People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
No. 46
November 17, 2013
|
Vol. XXXVII
No. 46 November 17, 2013 |
15th
International Meeting of Communist
and Workers’ Parties Below
is
the text of the press release issued by the 15th
International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties
held in THE
15th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’
Parties was held in
Lisbon, on November
8-10, under the
motto “The deepening of the crisis of capitalism, the role
of the working
class and the communists’ tasks in
the struggle for the workers and peoples’ rights.
Imperialism’s offensive, the
realignment of forces at the international level, the
national question, class
emancipation and the struggle for socialism”. In
the Meeting, 77 parties, from 61 countries participated
and greetings were
received from an additional 14 parties which, for various
reasons, were not
able to participate. The meeting analysed, among other
main aspects, the
development of the international situation in the context
of the deepening of
the structural crisis of capitalism and of a complex
process of realignment of
forces at the international level, alerting to the great
dangers deriving from
imperialism’s offensive. At
the same time, the participants saluted and valued the
resistance and struggle
of the workers and peoples, reaffirming the real potential
that the current
situation holds for the development of the liberating
struggle, for profound
changes in the anti-monopolist and anti-imperialist
direction, for socialism. The
meeting noted the deepening of the crisis that exploded in
2008 with the Lehman
Brothers bankruptcy. A crisis that is far from over,
belying the ruling class
discourse on an alleged “recovery” and confirming the
analyses of the
communists about its nature and evolution which, among
other aspects, confirms
it as a crisis of over-production and over-accumulation of
capital. A crisis
that expresses the sharpening of capitalism’s
contradictions – in particular
its fundamental contradiction between the social character
of production and
its private appropriation – highlighting the historical
limits of the system
and the timeliness of the struggle for the fundamental
alternative to
capitalism – socialism. It
denounced the aim of big capital, of the major imperialist
powers and their
international and supranational structures of imperialist
concentration – such
as the European Union – to impose on the workers and
peoples a social
regression of a civilizational dimension assaulting
economic, labour and social
rights, violently attacking the living conditions of the
working and popular
masses and declaring war on the sovereignty and
independence of States. It
referenced in particular the harsh reality of the peoples
and the impact of the
crisis and of the capitalist offensive on developing
countries, where the
peoples find their right to economic and social
development even more
curtailed. In this framework, attention was drawn to the
impact of capitalism’s
crisis on agriculture and food, jeopardising still more
the food sovereignty of
numerous countries and dooming great masses of the world
population to starvation
and malnutrition. It
highlighted the dangers that arise from the
intensification of the militarist,
warmongering and interference policy of the major
imperialist powers and NATO.
It stressed that the wars of aggression, the processes of
interference and
instigation of internal conflicts, the strengthening of
repressive,
authoritarian, control and espionage measures are part of
the force-based
response by big capital to capitalism’s crisis, having as
its central aims to
maintain the control of the resources and sources of
energy and contain the
revolt, the struggle of the peoples and the inevitable
social and revolutionary
explosions that the current situation entails. Participants
expressed their solidarity with the ongoing struggles in
all continents against
the aggressive imperialist offensive, for social progress,
independence and
sovereignty, peace, the right to social and economic
development, for the
construction of alternatives of sovereignty and progress
to imperialism’s
hegemonic domination, the real fundamental alternative to
capitalist barbarity –
socialism. It reaffirmed the central role of the working
class and its alliance
with other anti-monopolist strata in defence of their
rights, namely the right
to employment, for labour and social rights, in defence of
the social functions
of States. Participants
valued and expressed their solidarity with all the peoples
who resist
imperialism’s policies of interference and aggression –
especially to the
peoples of the Middle East, saluting the ongoing struggles
in that region
against all forms of aggression and oppression, for
sovereignty, democracy,
social justice and national unity, as in Egypt and
Tunisia. It reaffirmed its
solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle
for national rights,
as well as with other peoples in the region who are
victims of aggressions and
interferences, such as the Syrian people. In
a framework of continuing resistance and gathering of
forces, but where the
potential for the development of a revolutionary struggle
grows, important
factors emerge in various regions of the world to contain
imperialism’s
hegemonic domination. Participants saluted and valued the
struggle of the
peoples, of the communists and other progressive forces in
Latin America,
considering that the processes of struggle, progressive
and of sovereign
affirmation in this region, as well as the cooperation
based on solidarity that
is emerging in the region, constitute an important factor
and stimulus for the
development and strengthening of the anti-imperialist
struggle. The
participants reasserted their solidarity with It
stressed the importance of the struggle in defence of
democratic freedoms,
against the advance of the far right, against xenophobia
and racism, against
religious fanaticism and obscurantism, against
anti-communism. It reaffirmed
solidarity with other communist parties and all
revolutionary forces that are the
target of political persecution and anti-communist
campaigns – namely in the
European continent, which is carried out by several
governments as well as by
institutions like the European Union. Concrete
experiences of struggle in different countries and regions
were present in most
interventions, confirming that the workers and peoples do
not conform and that,
even in the current difficult conditions, liberating
advances and achievements
of an anti-monopolist and anti-capitalist nature are
possible. It
was affirmed that socialism increasingly emerges as the
real fundamental
alternative to capitalism and its crisis. Drawing lessons
from the delays,
mistakes and distortions that countered basic principles
of socialism, but
valuing as highly positive the experiences of building
socialism and what they
meant and mean for Humanity, highlighting the achievements
of the new social
system, recognising that there are no models of
revolution, the participants
stressed the determining role of the masses in the
construction and management
of socialist societies. It
was stressed that the current international situation
makes it particularly
necessary to strengthen the cooperation among all
progressive and
anti-imperialist forces and, firstly, among communist and
workers’ parties from
all over the world, one of the most solid guarantees for
the strengthening of
the peoples’ struggle and the construction of the
alternative of socialism. In
this sense, the rich experience and advances made with the
International
Meetings of Communist and Workers’ Parties was
highlighted, as a space for
exchange of information, experiences and opinions, of
possible convergence of
positions and decisions on common and converging
initiatives, reaffirming the
importance of ensuring their continuity. The
meeting adopted various lines and initiatives of common or
converging action by
Communist and Workers’ Parties to be materialised until
the 16th IMCWP (which
can be found at the end of this press release), having
mandated the Working
Group to stimulate and monitor their implementation and
materialisation. The
International Meeting welcomed the existence of three
proposals for the venue
of the 16th Meeting. Its date, place and motto will be
decided during the
meeting of the Working Group of the International Meetings
of Communist and
Workers’ Parties to be held in due time. Guidelines
for Common or Convergent Action THE
participant parties of the 15th International Meeting of
Communist and Workers'
Parties define the following guidelines for their common
and convergent action
and mandate the Working Group to try to implement these
guidelines in
coordination with other Parties of the Solidnet List. 1.
Commemorate, during the year 2014, the 100th anniversary
of the beginning of
World War I, and the 75th anniversary of the beginning of
World War II through
a joint campaign alerting to the dangers of new
international military clashes,
alerting to the need to enhance the struggle for peace and
against imperialist
aggressiveness and wars and highlighting that the struggle
for peace is
intimately linked with the struggle for socialism. (In
this sense the German
CP, the New CP of Netherlands, the Workers' Party of
Belgium and the CP of
Luxembourg informed about the preparation of an action in
the German border town
Aechen, on February 15). 2.
Mark the 15 Years from the beginning of criminal
imperialistic NATO aggression
against the 3.
To stimulate, in coordination with the parties from Asia,
Africa, Latin America
and the 4.
Organise an international campaign in solidarity with the
ongoing processes and
struggles in Latin America and Caribbean, and in
particular with Socialist Cuba
– against the USA blockade, the common EU position, and
for the return of the
four Cuban patriots still held in US prisons –with
Bolivarian Venezuela and
with the Colombian people's struggle for peace with social
justice. 5.
Examine the possibility of – taking advantage of
international events where a
large number of Parties are present – organising a working
meeting to debate
the ideological offensive and the mass media's role, as
well as to exchange
experiences on mass communication work. 6.
To celebrate the International Woman’s Day (March 8, 2014)
highlighting the
effect of the crisis and of the imperialist multifaceted
offensive on working
women and national oppressed women, expressing solidarity
with their struggle
and their anti-imperialist movement. 7.
Honour May 1 (May Day) with participation in the struggles
in each country for
the defence of workers and peoples economic and social
rights, for the right to
work and for labour rights, highlighting the importance of
the class struggle,
for the abolition of exploitation of man by man. Consider
the possibility of
announcing on this date a day of action, with initiatives
in each country,
against unemployment and its real roots, giving particular
importance to the
mass unemployment among youth. Defend the trade union
rights, denounce the
political persecution and demand the liberation of the
detained trade
unionists. 8.
Examine the possibility of convergent actions on the
combat against racism,
xenophobia, against fascism, stressing the importance of
the ideological
struggle against anti-communism and the rewriting of
History, denouncing the EU
in what concerns its institutional campaigns and measures
aiming to equate
communism with fascism. 9.
To determine a day of action, with expressions in each
country, against the
persecution of the communist parties and the ban of
communist symbols,
affirming solidarity with the communist parties banned in
their countries. 10.
Commemorate the 95th Anniversary of the Creation of the
Communist International
(March 1919) underlining, on the occasion of 90 years of
Lenin's death, his
central contribution to the international communist
movement. 11.
To stimulate, in coordination with the Parties from the
Arab countries and
Middle East, the organisation of an international seminar
about the social and
national emancipation struggles of the peoples of Arab
countries and the Middle
East, expressing the solidarity with all the peoples of
the region that are
victims of the imperialist and Zionist crimes and
aggressions, among others the
Palestinian and Syrian people, and also with the people's
that rise up against
repressive, dictatorial and reactionary regimes, in
defence of their social,
political and democratic rights. 12.
To continue to denounce the imperialist intervention
against 13.
To promote the international front against imperialism and
the support for the
international anti-imperialist mass organisations, the
World Federation of
Trade Unions (WFTU), the World Peace Council (WPC), the
World Federation of
Democratic Youth (WFDY), and the Women’s International
Democratic Federation
(WIDF), in the specific framework of every country.