It has been more than fifteen years since imperialism and the international bourgeoisie tried to crush the hopes for liberation of the peoples. With the fall of the Berlin Wall they proclaimed the birth of a ‘new order world’ and the enshrinement of capitalism as the highest and definitive level of economic-social development to which humanity could aspire. But this did not mean the failure of socialism but of the capitalism that had been restored in the countries calling themselves socialist. The revolutionary movement should draw conclusions from this process to avoid this degeneration from being repeated.

The progress and well-being of the peoples – it was claimed – is guaranteed by the so-called technological scientific revolution, which would not only produce changes in the organisation of labour, but above all in the character of the social relations of production. However, it is clear that the world economy cannot surmount the grave problems that have dragged on for years; moreover, the crisis of the capitalist-imperialist system is intensifying and affects all spheres of society. The models of development presented as examples to follow are dispelled in the face of irresoluble contradictions and the action of the workers and peoples who are tearing apart the economic programmes of the bourgeoisie.

The world is a scene of great popular movements that are arising against the warlike policy of imperialism, which is sending occupation troops wherever its needs for expansion and world control demand; the workers’ strikes in Europe, the uprisings in the poor neighbourhoods and among the students in France, the unprecedented struggle of the immigrants in the United States against the xenophobic policies of George Bush are examples of the actions of the workers and youth, who are making the imperialist monster tremble to its core; in Iraq the struggle for national liberation of the Iraqi people is gaining ground, making the occupation forces taste the dust of defeat, while the Palestinian people is resisting Zionist militarism. Latin America is an boiling volcano, where neo-liberal policies have been struck harsh blows and the U.S. plans to form a regional economic bloc have had to retreat. In all these actions the working class is regaining its place as the fundamental force of the revolutionary process; the peasantry, the indigenous and Black peoples and the youth are playing an outstanding role for their combativeness and massive participation in the struggle, disproving by their deeds the claim that tries to subjugate the action of the working class to the rise of ‘new social actors.’ The proletariat, historically and strategically, has never lost its role as the fundamental force in the revolutionary process.

The struggle of the peoples in Latin America is growing in breadth, intensity and the sharpening of its demands; together with specific demands the anti-imperialist banners are ablaze and are intertwined with the desire for social transformation. The efforts of imperialism to put an end to the armed struggle have not achieved success, and the Colombian insurgency is resisting and advancing toward the seizure of power. The desire for change is seen in the streets, in the countryside, and also in the electoral processes, causing a change in the political correlation in the region. The workers and peoples are not only voting against neo-liberalism but are hoping to leave behind this system of exploitation and not a few sectors are seeing socialism as the alternative. Out of this political atmosphere democratic and progressive governments have arisen such as that of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia, which are nourishing the confidence of the peoples in the possibility of winning new victories and leaving behind this infamous system. The road towards socialism demands the demarcation of positions with social-democratic, reformist and opportunist proposals which put forward the possibility of building socialism without putting an end to capitalism.

Despite the fact that among important sectors of the workers and peoples the idea of socialism is still vague, what is most important is that this idea exists, which allows the revolutionaries the possibility and responsibility of clarifying and affirming, in the middle of the rise of the social struggle, the fundamental principles that guide scientific socialism, revolutionary socialism.

Socialism as an economic-social form of government that is superior to capitalism is the negation of the latter, and it showed this fact when it covered one third of the world’s population, satisfying the basic necessities for their well-being. The construction of this new type of society responds to universal laws and involves a permanent process of revolutionisation of society. It is, in essence, the society of the workers that arises on the basis of the socialisation of the means of production and the elimination of all forms of exploitation of man by man, where work will be the source of progress and well-being of the workers and not for exploitation and accumulation of capital.

In comparison to the anarchic production governed by free competition of the monopolies, socialism builds a planned economy, led by the revolutionary government, backed by the force of the workers who participate as the fundamental element of social transformation, in an environment of full and genuine democracy, the dictatorship of the proletariat, which guarantees the permanence of the power of the workers and fights the former exploiting classes and the danger that the old or a new bourgeoisie takes power to restore capitalism.

Only socialism is capable of resolving, in a process, the contradictions to which regimes of exploitation have given rise, such as class contradictions, those between mental and manual labour, between the countryside and the city, the contradictions between the sexes, among peoples, nations and nationalities.

Only socialism guarantees in a definitive manner the winning of social and national liberation, defends the life and health in the work of the masses, grants full liberty to the peoples, sovereignty and independence to the countries.

Basing themselves on all forms of struggle, the working class and peoples must demand the seizure of power to establish the revolutionary government which will lead the socialist construction. But only the use of the revolutionary violence of the masses will be able to throw down the exploiting classes from power.

It is the working class which is the fundamental force for social emancipation; its natural allies are the labouring classes of the cities and the countryside, the rebellious and combative youth; we work with them in various fronts and organisations accumulating forces for the revolution. Beyond the reformist and anti-communist discourse, historically it has been shown that the proletariat cannot lead this process if does not raise its organisation to the political level, if it does not rely on the revolutionary party.

It is a fact that in each of our countries the revolutionary processes have and will have their particularities and specific forms of accumulating revolutionary forces and of building socialism, but the basic principles and general laws of the revolution and socialism remain unalterable and are indispensable for all countries.

The social revolution of the proletariat is international in its content and takes the form that the conditions of each country demand. We cannot reduce our action to the borders of each of our countries, our internationalist spirit demands that we work for the unity of the revolutionary forces not only on the local level but on the international one. The formation of a great anti-imperialist front of the peoples is our task, which takes shape in each of the fights that we take up against imperialism and the international bourgeoisie.

The X International Seminar Problems of the Revolution in Latin America has been an important forum to debate a theme of great current importance for the peoples, and we have done this by gathering the practical action that in these days we the revolutionary forces have taken and also studying the experience of the past, to prevent us from making possible errors.

We, the parties and organisations taking part in this Seminar, have committed our best efforts so that the ideals of socialism guide the struggle of the workers in Latin America and in the world and to fulfill the task that the history has imposed on us.

Quito, July 14, 2006

Revolutionary Communist Party of Argentina
Revolutionary Communist Party of Brazil
Chilean Communist Party – Proletarian Action
Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist)
People’s Liberation Army of Colombia
National Liberation Army of Colombia – International Leadership Front
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army
Communist Party of Labour of the Dominican Republic
Movement for Independence Unity and Change of the Dominican Republic
Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany
Democratic Movement of Peru National Dignity
Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey
Freedom Road Socialist Organisation of the United States
Gayones – Proletarian Voice of Venezuela
Revolutionary Organisation Utopia of Venezuela
Marxist Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador
Popular Democratic Movement
Revolutionary Youth of Ecuador
General Union of Workers of Ecuador
Unity Federation of the Affiliates of Peasant Social Security
Popular Front of Ecuador
Federation of University Students of Ecuador
Confederation of Women for Change
Revolutionary Front of the University Left
Front of the Vanguard of the Teachers of Ecuador

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