Shameful decision: European Court backs Romania’s refusal to register the Communist Party!

A spectre is haunting the “democratic” institutions of the European Union; the spectre of communism. On December 21st the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the 2014 decision of the Romanian authorities to refuse to register the Romanian Communist Party (RCP) was justified!

In its decision in the case of the “Organizing and Registration Committee of the Romanian Communist Party against Romania” (application no. 20401/15), the ECHR unanimously declared the application inadmissible. In fact, the European Court adopted the preposterous decision of the national courts of Romania according to which “the PCR program and status ignored democratic values and the country's socio-political evolution after 1989” and “allowed totalitarian (sic) and extremist actions that could undermine national security, posed dangers to democratic values”. 

30 years later, 63% of Russians regret the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Thirty years since the victory of the counterrevolution and the overthrow of socialism in the Soviet Union, the supposed "heaven" that capitalism would bring in Russia has been proved nothing more than a deception.

The deeply anti-worker policies of the bourgeois governments, from Boris Yeltsin to the current administration of Vladimir Putin, leads more and more Russians to consider what they lost after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Huge social achievements were abolished, the rich became richer and the poor became poorer, while the income for the working class families shrinks year by year. Capitalism has shown its real, repulsive, barbaric face to the working people of Russia. 

On the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu

South African Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who died Sunday 26 December at the age of 90, was certainly an interesting and influential religious leader. 

He will be remembered for his active stance against the racist Apartheid, as well as for his reconciliatory role as the chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Nonetheless, despite his self-identification as a "socialist" and his criticism towards capitalism, the late Archbishop was a staunch anti-communist. In 1985 he stated that he hated Marxism-Leninism "with every fiber of his being", while he used to compare the socialist countries with far-right regimes, even Nazism! 

What does the elected president of Chile come to? Gabriel Boric and his election speech

By Gabriel Lazzari.

On last Sunday night, December 19, the votes for the second round of the Chilean presidential elections were counted. The dispute was between José Antonio Kast, from the Republican Party, defender and legatee of Pinochetism, and Gabriel Boric, from Convergencia Social, member of the Apruebo Dignidad coalition, former student leader who had great national political expression after the student riots of 2011. The campaign, carried out with the mobilization of various sectors and great participation of the Communist Party of Chile, reached its end with the election of Boric by 55,87% of valid votes. 

The Red Flag will rise again: 30 years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union

By Nikos Mottas.

It was thirty years ago, on December 26, 1991, when the red flag with the sickle and hammer was lowered from the Kremlin. 

It was then, during the cold days of December, when the first socialist state of the world, the homeland of the world's proletariat, bent under the weight of the counterrevolution. Four days before, on December 22nd, the leaderships of three of the largest Soviet republics had decided the dissolution of the USSR, while the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) had been outlawed on summer of the same year.

European Communist Initiative: On the establishment of the “European Army” and the dangerous imperialist plans

In a statement concerning the plans for the creation of a "European Army" and the dangerous sharpening of inter-imperialist competitions, the Secretariat of the Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties stresses out the following:

We denounce the USA–NATO–EU imperialist plans that have been developed in the past period and lead to further sharpening of inter-imperialist competition, putting the peoples at great risk. The confrontation between the USA and China for world supremacy forms dangerous hotbeds in the Indo-Pacific and many other parts of the world.

Boric's triumph in Chile is not a victory for the working class

The following article was originally published in "El Machete", Organ of the CC of the Communist Party of Mexico (PCM), under the title "El triunfo de Boric en Chile no es una victoria para la clase obrera".

By Julio Cota.

The recent electoral victory of Gabriel Boric does not represent a root solution to the current economic and political crisis in Chile. Chilean workers and other popular strata must continue their frontal fight against any capitalist management or government. Maintaining high expectations of change or even settling for the least worst, is a trap for the Chilean working class, imposed by the monopolies and the bourgeoisie. 

Russia: Workers honored Stalin's 142nd birthday

Despite snow, the severe cold weather and the pandemic restrictions, hundreds of working men and women in Russia paid tribute to Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin on his 142nd birth anniversary on December 21. 

In many Russian cities, workers, members and cadres of Communist Parties, laid flowers to monuments dedicated to the Soviet leader, expressing their admiration and gratitude to Stalin despite the decades of anti-Soviet, anti-Stalinist propaganda. 

The stance of the KKE in the face of the 1990-91 overthrows in the USSR

Interview with Aleka Papariga, member of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), former General Secretary of the Party from 1991 to 2013, in "Rizospastis" concerning the stance of the KKE during the 1990-91 counterrevolutionary overthrows in the Soviet Union. 

The interview (here in Greek) was originally published in "Rizospastis" weekend edition (18-19 December 2021). English translation by Nikos Mottas.

— The bourgeois parties celebrated when the red flag was lowered from the Kremlin. What were their main declarations at that time?

Chile: Social democrat Gabriel Boric elected president

Gabriel Boric, the candidate of the social democratic coalition "Apruebo Dignidad", which is also supported by the Communist Party, prevailed on Sunday's second round of the presidential elections thus becoming Chile's youngest-ever president.

According to the final results, Gabriel Boric won 56 percent of the votes, compared with 44 percent for the candidate of the neoliberal coalition "Vamos por Chile", Jose Antonio Kast, an ultra-conservative lawyer who claims to be a political successor of fascist dictator Augusto Pinochet. 

Germany's social democratic icon Willy Brandt allegedly served as a U.S. agent

Willy Brandt (right) with John F. Kennedy in 1961.

Former German Chancellor Willy Brandt, an icon for Europe's social democracy, is believed to have been an informant for the U.S military intelligence Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) for four years before he came to power in 1969-1974, according to Der Spiegel.

Brandt, who served as leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 1964 to 1987, provided intelligence to the CIC from 1948 to March 17, 1952, Der Spiegel has reported.

The magazine wrote that Brandt briefed the CIC about the activities of the FDJ, the youth wing of the German Democratic Republic (DDR) and the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED).

Venezuela: Attacks against the Communist Party must stop!

In a joint statement more than 20 Communist and Workers' Parties from all over the world express solidarity to the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) and demand an end to the various attacks against the political and electoral rights of the PCV, ahead of the January 2022 elections. 

The statement titled "Solidarity with the PCV in the face of the attacks against its political and electoral rights" is the following:

USA: No more workers’ blood for the profits of the bosses!

More than 90 people were killed in several states across the U.S. after tornadoes and heavy rains hit the region. Among them are six employees at AMAZON warehouse in St. Louis, Illinois, were roof collapsed and eight workers at a candle factory in Kentucky. 

In a statement, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) and its militant trade unions across the world pledge "to continue the struggle for all necessary measures to protect workers from natural disasters and extreme weather events, measures that the US do not take because they consider them as a “cost”. 

EU Parliament: KKE denounces new anti-Cuban resolution

Another despicable resolution against Cuba was adopted by the European Parliament on December 16th. The text titled “The situation in Cuba” comes as a continuation of the hideous and unacceptable resolution that had been adopted in Strasbourg on September 16, 2021.

Using once again the fake allegations about the so-called “human rights abuses” in Cuba, the new resolution refers to a number of paid U.S. agents – closely related to U.S. governmental and non-governmental anti-Cuban institutions - who are presented as supposed “dissidents” and “freedom fighters”. 

KKE and TKP: Joint press release about the Extraordinary Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties

The teleconference of the extraordinary International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP) took place on 10–11 December 2021, under the theme “The international economic, political, and military developments. The experience from the struggle of Communist and Workers’ Parties and the peoples. Solidarity with Cuba, the Palestinian people, and all the peoples struggling against sanctions, machinations, and imperialist aggression”. 

Paul Éluard: To the heroes of the Democratic Army of Greece

French communist poet Paul Éluard (1895-1952) was part of the delegation which visited  the strongholds of the communist-led Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) in Vitsi and Grammos mountains of northern Greece in June 1949. 

Back then, DSE was in the midst of a fierce battle against the National Army and its imperialist allies, namely the United States. 

At the end of his visit, Éluard dedicated the following message to the heroic fighters of the Democratic Army:

30th anniversary of the dissolution of the USSR: "Socialism remains the future and the only way out for the people"

“Socialism remains the future and the only actual way out for the people” underlined Kostas Papadakis, MEP of the Communist Party of Greece (ΚΚΕ) during his intervention at the debate on the “30th anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union” held in the Plenary Session of the European Parliament.

In his intervention (here in Greek), the KKE MEP said:

USA: The decay of capitalist education in 24 seconds (VIDEO)

The rottenness and humiliation that follows the commercialization of education has no end!

This is where the measures promoted in our schools, in our children, as supposedly modernizing and innovative, the policy of converting schools into Corporations, in search of “benefactors”, “sponsors” etc.

This policy, which has been fully implemented in the United States and has led to the complete dissolution of Public Education, the categorization of schools, bankruptcies and school closures, has the “proud” of the example that follows.

IMCWP Teleconference: Contributions by the Communist and Workers' Parties

List of contributions by Communist and Workers' Parties at the Extraordinary Teleconference of the IMCWP held on 10-12 December 2021, under the subject "The international economic, political, and military developments. The experience from the struggle of the Communist and Workers' Parties and the peoples. Solidarity with Cuba, the Palestinian people, and all the peoples struggling against sanctions, machinations, and imperialist aggression."  All contributions have been published in Solidnet.

"The KKE is at the forefront of the anti-war, anti-imperialist movement and the workers–people’s movement"

The following text is the introductory speech delivered by the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas at the Extraordinary Teleconference of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP), under the subject: 

 

"The international economic, political, and military developments. The experience from the struggle of the Communist and Workers' Parties and the peoples. Solidarity with Cuba, the Palestinian people, and all the peoples struggling against sanctions, machinations, and imperialist aggression". 

How is it possible that Cuba has survived?

Although many are already predicting the decline of the empire, the United States continues to be one of the most powerful nations in the world from an economic and military point of view.

The government has spent millions and millions of dollars to attack Cuba in every possible way. They have practiced terrorism. They have trained and advised all kinds of opposition leaders, from ladies in white to ex-Marxist intellectuals, to gossipy youtubers and mediocre artists.

Greece: KKE slams Mitsotakis government's criminal handing of the pandemic

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) has sharply criticised the policy of New Democracy government over Covid-19 pandemic, including the low vaccination rate and the dramatic situation in the public Health System.

In a comment issued on Thursday, the Press Bureau of the CC of the KKE points out:

“Instead of pointing their finger, the government and the Minister of Health should answer the critical questions:  

Extraordinary Teleconference of the IMCWP on December 10-12

An extraordinary teleconference of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties (IMCWP) will be held on 10-12 December under the subject: 

"The international economic, political, and military developments. The experience from the struggle of the Communist and Workers' Parties and the peoples. Solidarity with Cuba, the Palestinian people, and all the peoples struggling against sanctions, machinations, and imperialist aggression." 

EAM: Notes on Greece's National Liberation Front

 By Nikos Mottas.

The 27th of September marked the 80th anniversary of the foundation of EAM, Greece's National Liberation Front, which played the leading role in the struggle against the country's Axis occupation. The major force behind the foundation, organization and activity of EAM was the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) which led the popular, anti-fascist struggle during the 1941-1944 period. 

This is capitalism! Better.com CEO fires 900 employees over Zoom after getting $750 million from SoftBank

We read on CNN: "Better.com CEO Vishal Garg announced the mortgage company is laying off about 9% of its workforce on a Zoom webinar Wednesday abruptly informing the more than 900 employees on the call they were being terminated just before the holidays.

"If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off", Garg said during a Zoom call. "The market changed, as you know, and we have to move with it in order to survive, so that hopefully we can continue to thrive and deliver on our mission,” the CEO pointed out. “This isn’t news that you’re going to want to hear. But ultimately it was my decision and I wanted you to hear from me". 

Has socialism ever existed in the Nordic countries?

In “Arbetet Debatt” newspaper, left-wing politicians Jonas Sjöstedt from Sweden and Pelle Dragstedt from Denmark, published a text about socialism. They write about how it worked and that examples of it can be found in the Nordic countries, including Sweden.

We translated and publish an article written by Andreas Sörensen, head of the Communist Party of Sweden (SKP), that was published in "Riktpunkt" on 30 November 2021. The article is titled "Has socialism worked in the North?" and provides a response to the arguments made by Sjöstedt and Dragstedt. 

By Andreas Sörensen.

KKE and French communists honored the 150th anniversary of the Paris Commune

Photo: 902.gr

“We are here in Paris to culminate the rich program of tributes, events, publications and other activities through which our Party honors the heroic Paris Commune, 150 years since the first “storming of dream” by the working class. We are here, we walked in the footsteps of the Commune and drawing strength and knowledge from its teachings, we continue the beautiful but difficult struggle. So that dreams will be vindicated”, said Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the CC of the KKE, during a speech in Paris, France.

KKE leader Koutsoumbas pays tribute to the Paris Commune

Photo: 902.gr

On his 2nd day of visit in Paris, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas participated in a guided walk “on the footsteps of the Commune”. The walk began from Louise Michel square and continued in Montmartre.

Later on, the General Secretary and a delegation of the KKE visited the “Communards' Wall” at Père Lachaise cemetery where Koutsoumbas laid a wreath in honor of the 147 fallen combatants of the 1871 Paris Commune. Flowers were also deposed to the graves of the General Secretary of the French Communist Party from 1930 to 1964 Maurice Thorez, communist poet Paul Éluard and communard chansonnier Jean-Baptiste Clement. 

Sudanese Communist Party: The struggle for the overthrow of the military regime must continue

In a statement issued on December 1st, the Secretariat of the CC of the Sudanese Communist Party provides updated information on the situation in the country and condemns the new brutal crackdown unleashed by state forces against peaceful demonstrators. 

The statement reads:

Tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators took the streets of the capital and other major cities expressing their rejection of the political agreement reached and signed by the leader of the coup General Burhan and Prime Minister Hamadok. 

Sergei Kirov — An example of Bolshevism

Sergei Kirov, one of the most prominent party and state leaders in the Soviet Union in 1920-1930, a charismatic personality and close companion of Joseph Stalin, was murdered on 1st December 1934 aged 48.

Sergei Mironovich Kirov (real name Sergei Kostrikov) was born on 27 March 1886 in the city of Urzhum, Vyatka province (now Kirov region) in a middle-class family. Sergei lost his parents at an early age and was raised, along his two sisters Anna and Elizabeth, by his grandmother Melania Avdeyevna. He was sent to the "House of Charity for young orphans" and in 1901 he graduated from City College. He later joined the lower Mechanical and Technical School of Kazan. 

Greek-American resistance fighter Kostas Lekkas dies

Comrade Lekkas in his 100th birthday.

Kostas Lekkas, also known as Constantine "Gus" Lekas, a fighter of the Greek Resistance during World War II and a long-time member of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), died in New York aged 102.

Comrade Lekkas was born on 7 July 1919 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. At the age of one, alongside his mother and siblings, he moved to Greece, settling at a village in Peloponnese. His father stayed in New York in order to work for a period of time but he was later killed in a car accident.

Dimitris Koutsoumbas — The struggle against “green” and “digital” capitalist barbarism

On Sunday 28 November, the European Communist Initiative held a teleconference titled "The communists at the forefront of the workers’–people’s struggle against “green” and “digital” capitalist barbarism, for the contemporary popular needs, for the real way out, socialism". 

Below you can read the introductory speech delivered by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas:

Joint statement of Communist Parties on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

Joint statement by the Palestinian People's Party (PPP) and the Communist Party of Israel, co-signed by many Communist and Workers' Parties, on the International Day for Solidarity with the Palestinian People:

Joint Statement of Communist and Workers parties on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People 

Cuba: "Fidel Castro Ruz" Center inaugurated in Havana

On Thursday November 25, precisely five years after the physical departure of the Comandante en Jefe of the Cuban Revolution, the Fidel Castro Ruz Center was inaugurated on a night described by Army General Raul Castro Ruz as the most moving performance he had ever seen.

“I am still excited and, I confess one thing, I have cried like everyone here,” said Army General Raul Castro Ruz to the children of the La Colmenita theatre group who, on the evening of November 25, precisely five years after the physical departure of Cuba’s Comandante en Jefe, had the great responsibility of inaugurating the Fidel Castro Ruz Center.

Visite du Secrétaire général du KKE Koutsoumbas à Paris

Dimitris Koutsoumbas, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), will visit Paris on December 2-4, 2021. 

According to "Rizospastis" Koutsoumbas will pay a visit to Louvre museum on Thursday 2 December, while on Friday he will participate in a guided walk "on the footsteps of the Commune". On the same day he will lay a wreath at the Communards' Wall at the Père Lachaise cemetery where, on May 28, 1871, one-hundred and forty-seven fédérés, combatants of the Paris Commune, were shot and thrown in an open trench at the foot of the wall.

Turkish communists lead protests over price rises: "Stand up against expensiveness"

While the Turkish Lira collapses and the cost of living is rising day by day, demonstrators are taking the streets in Turkey's major cities in order to protest Erdogan government's economic policy.

The Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) is once again on the forefront of the protests, organizing rallies in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and other cities.

 “Our labor is exploited, our country is plundered. Our lives are being stolen with prices that change every day, with increasing bills. We have to resist for our life, for our future. Now is the time to stand up!”, reads a statement by the TKP which calls the working people to mobilize against the governmental policies. 

Communist Parties on the situation in Donbass: "Fascism can’t be healed!"

Left: Cartoon by Carlos Latuff (2014).

A number of Communist Parties and organizations from Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan undersign a joint statement about the situation in Donbass. 

 

Under the title "Fascism can't be healed", they call for internationalist workers' solidarity against the imperialists and their fascist puppets. 

The statement reads:

KKE event in Berlin: Only the people can save the people

Under the theme “Pandemic, high prices, competitions – Developments show that only the people can save the people”, the Central Europe Party Organization of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) organized on Saturday 20 November a political event at the premises of Greek community in Berlin.

The speaker at the event was Giorgos Marinos, KKE MP, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. Other attendants included KKE MEP and Central Committee member Kostas Papadakis, as well as representatives of the German Communist Party (DKP) and the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP). 

Austria: Communists slam government's policy on pandemic

In a statement titled "Lockdown for the unvaccinated: diversionary tactics and government failure", the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Austria (PdA) condemns the federal government's policy on the management of the pandemic situation.

The statement reads:

On the 15th of November 2021, the federal government imposed an Austria-wide "lockdown for the unvaccinated". The Party of Labour of Austria cannot agree to this measure and wants to state the following points in this regard:

European Communist Initiative: "The price rises in basic goods did not fall from the sky"

In a statement concerning the constant price rises in electricity, fuel and goods of popular consumption, the Secretariat of the Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties stresses out:

In the recent period an acute rise in prices of different basic goods, including electricity, fuel, and other essential commodities is being registered. This situation, which is particularly worrying when we are on the threshold of winter season, is affecting the working class and the popular strata of our countries, who have been the victims of the bourgeois governments and their management of the recent crisis against the peoples.

The impact of AUKUS on international developments and the stance of the communists

By the International Relations Section of the
CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE).

The tripartite “security” alliance between the US, Australia, and the UK under the name “AUKUS”, announced on 15/09/2021, constitutes a new important development in the structure of imperialist alliances.

What does this development mean and which additional tasks arise for the communist movement?

Ástor García re-elected General Secretary of the PCTE

On November 13 and 14 were held the plenary sessions of the 2nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE), called the Centennial Congress as a tribute to the founding, in November 1921, of the Communist Party of Spain as the Spanish Section of the Communist International.

Throughout the two days of debates, the delegates debated and unanimously approved the Political and Accountability Report, which analyzed the tasks carried out by the Party since the previous Congress, held in November 2017, the proposal of reform of the Statute of the Party and the Political Resolution which establishes the main tasks of the PCTE until the next Congress. Seven short resolutions on different issues were also approved unanimously.

Poland's communists blast governmental policy on refugees

“The Polish government's policy towards refugees failed and resulted in the death of at least a dozen people” points out the Communist Party of Poland (KPP) in a statement concerning the ongoing refugee crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border. 

 

“A government that is unable to resolve this crisis in a peaceful way should resign” adds the Communist Party, underlining that the foreign policy of Poland must change.

The KPP stresses out that “it shouldn't be forgotten that Poland, as a NATO member-state, had an instrumental role in the tragic situation affected by war, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan” and adds: “The refugees hope to reach Western European countries through Poland. These people often flee from Islamic fundamentalism, imperialism or the lack of prospects in their home country. Many migrants are Kurds who have become victims of Turkism imperialism in Syria and Iraq. Some have successfully fought against the Islamic State but, now, the U.S. has handed them over to Erdogan's regime which is occupying part of Syria's territory and carries out air strikes in northern Iraq”.

Greece: Massive anti-imperialist rallies in honor of the 1973 Polytechnic Uprising

Thousands of people took part in the annual rallies held in Athens, Thessaloniki and other major Greek cities by the Communist Party (KKE) and its youth wing (KNE) on Wednesday 17 November, in order to commemorate the 48th anniversary of the 1973 Polytechnic Uprising against the military Junta.

In Athens, the demonstrators marched peacefully through central streets of the Greek capital, shouted anti-imperialist slogans ("Since the Polytechnic, the enemy remains the same: NATO, governments, capitalism") and ended outside the U.S. Embassy where they burned flags of NATO and the United States.

The KKE pays tribute to the 48th anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic Uprising

By Nikos Mottas.

 

"This year's celebration of the Polytechnic uprising can become another link in the workers-people's struggle for education and work with humane conditions, protection measures for the health and life of the people, free time, income for a dignified life, for the rejection of any anti-labor - anti-popular law, for the condemnation of any bourgeois party, which, with the whip or carrot, deprives the workers and their families of the wealth they produce", the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) emphasizes in its statement on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the uprising of the Athens Polytechnic (read here the statement in Greek).