.

The international situation makes clear the interconnection between the defence of national sovereignty and independence, the struggle for peace and the struggle for social progress and emancipation, highlighting the intrinsic relationship between the class issue and the national issue in the process of emancipation of the workers and peoples.

-/In this context, the PCP considers of utmost importance the strengthening, unity and increase of the capacity for action of the international communist and revolutionary movement. A goal that necessarily involves the strengthening of every Communist Party or other revolutionary force – their connection with the masses and their national reality, their ability to define their programme and tasks – and the strengthening of solidarity and cooperation.

To this effect, the PCP is committed to the strengthening of mutual solidarity and cooperation between communist parties, contributing to further debate, valorising at every moment what favours unity in action and asserting the commu-

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nist identity, ideal and project, be it in the context of their bilateral relations or in a multilateral framework – like the process of the International Meetings of Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP). .The PCP considers that what harms the strengthening of the communist movement is both the growth of liquidationist and social democratizing trends and the dogmatic and sectarian concepts and practices which, in the opinion of the PCP, do not contribute to strengthen the communist movement and its unity in action, bringing about factors of division, distancing and misunderstanding that hamper the necessary progress in their internationalist solidarity, and their relation with other progressive and left-wing forces.

Based on its own experience and the historical experience of the communist movement, the PCP considers essential in the relationship between communist parties the observance of principles, such as equal rights, independence, mutual respect, non-interference in internal affairs, openness and mutual solidarity. Similarly, the PCP considers that natural differences, and even divergences, in the analysis of the international situation and the strategy and tactics in the struggle for socialism, should not preclude frank and fraternal discussion in order to examine common problems and approximation of positions, and prevent the unit and intervening capacity of the international communist and revolutionary movement, including their cooperation, their common or convergent action in the fight against the common enemy and for the emancipation of workers and peoples.

To the PCP, these are teachings all the more important and topical when the present international situation places such large and complex demands on the communist parties and other revolutionary forces, and when they, having differentiated paths and fighting in different conditions, face different immediate tasks and are at different stages of the struggle for socialism.

Similarly, the PCP considers that the communist and revolutionary movement has a special responsibility (and a unique experience and heritage) in the construction of social and political alliances, to hold back and place under retreat imperialism’s offensive.

To the PCP, the current international situation poses with particular urgency the need of approximation, the strengthening of the ties of solidarity and the development of cooperation among the communist parties and other revolutionary forces – with the statement of their own objectives and without diluting their identity – with other forces of peace, patriotic, democratic, progressive and anti-imperialist, contributing to the exchange of experiences and for unity in action around immediate objectives of struggle corresponding to the defence of the rights of workers and peoples.

Solidarity which does not mean, requires or is conditioned to a total identification with the forces which carry out resistance and struggle, not necessarily with all the options and solutions that they take, but places at the forefront the defence of principles and objectives, namely the fundamental rights of the peoples, which is a condition for the advance of the struggle towards social and national emancipation.

In this context, particularly important is the strengthening of international broad-united bodies, such as the World Peace Council (WPC), the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY), the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF), the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) and the International Federation of Resistance Fighters (FIR), ensuring their broad-united and anti-imperialist character.

At the European level, the PCP has been acting to bring closer the communist parties and these with other progressive forces, taking into account differences of situation, reflection and proposal and respecting their independence, placing at the forefront the most heartfelt issues of the workers and the peoples and the fight against the European Union and for a Europe of cooperation among sovereign States with equal rights, of progress and peace. To this effect, the PCP has integrated the Confederal Group of the European United Left/ Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) in the European Parliament, a position it assumes on the basis of respect and safeguard of its confederal nature, its own identity – alternative to social democracy – and its independence in relation to other spaces or structures – like the European Left Party, a structure of supranational and reformist nature.

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Around the world, in a situation that is still of resistance and gathering of forces, even in the toughest conditions, the workers and the peoples resist and fight for their rights, for freedom from oppression, including national oppression, to conquer freedom, democracy, in defence of national sovereignty and independence, for justice and social progress, for democratic changes, anti-monopolist and anti-imperialist changes, for socialism – resistance and struggles, converging in the struggle against imperialism, are interconnected in the same liberated universal ideal and process.

To the PCP, the structural crisis capitalism and the violent offensive by imperialism brings the need to strengthen a broad anti-imperialist front that holds back imperialism’s offensive and opens the way for the construction of a new international order, of peace, sovereignty and social progress. Similarly, reality shows the need for a strong and vigorous international communist and revolutionary movement, the existence of strong communist and revolutionary parties that promote resistance and struggle of the workers and peoples to defend their rights, the advancement of social change and revolutionary overthrow of capitalism.

-/Portugal faces problems accumulated as a result of four decades of right-wing policies and thirty years of capitalist integration in the EEC/EU, which PS, PSD and CDS-PP implemented.

A policy at the service of big business and of regression of the achievements of the April revolution.

A counter-revolutionary process which, interlinked with the process of European capitalist integration, led the country into a situation of characteristics typical of state monopoly capitalism, in a framework in which the Portuguese State is increasingly sidelined and dominated within the European Union, and broadly by imperialism. A process which promoted economic decline, increased exploitation, social regression, cultural regression, perversion of the democratic regime, a marked dependence that threatens national sovereignty and independence and jeopardizes the present and future of the country.

The four and a half years of the previous PSD/

CDS-PP government and the enforcement of the 165 “memorandum” – an authentic pact of aggression – signed by PS, PSD and CDS-PP with the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, were marked by an attack on the rights of the workers and Portuguese people, enhancement of concentration of wealth and the worsening of exploitation, social inequalities and impoverishment, by a severe economic and social crisis, the deterioration of democratic regime, the reconfiguration of the State at the service of monopoly capital.

The workers and the Portuguese people responded to this violent attack with a persistent and intense struggle – where the broad-united trade union movement, the CGTP-IN, the great trade union central of the Portuguese workers assumed a key role – against the right-wing policy and to defend their rights, interests and aspirations.

The October 4, 2015 legislative elections reflected the condemnation of the PSD/CDS-PP government, expressing the political and social isolation determined by the struggle of the masses and the desire to prevent the continuation of its policy of worsening exploitation and impoverishment, of deepening national decline and dependence.

It was this demand for change that the PCP echoed by taking the initiative, in the context of a new correlation of forces resulting from the elections, to help cease the destructive action of the PSD/CDS-PP government and not squander the opportunity to respond to the problems and pressing needs and achieve progress, albeit limited, giving political expression to the struggle and the important immediate claims of the workers and the Portuguese people in defence of their rights and interests.

Although not fulfilling the essential goal of a rupture with the right-wing policy and the implementation of a patriotic and left-wing policy, which the PCP advocates, the new correlation of forces has resulted: not in the constitution of a “left-wing government” but the formation and coming into office of a minority PS government with its own programme; not in the existence of a parliamentary “left-wing majority”, but the existence of a

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relationship of forces where PSD and CDS-PP are in minority, and at the same time, the parliamentary groups of the PCP and PEV [parties that are part of Broad-united Democratic Coalition – CDU], influence decisions and are crucial and indispensable for the restoration and achievement of rights and incomes; not in a situation where the PCP is a supporting force to the government by means of any “agreement of parliamentary incidence”, but a situation where, having contributed for the government to begin office, the PCP maintains full political freedom and independence, all the time guiding its analysis and decisions based on what best serves the interests of the workers, the people and the country.

A political solution, in which the PCP fully assumes its independence and identity, reaffirms its Programme and project and holds as objectives its intervention to achieve a rupture with the right-wing policy and a patriotic and left-wing policy.

The new phase of political life in Portugal portrays the contradictory context of the possibilities and limitations that are inherent to it. On the one hand, the implementation of a set of advances, albeit limited, resulting from the struggle of the workers and the people and the intervention of the PCP expressed: in the interruption and reversal of the continuation and intensification of the PSD/CDSPP government’s offensive; in the progress achieved on a return of rights, wages and income; in witnessing, even though circumstantially, the existence of a course other than the one which the PSD/CDS-PP government and the European Union presented as inevitable and as the one and only. On the other hand, the confirmation of the limitations, of more crucial and indispensable advances, resulting from the PS government’s options of submission to the policies, impositions and conditionings of the European Union and the interests of monopoly capital.

Notwithstanding, the replacement of wages which were cut and the 35-hour work time in Public Administration, the elimination of the surcharge on the income tax, the replacement of the holidays that were dropped, the reversal of the process of privatisation of public companies of public transport, the increase in the national minimum wage, increased child benefits and solidarity supplement for the elderly, the cut in healthcare user fees, the protection

of the family residence resulting from tax foreclosures, the introduction of free school textbooks, the extra support for unemployed workers, the cut in VAT in restaurant bills, are examples of measures that meet important claims of the struggle of the workers and the Portuguese people that need to be consolidated and is necessary to continue to go further in the defence, replacement and achievement of rights, restoring hope and confidence that a better life is possible.

The PCP does not ignore the complexity and demands of the current phase of political life in Portugal and is fully aware of its deep divergences with the PS, of the different programmatic options of the PS, its path and its assumed attitude of not breaking with external constraints, whether in relation to the impositions of the Union European, of submission to the Euro or to the debt, or not breaking with the interests of big business.

These options of the PS remain in its government action, being structural options associated to a right-wing policy.

The removal of PSD and CDS-PP corresponded not only to the pressing need to stop their destructive work but also to the legitimate expectations of the electoral defeat of those parties portraying the defeat of their policy – a policy that is necessary to prevent from returning, either by the hand of these parties or that of PS. The possibility now open, although in a limited way, to address the most pressing problems and the need to ensure the continuity and consolidation of this path, face not only the conditionings and the constraints arising from the process of European capitalist integration, but also pressures and blackmail from big business.

Without denying the political significance of the current situation in Portugal which shows that there can be another course other than just more exploration, destruction of rights and impoverishment, this situation also shows the increasingly irreconcilable nature of the impositions of the European Union and the Euro and a policy which effectively answers the economic and social development that the country needs.

The reaction of transnational capital centres is

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here is to prove that, however feeble the affirmations of sovereignty or questioning of their interests, they spare no means to preserve their aims, and it is necessary to combat any illusion about the possibility of consolidating a path of affirmation of the right to a sovereign development submitted to the impositions and rules of the European Union.

The effective answer to the country’s problems continues to be affected by the suffocation of the burden of public debt, by the constraints of the mechanisms and blackmail of the Euro and the European Union, by the succession of scandals in banking, which consume thousands of millions of Euros of public funds, or the domination of monopoly groups on the national economy.

Notwithstanding the value and important significance of the defeat of the PSD/CDS-PP government and the most immediate projects of big business, made possible by the persistent struggle of the workers and the people and the action of the PCP, the reality of the country increasingly shows the need and urgency of a rupture with the rightwing policy, rupture with the power of monopoly capital and with the limitations and constraints stemming from the capitalist integration of the European Union and the Euro and their instruments of domination.

The defence of all the positive measures meanwhile obtained and the combat against all negative measures and aspects and guidelines of the rightwing policy that still remain, are part of the struggle for a rupture with the right-wing policy and an alternative patriotic and left-wing policy proposed

by PCP. A policy which, due to its patriotic dimension, inscribes national sovereignty and independence as a central goal, affirming the inalienable right of the Portuguese people to decide their present and future and the prevalence of this sovereign will on any and all constraints and external impositions.

A left-wing policy that assumes a rupture with the right-wing policy and inscribes the aim of valorisation of the rights and incomes of the workers and people, raising the living conditions of other anti-monopoly classes and strata, the promotion of justice and social progress.

PCP’s immediate political proposal, with an167 ti-monopolistic and anti-imperialist character, holds eight prioritary aspects: the liberation of the country from submission to the Euro and from the impositions and constraints of the European Union which, with other expressions of a sovereign foreign policy, of peace and cooperation, affirms a free and sovereign Portugal; the renegotiation of the public debt, in its terms, interest and amounts, to ensure a debt service consistent with public investment needs, development and creation of jobs; the valorisation of work and workers, based on full employment, on wage increases, shorter working hours, in defence of work with rights, fight against unemployment and precariousness and higher pensions and retirement pays; the defence and promotion of domestic production and of productive sectors, with the development of a policy in defence of manufacturing and mining, agriculture and fisheries, placing national resources to serve the people and the country and reduce structural deficits; ensure public control of banking, return to the public sector of strategic basic sectors of the economy, creating a strong and dynamic State Business Sector, support to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and to the cooperative sector; the guarantee of Public Administration and services to serve the people and the country, valuing the National Health Service as a general, universal and free service; a public school, free and of quality; a public and universal Social Security system; the defence of a fair fiscal policy to ease the tax burden on the income of workers and the people and cut down the scandalous favouring of big business; the defence of the democratic regime and compliance with the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, furthering rights, freedoms and guarantees, fight against corruption and implementation of an independent judiciary accessible to all.

The materialisation of an alternative patriotic and left-wing policy requires: the broadening of the organisation, unity and struggle of the working class and workers; the increasing intervention of all anti-monopoly classes, strata and sectors, of all those were affected by the right-wing policy, of democrats and patriots interested in reversing the course of national politics, in a large anti-monopolist social front; the strengthening of the PCP

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and its political and ideological, social and electoral influence.

The development of the mass struggle around concrete objectives, for labour, social, economic and political claims is a determining factor for enhancing social and political awareness and extending the social front of struggle to make a rupture with the right-wing policy and for a patriotic and left-wing alternative.

A patriotic and left-wing policy based on the principles and values of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and which falls within PCP’s programme “An Advanced Democracy - The values of the April Revolution in the Future of Portugal”, a constituent part of the construction of socialism.

-/It is in times of great political challenges in national and international political life that the PCP holds its XX Congress this coming December 2, 3 and 4.

Aware of the complexity of the situation and the demands it entails, the PCP sets as an essential aim its organic strengthening, deepening its roots among the workers and the people, its connection to the Portuguese reality, articulating the struggle for immediate goals with the struggle for its wider goals, reaffirming its communist identity and its revolutionary project.

Organic strengthening of the Party which, among other important aspects, entails: strengthening of the leadership work; increasing the number of comrades with permanent responsibilities; recruitment and integration of new members; creation and promotion of company and workplace cells; structuring of local organisations; development work with the newer generations, with retirees and pensioners and other strata and prioritary sectors; increase of political initiative; improving the propaganda work and of the Party press; ensuring its financial independence.

Party that assumes and affirms with its practice, guideline and concept the essential characteristics of its communist identity: a party of the working class and of all workers, which upholds the interests of the anti-monopoly classes and strata, free from the influence, interests, ideology and policies

of forces of capital and whose characteristics and concern is a close bond with the working class, the workers and the people; a party whose supreme goal is the construction of socialism and communism, a society free from capitalist exploitation and oppression; a party that has Marxism-Leninism, as theoretical basis, a materialist and dialectical concept, as tool for analysis, a guide for action, critical and transforming ideology; a party which has working principles arising from the creative development of democratic centralism, based on a deep internal democracy, a single general guideline and a single central leadership; a patriotic and internationalist party.

PCP, the party of anti-fascist resistance, party of the April revolution and defence of its achievements, affirms itself as a force for action and transformation, of hope and confidence, with its identity and project, with a determined and decisive intervention, always faithful to its internationalist duties, always at the service of the workers, the people, the Portuguese homeland.

In the times we live, 100 years after the October Socialist Revolution and following the developments that took place in the twentieth century, in which the capitalist system, with its exploitative, oppressive, aggressive and predatory nature, with the destructive and tragic consequences it holds, suffers the deterioration of its structural crisis, becomes even clearer the importance and achievements of the aims of this major event in the history of Mankind and the affirmation of socialism as a requirement of the present and of the future.

After millennia where societies in which the socio-economic systems were based on the exploitation of man by man, the October Revolution began a new era in the history of Mankind, an era of transition from capitalism to socialism.

To mark this centennial we keep in mind the teachings of the processes of building socialism in the Soviet Union and other countries, the successes and defeats, the setbacks and advances, the long struggle that preceded it, as important experiences that enrich and enliven the continuing struggle for socialism and communism. The twentieth century was not of the “death of communism”, but the century in which communism

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was born as a new and superior form of society.

The disappearance of the USSR and the defeats of socialism in Eastern Europe had an undeniable and profound negative impact on the world balance of forces, on the social and political awareness of the masses and in the development of the struggle for socialism. But this fact does not change the fundamental content of our time, or calls into question the direction of historical development. Capitalism has not changed its nature, its revolutionary overthrow becomes a necessity.

The working class, the workers and the peoples, with their unity, organisation and struggle, have in their hands the success of the resistance to the current attack by big business, imperialism, and the achievement of social and national emancipation.

The PCP points as aim to the Portuguese people the construction of a socialist society, based on the reality and experience of the Portuguese Revolution, critically absorbing the world revolutionary experience. In proposing its programme ‘�An advanced democracy - The April values in the future of Portugal’, the PCP believes that the materialisation of this process of profound transformation and development of the Portuguese society is, in itself, an integral part of building socialism in Portugal. The struggle that the PCP undertakes for the defence, restoration and achievement of rights, for a rupture with the right-wing policy and the implementation of a patriotic and left-wing policy begins with the struggle for an advanced democracy, and it is part of the struggle for socialism.

Socialism, by different paths and stages, affirms itself as the goal of the struggle of peoples, as prospect and future condition inseparable from full human liberation and achievement.

It is with confidence that the PCP believes that, in a more or less prolonged historical period, through the struggle for social and national emancipation of the workers and peoples, the replacement of capitalism by socialism, in the twenty-first century, remains inscribed as a real possibility and as the most solid prospect of the evolution of Mankind.

It is to this process of struggle and construction that the Portuguese communists commit themselves with unwavering determination.

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Communist Party of the Russian Federation

Dear comrades, Esteemed participants in the meeting, I would like to convey to you fraternal greetings from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

The CC CPRF appreciates the Communist Party of Vietnam for the large amount of work it has done to prepare the XVIII International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties. We are sure that the meeting will make its contribution to strengthening the interaction among the forces taking part in the international communist movement.

Our party believes that the economic, social and political picture of the modern world is determined by the deepening general crisis of capitalism. This crisis has waxed and waned for a century now. The late 20th century saw a temporary stabilization of the world capitalist system after the USSR was destroyed. However, in the ХХI century the crisis of capitalism is again gathering momentum.

At present there is much talk in the world about globalization and globalism. Proceeding from Lenin’s characterization of imperialism, the CPRF has identified the following main features of globalism: 1. Productive industrial capital is being totally enslaved by financial and speculative capital.

2. At the world level “market relations” have turned into an artificial mechanism of unequal exchange and plunder of entire countries and peoples.

3. The global model of “international division of labor” consolidates the appalling social inequalities on the planetary scale.

4. The political influence of transnational corporations and financial-industrial groups aspiring to unlimited sovereignty of actions is increasing sharply.

5. National governments are losing control over the processes in the world economy. Fundamental norms of international law are being revised to create global power structures.

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6. Information and cultural expansion is actively used as a form of aggression. We witness growing spiritual uniformity at the most primitive level. National features of countries and peoples are being eradicated.

7. Transnational capital is becoming increasingly parasitic. It enjoys the benefits from the introduction of high technologies while the rest of the world lives in poverty. Scientific and technical progress is stagnating and its quality is deteriorating.

The exploitative predatory nature of imperialism is vividly manifested today. Because the profit margin tends to decline capitalism is fighting this trend by stepping up exploitation, financial speculations and military adventures.

The international situation is deteriorating. The USA and NATO are persistently expanding their presence in various parts of the world creating new military bases. Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria have become victims of aggression. The situation in the Middle East has been thrown into chaos. The migration crisis in Europe has been generated. National and religious conflicts are sharpening and raging.

The Western ruling circles use the most reactionary forces to achieve their political aims. One indication of this is the situation in Ukraine. The seeds of fascism have given sprouts there with direct assistance of the imperialist circles of the USA and the EU. This is happening in the land where 70 years ago the united Soviet people withstood the Hitler invasion and won.

In a bid to establish their world order the USA and its allies use the broadest spectrum of methods.

These include economic measures, diplomatic pressure, information wars and direct military threats.

Washington is taking fresh steps to strengthen its economic influence. To this end is uses two new agreements, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Under these conditions the key task of the communist and workers’ movement is to create a broad anti-imperialist front. Based on the principles of internationalism and the class approach, it is our duty to oppose the trend of the strengthening of fascism, nationalism and international terrorism.

We hope that our meeting will serve the cause of uniting our actions.

In Russia the world socio-economic crisis is combined with the internal crisis caused by the restoration of capitalism and the bankruptcy of liberal bourgeois policy. The country has all the features of imperialism named by Lenin. It is monopolistic, parasitic and decaying capitalism. Russia is under growing outside pressure of stronger countries of the world capitalist system. They resort to economic sanctions, political blackmail and military threats.

Inside the Russian Federation the authorities are making further inroads on the rights of the working people. People’s incomes and living standards are falling, unemployment is growing and the majority of the people are sinking into poverty. The ruling circles propose to raise the retirement age and introduce a tax on unemployed people. The 2017 draft budget would cut spending on healthcare and education.

In September the Russian Federation saw elections to the State Duma. The pro-government United Russia party gained a constitutional majority. This enables it to pass any laws disregarding the opinion of the people. The parliamentary elections have demonstrated once again the cynicism with which the Russian oligarchy achieves its goals. Each time elections approach, electoral legislation is recast and diverse methods are used to ensure the result that suits the interests of the ruling circles. We had to wage our election campaign against heavy odds in an atmosphere of political and information diktat and provocations against party representatives. In spite of attempts to push the CPRF off the political stage, this did not happen. Thanks to the support of the people our party has managed to remain the biggest and effectively the only opposition force. We are still the second biggest party in the State Duma.

Opposing bourgeois reaction, the CPRF is waging political battles both in and outside parliament.

Ideological confrontation is particularly important. We debunk anti-communism and counter the attempts to distort Soviet history. Last year in connection with the 70th Anniversary of the Great Victory over fascism we, together with other

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fraternal parties, did much to counter the attempts to justify Nazism and promote honest assessments of the history of the Second World War. At this meeting we will discuss the tasks facing our parties in strengthening the struggle of the working class for socialism, against capitalist exploitation, imperialist wars and fascism. We have an opportunity to discuss the strategy and tactics of our activities, the combination of parliamentary and non-parliamentary forms of activities. Equally important is the opportunity to share the experience gained in recent years.

Dear comrades, Next year the CPRF, together with all the fraternal parties and movements, will mark the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.

The victory of the proletarian revolution in Russia in October 1917 was the key event of the ХХ century. It radically changed the course of humanity’s development. Thanks to the Great October Revolution the world’s first socialist state came into being.

It provided an inspiring example for the working people of all countries who rose to fight the yoke of capital.

The October Revolution found its continuation in the deeds of the builders of Socialism, in the heroism of anti-Fascists, in the defeat of Hitler’s Germany and militarist Japan, in the collapse of the colonial system, the inspiring Cuban Revolution, the courage of Che Guevara, Salvador Allende and Hugo Chavez and today’s successes of China and Vietnam.

At present the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is launching preparations for the jubilee of the world’s first socialist revolution. In March 2015 these issues were discussed by the VII Plenum of the Party’s Central Committee. Gennady Zyuganov delivered the report “The Revolutionary Legacy of the Great October Revolution and the Tasks of the CPRF.” The decisions taken set the tasks of the struggle for socialism, political education of the masses, stepped-up work among workers and young people. Exactly a week ago the CPRF announced a special enrolment of new members to mark the 100th anniversary of the Great October Revolution.

The main events to mark the jubilee are planned 173 for October and November 2017. We propose to hold the XIX International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties during this time.

The Russian Communists are well aware that returning our country to the socialist path of development will be an uphill struggle. Of course, the best gift for the 100th jubilee of the Great October Socialist Revolution would be mobilization of working people in the struggle for their rights.

Stronger anti-imperialist solidarity will be particularly important for the success of this struggle.

Capitalism, as ever, seeks to mercilessly exploit the workers. To carry its struggle to victory the proletariat must acquire strong class consciousness. The key task of the communist parties in the capitalist countries is to introduce this consciousness into the working class and to help the workers in their struggle for their rights, for improving their position.

Today there is tremendous demand in the world for truth and justice, for humanism and social progress. Life has proved that no one but communists can respond to this demand.

The light of the Great October Revolution shows us the right path. It is the path of struggle and creative endeavor, the path of new victories of the broad popular masses, the path of socialist transformation of humanity.

Thank you.

Contibution of Russian CWP [En, Ru, Es, Ar]

Theses of the report at the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties held on the 28-30 of October 2016 in Hanoi, under the theme “Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive - Strategy and tactics of the Communist and Workers’ Parties in struggle for peace, workers’ and peoples’ rights, socialism”, October 28-29, 2016.

Dear comrades in arms, Let me greet all participants of the 18th IMCWP on behalf of Russian Communist Workers’ Party.

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Let me express our special greetings to the host of the meeting, to the glorious Communist Party of Vietnam.

1. Our party originates from CPSU. It was found by those communists that overtly resisted Gorbachev and his course in CPSU. First of all we struggled against the movement towards market economy, i.e. towards Capitalism. At the XXVIII Congress of CPSU (1990) in the statement of minority we warned both the party and the people that “the transition to market as a universal system including the markets of capital and labour would mean inevitable sliding down to the growth of capitalist relations. A forced treatment of Socialism with Capitalism carried out contrary to objective processes would not bring increase of production and the improvement of the level of life, but is likely to cause their inevitable fall, to provoke a wide social protest, would lead to heavy suffering of the people…

The party cannot perform Perestroika that has led to serious deterioration of the people’s lives. As to regards Communist party – it is not going to survive this shock and there will be left nobody to defend the goals of the movement”.

This took place under conditions when both Gorbachev and the majority of other representatives of the political elite paid lip service to the ideas of Communism , called themselves Marxists, camouflaged their line of actions by the references to restoration of Lenin’s rules of party life, constructed Socialism with human face. I.e. we know (I can claim that we know this best of all) how all this happened and why CPSU (of Gorbachev) crashed and why USSR was destroyed.

If we wanted to answer very briefly to the question why Soviet power and CPSU were defeated, we would answer as follows: because the power wasn’t Soviet any longer and the party wasn’t communist.

2. In 2017 there will be centenary of the Great October Socialist Revolution . We’ve all been busy reflecting how to mark this date and how to celebrate it. Sure that we shall mark this day, whereas there nothing special to celebrate as we are in the state of temporary defeat of October Revolution in its Motherland, i.e. we’ve been retreating. The best way

for communists to mark this anniversary would be to review and reconsider honestly the fate of their movement in the last century. We should start with the recognition of the fact that communists didn’t always win in their struggle for masses, and that they have been defeated by counterrevolution by this day. We should answer the questions who or what has won, why we were defeated. Was this defeat the final and irreversible event or is this a temporary defeat and the struggle will go on?

To put it brief: we should make conclusions from our mistakes. It’s not for nothing that Lenin said “Nothing can destroy us apart from our own mistakes.

3.

If we consider modern communist movement as a whole we’ll have to confess that the lessons haven’t been learnt. We are of the opinion that nowadays opportunism and revisionism have turned from an internal product of communist movement, from a set of biases and errors into a powerful weapon in the hands of Imperialism. The right bias hasn’t gone away with Gorbachev and the destruction of USSR and CPSU in 1991 In Russia the line of Gorbachev is being followed by the party with communist name. The main features of their politics are as follows: - it’s claimed that the limits for revolutions are up – the country cannot afford any more revolutions; - it’s not only the concept of proletarian dictatorship that is rejected, but the concept of organized class struggle is rejected as well; - parliamentarism is recognized as the power of people; -.adherence to the model of market Socialism; - support of Russian Orthodox Church, claims regarding its allegedly positive role in the development of people’s spirituality etc.

This is a typical occurrence in the communist movement of the world. To put it simple: there has been taking place the adaptation of the parties to the system of Capitalism while presenting themselves as parliamentary defenders of people’s rights.

4.

This right-wing transformation of commu-

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nist parties leads to removal of masses from real political participation. Their role is thus limited to the functions of electorate who give their votes to party leaders in the course of elections. Strategy of victory by such opportunistic party reads as follows: they promise working people a success achieved in the course of coming election, whereas political struggle of masses is limited to the struggle for “honest” elections. Such focusing on parliamentary activities only is well remunerated by governments.

One of the most typical examples of this occurrence is represented by European Left. These parties don’t recognize any extra-parliamentary forms of struggle, or pay them lip service only while actually hampering them.

5. We cannot say that there is such thing as the unity of modern communist movement worldwide. One could start with our inability to adopt a joint statement – so great are the differences. Let me bring an example. Chairman of Peoples Republic of China Xi Jinping when meeting with Putin in the course of the BRICS summit in India in October congratulated Russian President on the victory of the party United Russia in the course of parliamentary elections: “Recently there have successfully taken place elections to the new State Duma. Party United Russia has achieved a convincing victory, and this creates solid and firm political foundation for stable development of Russia in the future”.

In fact he congratulates Putin on strengthening of anti-communism, anti-sovietism and capitalism. No comment.

6. The successes of China in development of economics are very much impressing and are the reason for big respect. Nevertheless this doesn’t mean a success in the construction of Socialism.

There is an interesting example of how Lenin treated similar issues: In the draft program prepared for the II Congress of RSDRP the aims of socialist production were described as “planned organization of social production process aimed at satisfaction of the needs both of whole society as well as of individual needs”. V.I. Lenin objected to such wording: “it’s not accurate.

Such satisfaction can be provided by capitalism as well, the difference is that is not granted to all members of society and is not equal”. In the end of the

day Lenin managed to change the draft program 175 in the following way: “social revolution of proletariat will destroy the class division of society and liberate the whole oppressed mankind by way of replacing private property for means of production and turnover by the socialized one and introducing planned production process in order to ensure wellbeing and versatile development of all members of society.

Nowadays People’s Republic of China has the second largest number of billionaires in the world whereas Russia is the third. I think that both countries are equally far from the classless society – from communism.

7. The goal of Socialism is not limited to proclaiming the power of working people at all, the goal is to ensure that working people should have real practical possibility to perform this power.

From our point of view the experience of Soviets should be studied and used by all parties. Soviets are the most adequate form of realization of people’s power, organizational form of proletarian dictatorship. The main point is the participation of working masses in the struggle. Initially this should be the issue of taking power, later under Socialism this is their participation in performing the dictatorship of proletariat. Lenin saw it as a universal participation in the control over state… Soviet power is built on the basis of industries – based on plants and factories.

8. We, RCWP are going to celebrate the centennial anniversary of October Revolution by seeking new ways to develop the struggle. We’ll invite these parties that hasn’t used up their limits for revolutions, that extend their recognition of class struggle up to the recognition of proletarian dictatorship and whose practical activities are based upon workers movement. We in Russia have been attempting the tactics of creating Workers Front.

We see our task in preserving the Marxist-Leninist part of political theory and practice for the sake of future of communist movement that nobody will be able to extinguish.

We lived under Socialism and know for sure that the relations between people were much better,

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fairer, more unpolluted and honest, much more human. This is something to struggle for!

Let’s not falter on our chosen way!

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Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Уважаемые товарищи, Благодарю Центральный Комитет Коммунистической партии Вьетнама за прекрасную организацию высокого форума коммунистических и рабочих партий всего мира. Коммунистическая партия Советского Союза – партия Ленина, автор и создатель СССР. Мы высокоценим многолетнюю дружбу и сотрудничество с Коммунистической партией Вьетнама. Советские коммунисты и весь советский народ всегда проявляли солидарность с народом Вьетнама в его борьбе за мир, против колониализма и обретение независимости. Под руководством своей Коммунистической партии вьетнамский народ в длительных войнах разгромил французских колонизаторов и американских агрессоров, добился воссоединения Родины и выдающихся успехов в строительстве социализма на фундаменте марксизма-ленинизма и идей своего выдающегося вождя Хо Ши Мина. Недавнее празднование 40-летнего юбилея провозглашения Социалистической Республики Вьетнам убедительно продемонстрировало твердую решимость вьетнамского народа и дальше идти по этому пути, открывающему перспективу превращения Вьетнама в развитое социалистическое государство. В настоящее время вьетнамский народ самоотверженно трудится над выполнением решений XII Национального съезда Коммунистической партии Вьетнама, подтвердившего незыблемость пути на модернизацию страны. Особенно у нас вызывает уважение то, что вьетнамские товарищи понимают опасность, которую несет так называемый рынок с допуском частного капитала в экономику. Партия специально определила на съезде меры, направленные на искоренение коррупции, социального неравенства и других негативных явлений, на приумножение успехов, достигнутых Вьетнамом в развитии экономики, культуры, образовании и в других областях.

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Компартия Советского Союза является старейшей коммунистической партией мира. В 1991 году после контрреволюционного переворота в СССР партия была запрещена, но мы смогли организоваться и временно действовать в форме Совета Коммунистических партий – КПСС (СКП-КПСС). Мы сохранили Знамя и принципы марксистко-ленинской партии, осудили оппортунизм («горбачёвщину»), исключив Горбачёва из партии, и восстановили прежнее название – КПСС. Однако и сегодня в ряде республик бывшего СССР партия вынуждена действовать в особых условиях и на нелегальном положении. Наша партия никогда не была встроена в буржуазную власть, не получала от неё финансирование, не играла по правилам буржуазного правительства. В сентябре-октябре 1993 года члены КПСС выступили против очередного государственного переворота и узурпации власти Ельциным, а в последние годы – против киевской хунты. Уважаемые товарищи, год назад мы провели XXXV съезд КПСС, поставивший задачу продолжить курс на объединение коммунистического движения на территории СССР для достижения главной и стратегической цели – возрождения СССР. Также необходимо восстановить доверие рабочего класса, трудового крестьянства и народной интеллигенции к партии. Повседневная идейно-политическая задача состоит в борьбе с буржуазными режимами на территории СССР, принципиальной борьбе с оппортунизмом, разлагающим коммунистическое движение и уводящим массы от классовой борьбы. Данная работа проводится в сложных условиях и даётся нелегко. Этому мешает разрозненность коммунистического движения, разобщение и резкое сокращение рабочего класса, в том числе по причине ликвидации крупных социалистических производств в бывших социалистических странах, и в республиках СССР, в частности, изощрённость буржуазной пропаганды и антикоммунистический коммуникационный менеджмент.

Особенностью политического ландшафта в России и других республиках является то обстоятельство, что для участия в выборах власть не только допускает лояльные буржуазным режимам левые партии, многие из которых зарегистрированы с коммунистическим названием, но и создаёт искусственные политические субъекты (также партии с коммунистическими названиями) именно для участия в выборах. Общим для российского, украинского, молдавского парламентаризма является то, что эти партии обуржуазиваются, встраиваются во власть, заигрывают с религиознонационалистическими силами, предлагают реформы по улучшению капитализма, хотят сделать ему человеческое лицо. Имея коммунистическое название, они, по сути, проводят политику европейской социалдемократии, «партии европейских левых». В конечном счете, такие «коммунистические партии» дискредитируют коммунистическое движение. В итоге, они теряют свою боевитость и оказываются неспособными противостоять натиску национализма и фашизма. (Количество мест в Парламенте для таких партий, как правило, зависит не от результатов выборов, а от подачки властей). Все это Ленин – вслед за Марксом определял как «парламентский кретинизм». Участвующие в выборах левые партии получают всё меньше и меньше голосов. Это при том, что большая часть населения вообще перестала участвовать в выборах, голосуя ногами против существующей политической системы и её участников. Таким образом, в отличие от начала 90—х годов XX века, когда за коммунистов голосовали бОльшие массы людей, сегодня процент поддержки коммунистов падает. Безусловно, здесь роль играет обман и подтасовка результатов голосования правящими режимами. Но одновременно теряют авторитет в массах и коммунистические партии. Это при том, что катастрофически падает уровень жизни и растёт обнищание населения. Часть протестующих прежних избирателей отдают голоса за националистические партии.

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КПСС считает политику заигрывания с буржуазной властью неприемлемой, тупиковой и крайне вредной для рабочего и коммунистического движения. Главные вызовы, с которыми сегодня сталкивается коммунистическое движение в пост-советских странах на территории СССР, это не только обнищание народных масс, но и эскалация насилия. Во многих республиках прошли или еще тлеют кровавые конфликты (Сумгаит, Баку, Карабах, Таджикистан, Приднестровье, Чечня, Абхазия, Осетия, Украина…). Ведущиеся в регионах вооружённые конфликты и войны, инициируется насаждением национализма, клерикализма и исламизма. Такова закономерность – Капитализм = это война. На Украине дело дошло до откровенного фашизма. Среднеазиатские республики бывшего СССР находятся под гнетом авторитарных режимов, Компартии находятся под давлением властей, а народы все более подпадают под влияние исламистских группировок. Ранее эта тенденция затронула Ближний Восток. Исламская радикализация на Ближнем и Среднем Востоке началась после того как не стало Советского Союза и Мировой системы социализма, и, как следствие, произошло ослабление социально-ориентированных светских режимов в ряде стран Ближнего Востока и Северной Африки (Сирия, Ливия и др.). Сегодня некоторые из этих стран пали жертвой сговора империалистических хищников и радикальных исламистских группировок. Хотя держится находящаяся в огне раздробленности Сирия. Мы выражаем солидарность с народом и Коммунистической партией Сирии, равно как и с борьбой коммунистов Донбасса. В Европе, как и во многих других частях планеты наблюдается эскалация антикоммунизма, искажается историческая правда о Советском Союзе и его главной и выдающейся роли в борьбе против фашизма, предпринимаются попытки принизить роль социализма в социальном прогрессе, роль

коммунистического движения в борьбе за 179 права народов. Здесь уничтожается советское наследие, памятники социалистической эпохи и Красной Армии – победительницы во Второй Мировой войне. Реакционные, фашистские силы, связанные с бизнесинтересами и государственным аппаратом, поднимают голову, запугивают, убивают, пытаются отравить сознание народов ядом расизма, фашизма. По всей Европе наблюдается миграционный кризис и рост националистических настроений. Причины этой опасной ситуации исходят из обострения империалистической конкуренции за контроль над рынками и природными ресурсами, за увеличение прибыли и усиление позиции монополий. В последнее время резко возросла агрессивность империализма США и НАТО, что привело к обострению международной обстановки, в том числе в АзиатскоТихоокеанском регионе и Юго-Восточной Азии. Складывающаяся международная обстановка настоятельно требует укрепления сплочённости и единства всех антиимпериалистических сил и создания единого фронта борьбы против империализма. Однако реализации этой задачи мешает разобщённость коммунистического движения. Парадоксально, но мы не можем выработать единый итоговый документ из-за разных подходов и оценок ключевых идеологических и теоретических вопросов стратегии и тактики коммунистических партий (а если принимаем, то максимально выхолостив содержание). Думаем, нам пора перестать замалчивать разногласия, необходимо Рабочей Группе или Специальной Комиссии определить перечень существующих в коммунистическом движении различий и подходов, смело и честно их обсуждать, в том числе на научнопрактических конференциях и двигаться вперед к их разрешению. В заключение, желаю дальнейших успехов вьетнамскому народу на пути социалистического строительства, учитывающему исторические и национальные

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особенности развития страны.

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New Communist Party of Yugoslavia

Dear comrades, I warmly salute you all on behalf 181 of the New Communist Party of Yugoslavia, and I convey to you the militant greetings of our members and sympathizers.

It is a great honor and pleasure to speak at a Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties of the world in the capital city of the nation that is victoriously struggled both against colonialism and imperialism, which determined its destiny and future by building of socialism under the leading role of communists headed by such a gigantic figure of our movement as it was comrade Ho Chi Minh.

The brave people of Vietnam had defeated the Japanese militarists, the French colonialists and American imperialists, Vietnamese had provided an example to all justice-loving and freedom-loving peoples of the world how to fight for their freedom and independence. Let this triumphant spirit continue to inspire us in our further joint struggles, let it inspire all of us, delegates at the 18th Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties of the world, for which organization we thank to the Communist Party of Vietnam.

For 18 consecutive years, we are organizing an International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties. Our New Communist Party of Yugoslavia was decided 18 years ago to actively participate in these meetings, because they are the way to move toward a goal which was then, as well as it is now, an important precondition of the new growing and strengthening of the single block of the internationalist struggle of Communists, a way toward the creation of the new Comintern.

As much as this goal, the creation of the new Comintern is at this given moment unrealistic, we are aware of the importance of these meetings. First of all this is obvious regarding the importance of our mutual solidarity. It is wrong to think that the party, whether they are large or small, ruling or illegal, do not need internationalist solidarity and support of fraternal parties of the world. There is no such party, at least there is no such Marxist-Leninist party.

In order to respond to the topic of this year’s meeting, that is all about strategy and tactics in our struggle, I want to share with you on behalf of my party our vision of actualities that are signifying conditions of our struggle, at the general

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international level, as well as on the level of our region and country, and to explain to you our tactics in struggle. Therefore, I am particularly pointing out several issues: First, our views on actualities from international developments: 1 - The crisis of capitalism is not over. Bourgeois economists cannot find any cure that would encourage real and sustainable growth, there is no new model and functional method, and it cannot be found because the system has not changed, capitalism cannot be repaired.

2 - For the purpose of its self-preservation, capitalism that is in the stage of imperialism continues to escalate aggressions and bloodsheds. The possibility of the outbreak of World War III is dramatically easier to imagine today than it was only 10 or 15 years ago. It is becoming clear what we were talking about 7-8 years ago, and that is that the wounded beast is the most dangerous. War conflicts caused by imperialism and led by imperialists are going on in many countries, in Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan, Palestine, Ukraine and other countries. On behalf of our country and our people that also passed through the horrors of wars in its recent past, we express particularly great solidarity with the peoples of these countries.

3 - Spread threats of ISIS, growing religious fundamentalism and terrorism, growth of fascism represent the reflection of the nature of capitalism, sharpening of its inequalities and hopelessness of the poor, while, at the same time, the direct interest and guidance of imperialists is very obvious.

4 - NATO, the striking fist of imperialism and the greatest danger to world peace, continues with dangerous provocations against Russia, China, in the zone of the Pacific, the Middle East, against DPR Korea and elsewhere.

5 - The dangerous developments in many countries in Latin America, where right-wing came to power, forces sponsored by the United States, requires our solidarity with the peoples of these countries in these difficult times.

6 - We also express solidarity with the people whose soil is robbed, water and other natural re-

sources, whether it comes to the so-called developing countries or as it was case recently in the “first country of imperialism” - the USA. The next issues concerns our region, the Balkans, and our country: 1 - Serbia is still a partly occupied country, more precisely its southern province of Kosovo and Metohija. The latest actualities in the development of the occupation of Kosovo are related to the privatization of the assets of the Serbian state in Kosovo, as is the case with large mining complex of Trepča. Among monopolies that are involved in privatizations, are the companies of US general Wesley Clark, who was in position during the war of 1999.

2 - That capitalism is at the stage of imperialism, where monopolies at international level are socializing the labor in their favor, Serbian workers felt well on their own shoulders in companies like South Korean Jura and Samsung, or Italy’s Fiat and Geox, and many other monopolies which conducted an unprecedented exploitation that has taken on dimensions of the scandal in Serbian society.

3 - Serbia is gradually entering NATO. Negotiations with the Serbian government are going on, and they will be more concrete after the visit of Prime Minister of Serbia to Brussels in late November. The current arrangements ensure that NATO troops can move freely through the territory of Serbia, and that they can benefit and use our military facilities, like military barracks, the same ones that were restored after their bombing.

4 - NATO announced a new expansion in the region. Montenegro is the newest target. Several NATO member countries have already ratified the agreement of accession of Montenegro, despite the fact that the recently held elections in Montenegro showed that the vast majority of citizens do not want their own republic in NATO. 5 - Unilateral solutions and moves that Western imperialists implement through their puppet regimes and politicians in the Balkans, with provocations against Russian interests also visible in our region, suggesting the possibility of renewed armed conflicts, is proof that there is no peace

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and reconciliation in the Balkans until its destiny is solely in the hands of Balkan peoples.

6 - A large wave of refugees from war-torn areas, such as Syria, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan is not reduced, and the so-called “Balkan route” operates in undiminished volume. Solidarity with the people whose destinies are dismantled by imperialists!

Finally I will take the opportunity to explain tactics of our struggle presented through our current activities: 1 - At the end of November last year, our Party has held its IV Congress. Congress affirmed the party program based on the class-oriented line of orthodox Marxism-Leninism, against decades of conceptual weakening of our movement in our country when it was led by the idea of so-called self-management socialism, or titoism, which we fully reject as harmful reformist and opportunist views and tactics. Congress also confirmed opposition to ideological and political disintegration through harmful unification and drowning in parties and movements that do not have a consistent Marxist-Leninist orientation.

2 - Our party has come a long way in the process of rejuvenation of its leading cadres in party organs, and that process continues. We are proud that we are among the communist parties with youngest membership in the region, which is in line with the slogan that communism is the youth of the world.

The new generation of communists that have grown through the struggle in our ranks, are stocks for the future of our party, its militancy and determination.

lizes student masses in the struggle for totally free, 183 accessible and quality education for all.

5 - In addition to the Internet propaganda and activities in this field, we have renewed regular publishing of our organ of the CC - “New Communist” that was previously only sporadically published. We are aware of the importance of the journal in organizational, agitation and theoretical terms.

Comrades, hard times for the Communists are still here. Persistent and bitter struggle which obliges us to continue to hold firmly a red banner of Marxism-Leninism in our hands while marching towards the future.

We are willing to learn from others and to point out what we think that is right. In addition to the differences that we have among ourselves, we have an obligation to agree on a clear vision of the world of the future, the world of socialism-communism. As our agreement of this vision is clearer and more precise, the easier it will be accepted by the masses of the working people of the world.

Long live the proletarian internationalism!

Long live Marxism-Leninism!

3 - The good news are that at the recent Congress of the WFTU in South Africa in its membership is definitely enrolled for the first time one Serbian trade union - “Sloga”, with which our party has a very close cooperation. This is important for the better connection of the party, cadres and activists on the ground with the workers and the trade union movement in Serbia, which stands on class positions, against opportunism.

4 - In addition to organizational strengthening of our positions in the workplace, in the streets, among pensioners and other social categories, we put a lot of hopes in the successes of our student organization “Student front” that successfully mobi-

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South African Communist Party

The South African Communist Party (SACP) ex185 presses it profound gratitude to the Vietnamese Communist Party (CPV) on the occasion of the hosting of the 18th International Meeting of the Communists and Workers Parties and creating excellent conditions for us to be able to ensure we proceed without hassles to execute the work of the 18th meeting.

This International Meeting of Communists and Workers Parties takes place under the theme: “Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive - strategy and tactics of the Communists and Workers Parties in the struggle for peace, workers and peoples’ rights, socialism”. We believe this theme correctly captures the essence of working class and popular strata struggles in the current period. Indeed, we must continue to develop appropriate responses to the crisis and provide alternatives for the masses of people reeling from the consequences of the effects of capitalism. The working people and popular strata depend on us to struggle for a better quality of life and the ultimate overthrow of capitalism and for the construction of socialism.

We are meeting at a time when the crisis of capitalism continues to envelope all of the world with huge serious negative ramifications for working class of the world. For much of developing world, the drop in commodity prices has led to sluggish growth, which in return has impacted negatively on the livelihoods of the majority of the poor and working people. Furthermore, trade agreements and others have been unfairly used to benefit the developed world at the expense of the developing world as the game of unfair trade and bullying continues. The perpetuation of an unfair unipolar world continues to result in wars, tragedy, disease and other negative consequences particularly for the working people, women, children and youth and Africans in particular - who must migrate (through treacherous waters of the Mediterranean Sea) to the developed world in search of jobs, security and a better life.

The SACP is conscious of the enormity of the tasks that confront the working class, it’s formations and the popular strata in the struggles for an alternatives in South Africa, the region and the world. This, we want to believe requires even

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greater unity between and amongst the progressive and popular forces to enhance its mobilisation, campaigning capacities and overall tactics. In fact we require a deep debate and discussion in the ICWP movement to outline perspectives and appreciation for those exploring the difficult tasks of evolving a trajectory for change - an alternative to capitalist development within conditions and circumstances not of their own making.

The SACP which is an active participant in the Tripartite Alliance led by the African National Congress (ANC), also understands the challenges that confront the progressive alliance in country and has continued work on that front, but has also scored major victories in the past. We take responsibility for the revolution - both the victories and setbacks!

Huge advances have been made to reverse the legacy of apartheid colonialism through a myriad of policies in the last 20-odd years. Though a lot needs to done to ensure fundamental transformation occurs. It is for this reason that we have supported the ANC’s more radical second phase of transformation so as to ensure that the process becomes reversible and materially alters the conditions of the majority of our people, who are the working class and the poor, women and youth.

The strategy of the imperialism in the ensuing crisis of capitalism is to impose on the the world a hybrid war - as can be witnessed in certain regions of the world. The strategy of a hybrid war as witnessed in Brazil (and elsewhere) entails a variety of tactics, but remains the same - regime change and undermining of the popular vote of the people.

The hybrid war strategy seeks to achieved the same objective of regime without the classical use of the military warfare but by creating instability, mobilizing large sections of the population through one sided media narrative and delegitimizing of the real concerns of the people.

There is currently a fast developing hybrid war against the BRICS countries and in particular those countries who are perceived as the weak link in the bloc. Imperialism has been able to achieve its goal in destabilizing Brazil and through the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, realize it’s goal. In South Africa we have witnessed student protests around university fees - a legitimate demand, but has been exploited by sections of the ultra-left and others for

regime change agenda. Those the demands of the students have by and large been addressed, but the lumpen burning and destroying of property and general anarchy has been continuing in order to portray the ruling African National Congress as being incapable to address the demands of the students.

Th demand for free university education as propagated by the regime changers’ is unconnected to the socialist demand of the decommodification of basic needs, including healthcare, social security, housing and other basic needs. Importantly, those making the demand of free university education are unable to distinguish between free education for the poor on the terrain of capitalist society meaning those who can of ford to pay must pay!

The rich must pay and and they must not be subsidized by the poor!

The tactic of imperialism in the broader scheme of the hybrid war, is to cultivate and harness the demands of the people and channel these into a political demands for regime change, particularly in countries it doesn’t like and wants to change the trajectory in favour of the superfluous ‘American way of life and dream’.

Indeed, there are also internal challenges which contribute towards internal instability. These subjective challenge contribute in a significant manner towards a conducive environment for pursuing a regime change agenda. These subjective challenges will have to be tackled and honesty addressed in order to ally the fears for regime change. The charge of corruption has been raised both by internal and external forces as a major issue but has been used by the external to pursue its agenda more vigorously. The disaster of unchecked corruption under late capitalism, involving left governments warns us that corruption is a fundamental issue for the left. If we ignore it, we will create spaces for populist and demagogic forces. We therefore have added our vocie to express our condemnation of this abuse of power and warned of the dangers of creeping predatory elitism and corporate capture.

Secondly, the South African government recently stated that it intends to undertake a process of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court

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(ICC). This decision follows a process where the imperialist powers together with their proxies wanted the South African government to arrest Sudan President Al-Bashir when he attended the African Union (AU) summit in the country last year. The decision to withdraw from the ICC is a huge decision and will a rippling effect on the continent. There are others countries on the continent, who have also given their intentions to withdraw from the ICC. The ICC has proved to a biased body of criminalization of, in the main Africans. The US which is not a signatory of the Rome statutes continues to prevail as a policeman of the world without any repercussions.

What should be the response of the majority of the working class be in the context of the ensuing strategy of imperialism? On the African continent and in particular in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) imperialist intrigues are unraveling as the debacle of the general elections which are supposed to take place in November takes on another dimension as part of broader strategy of the hybrid war. The US, France and Belgium in particular are unhappy with the fact that incumbent President Joseph Kabila will stay in power until 2018.

The intrigues and inter-imperialist rivalries con187 tinue to manifest in the DRC and elsewhere on the continent. We are particularly worried about the ongoing border debacle between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which could spark another interconnected civil war. Eritrea which has had unilateral sanctions imposed upon it by the US for many years continue to be a country isolated and neglected by the progressives of the world. We should express tangible solidarity with this resilient people and country and quest to delink from imperialism and undertake a trajectory of development with much of the hallmarks of capitalist-market in place.

In conclusion, the SACP wishes express its profound solidarity with the all the peoples of the world executing and struggling for an alternative trajectory and path of development. We remain steadfast in our believe and firm in our convictions that socialism is the answer to the tragedies, diseases and others that continue to ravage societies. War is not the answer!

Forward to socialism! Socialism is the future!

They envisage a change in leadership in the country which favorable to the positions of imperialism and displaces China. China has the largest investments in the DRC and seem set to occupy an advantageous positions in that China, which holds the almost 60% of the world reserves of coltan has invested heavily in the country as part of broader strategy of ensuring supply-chain dominance of the cellphone-component parts and electric-car market - which represent the future of the world economy.

China has also made significant inroads in the country and has bought some strategic mines in order to secure the supply of minerals that are significant for its continuing economic growth. The Mail and Guardian reported in March 2016, that “[C]hina, the world’s biggest buyer of industrial metals, is Africa’s largest trading partner, with two-way flows exceeding $220 billion in 2014. The country overtook Belgium to become Congo’s top trade partner in 2008, according to International Monetary Fund data. In 2014, it did $4.33 billion of trade with DR Congo, 57% more than the entire European Union and 12 times greater than the US”.

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Communist Party of Sri Lanka

At the outset I convey the warm fraternal greet189 ings of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) to all the participants of this august meeting and most importantly our hosts, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). Our delegation highly appreciates the elaborate arrangements made and the excellent facilities provided for the successof thedeliberations. We also thank the CPV for its warmhospitality and for thecozy accommodation, delicious meals and comfortable transport afforded to us.

Our parties are meeting at a time when the capitalist crisis is still smoldering. It is reported that during the last year global economic activity remained subdued. Growth in the “emerging markets”and developing economies had declined for the fifth consecutive year. The evaluation made during the middle of this year has also not shown a significant improvement. According to the International Monetary Fund productivity in the most advanced economies has remained sluggish.

The Communique issued at the end of the G20 summit admits that ‘growth is still weaker than desirable’. It adds that downside risks remain due to potential volatility in financial markets, fluctuationsof commodity prices, sluggish trade and investment, and slow productivity and employment growth in some countries.

The G 20 countries were also concerned about the expression of protectionism in certain quarters of the capitalist world at atime when they desire to liberalize trade. The IMF“fear that a wave of populist politics across the US and Europe could send globalization into reverse with protectionist policies hitting international trade, investment and migration, sending the world plunging into a prolonged period of stagnation”.

Another worrying matter that concerns capitalist countries is the record growth of global debt. This monthit hit $152 trillion whichis equal to 225% of the World Gross Product.The IMF says that it is weighing down economic growth and adding to risks that it could turn into stagnation or even recession.

It is the working people who will have to ultimately bear the burden of the capitalist crisis with

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the growth of unemployment and the decimation of their incomes. Already people in some countries, including Spain, Portugal and Greeceare on the streets in their thousands carrying out lengthy protests.

Despite the crises confronting imperialism it is conspiring and carry out outrageous schemes and manoeuvres to effect regime changes in countries which are run by governments which they despise.

Already the leftwing governments of Argentina and Brazil have been over thrown. Constant conspiratorial pressure is exerted on Venezuela both internally and externally to oust Nicolas Maduro, the leftwing President. We express our solidarity with Venezuela and call on the international working class movement to intensify their solidarity actions to save the Bolivarian revolution.

The mass expression of the aspirations of the people of certain Arab countries for democracy and social progress which came to be known asthe Arab Spring was subvertedby imperialism to achieve their regional designs. They have ruined Libya and created a chaotic situation in that country,The imperialist attempt to establish a government of their choice in Syriahas beenfoiled by the Syrian patriotic forces at a tremendous cost, both material and human. The civil war that is proceeding is fueled by the United States, the Western powers and feudal Arab countries by assisting opposition forces set up by the Westand more significantly by covertly supporting the ISIS. This has caused massive devastation of the country and brought terrible misery to its people. Thanks to the support rendered by Russia,Iran and China and largely upon their own strength there is hope that the Syrian patriotic forces will ultimatelyemerge victorious defeating the machinations of the Western powers to dismember their country.

In South Asia regional cooperation has come under severe stress due to the aggravation of some bilateral and multilateral problems among the countries of the region. The roots of most of these problems go back to the period of British colonial rule and the intervention of US imperialism in the region during the Cold War years. Some of the problems like the Kashmir issue dates back to the partition of India.

The spread of terrorism in the region begins with

the creation of terrorist out-fits by the United Statesto fight the involvement of the erstwhile Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Now theseproblems have aggravated and appear to be intractable threatening the very survival of the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

At the beginning of October, 2016 the SAARC meeting scheduled to be held in Pakistan in November, 2016 was abandoned in the background of the military clashes between India and Pakistan and the allegations of terrorist incursions into Afghanistan from Pakistan. Both these relate to what has come to be called cross-border terrorism It would be tragic if SAARC, comprising countries with a common cultural and historical heritage collapses making way for the further aggravation and prolongation of the existing disputes among them.

In Sri Lanka at the Presidential Elections held in January 2015 the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) supportedthe Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Candidate (Mahinda Rajapakse) against Maithripala Sirisena who defected from the SLFP to contest as the “common candidate” of theopposition led by the pro-imperialist United National Party (UNP) - the party of local big capital. Mr. Sirisena who won the elections appointed a government headed by the leader of the UNP soon after the declaration of the results against the wishes of a section of the SLFP. Exercising the provisions of the SLFP constitution which provides for the automatic appointment as President of the SLFP a member of the partywho becomes the President of the country, Mr. Sirisena who had not been effectively expelled from the party thus far, gained control of the party by becoming its leaer.Soonafter, he took the SLFP into a coalition government with the UNP. During the first 100 days of the new president’s tenure the Constitution was amended to provide for thecurtailment of some of his executive powersand to establish several independent commissions to de-politicize certain armsof the government. The CPSL acknowledges that these are positive steps. However, as expected, the coalition government veered more to the right in its economic policy and adopted a visibly pro-west-

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ern posture in the conduct of its foreign policy.

At the Parliamentary elections held in August last year the CPSL contested in alliance with the SLFP under the umbrella of the SLFP-led United Peoples Alliance (UPFA). The elections did not produce a single party with a majority of its own. The UNP obtained 105 seats (8 seats less than the number required for an outright majority) in comparison to 95 seats of the SLFP-led UPFA. ThePresident as the leader of the SLFP decided again to form a coalition government with the UNP against the wishes of the majority of the UPFA Members of Parliament. This led to a virtual split in the SLFP with one faction faithful to the President being in government and the other in the Opposition.

TheCPSL is opposed to the present coalition government which is dominated as aforesaid by the pro-imperialist UNP that represents the local big bourgeoisie and the corporate sector. It stands for the replacement of the present government with a government that defends the national interests, is committed to resolving the national problem and advances the cause of the people.

The UPFA Members of Parliament (including the CPSL member) who are opposed to the governmenthave constituted themselves into what has come to be known as the Joint Opposition (JO).

The Joint Opposition (JO) consists of a section of the SLFP and several smaller parties which have functioned together in alliance with the SLFP under the umbrella of the UPFA even before the change of government. There exist differences among its constituents on some issues and in regard to tactics.

The CPSL acts together with the JO on issues on which there is agreement and adheres to its own distinct positions on other issues in keeping with its independence.

From its launch the JO has been carrying out massive campaigns in the country against the anti- national and ant- people policies of the government.

Forces who seek a change of government in the countryare now increasingly rallying behind the JO. The strategy of the CPSL in the present phase of development is togather the requisite forces and create conditions for the formation of a government of left and democratic forces in the futureto

accomplish democratic transformations in the so191 ciety and the polity,to establish durable national unity and to broaden social justice and welfare.

Initially it bases itself on the Socialist Alliance (SA) comprising the CPSL and four other left parties in moving towards the attainment of this objective.

The CPSL recognizes the need to build the SA into a formidable force both byexpanding its activities in defence of the vital interests of the working people,by helping to strengthen the constituent parties and by drawing other left leaning forces into its fold. As for drawing the democratic forces it conceives that whilst the left should tirelessly work to win over other democratic elementsin the different alliances it interacts with.

The SA should also move to attract to its side the middle strata comprising intellectuals, professionals, self-employed persons and those engaged in small and micro businessesworking together on common issues.

In the short -term program the activities of the CPSL will be primarily based on the following issues: I. In the context of constitutional reforms to fightamong other things for the abolition of the authoritarian executive presidential system, for democratization of the electoral system, for an effective deinstead of levying increased taxes on the capitalist class volution of power to the periphery and for sharing of power at the centre to solve the national problem and for broadening fundamental rightsof the citizens; II. Organised resistance to the application of neo-liberal policies detrimental to national interests and the welfare of the people; III. The fight against the imposition of burdens on the working people to solve the financial crisis instead of levying increased taxes on the capitalist class; IV. Organisation of mass opposition to the privatization of state assets; V. The defence of the existing social welfare schemes that include free education and free healthcare services.

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government elections which are being continually postponed by the government for reasons of political expediency.

The CPSL will campaign for the realization of these objectives together with the Socialist Alliance and other political forces which are in agreement with them.

The ensuing period will be a period of intense class struggles and political battles. The party is preparing to meet the emerging situationby stepping up its ideological work, streamliningthe party organizations, heightening its agitational activities and working for the extension of its mass base.

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Communist Party of Sweden

Dear comrades, First of all, on behalf of the Communist Party of Sweden, I would like to thank and congratulate the Communist Party of Vietnam for hosting this conference. At the same time we would like to express our full admiration for the heroic Communist Party and the great people of Vietnam for being the first to defeat US imperialism. Your grand victory is a victory for all workers worldwide.

In our last contribution we exposed the commonly prevailing myth of Sweden being a progressive and peaceful country, by highlighting the role of Sweden in the military interventions in Afghanistan, Syria and Libya. We also mentioned the privatization craze that preceeded and continued with the EU accession.

Of particular note is that Sweden may be the only remaining country in which primary and secondary education is open to state-funded for-profit schools run by venture capitalists, after the model was prohibited in Chile last year. Profits are, not surprisingly, generated by cutting costs by firing teachers and by increasing the workload of the remaining staff, introducing lectures without lecturers, removing school libraries, and other resources used in education.

In secondary education more than 25% of all pupils are enrolled in such private school companies, and understandably pupils are left in very delicate situations when their schools go bankrupt after having been plundered by their owners, often losing years in the process, possibly affecting their future employment and tertiary education prospects for life. No wonder this development is accompanied with falling performance of students, putting the future of the country at stake. Moreover, should the TTIP, or a similar agreement, be passed, corporations may sue governments for making laws that hinder profits, and overturn them, including ones that prohibit this type of companies, further consolidating absurdity.

Returning to the the issue of war and peace, there have unfortunately been major developments which have worsened the situation just this past year. It was already our impression that the Swedish Armed Forces were in collusion with the

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interests of US imperialism, through agreements, exchange and training programs. Now, however, this collaboration has been strengthened through the host nation agreement with NATO, that was ratified by social democratic and other bourgeois elements of the Swedish parliament, implying that foreign nuclear weapon carrying vessels can be stationed on Swedish territory. Furthermore, it allows for waging offensive warfare from Swedish soil, while at the same time promising immunity and guarantees to the security of foreign installations and logistics. Simultaneously, polls show, that the population, to a large extent, is unaware of what NATO is and what neutrality entails. This is likely due to the plummetting levels of education combined with monopolization of media.

At the moment, 70% of the wealth of the Stockolm stock exchange is concentrated to 15 families. Three family conglomerates own practically all of the, so called, free press, resulting in the complete dominance of bourgeois perspectives, with any hints of real opposition being filtered out systematically.

They are clever, they disguise their own propaganda under the pretexts of a defense against alleged Russian propaganda. An example of this would be the implied Russian submarine violations just prior to the defense budget discussions, which of course are impossible to disprove. Eventually the, so called, conclusive evidence, was found to be originating from Swedish vessels, but harm had already been done and the objectives fulfilled.

Putting all pieces together, the host nation agreement, the massive anti-Russian propaganda campaign and statements by senior Swedish officers that the country could be involved in a war in a few years time, there can be few doubts as to the underlying reasons. It is likely a psychological preparation of the population to accept the possibility of a war on Russia.

This year our party and progressive organizations joined forces to create local anti-NATO committees spanning the whole country, holding square meetings and public debates, distributing leaflets, culminating in the largest manifestation against NATO in our history, while still being too small and relatively modest in international terms.

Moreover, we should not forget about the refugee

question, which has grown increasingly important following the US imperialist interventions, through direct force and by proxy, in Libya and Syria of late. A growing number of victims of imperialism, who find themselves in desperate situations and who in many cases are left with few other viable options than leaving their homes, arrive in imperialist countries, where they are increasingly being used as an instrument of pressure, a bargaining chip, under the guise of slogans like ”entry jobs”, against workers’ rights. The refugee crisis is far from classless. It is therefore of essence to include and organize migrant workers in our common struggle and to extend and reserve our solidarity for people engaged in such a struggle.

Furthermore, our party remains small, but since our last congress in 2013, we have founded three new local organizations. A completely new party district for middle Sweden has been constituted, and another is on its way in the south. It may seem like small steps on an international level, but considering our conditions as a small party in northern Europe, such gains are considerable. Another achievement is that we now have an affiliate organization of the World Federation of Trade Unions in our country, which hopefully means the beginning of the establishment of a class conscious opposition to the class collaborationist social democratic unions. An opposition which has not existed in our country for the last 50 years.

A complicating matter is that the majority of potential comrades in Sweden belong to a number of other parties that primarily are active in other parts of the world, but that still maintain organizations in our country. The result of this is that many, with a few exceptions, being unfamiliar with the political landscape, have been isolated from the class struggle, and brought to support opportunist forces like the Left Party – a party that ratified the military intervention in Libya, and that stands by and watches in complete silence as Sweden slowly approaches NATO. A party that supported the coup in Ukraine by flying the petlurian colors in solidarity on its election booths. A party that, when the peace movement opposed sending troops to Afghanistan, voted in favour of the operation.

It cannot be stressed enough that members

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and sympathizers of fraternal parties in exile need to make contact with local fraternal parties. They are part of the same working class and share the same experiences, but miss out on valuable knowledge that has been acrued locally, and in turn their knowledge becomes lost to us. It is time we agreed on bringing forward directives, asking members living abroad to contact local fraternal parties, and to activate themselves in them, rather than being fragmented by nationality.

Lastly, next year is not only the centennial of our party. It is also the centennial of the Great October Revolution. Rights we take for granted today, were fought for and conquered through the hard struggle and sacrifices of working men and women. A struggle that must be celebrated and continued, no matter how hard the conditions at hand are, as now is a time when fundamental change is needed urgently, to guarantee peace and the dignity of man.

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Communist Party, Turkey

Dear Comrades, No doubt that the social and political circumstances in Turkey and the intervention of communists to those circumstances hold idiosyncrasies.

However, Turkey’s recent history bears all the features of the deep crisis of imperialist system and capitalism. For this reason, it would be helpful to mention what goes on in Turkey within this brief speech.

Capitalism in Turkey, especially after the 1990s, has started to transform in accordance with a new capital accumulation model, which we define as “the integration with the imperialist system.” Much the same as in many places over the world, social state policies has been terminated to a great extent and the labor regime was deregulated in a way to oblige workers to high exploitation rates.

Large resources were transferred to the capitalist class by means of privatization. The legal barriers limiting the move of the international capital were cleared.

Against the awakening experience of the proletariat before the 1990s, backing reactionary religious ideologies became a favored policy by the capitalist class. Regardless of the lifestyles of capitalist class members, a full-scale attack aiming at the class-consciousness of the proletariat was a general strategy of the capitalist class. Within the last 15 years, secularist features of the regime in Turkey were heavily destroyed.

But these changes regarding the regime should not prompt us to overlook the changes in the structure of Turkey’s capitalist class, caused by the new capital accumulation model.

Turkey’s capitalist class gathered a significant accumulation through the spoils of privatization, and the Turkey-based monopolies started exporting capital to all neighboring regions. The fact that neighboring countries were going through a similar integration process with the imperialist system made Turkey-based monopolies’ work easier. They made important investments within a zone determined by a range of four hours of flight in order to benefit from unprotected labor power and market opportunities.

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Those Turkey-based monopolies, which had been protected by custom walls and had been producing commodities or services for the domestic market until 1990s, then started to act based on an expansionist reasoning. For instance, Turkey’s establishing a military base in Somalia, or its attempt to create its own hegemonic domain in Syria, can only be explained with regard to this expansionist ambition.

These changes in Turkish capitalist class also led to new pursuits regarding Turkey’s position within the imperialist system. The loyalty of Turkish capitalist class to the USA carried an absolute characteristic until 1990s due to its fear against the presence of the Soviet Union. After 1990s, they developed a tendency to act in a relatively free way, without heading for a fundamental transformation in the imperialist hegemonic crisis as a result of the consolidation of China and Russia.

The reactionary capitalist class of Turkey had no problem with NATO, the bloody invasive organization of imperialism. They were also wired into the financial institutions of the Western imperialism. On the other hand, for example, they wanted to build a multi-directional relationship Russia and Iran based on self-interest. Considering the alliance of those capitalist states as rival, the USA acted in order to establish an economic or military blockade around them.

Accordingly, the imperialist hegemonic crisis started to influence Turkey consistently and turned into a crisis dynamic for the country. The USA began to discharge those political actors in Turkey who were pursuing an expansionist policy while contradicting with US interests.

Especially between 2007 and 2009, those army officers who acted as a separate bourgeois party in Turkey were discharged through an AKP conspiracy.

However, the objective conditions, that is, the hypocritical and dishonest relations of Turkish capitalist class based on self-interest, once again brought the same contradictions to surface. The AKP, which was installed at the beginning of 2000s in order to execute a regime change, was composed of 1) the Gulenist sect, 2) the other main wing of Turkish reactionary movement, and 3) liberals. After a while, the Gulenist sect, having organic relationships with

USA, pressed the button to discharge Erdogan 197 and his team who started following a more pragmatic line amidst the imperialist hegemonic crisis.

The desire was to create a Turkish bourgeois politics, which would obey the USA without any bargaining. During this period, both social democrats and Kurdish movement preferred to play by the rules of the game.

This is how we ended up in the coup on July 15.

The crisis continues and new waves of discharges are expected to arrive.

As the Communist Party, we have never compromised on our basic principles under these conditions.

First of all, we have never singled out any fraction among the bourgeois actors, which could have carried better and progressive qualities or which could have been an ally. We regarded the capitalist class as a reactionary class as a whole.

In relation to that, we did not identify the revolution as successive stages and we claimed that the socialist revolution in Turkey is an immediate possibility. When we fought for the rights of the proletariat, we linked it to the wider context of the socialist revolution.

We assessed the coup on July 15 as a coup of the USA, and stood against it. However, at the same time, we continued our struggle against AKP and Erdogan, considering them as products of the same capitalist order. Today, we continue this struggle.

We are aware of the fact that there is no progressive side of the imperialistic hegemonic crisis, and that this tension precedes a global imperialist war. On the other hand, this crisis, makes way for a growing legitimacy crisis, as seen in Turkey, and weakens the system. Sectarianization of the state, its weakening as a result of splitting into two parts, and its proceeding towards bigger disasters load the pioneer political party of the proletariat with crucial charges. Among the most primary charges are creating a revolutionary class out of workers and to ambitiously pursue for the socialist revolution.

At the beginning of my speech, I said that these

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conditions are particular to Turkey, whereas they also carry a universal characteristic. This loads us with greater internationalist responsibilities.

CP, Turkey, much the same in the 17th IMCWP meeting, attaches importance to the co-existence of the parties and to sharing of different political experiences they have been through. It continues to undertake a positive and constructive role in order this coexistence to proceed. CP, Turkey does not evaluate any party in a static way and it realizes that changes will come through in some way or the other, including us, under the light of new experiences.

Lastly, CP thinks that the larger capitalist crisis, which also is the main reason behind the hegemonic crisis of the imperialist system, cannot continue as it does now, and that the world is approaching rapidly to a time of upheaval. In the approaching storm, some of the parties among us will step forward to achieve the revolution.

Long live the socialist revolution!

Long live internationalism!

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Communist Party USA

On behalf of the Communist Party USA, I thank 199 the Communist Party of Vietnam for hosting this important meeting of communist and workers parties. I also bring greetings to the heroic Vietnamese people who have demonstrated that the difficult obstacles to their winning national liberation could be overcome and who confidently work towards building a country worthy of human beings. While nothing can make amends for the horrific harm done to your country and beautiful people, by the brutal war imposed on you for imperialist ends, by my country, substantial reparations need to be paid to aid in your reconstruction. My party is committed to help make that a reality.

My party sees its task as overcoming obstacles in our country that prevent it from reaching heights that are worthy of human beings in our country and contribute to that goal on a world scale.

These obstacles broadly speaking are an imperialist appetite fostered by corporate greed and exploitation. In my country the big corporations, big banks and mainstream media coupled with hired political agents primarily in the Republican Party and to a lesser degree in the Democratic Party foment divisions among our nation’s peoples. Their historical tool of choice is anti-Black racism but in today’s heightened electoral atmosphere they have increased efforts to establish an anti-immigrant hysteria especially towards Mexicans and other Latin Americans, to compliment their consistent anti-woman and homophobic positions.

For the last 30 years, to one degree or another, these obstacles have been cultivated by the Republican Party. They have been intensified for the near eight years of the Obama presidency. Every progressive policy advanced by President Obama that would benefit working class and poor people have been blocked.

This present election cycle, which will likely determine the course the country will take for the next four years and possibly longer, has heightened areas of contention around: war and peace, jobs, poverty, police brutality, immigration, questions of taxation, women’s right to have control of their bodies and other social issues.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party nominee for

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president had a tough primary battle with her opponent Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont. He is the only socialist in the U.S. Senate but chose to run as a Democrat, he realized the progressive constituents: labor, African-Americans, women and increasingly young people are presently in the grouppicDemocratic Party. It is where the levers to power rest. The forging of greater unity among this constituency will lead to greater working-class power.

Sanders made advancements in that direction. His run was successful beyond expectation, he won 23 primaries and caucuses resulting in a progressive platform coming out of the Democratic convention and with his political organization “Our Revolution” remaining intact. Its goal is to field candidates for local, state and national offices. The platform among other things call for a $15.00 an hour federal minimum wage, it is presently $7.25; tuition free public college for family incomes under $125, 000; a clean energy summit in the first 100 days and a massive infrastructure project. Organized labor, Black and Latino organizations and progressive movements are in support of the platform and are working for the election of Hillary Clinton.

The GOP platform calls more U.S. intervention in Ukraine and an even more confrontational attitude towards Russia and China.

Donald Trump won the Republican Party nomination over other establishment Republican candidates, including Jed Bush, former Governor of Florida and brother of former president George W. Bush.

Trump (considered an outsider within the Republican Party) represents the most extreme positions within the party. His base is composed of open racists, such as David Duke a leader of the Ku Klux Klan, who has said Trump is “rehabilitating” Hitler’s image and other xenophobic, homophobic and misogynistic elements. The Republican platform that came out of its National Convention called in part for a massive military buildup. It blamed U.S. economic woes on other countries with U.S. corporations sharing none of the blame. It calls for more U.S. intervention in Ukraine and an even more confrontational attitude towards Russia and China. It repudiates the Iran nuclear deal and an open U.S. policy of “regime change” in Syria. It denounces Vietnam and revives the canard that POW’s remain in Vietnam.

If based solely on both parties platforms it is clear the working class, the labor movement, African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, women, youth and the Communist Party must go all out to defeat Donald Trump and the Republican Party with a landslide victory to retain the presidency, regain control of the Senate and maintain control of the House of Representatives. The Communist Party calls for a unity vote to elect Clinton and not risk the danger of a Republican Party victory. Beyond the platform itself Trump is working towards legitimizing the strong leader model, which in this case means negating the democratic voice. He decides what’s good for America: building a wall to keep out Mexicans, not paying workers for work done, mass incarceration of African American and poor people and a license for police to be judge, jury and executioner. Such open sentiments in the U.S. were thought to be long past history. The danger is too great!

To that end my Party supports the efforts of Labor 2016 to reach union members and explain why a Trump presidency is dangerous and why the Trans Pacific Partnership (TTP) “free trade” agreement is bad for workers.

Along with labor and environmentalist, small farmers object to their not being involved in the TPP negotiations. Elected officials were also left out of the negotiations. The negotiations for practical purposes were secret. It has since been learned its Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism undermines national sovereignty that allow multinational corporations to take greater profits.

A similar situation exist around the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), designed for free trade between the U.S. and the European Union. It is projected these treaties would result in multi-national corporations controlling more than eighty percent of world trade.

The Trans Pacific Partnership is bad for workers We support and march with the Our Walmart campaign to win the $15.00 an hour minimum wage for fast food workers We support and march with the Black Lives Matter movement to end police killing of especially young African-American men.

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We support and stand with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who are putting their lives on the line to stop the laying of a $ 3.8 billion pipeline project across their sacred lands in North Dakota.

Dear comrades the Communist Party USA fights to achieve world peace which entails improving relationships with countries where hostilities are or have been the norm. We support efforts to strengthen the reestablished diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba. It is high time Gitmo, the Guantanamo prison be closed and Guantanamo Bay be returned to the Cuban people.

We oppose the meddling in the affairs of the Venezuelan people; their destiny should be determined by them and not by U.S. intervention, which economic sanctions represent. Obama set the stage by issuing an executive order in March 2015, declaring Venezuela to be a threat to U.S. national security.

This turns the matter on its head, it is clear who is the threat. We call for the sanctions to be cancelled and for the CIA and National Endowment for Democracy activities to end.

The U.S. failed to denounce the impeachment and removal of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff by its Senate, which amounts to a coup. The people elected her president, she was removed by 61 votes. U.S recognition of new president Michel Temer is a clear refutation of governance through democracy which the U.S. claims to champion.

We applaud President Obama’s $90 million pledge to clear unexploded bombs in Laos dropped during the Vietnam War over the next three years in addition to the $100 million given over the past 20 years at the ASEAN summit in Laos. The coverage of the extent of the secret bombing was positive and can be used to further educate Americans of the barbaric nature of these modern wars.

The civil war in Syria continues; the humanitarian crisis deepens as civilians are caught in the cross fire. The U.S. should utilize its abilities to bring the combatants to the negotiation table without conditions. Only then can the Islamic State be defeated and the rebuilding begun.

to humanity. We oppose the increasing militariza201 tion of the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean.

We urge the nations of the region to resolve outstanding issues diplomatically. We continue to see the eastern push by NATO as a threat to peace.

NATO’s presence close to the Russian borders invites further militarization of the region.

We oppose the increasing militarization of the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean.

Unfortunately efforts to make progress towards an Israeli-Palestinian peace have been unsuccessful. There is no other choice but to work to that end, using diplomatic means. We support the two state solution with Palestine being a sovereign nation.

Many social advances have been won in my country as shown with the election twice of an African American man, Barack Obama as president.

The rabid opposition of the Republican Party has forced us to mount a defensive struggle. We think it is necessary to devote more attention to upgrading our understanding and the understanding of our working-class masses of modern imperialism and how it works against our interest and the relationship of imperialism to continuous wars and U.S. aggression around the world. The corporate ruling class and media present a false narrative and sows confusion. The good news however is that our media capabilities have greatly improved giving us the ability to correct that false narrative.

We have been able to share the struggles and aspirations of the Cuban, Venezuelan, Brazilian and Vietnamese peoples in this recent period.

The challenge that confronts my Party is great; we constantly try to learn from the American people, win its confidence and increase its understanding of imperialism that brings about war, corporate greed and deny the fragility of our planet. Thank you.

There are increasing tensions between the U.S., Russia and China. These tensions between nations with nuclear weapons present an existential threat

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Communist Party of Venezuela

Estimados Camaradas: 1.

Estamos satisfechos de estar aquí con ustedes, en el 18º Encuentro Internacional de Partidos Comunistas y Obreros, EIPCO, en Hanoi, gracias a la solidaridad internacionalista.

2. En nombre del Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Venezuela queremos agradecer al Partido anfitrión, al Partido Comunista de Vietnam, y a los Partidos hermanos del Grupo de Trabajo, por el arduo trabajo preparativo para garantizar el exitoso desarrollo del EIPCO aquí en Vietnam. Saludamos a todas las y los representantes de los Partidos Comunistas, Obreros y Revolucionarios de los cinco continentes aquí presentes.

3. En particular, quisiera destacar la fraternidad indestructible entre los partidos comunistas latinoamericanos y caribeños, donde hay una fuerte voluntad de estrechar a través de diferentes vías concretas nuestros vínculos a favor de la unidad victoriosa de los pueblos de esta región.

4.

El PCV presta toda la solidaridad a los esfuerzos de las fuerzas revolucionarias colombianas para culminar el conflicto armado interno con una paz con justicia social. Es la barbarie capitalista que genera estas guerras, que militarmente están apoyados por una amplia red de bases militares de la OTAN, que agravan las crisis económicas, la pobreza y el desempleo. Denunciamos las diferentes formas de golpes de Estado, que se introducen en el escenario político latinoamericano.

Expresamos nuestra plena solidaridad con los pueblos de Honduras, Paraguay y Brasil, donde bajo el eufemismo de golpes duros o blandos, se viola el derecho de los pueblos a elegir democráticamente sus representantes políticos. Estamos inquebrantablemente al lado del pueblo cubano y su gobierno revolucionario para lograr el fin del criminal bloqueo del imperialismo yanqui y permitir un desarrollo independiente hacia el socialismo. Denunciamos la presencia aún de territorios coloniales de las grandes potencias capitalistas en nuestra región latinoamericana y caribeña. Ejemplos son Puerto Rico, las Malvinas argentinas y Guantánamo.

5.

Los Partidos aquí reunidos vivimos com-

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bativas jornadas en Hanoi y junto a los partidos, que por fuerza mayor están ausentes, estamos en la búsqueda de una línea estratégica común, frente al enemigo común: el imperialismo como fase superior del capitalismo, respetando y solidarizándonos con las tácticas de lucha de la vanguardia proletaria en cada país y región.

6.

El PCV, partido marxista-leninista, está dispuesto hacer la máxima contribución para despedirnos fraternalmente del 18 EIPCO con una declaración conjunta de todos los partidos asistentes y una línea de acción de lucha.

Estimados Camaradas: 1.

Es ampliamente conocido, pero es siempre necesario repetirlo, porque representa la esencia de nuestra lucha: estamos en las históricas transformaciones económicas, políticas, sociales y culturales inherentes a la lucha de clases internacional por el Socialismo, que están determinadas por dos grandes contradicciones: la fundamental entre trabajo y capital que signa con mayor fuerza la época de transito del sistema capitalista al socialista; y la principal, entre las naciones y el imperialismo, que plantea la lucha por la liberación nacional y el desarrollo independiente nacional y el desarrollo de los pueblos.

2. A los marxistas-leninistas y revolucionarios debe preocuparnos que el llamado Sur del mundo todavía esté caracterizado de una amplia presencia de sistemas coloniales, donde sus pueblos luchan por su independencia nacional y necesitan toda nuestra solidaridad.

3. A esa doble contradicción se agrega otra categoría dialéctica bien conocida: la Guerra y la Paz. Según de política imperialista de la guerra permanente, la “paz social”, como matriz del sistema democrático burgués, no surge a priori como objetivo, sino como resultante victoriosa del control militar sobre las resistencia sociales antiimperialistas y anticapitalistas, que el sistema capitalista establece para mantener sus estrategias de explotación de clase. Se trata de lanzar guerras militares permanentes como método de conquista y apropiación primaria de mercados y de materias primas para el sostenimiento de su estructura económica productiva imperial.

10. Ya no sólo son provocaciones y ruidos de sables de las potencias imperialistas de la OTAN, sino voceros del Pentágono aseguran la inevitabilidad de una confrontación entre las grandes potencias militares incluyendo a otras naciones. Se anuncia la III Guerra Mundial. ¿Cómo respondemos los partidos revolucionarios del mundo? ¿Qué hacer?

11. El general Mark Milley, jefe del Estado Mayor de las tropas terrestres norteamericanas, advirtió que su país destruiría a cualquier enemigo, en cualquier momento y en cualquier lugar” y “La amenaza de choques militares entre EEUU, Rusia y China es mayor ahora que años atrás”.

12. Las palabras del Mayor General William Hix, Director Adjunto del Centro de Integración del Ejército de Estados Unidos, insinúan también un futuro conflicto global: “Sería más corto que las dos guerras del siglo pasado. Se desarrollaría de forma mucho más rápida. Pero, seguramente, también fuese más letal”. Y las razones del militar para llegar a ambas conclusiones parecen evidentes.

Actualmente es mucho más fácil movilizar tropas y efectivos militares, y se les traslada a cualquier otro lugar del mundo con una rapidez impensable en el siglo XX. Además, la amenaza nuclear y química obligaría a cualquier nación involucrada en un conflicto mundial a actuar con la mayor celeridad posible para tratar de neutralizar esos peligros. No habría por tanto lugar para planificar largamente las operaciones, como sucedió en la II Guerra Mundial. A su vez, las armas son cada vez más precisas, y también más mortíferas, y en el caso de usar los arsenales nucleares o químicos, la mortandad podría superar todos los límites conocidos. El general amenaza de forma categórica: “El proceso de militarización ha adquirido una velocidad que no se veía desde la guerra de Corea”.

Estimados Camaradas: 13. Frente a estas amenazas no debe haber duda de la importancia de la solidaridad internacional y la lucha conjunta por la paz. La pregunta es: ¿Estamos preparado? ó ¿Cómo nos preparamos adecuadamente?

14. El capitalismo sigue bajo el impacto de la crisis que se inició en el sistema financiero en 2008.

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Para resistir, el capitalismo recurre a políticas de corte neoliberal que descargan sobre los pueblos el peso de una situación que es responsabilidad de la clase explotadora. El nudo de contradicciones destaca el predominio de la especulación financiera, el cual determina las nuevas formas de las crisis económicas globales del sistema capitalista en su fase imperialista y los mecanismos para superarlas temporalmente, que en general recurren a manipular las variables macroeconómicas sin importar sus efectos reales en la clase obrera y las y los trabajadores de la ciudad y del campo, en los pueblos y las naciones.

Estimados camaradas: 15. El PCV ha sostenido y ratificado numerosas veces en nuestros XI, XII y XIV Congresos, la caracterización del proceso político iniciado en 1998 con la elección del fallecido Presidente Hugo Chávez como “… antiimperialista, de liberación nacional, y que abre perspectivas hacia el socialismo…”; esto es, como la fase inicial de realización concreta del proceso revolucionario que describimos y prefiguramos en nuestro Programa en 1980. Sin embargo, tras 17 años de gobierno, en el cual el PCV nunca participó en el gobierno, al cual apoyamos en sus fortalezas y al cual criticamos en sus debilidades, se hace necesario volver a tal caracterización para reevaluar a la luz de las experiencias que hemos acumulado en esta etapa. Hemos identificado en la caracterización antes citada dos núcleos conceptuales, que deben ser objeto de una profundo ejercicio de definición y cuestionamiento, crítico y autocrítico: “Revolución de liberación nacional”, y “Perspectiva socialista”.

16. La consideración de este primer núcleo conceptual conduce a plantearnos preguntas tales como: ¿qué es para la ciencia marxista-leninista una revolución de liberación nacional?, ¿es el actual proceso venezolano de liberación nacional?, ¿en qué medida se ha cumplido la liberación nacional en Venezuela? Se nos plantea la tarea de revisar los indicadores específicos de avance de la liberación nacional y contrarrestarlos con la realidad las tendencias en curso y la orientación objetiva de los planes y ejecutorias gubernamentales. Para el PCV una revolución de liberación nacional implica un proceso de ruptura de la dominación de los grandes poderes imperialistas sobre los países coloniales,

semi-coloniales y dependientes en general, esta 205 ruptura conlleva, entre otras conquistas, el rescate y fortalecimiento de la soberanía nacional, el establecimiento de u estado nacional eficiente de carácter democrático-popular revolucionario, el desarrollo económico independiente, la industrialización con progresivo desarrollo científico-tecnológico autónomo y productividad creciente, el logro de la soberanía agroalimentaria, y el establecimiento de las bases para el desarrollo pleno de la identidad nacional.

17. En el segundo núcleo de la “perspectiva socialista” estamos obligados a definir con precisión en qué consiste el socialismo, cuáles son los rasgos que debería tener un proceso con perspectiva socialista, y si en la actualidad hay señales concretas y objetivas de que efectivamente el proceso venezolano se orienta en esa dirección. El PCV advierte de tendencias contrarias a la perspectiva socialista: a) “en lo económico, el socialismo es transformación profunda del sistema económico para implantar la propiedad social de los medios fundamentales de producción”. Hasta ahora se ha logrado poco avances en este sentido, fundamentalmente por la falta de protagonismo de la clase obrera organizada; b) “en lo político, el socialismo implica la aparición y desarrollo progresivo de formas colectivas de poder y dirección”. Todavía de una democracia participativa y protagónica, utilizando el presidencialismo tradicional, lo cual impide la participación creativa y responsable del pueblo trabajador.

18. Corresponde principalmente al Partido Comunista de lograr con una visión incluyente la organización y concientización de la clase obrera y del pueblo trabajador, preparándose para el salto revolucionario cualitativo del proceso político bolivariano.

Estimados Camaradas: 19. El PCV en la actualidad formula una re-caracterización del proceso político en curso, producto de la reevaluación permanente que hace nuestro partido de todas sus afirmaciones y propuestas a la luz de la experiencia de lucha concreta por medio de nuestros mecanismos orgánicos de discusión y elaboración colectiva, y gracias al uso de las herramientas de análisis que nos proporciona

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la ciencia marxista-leninista.

20. Es desde esta perspectiva que asumimos la siguiente caracterización del proceso político bolivariano: nuestro pueblo protagoniza una nueva fase de su larga lucha revolucionaria antiimperialista y anticapitalista en el contexto de la transición histórica mundial del capitalismo al socialismo. Esta fase está caracterizada por la existencia de: 1. un gobierno democrático, progresista, de orientación patriótica, anti oligárquica y anti monopólica, inscrito en el proceso de liberación nacional que promueve una distribución equitativa de la riqueza, y que avanza en la ruptura de la dominación imperialista que todavía atenaza a nuestro país. Se desarrolla pese a grandes dificultades y amenazas imperialistas multifacéticas.

2. condiciones propicias para abrir cauces a la perspectiva socialista en dependencia de que construyamos una nueva correlación de fuerzas favorable a la clase obrera y al pueblo trabajador en general.

21. Partiendo de la re-caracterización que hacemos del actual proceso, reafirmamos, con nuevas precisiones, la política de amplia alianza de fuerzas antiimperialistas y de los correspondientes instrumentos, que hemos venido sosteniendo, desde décadas; la “Amplia Conjunción de Fuerzas Populares y Democráticas”. Y que hemos reformulado como Frente Amplio Nacional-Patriótica, integrado por la clase obrera y demás trabajadores, los campesinos sin tierra, los pueblos indígenas, las capas medias urbanas y rurales, los grupos sociales depauperados y excluidos y sectores nacionalistas y antiimperialistas de la Fuerza Armada.

22. Al mismo tiempo que promovemos la formación del Frente Amplio Nacional Patriótica, las fuerzas dentro de esa alianza que estamos más consecuentemente comprometidos con la perspectiva del socialismo tenemos la tarea simultanea de ir construyendo el Bloque Popular Revolucionario, necesariamente circunscrito a quienes nos proponemos la completa abolición de la clase explotadora, y que no puede incluir absolutamente ninguna fracción burguesa ni a organización alguna que exprese sus intereses capitalistas.

23. Hay una conocida controversia sobre ese te-

mario, pero el PCV no comparte la definición mecanicista de ser catalogado como “partido de dos etapas, una antiimperialista y una socialista”.

La lucha de clases en general y la lucha actual en Venezuela en particular exige una acción dialéctica y un ajuste oportuno de las tácticas.

Estimados Camaradas: 24. Últimamente, los medios comerciales, portavoces del complejo militar-industrial imperialista, ha centrado su atención en la República Bolivariana de Venezuela. El PCV alerta que está en desarrollo un escalamiento, nacional e internacional, de las acciones desestabilizadoras de la derecha neofascista y del imperialismo contra el pueblo venezolano y contra todos los procesos de liberación nacional y de unidad popular en América Latina.

25. Las diferentes iniciativas que desarrolla la cúpula pro-imperialista de la derecha latinoamericana tienen la intención cierta de arrebatar las conquistas populares alcanzadas por nuestros pueblos y terminar de retomar los espacios de poder y los privilegios que tenían. La oposición de la derecha venezolana, escudándose en la mayoría parlamentaria, está buscando lograr una acción contundente que se convierta en el disparador de estallidos sociales y de sucesivos y crecientes pronunciamientos de “desobediencia”, de carácter reaccionario, en los diferentes sectores sociales y militares.

26. En este momento apoyado en la Embajada estadounidense y la representación de la Unión Europea, está en desarrollo un plan, llamado Plan Rock ‘n Roll, en la estrategia fascista de un nuevo Plan Condor, denunciado por el Presidente ecuatoriano Rafael Correa. Debería culminar el 6 de noviembre con la renuncia obligada del Presidente Nicolás Maduro, a través de decisiones parlamentarias, con el modelo de golpe parlamentario para darle una máscara democrática. Un supuesto nuevo gobierno, no surgido de elecciones democráticas, pero reconocido por las potencias imperialistas y gobiernos de la derecha latinoamericana, podría solicitar la aplicación de la llamada “Carta Democrática” de la Organización de Estados Americanos, incluyendo el llamado de intervención militar para “restablecer el orden

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democrático”.

27. El PCV defenderá los espacios conquistados con el principio revolucionario del control obrero-popular y propiciando el verdadero protagonismo del pueblo trabajador. El gobierno nacional, liderado por el Presidente Nicolás Maduro, tiene más que el legítimo derecho, el deber de defender la soberanía y la autodeterminación del pueblo venezolano.

33. Agrupémonos todos, en la lucha final. El 207 género humano es la internacional.

34. Viva el internacionalismo proletario 35. Viva la solidaridad internacional

28. El PCV a través de sus diferentes frentes políticos de masa, está activando la máxima vigilancia revolucionaria y promoviendo movilizaciones en todo el país, solicitando la solidaridad internacional, para con de la clase obrera y el pueblo trabajador, el Partido Comunista de Venezuela (y el gobierno venezolano).

29. El PCV históricamente aplicó y aplica todas las formas de lucha según las condiciones objetivas, tomando en cada caso la responsabilidad única sin interferencia externa.

30. De esta forma, el PCV se centra en el fortalecimiento del movimiento obrero y popular, la construcción de la alianza social, con el crecimiento de la lucha de clases, la ampliación de los vínculos del partido comunista con la clase obrera, campesinos y trabajadores autónomos, sobre todo con jóvenes y mujeres de familias populares, con la construcción de sólidas organizaciones partidarias en todos los centros de trabajo y en los sectores estratégicos de la economía.

31. La lucha contra el capitalismo, las agresiones imperialistas multifacéticas, la aparición, también en Venezuela, de fuerzas neofascistas, requieren un Partido Comunista con una estrategia de poder a nivel nacional, y la capacidad de solidaridad activa en el marco del internacionalismo proletario. Conmemoramos un ejemplo histórico extraordinario de solidaridad con el 80 aniversario de las Brigadas Internacionales. Y nos preparamos para el Centenario de la Gran Revolución Bolchevique de Octubre en 2017, ejemplo histórico de la toma del poder por los obreros, campesinos y soldados bajo la dirección política de un Partido de nuevo tipo para derrocar el capitalismo y construir el socialismo.

32. Seguimos estos ejemplos.

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Written Contribution of Communist Party of Mexico

Queridos camaradas: Saludamos a los partidos comunistas y obreros aquí reunidos, las acciones que libran para organizar y dirigir a la clase obrera en las luchas cotidianas de antagonismo con el capital, preparando el objetivo de la revolución socialista y el poder obrero.

Saludamos con entusiasmo al Partido Comunista de Vietnam y a la clase obrera vietnamita, rindiendo homenaje al camarada Ho Chi Minh, gran marxista-leninista, internacionalista proletario y comunista consecuente. En los años de lucha contra la intervención imperialista norteamericana, como parte de inmenso movimiento internacional de solidaridad, el pueblo de Vietnam contó de principio a fin con los comunistas de México, con manifestaciones y acciones políticas de diverso signo e intensidad, incluyendo acciones de sabotaje a ferrocarriles que transportaban suministros militares producidos por monopolios mexicanos y que eran enviados desde México a los EEUU. Al grito de Ho Chi Minh-Vietnam, los comunistas de México lograron despertar entre los trabajadores y el pueblo de México una fuerte solidaridad hasta el fin de la guerra en que el pueblo vietnamita venció.

Agradecemos al Partido Comunista de Vietnam por crear las condiciones para este 18 EIPCO. El hecho de que por primera vez se efectúe en un país gobernado por un Partido del movimiento comunista internacional refrenda el valor de la iniciativa iniciada y sostenida en años complejos por el Partido Comunista de Grecia y que poco a poco viene siendo asumida por otros partidos comunistas y obreros. Los EIPCO en tanto que espacio de encuentro y articulación de los partidos comunistas y obreros deben ser cuidadosamente preparados, con fidelidad a algunas características básicas, en primer lugar el carácter de los partidos que en el confluyen y participan, su naturaleza comunista, clasista. Las intenciones de ampliarlo a un espacio de “izquierda” o “progresista” lo desdibujarían y lo conducirían a su fracaso, a su fin; de la misma manera es indispensable el respeto al principio de igualdad entre los partidos.

Tuvimos recientemente una experiencia negativa en América Latina, en el Encuentro de Lima,

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de convertir un espacio de los comunistas en una confluencia con fuerzas socialdemócratas y oportunistas, con documentos-base ajenos a la lucha por el socialismo, con una plataforma programática de reformas al capitalismo, con una declaración que atropelló posiciones críticas y que fue impuesta, y que naturalmente varios partidos comunistas y obreros ahí presentes rechazamos, deslindándonos de ella. Tal camino conduce a la ruptura, a la fragmentación, es antiunitario.

La socialdemocracia y el oportunismo tienen espacios propios, por ejemplo el Foro de Sao Paulo, el Partido de la izquierda Europea, el Encuentro Latinoamericano Progresista, la Internacional Socialista ¿A dónde conduciría sacrificar un espacio de los comunistas en pro de una convergencia con espacios de esa naturaleza que buscan la administración del capitalismo? La línea de un frente progresista con un “mal menor” en las disputas interimperialistas es una línea de suicidio para los espacios del movimiento comunista internacional.

Estamos en el octavo año de la crisis de sobreproducción y sobreacumulación del capitalismo que viene modificando el cuadro político internacional.

Se produjo una serie de reformas en varios países para modificar negativamente las leyes laborales, desvalorizando el trabajo, aumentando la jornada de trabajo, disminuyendo el salario, afectando las pensiones y jubilaciones, el derecho a la salud, vivienda, a las vacaciones, afectando drásticamente los contratos colectivos la acción y organización sindical; se introdujo la flexibilización laboral que golpea a la clase obrera y sus ya reducidos derechos. Este ataque de los monopolios fue generalizado en el Mundo, de México a Grecia, España, Francia, por doquier, lo mismo en América que en Europa y Asía.

Como parte del mismo ataque a los trabajadores se producen las agresiones racistas a los trabajadores migrantes, la violación a cualquier derecho, la muerte masiva en los mares o desiertos.

Adicionalmente se han impuesto nuevos tratados interimperialistas como el TTP, el TTIP, TISA y otros que son muy lesivos para los pueblos y para los obreros, pues maximizan la explotación y favorecen las superganancias de los monopolios. Lamentablemente frente a ellos los partidos comunistas y

obreros de los países involucrados no han tenido una posición común, y hay partidos que apoyaron alguno de esos tratados.

Se vienen agudizando las rivalidades interimperialistas, las contradicciones entre los tiburones imperialistas por mercados, rutas y materias primas, sobre todo de energéticos, tales disputas imponen nuevas alianzas, reacomodos. Los choques económicos, políticos, diplomáticos, ya se desbordan en conflictos militares regionales como en Siria, y colocan serios peligros para una guerra generalizada. Los centros imperialistas en disputa, anuncian los preparativos para ella, amagan con armamento y nuevas tecnologías de destrucción, aumento del presupuesto bélico, escaramuzas mediáticas día a día. La tergiversación de la filosofía marxista para simplificarla en contradicción principal y contradicciones secundarias, lleva al errado análisis de que frente al centro imperialista de EEUU-UE deben ser respaldadas otras alianzas de naturaleza capitalista-imperialista, menos agresivas, olvidando las lecciones leninistas en el preludio de la primera guerra mundial, cuando el marxismo fue enriquecido por la teoría del imperialismo, que está cumpliendo 150 años.

Las lecciones de los bolcheviques y la izquierda zimerwaldiana son vigentes para la acción de los comunistas: en la disputa interimperialista no colocarse a la cola de ninguno de los rivales y transformar la guerra en revolución.

Como resultado de la crisis capitalista también entran en descredito las formas de gestionar el sistema, una tras otra, pues ninguna logra atenuar los efectos devastadores sobre la economía. Liberales, neoliberales, conservadores, socialdemócratas, nuevos socialdemócratas en un imparable carrusel que no logra la estabilización del capitalismo, pero que es empleado por los monopolios para contener el ascenso de la lucha, para sembrar ilusiones temporales en sectores de las capas medias, y de la clase obrera.

La socialdemocracia y la nueva socialdemocracia, con el apoyo del oportunismo logró catalizar por un lapso de tiempo el descontento, más finalmente se colocan evidencias de su gestión gubernamental antiobrera, antipopular, promonopolista, favorable a las ganancias del capital a costa del hambre, la miseria, y el sufrimiento de

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los trabajadores. ¿Dónde quedaron los elogios a Syriza, buque-insigna de la nueva socialdemocracia? ¿Hay ilusiones sobre PODEMOS en España, sobre MORENA en México?

También las gestiones gubernamentales progresistas en América Latina atraviesan por turbulencias, y no podía ser de otra manera, finalmente atrapadas en el capitalismo se sujetan a las leyes y regularidades de tal modo de producción. El apoyo popular inicial tenían se desmovilizó ya que en la encrucijada de profundizar los procesos en dirección revolucionaria han optado por ceñirse a la lógica del reformismo que finalmente preserva las relaciones capitalistas y sus inherentes contradicciones sociales; el aumento del gasto social sin alterar la apropiación privada del trabajo social tarde que temprano es insostenible. Nuevamente las terceras vías demuestran su fracaso.

No cabe duda que es el socialismo-comunismo la alternativa de la humanidad.

La experiencia del Siglo XX es aleccionadora por su riqueza histórica. La Gran Revolución Socialista de Octubre, que está por cumplir cien años, y que debe ser conmemorada vigorosamente por el movimiento comunista internacional, demostró que el poder obrero, la socialización de los medios de producción, la planificación central, pueden llevar a la sociedad a escalones superiores dando resolución a los problemas de miseria, hambre, educación, salud, cultura, emancipación de la mujer.

El socialismo demostró materialmente su superioridad sobre el capitalismo en lo económico, político, social, y al mismo tiempo que desarrolló a la sociedad de un país o países concretos,hizo avanzar al conjunto de los trabajadores del Mundo, al poner al servicio de la causa emancipatoriael internacionalismo proletario: y para muestra la derrota del fascismo, la contribución decisiva para la descolonización de Asía y África y el apoyo incondicional a los movimientos políticos, a los partidos comunistas, a las fuerzas antidictatoriales que enfrentaron la opresión y el oscurantismo. La inmensa solidaridad de la URSS y el campo socialista con los pueblos del mundo no tiene parangón en la Historia.

La violación de las leyes generales de la construc-

ción socialista abrió paso a la contrarrevolución, 211 sobre todo la cuestión relativa a la incompatibilidad de las relaciones mercantiles en la economía socialista. Por ello hay que ser críticos y cuidadosos frente a las teorías del “socialismo de mercado”, “socialismo con mercado”, pues finalmente es una coexistencia peligrosa que socaba el poder de los trabajadores. Una estafa similar a la de Dühring o Bernstein la presenta el denominado “socialismo del siglo XXI” con economía mixta, institucionalidad burguesa, gasto social y que es la forma populista de políticas reformistas. El fracaso del progresismo coloca la vigencia de la revolución socialista.

El antagonismo capitalismo/socialismo, como proyección de la contradicción social entre capital/trabajo no admite terceros caminos, terceras vías. En nombre de la peculiaridad nacional, de las condiciones específicas, existen partidos comunistas que reivindican el programa de las etapas intermedias dejando de lado las valiosas enseñanzas del Partido Comunista Bolchevique que con Las Tesis de Abril y sus nuevas tesis programáticas demostró una nueva época que se materializó con el triunfo de la Revolución de Octubre en 1917 y que inauguró una época de revolución social. Esta tesis marxista-leninista tiene como premisa que el capitalismo entró en su fase superior y última, el imperialismo, que pone de manifiesto los límites históricos de tal modo de producción, su caducidad y descomposición, y el papel revolucionario del proletariado como clase para sí, es decir dotado de consciencia por un agente exterior, el partido comunistas, cuyo papel no tiene sustitución.

Camaradas: El principal problema que aqueja al movimiento comunista internacional es la ausencia de una estrategia común, de mecanismos para discutirla, e inclusive de la falta de voluntad para tal discusión.

Se volvió un lugar común para una parte del movimiento comunista internacional hacer crítica a las leyes generales y a los momentos en que la clase obrera contó con una estrategia unificada, sobre todo a la Internacional Comunista. Predomina un discurso sobre la diversidad de vías al socialismo, pero la experiencia no mostró ningún camino victorioso, a diferencia de las revoluciones proletarias triunfantes.

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El Partido Comunista de México desarrolla una estrategia y una táctica en los marcos nacionales de nuestra intervención, pero sobre la base de esas leyes generales: Trabajamos para que con su propio programa articule su fuerza política, con banderas antimonopolistas y anticapitalista, para una alianza de la clase obrera con las capas medias.

Desarrollamos lucha antiimperialista con la comprensión de que el imperialismo es el capitalismo de los monopolios, y que tal lucha pasa por confrontar a todos los monopolios incluyendo los de nacionalidad mexicana; discrepamos de quienes piensan que antiimperialismo es antinorteamericanismo.

Consideramos que México es un país intermedio en el sistema imperialista, de pleno desarrollo capitalista, donde han madurado y se colocan en la orden del día las tareas de la Revolución socialista, y por ello todo nuestro esfuerzo se dirigen en esa dirección, aunque subjetivamente hay un desencuentro con las condiciones objetivas, por lo que la labor del Partido apunta en esa dirección.

conmemoración del centenario de la Gran revolución Socialista de Octubre, no solo como una efeméride, sino poner el acento en su vigencia y viabilidad, con intercambios teóricos, científicos, históricos de la Revolución, del poder obrero, de la construcción socialista, del papel del partido, de los asuntos de estrategia.

El refuerzo del movimiento comunista internacional, las acciones coordinadas de los partidos comunistas y obreros, los intercambios bilaterales y colectivos son parte del camino en esa dirección. ¡Viva el 18 Encuentro Internacional de los Partidos Comunistas y Obreros! ¡Viva el marxismo-leninismo!

Buró Político del Comité Central

Luchamos contra los acuerdos interimperialistas como el TLC, TTP, TTiP. Aquellos acuerdos interestatales considerados alternativos que existen en América Latina, como MERCOSUR, ALBA, analizados en su base económica, solo pueden ser caracterizados como acuerdos interestatales capitalistas, por lo que son inviables para los pueblos.

Somos firmes en el criterio clasista, es decir en nuestra política todo se dirige en función de lo que fortalezca a la clase obrera, que contribuya a su independencia de clase, que no lo coloque a la cola ni de la burguesía, ni del imperialismo, ni de las disputas interimperialistas.

Somos leales al internacionalismo proletario, en solidaridad con todos aquellos que luchan en condiciones adversas del anticomunismo, de ataques represivos, de ilegalidad. Nos oponemos a los ataques imperialistas contra cualquier pueblo. Reiteramos nuestra oposición al bloqueo imperialista contra Cuba y nuestra solidaridad con el pueblo venezolano, palestino y sirio.

Camaradas: Debemos comprometernos vehemente por la

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Appeal of the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties

The 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties held on the 28-30 of October 2016 in Hanoi, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, under the theme “Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive - Strategy and tactics of the Communist and Workers’ Parties in struggle for peace, workers’ and peoples’ rights, socialism”, Having discussed the world situation and the growing challenges faced by humanity, nations, workers and peoples of many countries, particularly the worsening socio-economic and environmental crises, the increasing insecurity and instability in many parts of the world, caused by capitalism, deepened capitalist crisis, imperialist interventions, interference and machinations, fostering the emergence ofso-called ‘ISIS’and other extremist criminal forces, as well asrefugee crises; Stressing that socialism is the only real alternative to the on-going economic, social and ecological crises, to capitalist exploitation and barbarity; Saluting the struggles of the people and workers in all parts of the world against capitalism and imperialist offensive, for labor, social and democratic rights,gender equality, national independence and sovereignty, peace and socialism; Emphasizing the historical significance of the Great October Socialist Revolution in Russiain the context of its forthcoming 100 anniversary in 2017; Being encouraged by the achievements and experiences of the struggle of and cooperation among communist and workers’ partiesin the previous years; Calls upon Communist and Workers Parties to develop common and convergent actionsalong the following axis: - Intensifying theoretical and practical works and exchanges on building socialism in the 21st Century; - Working together towards the joint commemoration of 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution to highlight its historical significance in paving the way for a new period in human history, the contribution of

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socialism to advance the struggle of workers and peoples for their emancipation, and the need to strengthen the struggle for peace, social progresses and socialism; organizing diverse related activities; - Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the publication of “Das Capital� by Karl Marx; - Promoting exchange of strategies, tactics and experiences to strengthen the fight against all forms of capitalist ideologicaland political imposition and offensive, to strengthen communists and workers parties and to enhance mobilisation of the working people and wider masses, particularly youth, students and women,in the anti-imperialist struggles, for labor, social, trade union and democratic rights, and socialism; - Strengthening activities to defend democratic freedoms and rights, against anti-communism and all forms of discrimination, to express solidarity with communistsin Ukraine and other countries who face persecution and bans on their activity; organizing, preferably in the week of 5-11 May 2017, activities against fascism and neo-nazism on the occasion of the anniversary of the Victory over Nazi-fascism (9/5/1945); - Broadening the anti-imperialist front to enhance the struggle for peace,against imperialist occupation, interventions and interference into internal affairs of other countries, against NATO and its expansion, against nuclear weapons, militarization and foreign military bases, for the peaceful and just settlement of all conflicts based on the principles of International Law; - Intensifying activities to demand the ending of the US blockade against Cuba,to support the right ofPalestinian peopleto a free, sovereign and independent state and to express solidarity with all peoples in Asia, Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Europe who face imperialist occupation, intervention, interference and blockade.

Finally, the participatingn Communist and Workers Parties thank the Communist Party and people of Vietnam for the hospitality and confirmed their unwavering longstanding support to and solidarity with Vietnamese people in building and defending the socialist country./.

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SOLIDARITY STATEMENTS

Solidarity with the struggle of Communists of Ukraine Since the February 2014 armed coup in Ukraine, the situation with the violation of human rights and freedoms has reached a critical point.

Citizens of Ukraine have learned what the capitalism and fascism are. In Ukraine, the government, under the control of the US imperialists carried out an unprecedented attack on the social rights of workers. The country has an unprecedented reign of corrupt power structures, legal arbitrariness, terror against all opposition forces, especially with regard to the Communist Party. Many of the members of the party are in custody, while the activity of the party is practically banned. The regime brutally suppresses any dissent, reviewing the results of the Second World War, raises the fascist collaborationists to the rank of heroes, destroys the monuments of the Soviet period, including monuments to Soviet soldiers who liberated Europe from brown plague - Fascism.

In this regard, we are in solidarity with the struggle of Communists of Ukraine for the rights and freedoms of its citizens and against the dictatorship of oligarchs and neo-Nazis. We also affirm the need to intensify the efforts of Communist and workers’ parties in all international organizations, deputies of the European Parliament and national parliaments, members of the Parliamentary Assembly in order to protect the Ukrainian Communist Party and to prevent the ban the communist ideology.

Signed by: 1. PADS 2.

Communist Party of Bohemia & Moravia

3.

Communist Party in Denmark

4.

Communist Party of Denmark

5.

German Communist Party

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6.

Communist Party of Greece

7.

Iraqi Communist Party

8.

Tudeh Party of Iran

9.

Philippines CP [PKP-1930]

10.

Portuguese Communist Party

11.

Russian Communist Workers Party

12.

Communist Party of Sri Lanka

13.

Communist Party of Ukraine

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Resolution of solidarity with the righteous struggle of the Workers’ Party of Korean and the Korean people that endeavor to build a powerful socialist nation

Signed by: 1. Algeria Democratic and Socialist Party 2. Communist Party of Argentina

The Workers’ Party of Korea and the Korean people continue to hold high the banner of socialism and confidently march along an uninterrupted path towards the victory in the face of a most acute situation and harsh environment.

3. Communist Party of Australia

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un7 Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, not only set forth the far-reaching goal of building a powerful socialist nation in which the desire and ideals of people come true but also wisely leads the efforts aimed at achieving the goal.

7. Communist Party of Brazil (PcdoB)

It is under the guidance of the Workers’ Party of Korea that the Korean people consolidate the country’s political and military strength and step up the efforts aimed at building a powerful nation with strong economy and advanced state of civilization by relying on science and technology.

11. Communist Party of Israel

The Korean people have built up a powerful war deterrent that rooted out the threat of nuclear war posed by the US and firmly safeguard peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.

15. Communist Party of Norway

The invincible spirit displayed by the Korean people is a powerful corroboration to the fact that socialism is mankind’s common ideals and that it is a lawful development of history for people to aspire to socialism.

18. The Palestinian Peoples Party

Convinced that the successes won by the Workers’ Party of Korea in the effort to build socialism centered on the masses of people under the banner of anti-imperialism and socialism will not only instill in the progressive mankind firm faith in the victory of socialism but also greatly contribute to defending and victoriously advancing the cause of socialism, the participants of the 18 th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties express strong support to and solidarity with the righteous struggle of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Korean people in the just struggle to build a powerful socialist nation and to safeguard peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.

22. Communist Party of Soviet Union

4. Workers Party of Bangladesh 5. Communist Party of Belarus 6. Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) 8. Communist Party of Bohemia and Morava Communist Party of Denmark 9. Hungarian Workers’ Party 10. Communist Party of India 12. Jordanian Communist Party 13. Lebanese Communist Party 14. Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxism Leninism) 16. Communist Party of Pakistan 17. Communist Party of Palestine 19. Philippine Communist Party (PKP-1930) 20. Communist Party of Russian Federation 21. Russian Communist Workers’ Party 23. New Communist Party of Yugoslavia 24. Communist Party of South Africa 25. Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain 26. Communist Party of Sri Lanka 27. Communist Party of Sweden 28. Communist Party of Venezuela

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The freedom and reunification of Cyprus is a milestone against imperialist aggression • We assert that the Cyprus problem is the result of foreign intervention and imperialist aggression; in July 1974, the Greek junta and the fascist organization EOKA B staged a coup d’état against the elected President of the Republic of Cyprus Archbishop Makarios.

• We recall that Turkey exploited the coup d’état to materialise its expansionist plans in Cyprus, invading illegally the island which remains occupied to this day in flagrant violation of international law.

• We recall that the double crime of the coup d’état and invasion was planned by the US and NATO aiming to divide Cyprus and impose union of one part to Greece and the other to Turkey, as both countries were NATO members.

• We emphasize that the persisting violation of the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus, the continuing violation of the human rights and freedoms of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, the perpetuation of the division of the people of Cyprus and the illegal mass settlement of the occupied territory to alter the demographic character of the island, form another expression of the imperialist aggression in the region of the Eastern Mediterranean and the world.

• We reiterate that the Cyprus problem is in essence an international problem of invasion and illegal occupation, in violation of the fundamental principles of international law and the Charter of the UN, but also has an internal aspect, of restoring relations between the two communities of Cyprus, the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot.

• We acknowledge that the general interimperialist contradictions find expression through various ideological constructs regarding the solution of the Cyprus problem which we reject; such as, inter alia, the presence of NATO and the mortgaging of

Cyprus’ future through another memorandum to 219 the IMF and the EU. • We underline that the status quo entrenches the long- term aspirations and objectives of Turkey against Cyprus and is not counter-productive for the strategic goals of NATO to maintain the geostrategic and military control of our region. On the contrary, we emphasise that the comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem within the agreed framework is the only way to reunite our people and country, thus providing the impetus for common class struggles and a future socialist transformation.

• We recall that currently the peace negotiations in Cyprus are at a critical juncture.

• We underline that the ongoing efforts to reach a comprehensive solution being conducted by the leaders of the two communities under the auspices of the UN for the reunification of Cyprus and the restoration of peace on the island, building upon the convergences reached between Christofias- Talat, can facilitate a solution within the agreed framework of bicommunal, bizonal federation and in accordance with international law.

• We acknowledge that Turkey’s departure from its long- standing intransigence that has hindered any concrete progress in the last 42 years remains a prerequisite for the comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem.

The Communist and Workers’ Parties signing the present Statement: 1 Denounce Turkey’s intransigent policy that perpetuates the Cyprus problem and consolidates the divisionist faits accomplis on the ground.

2 Declare that the tolerance exhibited by the international community to the continuing illegality that is taking place in Cyprus, is unacceptable and must be ended immediately.

3 Demand the solution of the Cyprus problem the

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soonest possible, on the basis of international law and the UN Security Council resolutions. The solution must restore the human rights and freedoms, provide for the transformation of the Republic of Cyprus from a unitary state to a bicommunal, bizonal federation with a single and indivisible sovereignty, a single international personality and single citizenship with due respect to the principle of political equality, as this is prescribed in the relevant UN resolutions.

8.

Communist Party of Britain

9.

Communist Party of Canada

10.

Communist Party of Chile

11.

Communist Party of Cuba

12.

AKEL, Cyprus

14.

Communist Party in Denmark

4 Demand the immediate withdrawal of Turkish army, the demilitarization of Cyprus and the abolishment of foreign guarantees and of any rights for foreign intervention; it is within this context that permanent peace can be pursued, that would allow indeed the reunification, independence and freedom of the Cypriot people as a whole.

15.

Communist Party of Denmark

16.

Communist Party of Ecuador

17.

French Communist Party

18.

Communist Party of Finland

19.

German Communist Party

20.

People’s Progressive Party of Guyana

21.

Hungarian Workers’ Party

22.

Communist Party of India

23.

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

24.

Tudeh Party of Iran

25.

Iraqi Communist Party

26.

Communist Party of Ireland

27.

Workers’ Party of Ireland

28.

Communist Party of Israel

29.

Jordanian Communist Party

5 Call for an immediate verification of the fate of the remaining more than 1500 missing persons of the Cypriot tragedy.

6 Call on the international community to exert its influence on Turkey in order to abandon its intransigent stance, to terminate its divisive policies on the ground and take concrete steps for the solution of the Cyprus problem within the agreed framework.

7 Express their discontent with recent statements of the EU expressing readiness to accommodate in an excessive and hypocritical manner Turkey’s demands on visa liberalization vis- a- vis the EU in light of the migration crisis, despite its declared unwillingness to normalize relations with the Republic of Cyprus and implement relevant obligations.

8 Express their solidarity with and support to the struggle of the Cypriot people for the liberation and reunification of its country.

13.

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (Czech Republic)

30. Workers’ Republic Korea

Party,

Democratic

31.

Lebanese Communist Party

32.

Communist Party of Nepal (UML)

33.

Communist Party of Norway

34.

Communist Party of Pakistan

35.

Palestinian People’s Party

People’s

1.

Communist of Argentina

36.

Communist Party of Palestine

2.

Communist Party of Australia

37.

Philippines Communist Party (PKP 1930)

3.

Workers’ Party of Bangladesh

38.

Portuguese Communist Party

4.

Communist Party of Belarus

39.

Communist Party of Russian Federation

5.

Workers’ Party of Belgium

40.

Russian Communist Workers Party

6.

Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB)

41.

New Communist Party of Yugoslavia

7.

Brazilian Communist Party

42.

Communist Party of South Africa

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43.

Communist Party of Spain

44.

Communist Party of Sri Lanka

45.

Communist Party of Sweden

46.

Communist Party, Turkey

47.

Communist Party of Ukraine

48.

Communist Party of USA

49.

Communist Party of Venezuela

221

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For an end to war, terror and human catastrophe in Syria We, the undersigned communist and workers parties meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, during the 18th IMCWP, strongly believe that the policies and actions of the imperialist powers and their reactionary allies have created an unprecedented political, social and humanitarian catastrophe in the Middle East. The region is currently going through a major crisis of war and destruction. It has been the focus of carefully orchestrated attempts by USled imperialism to consolidate its hegemony and to ensure unrivalled control of the flow of oil, the ability to freely plunder the region’s resources and to exploit its markets.

We are concerned that if the current situation continues, the Middle East has only a future of further wars, destabilisation and imperialist domination to look forward to. Wars and terror in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Afghanistan, the ongoing occupation of Palestine by Israel, as well as political crises in Lebanon and Egypt have scarred the face of the region.

The real beneficiary of the current situation is imperialism and its plans for continued economic, political and geostrategic domination.

The US and EU powers are considering altering the existing borders of Syria and Iraq and creating new statelets in their place based along ethnic and sectarian fault lines. The New Middle East Plan is speedily taking shape.

Currently there are a number of countries, some legitimately invited by the Syrian government, and others in direct contravention of the UN Charter that are militarily involved in the conflict in Syria.

We are concerned that the conflict in Syria could develop into a large-scale military conflict enveloping the region. From the outset of the crisis in Syria, we have stated that this conflict has no military solution and hence we have advocated a negotiated settlement in Syria respecting the independence and territorial integrity of the country and opposing every manifestation of direct or indirect foreign interference against the national sovereignty of the Syrian state.

We believe that without the people’s struggle and mass solidarity campaigns for peaceful resolution of existing conflicts in the region and in defence of the peoples, the tragedies will only continue to grow. The only victim will be the working people and the poor who have no other option but to take desperate measures in order to survive. In their desperate attempts to flee war and terrorism they have been forced to leave their homes and livelihood behind in a quest to find a place of safety.

We call for the immediate return of all key players in this crisis to negotiations based on the provisions of the UN Charter. There must be no place for any terrorist organization at the table, and the support, financing and arming of the terrorist organisations must be condemned and immediately stopped.

The future of Syria and its government should be decided by the Syrian people alone with own free will,and the removal of Bashar al-Assad and the government should not be a precondition for an end to violence and a lasting peace.

We pledge to continue to do the following: • Mobilise the widest possible forces against the ongoing interference and aggression of imperialism in the region, • Mobilise our movements to disengage with apartheid Israel and pledge varied solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people, • Mobilise and organize mass demonstrations and marches for world peace and particularly for genuine peace in the region, • Mobilise against sale of weapons of war to apartheid Israel, • Organise seminars and other public fora to back the struggle for peace in the region.

Signed by: 1.

Communist Party of Australia

2.

Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB)

3.

Communist Party of Britain

4. AKEL 5.

Communist Party of Cuba

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6.

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia

7.

Communist Party in Denmark

8.

Communist Party of Finland

9.

German Communist Party

10.

Communist Party of Greece

11.

PPP of Guyana

12.

Communist Party of India

13.

Communist Party of Iraq

14.

Tudeh Party of Iran

15.

Communist Party of Ireland

16.

Communist Party of Jordan

17.

People Party of Palestine

18.

Communist Party of Pakistan

19.

Philippine Communist Party (PKP – 1930)

20.

Portuguese Communist Party

21.

South African Communist Party

22.

Communist Party of Spain

23.

Communist Party of Sri Lanka

24.

Communist Party of Sweden

25.

Communist Party, Turkey

26.

Communist Party of Ukraine

27.

Communist Party of USA

28.

Communist Party of Venezuela

223

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Participant Parties

1.

Algerian Democratic and Socialist Party

2.

Communist Party of Argentina

3.

Party of Labour of Austria

4.

Communist Party of Australia

5.

Workers Party of Bangladesh

6.

Communist Party of Belarus

7.

Workers’ Party of Belgium

8.

Brazilian Communist Party

9.

Communist Party of Brazil

10.

Communist Party of Britain

11.

Communist Party of Canada

12.

Communist Party of Chile

13.

Communist Party of China

14.

Communist Party of Cuba

15. AKEL 16.

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia

17.

Communist Party in Denmark

18.

Communist Party of Denmark

19.

Communist Party of Ecuador

20.

French Communist Party

21.

Communist Party of Finland

22.

German Communisty Party

23.

Communist Party of Greece

24.

the People’s Progressive Party of Guyana

25.

Hungarian Workers’ Party

26.

Communist Party of India

27.

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

28.

Tudeh Party of Iran

29.

Iraqi Communist Party

30.

Communist Party of Ireland

31.

Workers Party of Ireland

32.

Communist Party of Israel

33.

Jordanian Communist Party

34.

Workers’ Party of Korea

35.

Lao People’s Revolutionary Party

36.

Lebanese Communist Party

37.

Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-UML)

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38.

Communist Party of Norway

39.

Communist Party of Pakistan

40.

Palestinian Communist Party

41.

The Palestinian Peoples Party

42.

Philippine Communist Party (PKP-1930)

43.

Portuguese Communist Party

225

44. Communist Party of Russian Federation (KPRF) 45.

Russian Communist Workers’ Party

46.

Communist Party of Soviet Union (CPSU)

47.

New Communist Party of Yugoslavia

48.

South African Communist Party

49.

Communist Party of Spain

50.

Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain

51.

Communist Party of Sri Lanka

52.

Communist Party of Sweden

53.

Communist Party, Turkey

54.

Communist Party of Ukraine

55.

Communist Party USA

56.

Communist Party of Venezuela

57.

Communist Party of Vietnam

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Red Links

ALBANIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF ALBANIA E-Mail: gjonbruci5@yahoo.com code:(+355) phone:382274111 fax:4251271 ALGERIA, ALGERIAN PARTY FOR DEMOCRACY AND SOCIALISM http://www.lien-pads.fr E-Mail: pads.dz@laposte.net code:(+331) phone:46637607, 46772082, 42537882 fax:42537882, 46637607 ARGENTINA, ARGENTINA

COMMUNIST

PARTY

OF

http://www.pca.org.ar E-Mail: rriipca@pca.org.ar E-Mail: jkreyness@yahoo.com E-Mail: relacionesinternacionales@pca.org.ar code:(+5411) fax:43040068

phone:43040066/0068

ARMENIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF ARMENIA code:(+37410) phone:567933 fax:541917 AUSTRALIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF AUSTRALIA http://www.cpa.org.au E-Mail: international@cpa.org.au E-Mail: cpa@cpa.org.au code:(+612) phone:9699 8844 fax:9699 9833 AUSTRIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF AUSTRIA http://www.kpoe.at E-Mail: international@kpoe.at code:(+431) phone:5036580 fax:5036580-499 AUSTRIA, PARTY OF LABOUR OF AUSTRAIA web: www.parteiderarbeit.at e-mail: international@parteiderarbeit.at phone: +43 6643520469

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BELGIUM, WORKERS’ PARTY OF BELGIUM

address: A-1160 Vienna, Rankgasse 2/5

http://www.ptb.be (French) AZERBAIDJAN, AZERBAIDJAN

COMMUNIST

PARTY

OF

http://www.pvda.be (Dutch) E-Mail: international@ptb.be

E- Mail: nurullayev@mail.ru , kommunist-az@mail. ru , hasanov_1951@mail.ru

code:(+32) phone: 25040139 fax: 25040141

code:(+99450)3253256, (+99450)3165853

BOLIVIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF BOLIVIA

(+99455)6138749,

________________________________________ BAHRAIN, DEMOCRATIC PROGRESSIVE TRIBUNE http://www.altaqadomi.com/ code:(+973 17) phone:780007 fax:780006

E-Mail: pcb.rrii@gmail.com

COMMUNIST

PARTY

BRAZIL, BRAZILIAN COMMUNIST PARTY OF

http://www.cpbbd.org/

http://www.pcb.org.br E-Mail: com

pcb.partidocomunistabrasileiro@gmail.

E-Mail: pcb@pcb.org.br

E-Mail: cpbinter@gmail.com

code:(+5521) phone/fax:22620855

E-Mail: info@cpb.org.bd code:(+8802) fax:9552333

E-Mail: marxmil@hotmail.com code:(+591) phone: 2423252 fax:22770535

E-Mail: fa.almenbar@gmail.com

BANGLADESH, BANGLADESH

http://www.pcbolivia.net/

phone:9558612,

7172845

BRAZIL, COMMUNIST PARTY OF BRAZIL http://www.pcdob.org.br

BANGLADESH, BANGLADESH

WORKERS’

PARTY

OF

http://www.vermelho.org.br http://www.resistencia.cc/

E-Mail: wpartybd@bangla.net

E-Mail: internacional@pcdob.org.br

code:(+8802) phone:9567975 fax:9558545

code:(+5511) phone:3054-1800, 30541821 fax:3054 1848

30541822,

BELARUS, COMMUNIST PARTY OF BELARUS http://comparty.by

BRITAIN, COMMUNIST PARTY OF BRITAIN

E-Mail: karpenko@house.gov.by

http://www.communist-party.org.uk

code:(+37517) phone:222 62 11 fax:222 43 79 (222 64 61)

E-Mail: international@communist-party.org.uk E-Mail: office@communist-party.org.uk E-Mail: foster631@btinternet.com

BELGIUM, COMMUNIST PARTY OF WALLONIABRUSSELS http://www.particommuniste.be/ E-Mail: international@particommuniste.be E-Mail: bureau@particommuniste.be code:(+322) phone:537 66 81 fax:537 66 81

code:(+442) phone:(0)86861659 BRITAIN, NEW COMMUNIST PARTY OF BRITAIN http://www.newworker.org E-Mail: party@ncp.clara.net

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228

code:(+44) phone:207 2234052

E-Mail: pacocol@notipaco.org

BULGARIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF BULGARIA

code:(+571) fax:3384742

phone:3203204,

2854188

http://comparty-bg.com E-Mail: comparty@abv.bg

COLOMBIA, FARC-EP

code:(+3592) phone/fax:9816093

http://www.farc-ep.co

BULGARIA, PARTY COMMUNISTS

OF

THE

BULGARIAN

E-Mail: bcp.gd@mail.bg E-Mail: bcpgd1949@gmail.com code:(+359) phone:8961133, 898 322 455 fax: 24702573

The peace delegation in spanish http://www. pazfarc-ep.org The peace delegation in English http://www.farcepeace.org.

E- Mail: delegation@farc-epeace.org. [In English] E-Mail: contacto@pazfarc-ep.org [In Spanish] COSTA RICA, PEOPLE’S VANGUARD PARTY

________________________________________ CANADA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA http://www.communist-party.ca E-Mail: inter@cpc-pcc.ca code:(+1416) phone:4692446

E-Mail: vanguardiapopularinternacional@gmail. com code:(+506) phone: 2225 8300 fax: 2281 0484 CROATIA, SOCIALIST WORKERS’ PARTY OF CROATIA http://www.srp.hr

CHILE, COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHILE

E-Mail: srp@srp.hr

http://www.pcchile.cl/

E-Mail: vladimir.kapuralin@pu.t-com.hr

E-Mail: internacional@pcchile.cl

code: (+ 385) phone:1 4835340, 91 2219036 fax:1 4835340

E-Mail: oficinaprensapc@gmail.com code:(+562) phone:729 5700 fax:729 5714

CUBA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF CUBA CHINA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA

http://www.pcc.cu/

http://www.idcpc.org.cn

E-Mail: europari@pa.co.cu

http://www.china.org.cn/english/index.htm

E-Mail: despacho@cc.cu

http://english.cpc.people.com.cn/

code:(+537) phone:8605678 fax:8556836

E-Mail: info@idcpc.org.cn code:(+8610) phone:83907267 fax:83907268

CYPRUS, THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY OF THE WORKING PEOPLE - AKEL

COLOMBIA, COLOMBIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

E-Mail: InterBureau@akel.org.cy

E-Mail: yuliagustavo@163.net

http://www.pacocol.org E-Mail: pacocol@etb.net.co

http://www.akel.org.cy Phone: (+357) 22764725

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CZECH REPUBLIC, COMMUNIST PARTY OF BOHEMIA AND MORAVIA

E-Mail: mariomendoza2004@yahoo.es

http://www.kscm.cz http://www.kscm.cz/english

code:(+593) phone: 2 2909454, 4 2401462, 4 22248643

E-Mail: info@kscm.cz

Mobile: 997195448

E-Mail: inter.pcecuador@hotmail.com

code:(+4202) phone:22897111 fax:22897207 ________________________________________

ESTONIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF ESTONIA

DENMARK, COMMUNIST PARTY IN DENMARK

E-Mail: gungerburg@mail.ru

http://www.kommunisterne.dk

E-Mail: narvaSRG@rambler.ru

E-Mail: KPID@kommunisterne.dk

code:(+37) phone /fax: 23591174

E-Mail: bettycarlsson@ofir.dk

________________________________________

code:(+45) phone:38882833 fax:38882433

FINLAND, COMMUNIST PARTY OF FINLAND http://www.skp.fi

DENMARK, COMMUNIST PARTY OF DENMARK

E-Mail: skp@skp.fi

http://www.dkp.dk

code:(+3589) phone:77438150 fax:77438160

E-Mail: dkp@dkp.dk E-Mail: int@dkp.dk

FRANCE, FRENCH COMMUNIST PARTY

code:(+45) phone: 33916644

http://www.pcf.fr E-Mail: international@pcf.fr

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, REVOLUTION

FORCE

OF

THE

E-Mail: fuerzadelarevolucionfr@yahoo.com

E-Mail: interpcf@gmail.com code:(+331) fax:42404027

phone:40401293,

40401286

E-Mail: fuerzadelarevolucionfr@gmail.com E-Mail: fuerzadelarevolucion@latinmail.com

FYROM, COMMUNIST PARTY OF MACEDONIA

E-Mail: frevolucion@latinmail.com

E-Mail: cpmmkd@gmail.com

code: (+809) phone:685-9362 fax:687-3423

code:(+389) phone:23177248 fax:23177248

________________________________________

________________________________________

EGYPT, COMMUNIST PARTY OF EGYPT

GEORGIA, UNIFIED COMMUNIST PARTY OF GEORGIA

http://www.cp-egypt.com E-Mail: cpegypt@gmail.com code:(+20) phone:101 078617 fax: 223 921315 EQUADOR, COMMUNIST PARTY OF EQUADOR http://pcecuador.org/ http://pcecuadorcc.blogspot.gr/ E-Mail: ccentral@pcecuador.org E-Mail: winstoncamp@yahoo.com

E-Mail: cpgeo@narod.ru E-Mail: tpipia@rambler.ru code:(+995) phone:93 761363, 32 546587 fax:32 546587 GERMANY, GERMAN COMMUNIST PARTY (DKP) http://www.dkp.de E-Mail Central Committee: dkp.pv@t-online.de E-Mail International Relationships: inter@dkp.de

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code:(+49201) phone:1778890 fax:17788929

E-Mail: cc@cpim.org E-Mail: intl@cpim.org

GREECE, COMMUNIST PARTY OF GREECE

E-Mail: cpim@vsnl.com

http://inter.kke.gr E-Mail: cpg.kke@gmail.com

code:(+9111) phone: 23344918, 23747435, 23747436 23363692 fax:23747483

E-Mail: cpg@int.kke.gr

I

code:(+30) phone:210 2592111 fax:210 2592298

RAN,TUDEH PARTY OF IRAN http://www.tudehpartyiran.org

GUADELUPE, PARTY

GUADELOUPEAN

COMMUNIST

E-Mail: mardom@tudehpartyiran.org E-Mail: navid.shomali@btinternet.com

E-Mail: DC500009@exchange.FRANCE.NCR.COM

code:(+44) phone:7790277770

code:(+590) phone:821945 fax:836990

code:(+49) fax:303241627

GUYANA, PEOPLE’S PROGRESSIVE PARTY

IRAQ, IRAQI COMMUNIST PARTY

http://www.pppguyana.org

http://www.iraqicp.com

E-Mail: gensecppp@gmail.com

Mail: salamsaadi@hotmail.co.uk

code: (+592) phone: 2272095, 2274301-3 fax: 2272096,2278765

Mail: icpinter@yahoo.co.uk

________________________________________

code:(+44208) phone: 6422981

Mail: info@iraqicp.com

HUNGARY, HUNGARIAN WORKERS’ PARTY http://www.munkaspart.hu E-Mail: international@munkaspart.hu

IRAQ, COMMUNIST PARTY OF KURDISTANIRAQ

thurmer@yandex.ru

http://www.regaykurdistan.com

code:(+361) phone:781-42-26 fax:780-83-06

Mail: info_kcp@yahoo.com

Mobile: +36309443520

Mail: maib55@hotmail.com code:(+964) 750 451 3184 / 750 449 2282

INDIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA http://www.communistparty.in/

IRELAND, COMMUNIST PARTY OF IRELAND

E-Mail: internationaldept@communistparty.in

http://www.communistpartyofireland.ie

E-Mail: cpiofindia@gmail.com

E-Mail: cpoi@eircom.net

code:(+9111) 23235058

phone:

23232801,

23235099,

fax:23235543

code:(+3531) phone:6708707 IRELAND, THE WORKERS’ PARTY OF IRELAND http://www.workersparty.ie

INDIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST)

E-Mail: wpi.international@gmail.com

http://www.cpim.org

E-Mail: wpi@indigo.ie

https://www.facebook.com/cpimcc

code:(+3531) phone: 8733 916 fax: 874 8702

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ISRAEL, COMMUNIST PARTY OF ISRAEL

E-Mail: komparty@list.ru

http://www.maki.org.il

code:(+772) phone:72911400

231

E-Mail: info@maki.org.il KAZAKHSTAN, KAZAKHSTAN

E-Mail: interelations@maki.org.il code:(+9723) phone:6293944 fax:6297263 ITALY, PARTY REFOUNDATION

OF

THE

COMMUNIST

E-Mail: socialismkz@gmail.com

E-Mail: mars40@list.ru

E-Mail: esteri.prc@rifondazione.it

code:(+996) phone:312 624999 fax:312 660401

code:(+3906) phone:441821 fax:44182207

DPR of KOREA, WORKERS PARTY OF KOREA

ITALY, ITALIAN COMMUNIST PARTY E-Mail: international@ilpartitocomunistaitaliano.it code:(+39) phone:3319203447

http://www.kimsoft.com/dprk.htm E-Mail: wpkint@start-co.net.kp E-Mail: ekodpr@alice.it code:(+850) phone: 2-381-5855 fax: 2-381-4657

ITALY, COMMUNIST PARTY (ITALY)

code:(+3906) phone:54220749 fax:54210090

http://ilpartitocomunista.it/

________________________________________

E-Mail: nazionale@ilpartitocomunista.it

LAOS, PEOPLES’ REVOLUTIONARY PARTY

E-Mail: internazionale@ilpartitocomunista.it ________________________________________ JAPAN, JAPANESE COMMUNIST PARTY http://www.jcp.or.jp

E-Mail: party.relationsdep.la@gmail.com code:(+85621) phone:414042 fax:414043 LATVIA, SOCIALIST PARTY OF LATVIA

http://www.japan-press.co.jp/

http://www.latsocpartija.lv

E-Mail: intl@jcp.jp

E-Mail: latsocpartija@inbox.lv

code:(+813) phone:54748421 fax:37460767

code: (+371) phone/fax:67555535

JORDAN, JORDANIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

LEBANON, LEBANESE COMMUNIST PARTY

http://www.jocp.org

http://www.lcparty.org

E-Mail: jcp@nets.com.jo

E-Mail: lcparty.lcparty@gmail.com

E-Mail: jcplive@umniahlive.net

E-Mail: omar.deeb@gmail.com

code:(+9626) phone:4624939 fax:4624939 ________________________________________

http://komparty.kz/

OF

KIRGIZIA, PARTY OF THE COMMUNISTS OF KYRGYZSTAN

E-Mail: sitoprc@rifondazione.net

COMMUNIST

MOVEMENT

http://www.socialismkz.info/

http://www.rifondazione.it/

KAZAKHSTAN, KAZAKHSTAN

SOCIALIST

PARTY

OF

code:(+9611) phone/fax:739615/6/7 LITHUANIA, SOCIALIST PEOPLE’S FRONT http://www.slfrontas.lt

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E-Mail: socialistinislf17@gmail.com

E-Mail: amezcua910@yahoo.com.mx

code:(+370) phone:52431070 fax:(+370)52606130

code:(+525) phone: 5672-2057 fax:5609-1896

LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG

MOLDOVA, PARTY OF REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

COMMUNIST

PARTY

OF

COMMUNISTS

OF

http://www.kp-l.org

http://www.pcrm.md/

E-Mail: kpl@zlv.lu

E-Mail: info@pcrm.md

E-Mail: aruckert@zlv.lu

E- Mail: pcrmcc@gmail.com

code:(+352) phone:446066 21 fax:44606666

code:(+3732) phone:2249441 fax:2233673

________________________________________

________________________________________

MALTA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF MALTA

NEPAL, COMMUNIST PARTY OF NEPAL (UML)

http://communistpartymalta.blogspot.com/

http://www.cpnuml.org

E-Mail: communistpartymalta@gmail.com

E-Mail: umlcpn@gmail.com

code:(+356) phone/fax:21223537

code:(+977) phone: 14378055 fax:14015980

MADAGASCAR, PARTY OF THE CONGRESS FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF MADAGASCAR (AKFM)

NETHERLANDS, NEW COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE NETHERLANDS

E-Mail: aakfm@netclub.mg

http://www.ncpn.nl

E-Mail: antokonykongresyakfm@gmail.com

E-Mail: manifest@ziggo.nl

code:(+261)phone/fax: 202227065, 202226828

E-Mail: ncpn@ncpn.nl

MEXICO, COMMUNIST PARTY OF MEXICO

code:(+31) phone:70 3603676, 20 6825019 fax:20 6828276

http://www.comunistas-mexicanos.org E-Mail: internacionalpcm@gmail.com

NORWAY, COMMUNIST PARTY OF NORWAY

code:(+52 734) phone/fax:3425838

http://www.nkp.no E-Mail: nkp@nkp.no

MEXICO, POPULAR SOCIALIST PARTY - NATIONAL POLITICAL ASSOCIATION , MEXICO

code:(+4722) phone:716044

http://www.pps.org.mx

PAKISTAN, COMMUNIST PARTY OF PAKISTAN

E-Mail: ppsprens@infinitummail.com

http://www.cppak.org

E-Mail: ppsdn2003@yahoo.com.mx

E-Mail: cppk1948@gmail.com

E-Mail: jaogazp@hotmail.com

code:(+92) phone/fax: 222654531

code:(+5255) phone:330816-18 fax:330816-18, 257131

PALESTINE, PALESTINIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

________________________________________

http://www.pallcp.ps MEXICO, POPULAR SOCIALIST PARTY OF MEXICO

E-Mail: palestinian_cp_alqam@hotmail.com

http://www.ppsm.org.mx

code:(+97) tel:9 2515830, 2 2267055 phone/ fax:2 22267644, 9 2515075

E-Mail: ppsmexico@gmail.com

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PALESTINE, PALESTINIAN PEOPLE’S PARTY

code:(+632) phone:3590201 fax:9395791

http://www.ppp.ps E-Mail: info@ppp.ps

POLAND, COMMUNIST PARTY OF POLAND

code:(+97) phone:22963593 fax:22963592

http://www.kom-pol.org E-Mail: int@kompol.org

PANAMA, PARTY OF THE PEOPLE

E-Mail: kompol@o2.pl

http://www.elpartidodelpueblo.org

E-Mail: beata_karon@o2.pl

E-Mail: partidodelpueblopa@yahoo.com

code:(+48) phone:228334288 fax:228334288

E-Mail: elpartido@elpartidodelpueblo.org code: (+507) phone:2259025/2272194

PORTUGAL, PORTUGUESE COMMUNIST PARTY http://www.international.pcp.pt

PARAGUAY, PARAGUAYAN COMMUNIST PARTY

http://www.pcp.pt

http://www.pcparaguay.org/

E-Mail: internacional@pcp.pt

E-Mail: inter@pcparaguay.org

code:(+35121) phone:7813800 fax:7969824

code:(+595) phone:21 225116, 972 624390 phone/ fax:21 621836

________________________________________ ROMANIA, ROMANIAN COMMUNIST PARTY E-Mail: pantazipcr@yahoo.com

PERU, COMMUNIST PARTY OF PERU (PATRIA ROJA) http://www.patriaroja.org.pe/

code:(+4021) phone:6423615 fax: 642 3615 ROMANIA, SOCIALIST ALLIANCE PARTY

E-Mail: pcdelp@patriaroja.org.pe

http://www.pasro.ro

E-Mail: partidosec@yahoo.com

E-Mail: contact@pasro.ro

E-Mail: amorenor@speedy.com.pe code:(+511) phone: 4262366/993869280

E-Mail: gheorghitazbaganu@yahoo.com code:(+40) phone:212522887, 314057078, 314057077, phone/fax:214133354

PERU, PERUAN COMMUNIST PARTY http://www.pcperuano.com E-Mail: unidad@ec-red.com

RUSSIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION (KPRF)

E-Mail: contacto@pcp.pe

http://www.kprf.ru

E-Mail: pcperuano.rrii@gmail.com

E-Mail: inter@kprf.ru

code:(+511) phone 4331634 fax:4715399

E-Mail: zabirov@duma.gov.ru

The PHILIPPINES, PARTY [PKP-1930]

PHILIPPINE

COMMUNIST

http://www.pkp1930.org E-Mail: parisantonio2001@yahoo.com E-Mail: philcompar@yahoo.com

code:(+7495) 6925685

phone:6927646

fax:6927646,

RUSSIA, RUSSIAN COMMUNIST WORKERS’ PARTY - COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOVIET UNION (RCWP-CPSU) http://www.rkrp-rpk.ru/

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E-Mail: rkrp-ck@yandex.ru code:(+7812) fax:2742818

phone:2742772,

SPAIN, COMMUNIST PARTY OF SPAIN 2748073

http://www.pce.es E-Mail: internacional@pce.es E-Mail: comitefederal@pce.es

RUSSIA, UNION OF COMMUNIST PARTIES-CPSU

code:(+3491) phone:3004969 fax:3004744

http://skpkpss.ru/ E-mail: inter.ussr@gmail.com

SPAIN, COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE PEOPLE OF SPAIN

code:(+7495) phone:692-17-69, 692-54-76

http://www.pcpe.es RUSSIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOVIET UNION

Mail: internacional@pcpe.es

http://www.cpsu.by

Mail: pcpeinternacional@gmail.com

E-Mail: cpsu.msk@gmail.com

code: (+34) phone: 915329187 fax: 915329187

code:(+7495) phone:6844175 phone/fax:9747342 ________________________________________

SPAIN, COMMUNISTS OF CATALONIA

SERBIA, NEW YUGOSLAVIA

www.comunistes.cat

COMMUNIST

PARTY

OF

http://www.nkpj.org.rs

E-Mail: internacional@comunistes.cat code:(+34 933) phone:184 282 fax: 180 011

E-Mail: int_nkpj@yahoo.com code:(+38111) phone: 2400628 ;

SPAIN, UNITED LEFT SPAIN

code:(+38111) fax: 2400640

http://www.izquierda-unida.es/ E-Mail: iu.internacional@izquierda-unida.es

SERBIA, COMMUNISTS OF SERBIA

code:(+3491) phone:7227500 fax:3880405

http://www.komunistisrbije.rs/ E-Mail: komsrb@open.telekom.rs

SRI-LANKA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF SRI-LANKA

code:(+38111) phone/fax:3514-478

http://www.communistpartyofsrilanka.org/ E-Mail: compartysl@gmail.com

SLOVAKIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF SLOVAKIA

code:(+9411) phone:2695328 fax:2691610

http://www.kss.sk E-Mail: sekr@kss.sk

SUDAN, SUDANESE COMMUNIST PARTY

code:(+4212) phone:44644101 fax:44362540

http://www.midan.net E-Mail: alilad47@hotmail.com

SOUTH AFRICA, SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY http://www.sacp.org.za

code:(+4202) phone:33555668 fax:33555668

E-Mail: international@sacp.org.za

SWAZILAND, SWAZILAND

COMMUNIST

E-Mail: alex@sacp.org.za

E-Mail: cpswa@gmail.org

code:(+2711) phone:3393621/2 fax:3394244

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PARTY

OF

SWEDEN, COMMUNIST PARTY OF SWEDEN

________________________________________

http://www.skp.se

UKRAINE, COMMUNIST PARTY OF UKRAINE

E-Mail: skp@skp.se

http://www.kpu.ua/

code:(+468) phone:7358640

E-Mail: interkpu@gmail.com code:(+38044) phone/fax: 238-05-06,238-99-86

SYRIA, SYRIAN COMMUNIST PARTY UKRAINE, UKRAINE

http://www.syriancp.org E-Mail: syriancommunistparty@gmail.com

COMMUNISTS

OF

E-Mail: marx-journal@mail.ru

code:(+96311) phone:4455048 fax:4422716

code:(+38044) 2906228

SYRIA, SYRIAN COMMUNIST PARTY [Unified] http://www.syrcomparty.org/

phone:2906225

fax:2906225,

URUGUAY, COMMUNIST PARTY OF URUGUAY

E-Mail: scp@scs-net.org

http://www.pcu.org.uy/

E-Mail: scp@syrcomparty.org

E-Mail: pcuinternacional@montevideo.com.uy

code:(+96311) phone:4410264 fax:4422383 ________________________________________ COMMUNIST

OF

http://un-comm-ukr.ucoz.ru/

E-Mail: osamah.almaghout@gmail.com

TADJIKISTAN, TADJIKISTAN

UNION

PARTY

OF

http://www.kpt.freenet.tj E-Mail: lulush@mail.ru

E-Mail: profdcoira@gmail.com code:(+5982) phone: 9242697 9247056 fax: 9242697 9247056 USA, COMMUNIST PARTY USA

E-Mail: communist_party@mail.ru

http://www.cpusa.org

E-Mail: talbakov-555.@mail.ru code:(+992372) phone:232953, fax:351482, 232292

E-Mail: partidocomunista@adinet.com.uy

231853

TURKEY, COMMUNIST PARTY OF TURKEY http://www.tkp.org.tr

E-Mail: international@cpusa.org Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/cpusa/ Peoples World, peoplesworld.org code:(+1) phone: 773 446 9933 fax:(+1) 773 4469928

E-mail: int@tkp.org.tr

Postal Address: 235 West 23rd St. 7th floor, New York, New York 10011, U.S.A.

Phone: +90 555 7206703

________________________________________

TURKEY, LABOUR PARTY (EMEP)

VENEZUELA, VENEZUELA

http://www.emep.org (Turkish)

http://www.pcv-venezuela.org

http://en.emep.org (English)

http://prensa-pcv.blogspot.com/

http://es.emep.org (Spanish)

https://prensapcv.wordpress.com/

E-mail: international@emep.org

E-Mail: internacional.pcvenezuela@gmail.com

code:(+90) phone:539 328 1323 fax:212 587 56 86

E-Mail: carolus1111@yahoo.com

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code:(+58) phone:2122566386 fax:2122566386 VIETNAM, COMMUNIST PARTY OF VIETNAM http://www.cpv.org.vn E-Mail: perc@fpt.vn E-Mail: cpvic@cpvic.org.vn code:(+844) phone:8436278, fax:38234514, 8045657

8436274

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