VOICE OF REVOLUTION - Issue No: 9 (May 98)
15 communist parties and organisations from all
over the world came together for the latest International
Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations held in
Germany in November 1997. The main agenda of the Conference,
which went on for three days, was "the work of the communist
parties within the working class".
Since 1993, these conferences have been held
annually with about 15 parties participating. The Quito
declaration of 1994 was signed by 25 communist parties and
organisations from all over the world.
The Conference publishes the journal Unity
& Struggle twice a year in English, Spanish, French and
Turkish. The last two journals have also been published in Arabic
and Russian. It is being distributed in over 30 countries.
The 1997 Conference issued the
following statement and resolutions:
The International Conference of
Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations which was held in
Germany put the activities of communist parties within the
working class at the top of its agenda.
The statements of the sister parties present at
the conference shows that despite shortcomings and weaknesses
there are positive and rich experiences. All the parties present
agreed on the importance of taking further steps and of
exchanging experience in this front.
Despite the fact that all the parties have
different experiences because of different levels of development
and changes in the situations they work in, they drew attention
to many common problems facing parties and peoples in both
imperialist and dependent countries.
The debates have demonstrated that the
following approach and practice have been adopted once again:
1- Both because of the
ideology and politics we advocate and because we aim to take root
within the working class whatever the size of the working class
and the stage of revolution, we are the working class parties.
2- It is the main
responsibility of every party to build itself within the working
class.
3- At the present stage of the
crisis of the world imperialist system, the attacks on the
working class and working masses have become more fearless.
However, in many countries the working class fights against these
attacks with a greater consciousness and fighting spirit, and
they have entered a higher stage of their struggle.
The general tendency of the day is towards a
new rise of the workers' and popular movement. Our parties are
taking part in this movement and striving to take the lead in
order to direct it towards a revolutionary rise.
4- The crisis of imperialism
deepens the crisis of the reformists and revisionists and forces
them to take off their masks and to take part more openly in the
making and implementation of anti-working class and
anti-peoples’ policies. There exists a tendency within the
workers' movement to break away from collaborationist and
conciliatory elements. Our parties must use these favourable
conditions to help the working class hasten this break away and
to gain their independence. This situation makes it possible and
obligatory for our parties to gain strength within the working
class.
5- Our parties are aware of
the importance of trade union activity in work among the working
class. This is closely linked to the character of our parties who
bear the responsibility for defending the interests of the
working masses. Trade union activity is also one of the main
areas of activity to take root within the working class, to learn
how to lead their struggle and to draw the most advanced sections
into the party.
6- Our parties once again draw
attention to the importance of developing within the workers'
movement and trade unions the line of class-based trade unionism,
revolutionary trade unionism one of the bases of which is
internationalism. It is an important task to develop the line of
class based trade unionism within the unions led by our parties
as well as those which are under the influence of revisionists,
reformists and other ideological and political currents or in the
countries where there is a single union structure with a
reactionary-fascist character.
7- Our parties are aware of
the great importance of education within the working class, the
education of the leading cadres of the workers' and trade union
movement, and the communist workers who will become our parties'
conscious militants.
8- The internationalisation of
economy also implies the imperialist aim of dividing and
provoking different sections of the working class against each
other in individual countries and on the international scale. No
class fight can ignore this fact today. The sharpening of the
crisis of imperialism makes it urgent to realise international
solidarity on a greater scale. Being aware of the obligatory
character of this task our parties are making every effort to
give a class character to this solidarity. This effort must be
strengthened and developed.
Workers of all countries, unite!
November 1997, Germany
Resolutions of the Conference
On Latin America:
The rising struggle of the working class and
the peoples of Latin America is an indication of the revival and
rise of revolutionary popular movement.
Workers and peoples are joining the
struggle against the destructive impact of economic
programmes imposed by the IMF and the World Bank. With political
demands and demand for change they join the struggle, endangering
the stability of bourgeois democracy which is an inalienable
instrument of imperialist hegemony and bourgeois power.
The deepening crisis in the continent places
the struggle for political power at the centre of the conflict,
and this struggle is quite advanced in some countries compared to
the others. The rising struggle of the peoples brings about
new social and political explosions and strengthens the
perspective of revolutionary action in this part of the world.
The Marxist-Leninist parties and organisations
that signed these resolutions declare their international
solidarity with the precious struggle of the workers and peoples
of Latin America.
We declare our solidarity with Marxist-Leninist
parties, encourage them to take the leadership of popular
movement, and declare our solidarity particularly with the
Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist) which has been the
target of the most fierce oppression and attacks on the Latin
American continent.
The Middle East is one of the most important
centres of inter-imperialist rivalry and conflicts today. On one
hand all imperialist powers, and especially the US, have
close links with the reactionary regimes and currents in the
region, and on the other, they sow animosity, provoking the
existing national, regional and religious contradictions in
favour of their interests.
The Israel-Turkey alliance, which was formed under US direction,
constitutes a new link in the chain of the attacks directed at
the peoples of the region. This alliance is:
- a new attack on the Kurdish national movement;
- a new attack and intimidation on the Palestinian people;
- a new threat to and intimidation of the peoples of Iran and Iraq in particular and the peoples of the region in general.Also, the provocation of enmity between Turkey and Greece at every opportunity constitutes a new step to consolidate imperialist hegemony over both countries and to make Cyprus a tool of imperialist desires.All this means inciting conflicts between the peoples of the region and using this situation as an instrument for realising the bloody interests of imperialism. It means unbridled oppression, exploitation and plunder.
The International Conference of
Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations:
- condemns the imperialist attacks on the peoples of the Middle East;
- condemns the bloody imperialist plans for the future of the Palestinian and the Kurdish peoples and defends their right to self-determination;
- condemns the violation of the territorial unity of Iraq which has been subjected to an inhuman blockade;
- condemns the occupation of Cyprus, demands the withdrawal of the foreign military presence from the island and supports the demand for an independent and united Cyprus;
- calls the peoples of the region to be in solidarity against imperialist hegemony and the attacks stemming from this hegemony; and declares its support for, and solidarity with, the struggles against imperialist hegemony.
For the last few years, Africa has been shaken
by strong popular movements with the following demands:
- an end to imperialist domination;
- an end to the destructive measures imposed by big international monopolies, the World Bank and the IMF.The imperialist powers in the first place brought to power so-called democratic governments by means of fraudulent elections in order to control these movements and to divert them. However, after the failure of these attempts, they have returned again to oppressive rulers who could intimidate the people.Hence, in this process we have seen the fascisation of the regimes in Africa in the face of the developing struggles of the peoples.In the same framework, as is shown in the Congo-Brazaville example, imperialist powers do not hesitate to overthrow by force their stubborn servants who become obstacles for them.However, all these imperialist maneuvers cannot stop the struggle of the African peoples who stand up with anti-imperialist sentiment and with the desire for self-determination.
For this reason, the Conference of
Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations:
- supports the African people's struggle against imperialist plans and against the policies of imperialist institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and the European Union;
- encourages the African revolutionaries and Marxist-Leninist parties to increase their strength in their effort to prepare the subjective conditions of the revolution in Africa. The conference takes on the responsibility to develop solidarity between the proletariat and the peoples of imperialist countries and of Africa.
Algeria has been experiencing a tragic process
of massacre for more than five years. This situation is a result
of a deep political and social crisis which has become deeper
with the military coup of January 1992 which was to prevent FIS,
which emerged victorious from the general elections, from coming
to political power.
Since then, this unbridled barbarian massacre
has caused 100,000 deaths, the majority of which have been
civilians. Women, children, elderly, workers, peasants and
intellectuals, including dozens of journalists, have been
murdered, slaughtered, beheaded or burnt alive.
Despite the fact that responsibility for these
massacres is officially being placed upon the armed Islamic
groups whose murderous character is obvious, the involvement of
the military apparatus of the state and of the militia under
their command is as great as that of the Islamic groups.
Torture, abduction and disappearances,
extra-judicial executions, civilians being left unprotected and
left to their fate, press freedom and freedom of expression being
violated are daily events in Algeria. The publications in the
international press of the statements of those who escaped from
the oppressions in the country and of the ex-members of security
forces prove the direct involvement of the military apparatus in
these massacres.
The undersigned Marxist-Leninist parties and
organisations:
- condemn the barbarism implemented on the people of Algeria by the regime and by the armed islamist groups with the aim of continuing exploitation, oppression and the plunder of national resources (oil, gas, etc.);
- condemn the hypocrisy of the Western imperialist powers in general, and of French and American imperialism in particular whose sole aim is to consolidate their domination by manipulating the tragedy in Algeria; and
- declare their solidarity with the people, the working class and the democratic-progressive forces of Algeria who have the capacity to change the course of events, to stop the brutality and to establish a genuinely democratic and progressive state.
To the International Conference of
Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations
Dear Comrades,
We were not able to participate physically in the International
Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations held in
Germany. For this reason, we send our greetings in the name of
the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Albania through
this fax and wish the Conference success in its work. We believe
that this Conference, like the others, will help us in our
struggle. We think that the recent events in Albania will be
discussed in the future.
Revolutionary greetings,
Hysni Millochi, President of the
CPA
Hekuran Osmani, Political Secretary of the CPA
31 October 1997, Tirana
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