|
Debate "European Union 2020 Strategy" May 10th 2010, Lisbon, Portugal
Speech by Jerónimo
de Sousa, Secretary General of the Portuguese Communist Party Today, whenever we recall this propaganda catch-phrase, some smirk and other disguise their responsibility by whistling to the side. That's natural. It is the European Commission itself that today affirms that industrial production is at the level of the 90s; that unemployment affects 10% of the active population, that is 23 million people; that 21% of young people don't have a right to work; that there are 83 million poor in the European Union and that the combined GDP of the European Union member states fell 4% only in the last year.
11 IMCWP Intervention by CP of Ireland Comrades, the political and economic landscape is undergoing significant changes and at an accelerated pace over the last few years. The absolute hegemony of the United States, as proclaimed by the authors of the “Project for a New American Century,” is now seen to be unattainable. The trend towards a multipolar world continues to gather pace as groups of countries and regional blocs emerge and gather momentum in opposition to the two big imperialist blocs, the United States and the European Union. Most notable has been the development of ALBA, a group of countries in the Caribbean and Latin America which, inspired by the example of revolutionary Cuba, is setting about the development of an alternative model of economic development and co-operation which is progressive and anti-imperialist.
Meeting of Balkan Communist and Workers’ Parties Dear comrades, Welcome to Thessaloniki to the Meeting of Balkan Communist and Workers’ Parties which is held on an initiative of our Party and has as its theme “the struggles and the experiences of the communists under the conditions of the world capitalist crisis”. This meeting coincides with the 20th anniversary since the escalation of the counterrevolutionary developments in Central and Eastern Europe which were celebrated by opportunists and bourgeois forces at the various events organised in Berlin. We can sum up what these 20 years actually brought for the peoples in Balkans, in Central and Eastern Europe in a few words: unemployment, abolition of historical social gains, cruel exploitation of the working class and the other popular strata, poverty for the majority of the people and super-profits for the plutocracy, imperialist wars, dissolution of states, depleted uranium. The celebrations of the bourgeois opportunist parties about the alleged “victory of democracy” in the former socialist countries are totally false and hypocritical. If we look their democracy in the eyes we will see that it is all about the aggressiveness of the capital, the brutal exploitation, the oppression of the working people and the repression measures aiming at preventing the class struggle and every attempt to overthrow the exploitative capitalist system. The bourgeois political forces in Poland have shown this once again clearly by banning the communist symbols and imposing heavy penalties of imprisonment and fines. It is an outrageous decision that follows the previous decision taken by the EU and its bodies as well as the parliamentary assembly of the OSCE. From this podium we would like to express our solidarity with the communist party of Poland that is now acting under very hard conditions since except from the anticommunist article 13 of the Polish constitution the criminal prosecution of communists is also under way. The 11th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties was held successfully in New Delhi, India a few weeks ago. The Meeting discussed the situation created by the capitalist crisis, the experiences from the workers’ and peoples’ struggles, the objectives and the role of the communist parties and the workers’ movement. It issued a statement stressing that we are witnessing a crisis of the capitalist system that shows its historical limits and the need for its revolutionary overthrow. The statements underlines the responsibilities of the bourgeois forces both liberal and social democrat ones and reiterates that the communist and workers’ parties shall work actively to rally and mobilize the widest possible sections of the popular forces in the struggle for full time stable employment and for the social rights as a whole.
|
The Cheonan - Another Gulf of Tonkin?
Cathy Fischer The sinking of the Cheonan, the South Korean ship which is supposed to have been sunk by a North Korean submarine, looks more and more like a ‘Gulf of Tonkin’ incident being used as an excuse to attack North Korea. The Cheonan was part of a joint military exercise, Operation Foal Eagle, by South Korea and the United States, taking place off Baengnyeong Island and sank on March 26. Baengnyeong Island is only 20 kilometers from North Korea in an area that the North claims as its maritime territory. A committee appointed by the South Korean government immediately charged that the Cheonan had been sunk by a North Korean sub, and the mainstream media have pursued a policy of repeating the charge endlessly while ignoring the information that has come out refuting the charge. The 11th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties
Intervention by CP of the
Russian Federation
India, New-Delhi, November
20-22, 2009
Intervention by Vyacheslav
Tetekin,
Member of Presidium, Secretary
of the Central Committee,
Communist Party of the Russian
Federation
Dear Comrades,
I’m very glad to be here in
this unique brotherhood of the Communists of the World. We have here an
extremely valuable exchange of ideas and experience. It is a great
inspiration to Russian Communists.
It is a year since the world
economic crisis broke out. Its nature and possible consequences are still at
the focus of attention. This is a systemic crisis which makes one doubt
about the prospects of the American-style global economy that predominates
in the world today. I think it would be appropriate in this respect to share
the views outlined by the Russian Communists.
The events of late last year
and this year have proved the validity of the classical Marxist-Leninist
thesis to the effect that crises are an inherent and inevitable part of
capitalism. The advocates of a free-for-all market have suddenly discovered
that the existing capitalist system would have collapsed but for the
resolute state interference. We have watched with interest the government in
the citadel of the free market, the one of the USA, doing precisely what the
Communists have been proposing all along, nationalizing key banks and major
corporations.
There is a lively debate on
whether the bottom has been reached and whether the recovery of the economy,
of which there are some signs, will be fast or slow. Glib pronouncements
about the end of the crisis have drowned out some candid and honest
assessments, which hold that this is a crisis of the current speculative
model of capitalism, and that its origin is the United States of America,
the beacon of the capitalist world.
We communicate that on past Friday, March 5th, in a meeting of the National Political Commission of the Central Committee, the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) decided to endorse Dilma Rousseff’s pre-candidacy to the presidency of the Republic in next October elections. President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva proposed Dilma Rousseff’s candidacy to all parties supporting his government. Dilma is presently the minister in charge of coordinating governmental policies (Chief of Staff).
Letter to FOS e-Bulletin Editor from Angelo Di Angelo, Ed Wlody, Kevin Keating: For a CPUSA that Honors the Soviet Experience There’s no avoiding an ideological struggle in our Party over twentieth-century socialism. This convention must not accept such opportunistic and evasive formulations as “In some ways we were prisoners of the experience of Russia in 1917,” (“Democracy Matters,” interview with Sam Webb in Political Affairs, 2004) The CPUSA’s partisan view of the Soviet Union (1917-1991) is rooted neither in nostalgia nor obsession, nor unthinking habit. It is a commitment to the truth and to principle. We were not "prisoners" of anything. Our steadfastness will have practical implications for the future.
|
