Pablo Neruda — Song of Love to Stalingrad (1942)

Pablo Neruda, the emblematic communist Chilean poet and diplomat — one of the 20th century's most influential Latin American cultural figures — was significantly inspired by the heroism of the Soviet people in the Second World War. He was particularly impressed by the brave struggle of the defenders of Stalingrad in a battle that played a decisive role in the outcome of the war. 

In 1942, Pablo Neruda wrote the "Song of Love to Stalingrad" (Canto de Amor a Stalingrado), praising the bravery of the Red Army and the Soviet people. What follows is a English translation of this extroardinary poem:

The 21st Congress of the KKE to be held in 2021

The first text of the theses of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) are published in this weekend's (30-31 January 2021) edition of "Rizospastis", under the title: "The Report and Conclusions of the action of the CC and the Party as a whole from the 20th to the 21st Congress - The Party as the guide of the revolutionary labour movement, the social alliance, in the struggle for socialism-communism". 

Greek-Turkish relations are entangled in wider imperialist competition and plans

Eliseos Vagenas, member of the CC and head of the section of International Relations of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) was interviewed by soL news concerning the new round of exploratory talks between Turkey and Greece. The full interview is the following:

The AKP government has made almost a U-turn regarding the relations with the EU, and Erdoğan has totally changed his hostile attitude towards some European leaders. As the people of Turkey, we are very much used to these radical maneuvers of the Erdoğan government. But how was this move interpreted in Greece?

Joe Biden the Imperialist: "I pressed Clinton to begin air strikes against Serbia”

 By Nikos Mottas.

Joe Biden is officially the 46th President of the United States. Bourgeois media affiliated with the Democratic Party and various “progressive” voices, in the U.S. as well as in Europe, have been engaged in an campaign to present the Biden administration as a factor of “positive changes” in the international political affairs.

Mr Biden is not new in politics. On the contrary, he has been a U.S. Senator from 1973 to 2009 and U.S. Vice President from 2009 to 2017. Since the beginning of the 1990s and the victory of counterrevolutions in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, Senator Biden has been a proponent of the interventionist imperialist policy of the United States. The last three decades are full of examples where the U.S. and their NATO-EU allies initiated imperialist wars under the pretexts of “democracy” and “human rights”. 

Greek government escalates oppression, intimidation and prosecutions against the workers struggles

Statement by the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) concerning the latest anti-people, anti-worker policies initiated, amidst the pandemic, by the conservative New Democracy (ND) government:

 “…Because for me,the most surprising,
the most imposing, the most mysterious and grandiose
Is a man not allowed to walk;
A man who’s being shackled”

- Nazim Hikmet.

With the “demonstrations’ management” plan, the Greek government is running to prevent the popular anger and outrage that is piling up and growing.

Indian communists support farmers struggle, demand the repealing of Agri Laws

In a joint statement, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), the Revolutionary Socialist Party and All India Forward Bloc express their support and solidarity to the struggle of farmers and demand the immediate repealing of Agri laws by the Modi government:

Repeal Agri Laws
Support Farmers Struggle 

KKE: Capitalism is the actual and visible virus!

Coronavirus vaccine supply has become a critical issue as nations seek to stem high infection rates. Last week, AstraZeneca told the EU it was falling behind on its supply target because of production problems. U.S. pharmaceutical Pfizer/Biontech proceeded to temporary cut deliveries while cases in many European countries surge. 

 

From its side, the European Union warned it will tighten exports of Covid vaccines produced in the bloc. Competitions, delays, exports' restrictions, business profits are putting people's health into risk. 

Portugal Election 2021: Communist Party leader Jerónimo de Sousa comments on the results

Sunday's presidential election in Portugal was marked by a high rates of abstention and a substantial victory of the reactionary forces. Incumbent President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, supported by the Social Democratic Party and the conservative People's Party, was re-elected with a majority of 60.70%, while the candidate of the far-right, nationalist Chega party, André Ventura, came third with 11.90% of the votes. 

The Portuguese Communist Party's candidate, current member of the EU Parliament, João Ferreira collected 4.32 percent of the votes in what can be seen as a rather disappointing result. 

In a statement concerning the result of the presidential elections, the General Secretary of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) Jerónimo de Sousa pointed out the following:

Antonio Gramsci — I hate the indifferent

By Antonio Gramsci.

I hate the indifferent. I believe that living means taking sides. Those who really live cannot help being a citizen and a partisan. Indifference and apathy are parasitism, perversion, not life. That is why I hate the indifferent.

The indifference is the dead weight of history. The indifference operates with great power on history. The indifference operates passively, but it operates. It is fate, that which cannot be counted on. It twists programs and ruins the best-conceived plans. It is the raw material that ruins intelligence. That what happens, the evil that weighs upon all, happens because the human mass abdicates to their will; allows laws to be promulgated that only the revolt could nullify, and leaves men that only a mutiny will be able to overthrow to achieve the power.

Without Lenin, Russia has no future: Communists in Moscow and Saint Petersburg honored his legacy

Despite the freezing temperatures, hundreds of Russians, workers, Communist Party members, men and women attended a flower laying ceremony in Moscow's Red Square, honoring the Vladimir Lenin's 97th death anniversary. 

 

Various political parties and organizations were represented, including the CC of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), the Lenin Communist Youth Union, the social movement “Children of War”, the Union of Soviet Officers, the Left Front and others.  

Italy's Communist Party marks its 100th anniversary

Today, 21 January, marks the 100th anniversary since the foundation of the Communist Party of Italy in 1921, following a split in the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). The Party was founded in Livorno in 21 January 1921, headed by Antonio Gramsci, Palmiro Togliatti and Amadeo Bordiga.

In a turbulent course of 70 years until the final dissolution in 1991, the Communist Party of Italy, renamed as Italian Communist Party in 1940s,  left an indelible mark in the country's history. A member of the Communist International until 1943, it became the largest Communist Party in the western world with almost 2.3 million members in 1947. 

KKE bids farewell to long-time cadre Makis Mailis

Makis Mailis, a long-time member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and head of the Party's History Section, died on Wednesday at 71.  

 

In a statement the CC of the KKE bids farewell to Mailis, calling him “a hardworking, persistent, militant and creative comrade who dedicated his whole life to the Party”. 

Want Democracy? Then You Need a People's Dictatorship

 By Charles Andrews.

A mob was permitted, even helped, to take over the United States Capitol building on January 6, 2021. No government can allow that sort of thing and survive.

Officials and public figures ranging from social-democrats like Congressional Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez through a broad range of conventional politicians and even continuing into the right wing condemned the action as a threat to democracy.

A convicted Nazi in the European Parliament: He should be in prison but instead he enjoys freedom in Brussels

Three months after the trial of Golden Dawn in Greece – the largest court hearing of a Nazi group since Nuremberg – two members of its hierarchy remain at large. One of them is Golden Dawn's founding member Yiannis Lagos who has appealed against the court verdict from the safety of the European Parliament, where he is a member.

Since October, Greek judicial authorities have requested the waiver of his immunity by the EU Parliament. However, despite calls by MEPs, Parties and anti-fascist organizations for Lagos to “excluded from all democratic processes”, he continues to address the EU Parliament's sessions and provoke through his far-right, racist and nationalist rages in social media. 

Dutch communists on child benefits scandal: A consequence of the fact that capitalism cannot cover the basic needs of people

The Dutch government has resigned amid an escalating scandal over child benefits in which more than 20,000 families were wrongly accused of fraud by the tax authority. The move came less than a month before parliament was due to break up ahead of general elections scheduled for 17 March.

In a statement concerning the issue, the New Communist Party of the Netherlands and the Communist Youth Movement (CJB), point out:

"Yesterday (Friday 15th of January) Prime Minister Rutte handed over the resignation of the government to the king – only two months before the elections for the House of Representatives will take place. The fall of the cabinet was triggered by the so-called “allowances affair” (toeslagenaffaire), although we can better speak of a terrible scandal.

Shministiyot Letter — 80 Israeli teens refuse to serve in the army, denounce the policy of occupation and apartheid

Eighty Israeli teenagers in their final year of high school published an open letter on Tuesday morning, December 5, addressed to ministers in the far-right government, in which they declared their refusal to serve in the army to protest the state’s policies of occupation and apartheid. 

 

The new “Shministim Letter” reported on in Zo Haderech, the Hebrew-language website of the Communist Party of Israel, decries Israel’s military control of Palestinians in the occupied territories, referring to the regime in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem as an “apartheid system.”

The United States is the real State Sponsor of Terrorism! Hands off Cuba! — Statement by the Party of Communists, USA

The International Department of the CC of the Party of Communists, USA (PCUSA) issued the following statement concerning U.S. government's decision to include Cuba on the list of "states-sponsors of terrorism". 

On January 11th, 2021 the US State Department unilaterally designated Cuba as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism.” With only 9 days left in the Trump administration’s term in office, the designation reverses President Obama’s removal of Cuba from the list in 2015.

Russian athletes propose Soviet song 'Katyusha' to replace the national anthem

Despite the decades of anti-communist propaganda, the memories of the Soviet Union and the immense contribution of the Red Army to the victory against fascism in WWII are still alive in capitalist Russia. 

A recent example of this is the proposal by the Russian Athletes Commission to play the famous Soviet song 'Katyusha' at international sporting events for the next two years, while Russia's national anthem is banned over doping violations. 

Ireland's Communist Party: Mother and Baby Homes scandal reveals decades of church and state repression of women

A horrendous scandal that exposes decades of institutionalised patriarchal and misogynist values has been revealed in Ireland. Thousands of infants died in Irish homes for unmarried mothers and their offspring mostly run by the Catholic Church from the 1920s to the 1990s, an inquiry found on Tuesday, an “appalling” mortality rate that reflected brutal living conditions.

The report, which covered 18 so-called Mother and Baby Homes where over decades young pregnant women were hidden from society, is the latest in a series of government-commissioned papers that have laid bare some of the Catholic Church’s worst abuses.

German Communist Party: Capitalist economic crisis and the “Coronavirus” crisis

By the German Communist Party (DKP)

What is often referred to by the ruling media as the “coronavirus crisis” is in fact, regardless of the pandemic, the world’s deepest economic crisis for  at least one hundred years.

It is a cyclical crisis of overproduction combined with structural crises in various economic sectors, with the coronavirus pandemic and related government action adding a special feature to this crisis. 

The Bonapartist regime of Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan

Statement by the Political Council of the Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan:

NAZARBAYEV'S BONAPARTIST REGIME WON A "PYRRHIC VICTORY"

On January 10, Kazakhstan held elections to the Majilis and local representative authorities, and even before the CEC announced the preliminary results, Nursultan Nazarbayev hastened to declare the unconditional victory of his Nur Otan party on the basis of pocket exit polls only. This example was followed by the leaders of the puppet satellite parties, who congratulated the main party on its triumph on the night of January 10-11 and admitted their defeat.

Communist Parties of Greece and Turkey denounce U.S. decision to put Cuba back on list of "sponsors of terrorism"

The Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) has published a statement concerning the U.S. government's decision to include Cuba on the list of "state sponsors of terrorism".

TKP: If you are looking for, you are the terrorist!

The State Department of the United States, once again, listed Cuba among the countries supporting terrorism as of yesterday. As if the outrage caused by the Trump supporters was not enough, this decision proves once again as the President of the US is leaving power the government’s officiousness doesn’t recognize any bounds.

Cuba blasts the U.S. for adding it to terrorism blacklist — Declaración del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

Cuba strongly condemned its inclusion in a US list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

In a statement, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns "in the strongest and most absolute terms the fraudulent qualification of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, announced by the United States government in a cynical and hypocritical act."

The Cuban MINREX calls the U.S. announcement "an act by a government that is discredited, dishonest and morally bankrupt", adding that "the true motivation for this action is to impose additional obstacles to any prospect of recovery in the bilateral relations between Cuba and the United States.

It's not just Trump. IT'S CAPITALISM, STUPID!

 By Nikos Mottas.

The images of chaos from Washington DC with the pro-Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol are the mirror of a democracy in advanced state of decay. For decades, the facade of the much-celebrated “American Dream” and the artificial prosperity of the most powerful economy in the world was hiding the accumulated rottenness of an entire system.

The history of American Democracy, especially in the 20th century, is full of class exploitation, social and racial violence, imperialist interventions and wars, cultural values based on social Darwinism and the deification of money. Several generations of Americans were raised under the belief that there is no alternative to Capitalism, that Communism is a menace and the U.S. is the “guardian of the free world”.

Kim Jong Un re-elected General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea

According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) has re-elected Kim Jong Un as the General Secretary of the Party. 

As the report from Pyongyang points out "the current Congress fully supported and approved of the courteous proposal for holding Comrade Kim Jong Un in high esteem as the general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea". 

Berlin: Thousands rallied in honor of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht

Despite the pandemic, approximately 3,000 people participated today, Sunday 10 January, in a rally in Berlin dedicated to the commemoration of the murdered communist leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. 

Despite the peaceful character of the demonstration, the police tried to disperse the protesters by attacking the crowd and creating a tense situation for several minutes. The rally, with the major slogan being "Fight and Remember: Crisis and Oppression- the answer is Revolution", began from the Frankfurter Tor in Friedrichshain and ended at Friedrichsfelde cemetery where the memorial graves of Luxemburg and Liebknecht are. 

Brazil's double pandemic: Bolsonaro and Coronavirus

By the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB)

In Brazil we have been experiencing two simultaneous crises: a deep, political crisis that is worsening at every moment, as shown in Bolsonaro’s recent speech at the United Nations Organization, in which he stated that Brazil has been taking adequate care of the environment, on the very moment that there are fires all over the Amazon and the Pantanal regions, a speech that has brought about criticism all over the world.

Statement of the Party of Communists, USA (PCUSA) regarding the January 6th events in Washington DC

Concerning the January 6th events in Washington DC, the Political Bureau of the  Party of Communists, USA (PCUSA) issued the following statement:

"On January 6th, 2021, the day that Congress was set to ratify the results of the 2020 election, a far-right mob descended upon the Capitol, with the explicit goal to conduct a coup in support of Donald Trump. This mob, consisting of supporters of failed movements, such as the Confederacy, South Vietnam, and other anti-communist reactionaries, came together to support this anti-democratic, fascistic goal to install a reactionary dictatorship.

Solidarity with the students in Istanbul's Bogazici University — Statement by the Communist Youth of Turkey

Once again, the reactionary regime of Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey has shown its repressive and authoritarian face. This time, the target of police violence are the students of Boğaziçi University who protest against the appointment of Melih Bulu, known for his close ties to the ruling party AKP, as the new rector of the institution. 

Melih Bulu has held various managerial positions within the AKP since 2002. He was a mayoral candidate in 2009 as well as a candidate for parliamentary deputy position from the AKP in the 2015 elections. 

Trump's fascism shall not pass! America's communist and pro-worker parties react to Washington DC riots

In public statements and posts on social media, Communist and pro-worker parties in the United States strongly condemn the riots caused by Trump supporters in Washington DC, pointing out that the far-right, fascist and nationalist menace must be defeated by the people's struggle. 

In a comment on Twitter, the Party of Communists, USA (PCUSA) pointed out:

"The situation that happened in Capitol Hill today should show the whole country the danger of nationalism and the type of danger that Trump and his base represents. This was a taste of the terror we can expect from this group is nothing is done about it. Join and organize."

KKE General Secretary Koutsoumbas on U.S. Capitol events: The mirror of a society in deep decay

Commenting on the events in the United States and the storming of Capitol by pro-Trump supporters, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas said:

“The incidents in Washington DC and the planned invasion of far-right, reactionary forces in the Capitol, cannot be solely explained by Trump's idiosyncrasy. It is the mirror of a society in deep decay, a world of massive competitions,  realignments in the correlation of power, crises and impasses, whose consequences are paid by the people and which are now becoming more apparent, even in the most powerful capitalist country in the world.

Capitalist Crisis in Spain: Accelerated by the Pandemic and managed by Social Democracy

By the Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE)

 

Spain is living in 2020 the worst capitalist crisis of 121 its history. The economy is shrinking on double-digit figures; there are millions of unemployed workers, and dozens of thousands of victims dead because of the pandemic.

A superficial glance could determine that the causes of the current crisis are completely due to the effects of the pandemic and the paralysis of economy during confinement. However, the analysis we had made before the pandemic were already predicting the looming of a capitalist crisis, being the Coronavirus actually a catalyst, rather than the cause of it. One that affects the capitalist relationships worldwide and not only its national expressions.

British communists welcome court ruling against Julian Assange extradition to the U.S.

In a message posted on Facebook, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain Robert Griffiths commented on the extradition ban ruling made by a London court yesterday. The message reads:

"The Communist Party and all supporters of investigative journalism and democratic freedoms will welcome the court ruling today banning the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States. 

Is the Covid vaccine a "triumph of capitalism"?

 By Nikos Mottas.

One of the many myths that have been spread by bourgeois media during this period is that the Covid-19 vaccine consists a “victory” or a “triumph” of capitalism. In fact, they are trying to convince us that the – without doubt significant - progress made by large biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in the fight against Coronavirus is an achievement of the capitalist system. 

This is simply not true. 

Iran's Tudeh Party expresses concern over U.S. provocations in the Persian Gulf

In a statement published on January 2, the Tudeh Party of Iran expresses its concern on the situation created by the dangerous manoeurves and provocations of the U.S. government in the Persian Gulf region. The full statement is as follows:

As the days of Donald Trump's presidency and those of the racist neo-con US administration draw to a close, the world's mass media have in recent days reported on the alarming news of a dangerous escalation in the possibility of a military conflict between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Croatia Earthquake: Messages of solidarity by Croatian and Serbian Communist Parties

In public statements, the Socialist Workers' Party of Croatia (SRP) and the New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ) express their solidarity to the people affected by the 6.4 magnitude earthquake which hit the Sisak-Moslavina region of Croatia on December 29, 2020.

The earthquake's outcome was 7 people dead, at least 26 injured and the destruction of almost half of the town of Petrinja.

The Socialist Worker's Party points out:

¡Aborto legal!: Argentinian communists hail Senate's decision to legalize abortion

Argentina’s Senate voted on Wednesday to legalize abortion, a first for a big country in Latin America and a triumph for women’s rights campaigners achieved over the visceral objection of the reactionary Catholic Church.

“It was the first triumph of a battle that began decades ago in our country. Yesterday (Wednesday) the militancy, the collective strength won and today Argentina is more just since the State assumes the responsibility of guaranteeing us the right to health and a full life”, said Guadalupe Viñuela Flores, a member of the National Secretariat of the Federation of Communist Youth (FJC), the youth wing of the Communist Party of Argentina.  

Communists of Luxembourg mark the 100th anniversary of their party's foundation

100 years ago, on 2 January 1921, the Communist Party of Luxembourg (KPL) was founded in the working class town of Differdingen in the south of the country. Immediately after its constitution, the party took up the struggle for the rights of the working class, especially the miners and steelworkers in Luxembourg, and many members of KPL proved themselves in demonstrations and strikes. 

 

In the 1930s, the KPL engaged in the struggle against rising fascism in close cooperation with the sister parties of neighbouring countries. In the Spanish War, communists and numerous anti-fascists from Luxembourg provided a strong contingent of the International Brigades for the defence of the Republic against the Spanish, German and Italian fascists.

62nd anniversary of the Cuban Revolution - Somos Continuidad!

By Nikos Mottas.

Sixty-two years ago, on January 1, 1959, the rebel forces of the 26th of July Movement, led by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, seized the capital Havana, forcing dictator Batista to flee. Hence started a long and tumultuous journey of rebuilding a nation based on the principles of socialism.

The Cuban Revolution, the first socialist revolution in the Americas, was one of the 20th century's most significant events. It became - and continues being - a reference point for the workers-people's movement in Latin America and the whole world.