People's Democracy

CPI(M) Greets Nineteenth Congress of PCP

The following is the text of the message of greetings sent to the 19th Congress of the Portuguese Communist Party that took place from November 30 to December 2, 2012. S Ramachandran Pillai, Polit Bureau member has attended the Congress on behalf of the CPI(M).

Dear comrades,

At the very outset, on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) allow me to extend my warm fraternal greetings to the 19th Congress of the Portuguese Communist Party and wish it all success. Also through you, I salute all the members of the PCP, who are in an intense struggle against the 'austerity' measures and other burdens placed on the shoulders of the working class and common people of Portugal. Let me also pay homage to Comrade Alvarho Cunhal, one of the greatest revolutionaries and communist leaders, not only of Portugal, but also of the entire world, whose birth centenary is being observed by the PCP.

Remembering Comrade Cunhal and paying homage to him in fact means saluting the memory of the April revolution and the ideals he had lived for his entire life. This is all the more necessary in today's world scenario.

Comrades,

Your Congress is taking place at a very crucial time. The world is in the midst of a severe economic crisis that is leaving no country unaffected. What had, in fact, started as corporate insolvency has now turned into full fledged sovereign insolvency. To compound the problem, today we witness the confluence of three sets - all offshoots of the economic crisis - (i) the double dip recession that the Euro zone finds itself in (ii) the 'fiscal cliff' of the US and (iii) the Damocles sword hanging on the necks of countries like Portugal, Greece, etc who have to start re-servicing the loans they had taken from international agencies like IMF and ECB.

The ruling classes in order to come out of this situation will try to impose even more burdens on the people. Imperialism will use all the options - military, economic and political - to overcome this crisis and maintain its hegemony. It will come out with even more aggression to ensure its control over world resources and markets. It is this expression of aggression that we notice in the Middle-East today. Its decision to turn its attention on Asia-Pacific region also arises from this intention – remember the region is a bigger market than the EU.

The people of the world already reeling under intense attacks, will come out in bigger numbers resisting this intensification of burdens upon them. This situation naturally opens up a host of possibilities for us, Communists. It is here that the experience of April and Comrade Cunhal will be of immense importance to all of us.

Dear Comrades,

We in India too are facing the affects of the crisis, though not to the extent of European economies. Manufacturing, agriculture and exports have seen a fall according to the latest data released by the government. Rising prices, specially of food items and other essential commodities are accentuating the miseries of the people.

Instead of initiating measures to redress these problems, the Congress led UPA government has succumbed to the pressures from the US and decided to further open our economy for imperialist penetration. It has decided to allow FDI in retail, that will adversely affect the livelihoods of millions of people (retail trade is the second largest employer in our country after agriculture). It also decided to open up the insurance and banking sectors to foreign investments, which will ruin them. All these decisions taken in the midst of global economic crisis only prove that the government is catering to the interests of ruling classes. The CPI(M), along with other Left parties in the country is in the midst of struggles against these policies. The trade unions, in fact all of them including the trade union of the ruling Congress party, came together and organised a series of protest actions. In February 2013, they have called for a 48-hour general strike, a first in our country.

Dear comrades,

We are confident that the attacks on working class and the people at large can be repulsed. We are sure that the 19th Congress of the PCP will go a long way in strengthening these struggles. We express our solidarity with the PCP in all its struggles and endeavours to put an end to the present unequal and unjust capitalist system. We know that this struggle will be long and arduous, but let me assure you comrades, that you can always count on the CPI(M) to stand by you.

The PCP and CPI(M) share special bonds of friendship and fraternal relations and we are confident that the coming days will see a further deepening of these bonds.