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| "We want to die together" were the last words of Elena Ceausescu. Bucharest, 25 December 1989. |
According to the head of the firing squad, Nicolae Ceausescu sang "The Internationale" while being led up against the wall. The execution of Ceausescu marked the end of the counter-revolutionary overthrow of Socialism in Romania and the beginning of a “new order” in the country.
Ceausescu is an exemplary case of how western media manipulate the image of a politician. When, for example, Romania did not participate in the intervention of the Warsaw Pact armies in Czechoslovakia in 1968, the West praised Ceausescu as a “good pal” within the eastern bloc. When Romania accepted to participate in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympiad (which was boycotted by the other Socialist countries), western media again praised Nicolae Ceausescu for his “disobedience towards Moscow”. However, this changed when the Romanian leader distanced himself from Gorbachev's counter-revolutionary line of “compromise” with Imperialism. Then, the directed western media propaganda started to present Ceausescu as the “Dracula”, demonizing his leadership. The “good guy” of the eastern bloc rapidly transformed into a “brutal dictator” in the eyes of the so-called international community.
In 1989, Romania was the only Socialist country (except from Albania) which had no standing debts. That, because on March 1989 Romania had repaid all of her external debt which had been accumulated mainly in the 1970s. Romania had become debt-free and independent from Imperialism- that was Ceausescu's crime that the imperialists couldn't forgive. The western media, in collaboration with Romanian counter-revolutionaries and traitors, created the “monster” of “Securitate” (the notorious secret police of Romania). What has been said in the West about “Securitate” could definitely exist as an outrageous Hollywood movie scenario.
However, according to the 1989 reports of western international non-governmental organisations, like “Amnesty International” (which is certainly not communist-friendly), there were just 27 (twenty seven) non-violent political detainees and just 1 (one) detainee died from mistreatment. Nothing more is written in the official report of “Amnesty International” about the so-called “Securitate's reign of terror”.
However, according to the 1989 reports of western international non-governmental organisations, like “Amnesty International” (which is certainly not communist-friendly), there were just 27 (twenty seven) non-violent political detainees and just 1 (one) detainee died from mistreatment. Nothing more is written in the official report of “Amnesty International” about the so-called “Securitate's reign of terror”.
We could refer extensively to the imperialist-backed, counter-revolutionary plot which created the December 1989 events and the overthrow of Ceausescu. That could be the subject of a future article.
In the following lines, we present how romanian people perceive the living capitalist hell which was created after the overthrow of Socialism in Romania, as it is reflected in polls, articles and analysis of bourgeois sources. The people of Romania are still paying for Capitalism's restoration: rapid increase of public debt, high unemployment, extended privatizations, complete destruction of the welfare state, rise of poverty and homelesness, persecutions against communists, etc.
The assumption from this interesting research is that a total of 61.5% of Romanians have a positive view on communism, at least for the first period of socialist construction, from 1947 to 1965. The negative views are concentrated on the period of Ceausescu's leadership, when Romania left the Warsaw Pact, adopted a pro-western stance and began strengthening aspects of "market economy" within the socialist system.
In the following lines, we present how romanian people perceive the living capitalist hell which was created after the overthrow of Socialism in Romania, as it is reflected in polls, articles and analysis of bourgeois sources. The people of Romania are still paying for Capitalism's restoration: rapid increase of public debt, high unemployment, extended privatizations, complete destruction of the welfare state, rise of poverty and homelesness, persecutions against communists, etc.
SOME FACTS ABOUT LIFE IN CAPITALIST ROMANIA
On the occasion of the 30 years since the overthrow of socialism and the restoration of capitalism, the Romanian Academy assigned the conduction of a research regarding the romanian public opinion on several issues.
The survey, which took place between 12 April and 3 May 2019, was conducted by the INSCOP Research Institute and the Laboratory of Informational War and Strategic Communication (LARICS). The research included issues such as the national pride of the Romanian people and their view over a possible union of the country with the Republic of Moldova.
However, the most interesting outcome of the survey is the percentage of those who have a positive view over the old "communist regime", despite the persistent bourgeois anticommunist propaganda that exists in Romania for 30 years.
More specifically, the 27.2% of the participants replied that "communism" (socialism) offered many positive things to Romania in comparison with today's capitalism. A negative opinion about communism (socialism) was expressed by the 29.6% of the respondents. But this is not the end of the story.
A 34.3% of Romanians did not answer directly to the question but, instead, they made a distinction, dividing the "communist period" in two periods.
— The first period, from 1947 to 1965, which has been known as the "Romanian People's Republic (RPR)". This phase of socialism in Romania receives extaordinary positive views by the respondents.
— The second period, from 1965 to 1989, the period of Nicolae Ceausescu which has been known as the "Socialist Republic of Romania" receives more negative opinions.
In the same question, 8.9% of the participants in the survey did not give any answer.
The assumption from this interesting research is that a total of 61.5% of Romanians have a positive view on communism, at least for the first period of socialist construction, from 1947 to 1965. The negative views are concentrated on the period of Ceausescu's leadership, when Romania left the Warsaw Pact, adopted a pro-western stance and began strengthening aspects of "market economy" within the socialist system.
The results of the above survey confirms a tendency that exists in Romania for more than a decade. In July 2010, a similar research conducted by the Romanian Institute of Evaluation and Strategy (Institutul Român pentru Evaluare şi Strategie —IRES) had shown that 63% of the Romanians regarded life under socialism (pre 1989) as better and a 43% of them would vote for Nicolae Ceausescu if he was a candidate in the elections.
It is in the same country - member of the European Union - that the bourgeois state has outlawed the Communist Party and its symbols and persecutes any political activity related to socialism-communism.
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Child poverty in Romania has worsened since EU accession
Source: Independent, 2 December 2015.
More than half of all children (51%) under 18 in Romania are at risk of poverty, more so than when the Eastern European country joined the EU in 2007 (50.5%), data has revealed.
The research by Eurostat, which was carried out over all 28 EU countries, positions Romania with the highest threat to children at risk of poverty in the EU, ahead of Bulgaria, which has seen a 16.2% drop from 61% to 45.2%.
[…]
Poverty rates in Romania tend to be highest in rural areas, where 45% of the country’s population live - the highest proportion in the EU - and where a lack of infrastructure blights the countryside, affecting everything from schools to medical facilities. Romania’s highest point of child poverty risk was in 2012 with 52.3%.
70% of this rural population, according to The World Bank, are living in poverty due to authorities’ inability to intervene appropriately.
Poverty rates in Romania tend to be highest in rural areas, where 45% of the country’s population live - the highest proportion in the EU - and where a lack of infrastructure blights the countryside, affecting everything from schools to medical facilities. Romania’s highest point of child poverty risk was in 2012 with 52.3%.
70% of this rural population, according to The World Bank, are living in poverty due to authorities’ inability to intervene appropriately.
