Workers all over the world!
After three years of profound economic crisis, unavoidable consequence of the capitalist mode of production, we are celebrating May Day in a context of increasing unemployment, increasing exploitation, lowering of wages, growth of misery and hunger.
The reactionary offensive of capital is becoming more acute. In order to defend the interests of the monopoly capitalists and to make the workers pay for the crisis, massive firings, anti-social reforms are developing, collective bargaining is being attacked and repression against the workers is increasing in order to lower to the utmost the price of labour power and increase the power of the bosses.
The bourgeoisie is on the offensive in order to liquidate the economic and political gains and the rights won by the working class through years of struggle. After having subsidised the banks and big firms with huge amounts of public money, they want to pay the debts of the states by reducing pensions, dismantling social services and increasing the taxes paid by the people.
Therefore, the social conditions of the majority of the workers are getting worse, while the most privileged strata of society go on living in luxury and as parasites. When bourgeois newspapers speak of recovery, this is only for the big shareholders who receive big dividends, not for the workers.
While the contradictions and the economic imbalance of the capitalist economy are deepening, we can see the growing contradictions among the monopolies and the imperialist states in order to control their markets and spheres of influence, to take the control of raw materials and to take advantage of their competitors.
We are witnessing the growing aggressiveness of the decaying superpower, the USA, the intensification of the war of plunder in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the growing threats against Cuba, P.D.R. of Korea, Venezuela, the coups in Honduras and in Africa, the support to the criminal Zionist policy of Israel, the military occupation of Haiti, the preparation for aggression against Iran, the installation of military bases in Colombia, the threats against progressive and revolutionary forces on all continents.
At the same time; the contradictions with the other imperialist powers are increasing, especially with China and Russia and the tendencies inherent to imperialism that will lead to new wars are also increasing. Behind the smiles and the mask of pacifism we are witnessing a new arms race, such as the anti-missile shield that the US wants to impose on Europe, whose costs will, as always, be paid by the workers and the people.
All the attempts of the bourgeoisie to artificially overcome the economic crisis, to cover up the social, environmental and moral sores of the capitalist mode of production, are in vain. In this context, the struggle between capital and labour is intensifying. Subjected to a fierce attack, the proletariat does not want to step backwards and will not remain inactive. Their class interests will force them to struggle in an organised way against the ruling class.
In Europe, Asia, in the American continent, the struggle of working class is increasing and gaining strength: the working class is refusing to pay for the crisis of capital and is beginning to gain self-confidence again. It is important to stress the development of the struggle of the young workers, who suffer from precarious conditions and are super-exploited; the struggle of the immigrant workers without any rights, the unemployed people without any kind of compensation, the millions of exploited who can barely cover their needs. The poor peasants and other strata of the people hit by the policy of the big monopolies are mobilising with them.
The oppressed peoples and countries are taking part with their legitimate demands in the struggle against the rule of finance capital and are uniting with the revolutionary movement against their common enemy, imperialism.
The spirit of revolt is increasing and the elements that will lead to future revolutionary outbreaks in the weakest links of the imperialist chain are accumulating.
Faced with the growth and advance of the workers’ and peoples’ movement, the bourgeoisie seeks a way out by the political reaction and the most brutal repression. The capitalists and their governments are trying to weaken and attack the mass organisations in which workers are uniting and struggling. They are broadly spreading the poison of racism and xenophobia in order to increase the competition among workers. They mobilise on a reactionary basis their petty-bourgeois allies, they use fascist terror as a weapon against the workers’ and trade union movement and they persecute the leaders of the struggles of the workers and peoples. In this reactionary context, we must add the attempts to illegalise communist forces and to prohibit the symbols of liberation of the workers.
This situation imposes on the workers of all the countries the need to organise a broad united front of struggle against the offensive of capital, political reaction and the dangers of war, in order to accelerate the inevitable end of the system of capitalist exploitation.
The workers in each country must develop a policy of unity against capital, in order to oppose the layoffs, to combat flexibility and precarious working conditions, to prevent the liquidation of social rights and gains, for the respect and development of collective bargaining, to say ‘no, we will not pay the foreign debt and no to privatisations’, to struggle for the reduction of the working day and for two days of rest per week without a loss in salary, for a living wage and social support for the basic needs of the unemployed, against military budgets, for public services in health care and free education for the people that will serve the broad masses, for legal papers for the undocumented people, for the withdrawal of foreign troops in occupied countries.
Through their unity and strong participation in the struggle, the working class is able to smash the capitalist bloc, to defeat the attacks of bourgeoisie and to make the capitalists, the rich people pay for the consequences of the capitalist crisis, paving the way for the revolutionary transformation of the whole society.
The main obstacle to the building of the united front is the policy of class collaboration of the social democratic and reformist parties.
In this period the policy of betrayal of the interests of the exploited, carried out by the social democratic and reformist leaders, the class collaborationist trade union leaders, appears more and more openly. This demagogic policy of ‘social dialogue’ disarms and divides the workers and pushes them to capitulate.
But these forces, who have been installed for decades in the bourgeois institutions, have lost their credibility among the workers, who are criticising more and more firmly their inconsistency and weakness, their role as liquidators of the struggles and their support to the reactionary forces.
In the struggle against imperialism and the local bourgeoisies, it is not possible to make steps forward without defeating opportunism, without breaking with the passivity and the policy of division waged by social democracy, the opportunists and other chauvinist forces.
In the development of the struggle between social classes, ever broader sectors of the workers and exploited people will grasp the reality of imperialism and abandon their reformist illusions and convince themselves of the necessity of the social revolution of the proletariat in order to build a new and more advanced social system.
Monopoly capitalism, imperialism, is a parasitic and moribund system whose only objective is to obtain maximum profit for a minority of exploiters and therefore, it is impossible to reform it. For a long time, the bourgeoisie has shown its incapacity to be the ruling class of society and it is more and more evident that the bourgeoisie is not compatible with society and nature.
The only way to put an end to the devastating consequences of the economic crises, to unjust wars, the destruction of the environment, the spread of corruption, the endemic evils of capitalism, is the revolutionary action for the seizure of political power by the working class and its allies, to abolish the bourgeois property relations and build socialism.
Therefore, we call on the best elements of the proletariat, the revolutionary youth in each country to take part in building true parties of the working class and reinforce the ranks of those that already exist, because the communist party, based on Marxism-Leninism is the sure guarantee to lead the struggles of the workers’ and popular movement to victory.
Let us make May Day, 2010, a day of class struggle, which is expressed through demonstrations and mass strikes with a higher revolutionary spirit!
Let us reinforce the struggle in unity against capitalism, let us create and consolidate the workers and peoples organizations, first of all the communist parties and organizations!
Let us make the monopolies, the rich and the bourgeois parasites pay for the crisis, for which they are responsible!
Let us show that millions of workers again consider revolution and socialism as their own cause!
Let us develop international solidarity among the workers and peoples!
May 1, 2010
International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and OrganisationsThe brutal aggression carried out by the Nazi-Zionist army against the so-called ‘freedom flotilla’ deserves the merciless condemnation, rejection, and general denunciation. The State of Israel, which has carried out a systematic genocide against the Palestinians, with the complicit silence of the misnamed democracies, has subjected the people of Gaza to famine and has prevented any kind of humanitarian aid, food, medicine, material to rebuild houses destroyed by Israeli bombing, school supplies, etc. from reaching the suffering population (more than a million and a half people in a strip that is 40 kilometres long by 6 kilometres wide).
The ‘freedom flotilla’ was carrying tons of aid, but the State of Israel stopped it by the bestial force of its troops. That State does not respect any of the resolutions of the United Nations Organisation, nor any international agreements; it knows no reason other than brute force and the support of U.S. imperialism and others.
The ship ‘Mavi Marmara’ of Turkish nationality and flag was attacked by military speedboats, by special commandos in helicopters who fired on people of different nationalities who were bringing aid to the Palestinian people. It was a military operation against unarmed civilians, soldiers trained to kill people who fight with words and solidarity, for peace and justice. With total impudence, the Tel Aviv Government declared that its soldiers ‘acted in self-defence’ against the arms of the civilian activists. The confiscated weapons were screwdrivers, a multi-purpose knife, tools appropriate for a boat, hammers, a pair of tyres, etc. This action was carried out in international waters, that is, it was an act of pure and simple piracy with total contempt for international law. But NATO, to which Turkey belongs, has just spoken words ‘regretting the incident’, just like the United Nations Organisation in which the United States vetoed an explicit condemnation of Israel by the Security Council. Once again, U.S. imperialism is preventing the condemnation of this fascist State, of which Washington is the principal supporter and protector.
The indignation of the peoples of the world has broken out in many demonstrations in major cities, particularly in Europe, in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Portugal and, with particular combativeness, in Turkey. Faced with this popular indignation there was the cool hypocrisy of the governments, which merely ‘condemned and asked for explanations’, when the Zionist State should be expelled from international agencies and have its preferential agreements with the European Union cancelled for its criminal activity.
Even today, June 2, it is not known exactly how many people were killed (assassinated) or how many were wounded in the operation. With the greatest cynicism, the Israeli Ambassador to Spain stated to the media, besides the refrain of self-defence, that there were only a dozen dead among more than 700 people on board, which ‘is a very low proportion’.
President Obama, the ‘democrat’ who is sounding war drums against Iran and North Korea, who is maintaining the criminal embargo against Cuba, who is continuing the attack on Afghanistan, and Iraq, has limited himself to regret for what happened, nothing more.
The passiveness towards the continuous aggressions and crimes of the State of Israel has allowed it to enjoy total impunity so far. It is time to put an end to that situation. This fascist, reactionary, racist State must be condemned and fought. The Palestinian people have the right to form their own State within secure borders, to recover the territories occupied by the Zionists and to be compensated for all the barbarities of all kinds that they face.
We must increase solidarity with the Palestinian people and, at the same time, denounce and fight Zionism and all that protect it. Israel has the fourth most powerful army in the world, it has an atomic arsenal and weapons of mass destruction which is a real powder keg, not only for the Middle East.
The International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations expresses its total solidarity with the Palestinian people and their just struggle, which must be expressed in concrete actions. Our solidarity with the victims of Israeli piracy.
Long live the struggle of the Palestinian people. Against imperialism and reaction, a fight to the finish!
June 2, 2010
The crisis of the world capitalist system is continuing; millions of workers are condemned to misery, thrown into the street. All the popular strata, the workers, working people of the city and countryside, small and middle peasants, artisans, employees, whether working or unemployed, youth and retirees, are being squeezed by a handful of rich people who grow richer every day, by the financial oligarchy, its banks and monopolies. In all capitalist countries, whether developed or emerging, in the imperialist countries and in countries dominated by imperialism, the oligarchy wants to make the working class, the working masses, the popular strata and peoples pay for its crisis: eleven million millionaires in the world are getting increasingly richer at the expense of millions of women and men. Never have such great riches been produced; never have so many people been deprived of a living wage, never has such wealth been concentrated in the hands of a parasitic class, the bourgeois, the reactionaries.
After demanding that the States at their exclusive service hand over billions of dollars, Euros, Yen, to save the banks and financial institutions, that same financial oligarchy now demands payment of the public debt and interests: their tactic is to show indignation at the public deficit... that that they themselves have created.
The policy of reducing the public deficit, a pretext to impose austerity plans
The Greek people have been the first victims in Europe of this far-reaching offensive, carried out jointly by the European Commission and the IMF, which imposed a gigantic austerity plan under the pretext of reducing the public debt.
In a few weeks, throughout the European Union the governments of the right-wing and the social-liberals have pushed a plan to make ‘savings’ that they want to impose on the State budgets; billions that no country can escape. The pretext is to ensure the financial markets and their ‘rating agencies’. Their goal is to carry out another transfer of riches great magnitude, from labour to capital, to ensure the profits of the banks and the most powerful monopolies.
The objective of this concerted offensive is to reduce the social budgets, all the social benefits that the working class and peoples won, particularly after World War II.
The first victims of these attacks are the poorest strata of society, those already living in misery, insecurity and fear of tomorrow. These are the strata that bear the heaviest blows to social services. In rich countries such as Germany and France, millions of men and women, young people looking for jobs, those who only get the worst jobs, the poor labourers, are threatened by more misery, while at the other end of society, the rich toast each other with champagne for the growth of their income.
The attacks began long before the outbreak of the crisis; the neo-liberal and social-liberal policies had caused great destruction, such as the privatisation of the major economic sectors, the liquidation of public services, health care, education, social protection, etc. Now, the oligarchy is using the crisis to remove obstacles to the free exploitation of labour power, eliminating the social and economic rights won by the workers. They try to increase the exploitation of those who are working, at the same time carrying out mass layoffs, to make them work more, until they are exhausted, for increasingly lower wages and increasingly smaller pensions. They use the army of the unemployed as pressure to reduce wages and make working conditions worse.
A common objective of the EU governments for their austerity plans is to undermine the retirement system based on solidarity and sharing. The standard is to increase the retirement age beyond age 65 while millions of young people do not have jobs. The banks and insurance companies are rubbing their hands: they hope to sell their pension systems to capitalise on the strata that can still pay something, they speculate on the fear of bankruptcy of the current pension system based on solidarity between generations and social contributions.
To impose this enormous social retreat, the oligarchy is reinforcing the means of repression, making the laws against workers harsher and promoting the division among the workers and peoples.
In the most severe moments of the crisis in Greece, when hundreds of thousands of protesters shouted in the streets of Athens and other Greek cities their refusal to pay for the crisis of capital, one could hear speeches of politicians that promoted hate, speeches widely disseminated by the media, against the workers and peoples of southern Europe, who were accused of ‘taking advantage’ of other countries and who had to be ‘punished’. How far is this from all the speeches about European harmony, peace and understanding that the Euro was going to facilitate!
The peoples have the right to leave the euro and the EU
After several years of the euro, the peoples have been finally realized. This ‘single’ currency has essentially served the imperialist great powers that dominate the EU to strengthen their economic weight and political power. The euro has leveled down the wages in the EU. The ‘points of convergence’ laid out in the Treaty of Maastricht are instruments of permanent social dumping. The EU governments are trying to impose them even on countries outside the euro zone, such as Denmark, where the people expressed themselves against it in a referendum.
The euro has meant a general increase in the price of products of mass consumption, whose beneficiaries have been the big monopolies of distribution. of agricultural products, and the big losers have been the consumers of the popular means, small and medium-sized agricultural producers, small traders, etc.
The euro is an essential machinery for building a Europe that aims to be an imperialist great power, a neo-liberal Europe that increases the exploitation of the working class, that participates in the looting of the riches of Africa, Latin America, etc., that takes part in wars and conflicts for the control of strategic raw materials, of sources of energy and transportation to the major distribution centres of the imperialist countries.
The reactionary nature of European construction is confirmed: it is a ‘fortress Europe’ that ‘protects’ itself against immigrants driven from their own countries by the hunger and wars promoted by imperialism. It is a Europe of police deployed by all means, put together, to control and suppress the large popular demonstrations, such as at the summit in Strasbourg, or the ‘climate control’ conference in Copenhagen. Apart from the enormous police deployment, which resulted in thousands of detainees, the Copenhagen summit has shown the extent to which the great powers only conceive environmental protection as a market for their monopolies.
We stand together with the Greek people and those of other countries who demand their right to leave the euro and the EU. We fight to develop solidarity with all the peoples of the world, without exception. We have to carry out common struggles with the workers and peoples of Europe against exploitation, against competition among the workers, against the submission of the ‘small’ countries to the imperialists, against the organised looting of the riches of the dominated countries. The construction of the EU and its currency are instruments of that policy which we denounce and fight.
Increase the resistance against the austerity plans throughout Europe
The resistance of the working class and peoples against the aggression of capital has been immediate and is taking place everywhere. In some countries there have been several general strikes and days of struggle. The anger is great as is the desire to fight to not pay for the crisis of the system or the debts of the oligarchy and its austerity plans.
This anger has greatly disturbed the bourgeoisie and the reformist parties, who have joined the austerity policy and accept its application. They talk about ‘sharing the sacrifices’, however this only applies to the workers and peoples.
We must develop this struggle of resistance in each country and internationally. Particularly the trade union movement has already set dates for the fall; we will work to give them a greater impact and achieve success, to achieve a great demonstration of internationalism and the unity of the working class.
It is vital to work for the unity of the working class. It is the working class that produces surplus value and which can considerably pressure capital. It is the backbone of the fight against capital and for social transformation. The working class has been the first to massively resist the attacks of the employers, governments, the Brussels Commission, the IMF, etc.
Unions are the first instrument of resistance of the working class and the masses of workers of the city and the countryside. The trade union movement has been divided and weakened by the policy of class collaboration within it. But today class struggle unionism is developing among the rank and file through concrete struggles through trends of trade unionists and trade unions committed to the class struggle.
We defend class struggle trade unionism; we call on the workers to organise in the unions, to work for the unity of the trade union movement on class positions. We denounce and fight the attempts to expel fighting members from the unions. We work to develop international solidarity and trade union initiatives that reinforce the struggle of the workers in each country and internationally.
The immigrant workers, with or without papers, ‘legal’ or ‘illegal’, are part of the working class in each country. The monopolies need this labour power who, deprived of their rights, are exploited mercilessly. In the fierce competition that the monopolies wage among themselves, and in the sectors in which they cannot relocate production, this labour power is essential. In this context, the victorious strike carried out in France by the workers without papers for their regularisation is of great importance, it encourages all those fighting on that front. This strike of more than eight months was supported by trade unions, women’s associations, democratic organisations and left-wing parties. It showed concretely that immigrants are first and foremost workers who form part of the working class. It achieved a great movement of solidarity in public opinion, the real antidote to the attempts at division that the oligarchy and reaction are carrying out. These workers will take up their positions in the common fight to not pay for the crisis in the system
The public service workers, State officials, local territories (in municipalities, departments, regions, etc.) are particularly affected by the plans to reduce the State budgets and those of public and semi-public institutions. Thousands of jobs have been eliminated in all countries; wages are being reduced, as in Greece, where the Government wants to cut two months of wages. In fighting against privatisation, for their wages, for contracts, the public service workers are also fighting for the users of public services.
We reject austerity plans, militarisation and imperialist wars
The crisis of the world capitalist and imperialist system is sharpening all the contradictions, which are acquiring a more and more violent character. To impose the austerity plans, the oligarchy is reinforcing its repression and its arsenal of criminalisation of the struggles of the workers and peoples.
The exacerbated competition for the control of markets and sources of raw materials has already resulted in conflicts and war. The war carried out by the imperialists with their armed wing, NATO, against the people of Afghanistan has as a backdrop the control of future gas pipelines and subsoil minerals.
Money should not go to war and militarisation, but to meet social needs, education, healthcare, social protection for the vast majority. We cry out: ‘NATO troops out of Afghanistan’ and ‘imperialist troops out of Iraq’.
We show our solidarity with the Palestinian people and the population of Gaza, who have been suffering for months from an inhuman blockade organised by the reactionary government of Israel. Together with the forces of the world, we condemn the criminal Zionist policy and we demand the immediate lifting of the blockade. At the same time, we denounce the complicity of the EU. We support the fight of the Palestinian people for the effective recognition of their full national rights.
For an alternative to break with the imperialist capitalist system
The extreme austerity plans are hitting all layers of the population. It is absolutely necessary to work to unite all layers who are victims of this policy of social repression. We work to build this unity through ambitious united front policies concretised in the refusal to pay for the crisis of the capitalist system and its policy of austerity. It is the banks, shareholders and the oligarchy, which must pay for its crisis; we want to work with all political and social forces that share this objective to enforce it with our increasingly strong mobilisations.
The scope of this crisis is such that it raises the urgent need to work on developing and implementing policies of rupture with the system. A policy which must be supported by social measures and concrete policies, to demand right now in the fight through a large mobilisation. These demands should be the basis of programmes supported by coalitions of political parties, social forces and mass organisations. We will use the whole political and democratic field, including the electoral field, in order to make ourselves heard and advance our positions.
As parties and organisations of the working class, we affirm our conviction that the only real, lasting and effective solution to the crisis of the capitalist imperialist system is through tearing down this system and establishing socialism. That perspective is part of our struggle.
Long live the class struggle of the worker, youth and people to not pay for the crisis!
It is the oligarchy who should pay for it!
Long live international solidarity!
Paris, June 2010
Workers Communist Party of Denmark (APK)Members of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations (ICMLPO)
Observer: Organisation for the Construction of the Communist Party of the Workers of Germany
A general strike in Spain, demonstrations in Italy, Greece, France, and an international trade union demonstration, in Brussels. September 29 will be an important day of mobilisation for the working class and the working people to refuse to pay for the crisis and the austerity plans that the liberal and social-liberal governments, the European Commission and the IMF are trying to impose on us. Those plans began to be applied in Greece, but the workers and people of Greece rose up first to shout NO! with the support of the workers and peoples of other European countries who showed their solidarity.
The aim of the reduction in the social spending is to carry out a new large transfer of wealth from Labour to Capital to assure the profits of the banks, of the great monopolies. The banks and large enterprises have received thousands of millions in public money to assure the dividends of the shareholders. Eleven million millionaires in the world are becoming increasingly rich, while billions of human beings live in extreme poverty.
The large employers are carrying out mass dismissals and are provoking competition among the workers in Europe and internationally. They use jobs as blackmail to reduce wages and impose flexibility, to make part-time work general; of all of this women are the first victims.
The governments are privatising and dismantling the systems of social protection won by the struggle of the workers, the pension system, and are thus offering new markets to the banks, insurance agencies and the private monopolies. When they fight against privatisations, for wages and jobs, the public service workers, the health and education workers, etc. are also fighting for the users of these public services.
With their direct attack, the employers and the governments try to divide, for which they use chauvinism and racism, as France is now doing through the nauseating campaign against the Roma people and immigrants. They are trying to criminalise social protest and to reinforce the control and repression of the ‘dangerous classes’: the young people, the inhabitants of popular neighbourhoods and suburbs, and all those who are confronting the policy of social regression.
The workers must fight in unity to defend their rights and also, specifically, for the undocumented workers who are an integral part of the working class.
The increased competition for the control of markets and raw materials is translated into wars and conflicts. The criminal war that the imperialist powers and their armed force, NATO, are carrying out against the peoples of Afghanistan has as an unstated objective the control of the future gas lines and the minerals that are contained in the subsoil of the country. Therefore we shout ‘we will not pay for your crisis; we will not pay for your wars!’
Develop the solidarity and support for the struggle and resistance from one country to another
In all the countries the worker and popular resistance is developing to counter the attacks of capital and to disarm its policy of establishing competition among the workers. Class solidarity is the weapon with which the workers of each country get the support of their brothers, and together to strike at the enemy.
The depth of the crisis of the capitalist system and the destruction that it causes, on a social level, to the environment, the conflicts and wars, make it necessary and urgent to break with that system, to develop a policy of class unity that brings together all its victims.
As parties and organisations of the working class, we state that the only true, lasting and effective solution to the crisis of the capitalist, imperialist system is to overthrow it and establish socialism.
Long live the struggle of the working class, youth and peoples to not pay for the crisis of capitalism: no to austerity! It is the oligarchy that must pay for its crisis!
Long Live International Solidarity!
Organisation for the Construction of a Workers’ Communist Party of GERMANY (www.arbeit-zukunft.de)September of 2010
It is not true that the present crisis of capitalism-imperialism is passing and in definitive recovery, as the spokespersons of imperialism proclaim. On the contrary, it is broadening and deepening in all the economies of the countries of the planet. This is strongly striking the productive, financial and commercial sectors. But mainly, it is attacking the lives of the workers in all continents, the dependent peoples and countries. Its most dramatic effects are seen in the tens of millions of workers dismissed, in the decline in wages and cuts in social services.
This crisis that broke out within U.S. imperialism has extended to all continents, without any country being able to escape it. Therefore, big capital and its governments are carrying out aggressive economic, political, social and military actions so that the dependent countries and people are the ones who pay for it. They are strengthening their invading armies and prepare regional wars such as in Iraq and Afghanistan, and supporting occupations such as that of Palestine by Israel.
However, in all countries and particularly in Europe, the working class and peoples are giving an important response with mobilisations and general strikes that show their rejection and their willingness to fight against the economic policies of imperialism and the bourgeois governments. The struggle of the working class and youth in Greece stands out.
The US is strengthening its role as an imperialist country, it is trying to assert its positions and continue its hegemony in Latin America. Facing the resistance of the peoples and the winning of important democratic and patriotic positions, it is strengthening its political and military offensive: in continuation of the implementation of Plan Colombia it is installing seven military bases, modernising the Fourth Fleet and reintroducing it along the coasts of the Americas, it is implementing Plan Merida in Mexico, the coup in Honduras, the military occupation of Haiti, strengthening the blockade of Cuba, as well as the ideological and political offensive, promoting paramilitarism, anti-drug ‘operations,’ the militarisation of the regimes, etc.
It is trying to recover the political and economic control of the democratic and patriotic countries and governments that denounce and confront it, using open and disguised mechanisms of intervention and aggression, the active processes of destabilisation in Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
The imperialist countries of Europe, mainly Germany, England and Spain are expanding their direct investments and credits and are stimulating trade in the region. Several Latin American countries have adopted and others are discussing free trade agreements with the European Union. These relations of economic dependency transcend politics.
For several decades, Japanese imperialism has been extending its tentacles, primarily financial and commercial, in the region, making it one of the powers that is contending for domination of Latin America.
In recent years, Chinese imperialism has ventured with force into the various countries of Latin America. It is making direct investments in mining, oil, civil construction, etc. It is developing a commercial assault in all the countries and has become a creditor to the governments. The Chinese offensive in the region has grown significantly and it is contending with the United States and other imperialist countries.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the crisis has serious repercussions, mainly on the poorest and most dependent countries. It is submerging the economies of the States in a drastic reduction of productive capacity, in serious fiscal deficits, in a general reduction of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is causing an increase in the foreign debt, a rise in dismissals and unemployment, the growth of underemployment and of the informal sector. It is causing serious cutbacks in public spending and social security, and a furious onslaught against the political, economic, social and cultural gains. Although the crisis may show some fluctuations and signs of recovery, it has not yet touched bottom, it continues to sharpen and its social, economic and political effects affect the life of the countries and the conditions of the working classes, the peoples and youth of the continent.
For several years there has been a significant rise in the struggle of the masses. The popular movements are reviving, broadening and becoming increasingly politicised. The struggle in defence of sovereignty, against imperialism, for the defence of natural resources, against looting and indiscriminate exploitation is revitalising the social movements. The confrontation against repression, the violation of human rights, the criminalisation of the social struggles, the militarisation and paramilitarism, coups d’état, the struggle for democracy and civil liberties are part of the action of the working masses and youth; the trade union movement is valiantly fighting against dismissals, for the right to work, for wage increases, in defence of the right to strike and collective bargaining, for the right to democratic unionisation, for social security and decent pensions. The peasants are conducting vigorous struggles for land and their rights in all countries; the indigenous peoples are standing up, defending their rights and joining in the struggle for social change; the working women and ecologists are joining their actions in the process of emancipation of the workers and peoples.
The rise of the struggle of the masses is coming together with the failure and exhaustion of neo-liberal policies, with the sharpening of the contradictions among the bourgeoisie and among the imperialists, creating new scenarios and conditions that are favourable to the development of class combats of the working masses, of the peoples and youth, for the work of the left-wing and revolutionary organisations and parties.
The demands of the struggle of the masses do not have only had the stamp of defence of their gains, but they have developed a content for change. This aspiration is deepening and is being projected into the electoral political struggle, expressed in the vote for the parties and organisations that propose change, for the proposals of the left, helping to elect democratic and progressive governments, some of which are holding high positions in defence of sovereignty, of the rights of the peoples and are fighting against imperialist domination and the attacks of internal reaction, such as in Venezuela and Bolivia. On the other hand, the pressure of imperialism and reaction is causing several of those governments to fall into reformist and developmental policies, of conciliation with imperialism and the oligarchies; they are moving to the right, and consequently are confronting and repressing the trade union movement, the social organisations, the indigenous peoples, the left-wing organisations and revolutionary forces, as is happening in Ecuador with the Correa government.
This social and political process, the development of the struggle of the masses, the involvement of significant sectors of the middle strata and classes, is coming together in the formation and development of a Tendency for Patriotic, Progressive and Left-Wing Change that is influencing the social and political life of all countries, to varying degrees and levels.
This Tendency is expressed in the development of the anti-imperialist consciousness of the workers and peoples, in the decision to fight for the government, for social change. Within this Tendency the revolutionary ideas, the decision to fight for the overthrow of imperialism, the destruction of capitalism and the building of socialism are expressed vigorously and in development; in this task our Marxist-Leninist parties, together with other revolutionary organisations, are fulfilling our responsibilities.
In this new scenario, the development of the social struggle, the affirmation and growth of proletarian revolutionary positions, of the Marxist-Leninist forces, are faced with the responsibility of unmasking and fighting against all sorts of theses and proposals of a reformist and diversionist character within the workers and popular movement. Some of them are exhibited by the governments; in particular, we must pay attention to the so-called ‘citizen’s revolution,’ ‘Bolivarian revolution,’ the preaching of peaceful revolution, of the revolution by the ‘vote,’ of ‘21st century socialism.’ These circumstances place on the agenda the ideological and political struggle between revolution and reformism.
The development of the Tendency for Change is changing the relationship of forces in Latin America, it has led to the existence of several democratic and progressive governments at the same time that, as a response of imperialism and reaction, it is building openly pro-imperialist governments such as those of Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
The momentum of the struggle of the workers and peoples, the consistent positions of several governments and the willingness of others to renegotiate dependency are giving rise to the emergence of anti-U.S. political initiatives at the level of countries and governments, such as ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance the Americas), the organisation of Latin American and Caribbean States, excluding the U.S. and Canada. There is also the formation of UNASUR (Union of Nations of South America), the establishment of the Bank of the South, and a virtual currency, the Sucre, as a means of payment for trade between member countries. We proletarian revolutionaries support these initiatives, as part of the confrontation with the imperialist policies of the U.S., while we warn of their limits and we work to assert the anti-imperialist consciousness of the peoples in their struggle for social and national liberation.
We Marxist-Leninists take into account the development of the social and political struggle, their advances and achievements, we are present in all arenas; we fully support the various progressive and patriotic measures while we warn of the illusions that they can arouse among the masses. We insist that real change will come about as a result of the overthrow of imperialism, of the burial of capitalism by means of the organisation of the social revolution, of the seizure of power by the revolutionary road and with the building of socialism.
To organise the revolution we must lead the working class and peoples in the struggle against the crisis and its effects. We insist that the definitive solution of the crisis, for the benefit of the workers, will only happen with the revolution and socialism. Any other alternative only means palliatives, proposals for the recomposition of capitalism. This statement in no way means to stand idly by in dealing with the effects of the crisis on the working masses. It demands that we stand up, at the forefront of the struggle of the working class, of all those exploited and oppressed by capital and imperialism to struggle against dismissals, for the rise in wages, for non-payment of the foreign debt, against the sell-out policy of the governments, for the building of a revolutionary confluence with the working class at the head, involving the peasantry, the poor, the indigenous peoples and the youth; for the affirmation of the ideas of change, for the ideals of the revolution and socialism
Let the rich, the ones responsible, pay for the crisis!
To the crisis, the only solution is revolution!
Workers of the world, unite!!
Latin America and Caribbean Regional of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations
Revolutionary Communist Party of Brazil,
Communist Party of Colombia
(Marxist-Leninist),
Communist Party of Labour of the Dominican
Republic,
Marxist Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador,
Communist Party
of Mexico (Marxist-Leninist),
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of
Venezuela
July 2010
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