People's Democracy

CPI(M) Greets Party of Italian Communists

On its Sixth Congress

The following is the text of the greetings sent by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to the Sixth Congress of the Party of the Italian Communists on October 27, 2011

ON behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) we greet the sixth congress of the Party of the Italian Communists. We wish your congress all the success and hope that the decisions you take in this historic congress would further strengthen the Communist party in Italy.

Your congress is taking place at a very crucial period. The global economic crisis is accentuating because of the manner it was sought to be tackled by the ruling classes. The governments that have sought to come out of the crisis by bailing out the banks, which had caused the crisis in the first place, are now finding themselves in a debt trap. So, what had in fact begun as corporate insolvency is now manifesting into sovereign insolvency – a deep-rooted crisis of the capitalist system. It is from this sovereign insolvency that the ruling classes are trying to come out by further burdening the people as we are witnessing in Greece and many other countries in Europe including Italy. The 'austerity' packages announced by the ruling classes in many countries are an attempt to pass on the burdens to the people, while ensuring that the rich are not affected.

These attacks on the people are not going unchallenged. People across the world have risen in protests. Widespread protests are being witnessed against the greed of capitalists, growing inequalities, rising poverty, hunger, unemployment and attacks on the hard won rights of the working class. However, it is not just the greed of capitalists but the capitalist system itself that is responsible for the crisis. We are not only watching with interest but are also drawing inspiration from the protests waged by the people of your country and also the people of other European countries.

The wave of protests that had swept the countries in West Asia/North Africa are also historic. Imperialism, is trying hard to ensure that the resource rich region stays in its control. The military attack on Libya by the NATO forces and the covert support extended to the rebels for the toppling of Syrian government are all examples that show to what extent imperialism is ready to go in order to ensure that this region remains firmly in its hold. Control of resources, along with markets, becomes all the more important in the period of economic crisis. Imperialism is trying to prise open the markets of the developing countries and thus come out of the crisis at the cost of the people of the developing countries. These attempts are naturally being resisted by the people.

World wide there is a growing interest in the teachings of Karl Marx and there is a huge spurt in the sale of Marx's writings, including Das Capital. This is because people are searching for alternatives to crisis ridden capitalist system. It also demonstrates the eternality of Marxism-Leninism, the theory of scientific socialism. In order to counter this growth, the ruling classes have launched a vicious ideological offensive on communist parties and communist ideology.

Comrades,

Your party has a long history of fighting and resisting all attempts to erase the glorious legacy of communist party and communist ideology. Your party refounded on the glorious traditions of the Italian communists, is upholding the banner of scientific socialism in spite of many adverse circumstances. We hope that this process, which is continuing, would further strengthen your party and make it the vanguard of the working class and its struggles.

Comrades,

In our country too the CPI(M) is organising various struggles against the attacks on the livelihood launched by the present UPA government. The current government had forged a strategic partnership with the US imperialism and is hence ready to prise open our market to serve the interests of international finance capital. We are resisting all the attempts of imperialism and the ruling classes of our country that are eager to open our financial and other crucial sectors to foreign capital.

As you might be aware the Left forces in our country suffered an electoral reversal in the recently concluded general elections and also the subsequent elections to some of the state assemblies. Various factors had contributed to this reversal, the ganging up of the entire reactionary forces led by the ruling classes, one among them. The party had identified the reasons and had initiated measures to overcome this reversal.

Dear Comrades,

Once again we take this opportunity to greet this historic sixth congress and all the members of your party. We hope that the resolutions and decisions that you take in this congress will not only further strengthen the party but also hasten the process of ensuring a systemic change. While this process is long and arduous, we extend our revolutionary solidarity and the CPI(M) will always be by your side in this struggle.

Long Live Marxism-Leninism

Long Live the Party of the Italian Communists