AKEL’s Contribution at the 16th IMCWP
16ΤΗ INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF COMMUNIST AND WORKER’S PARTIES
GUAYAQUIL – ECUADOR 13th – 15th NOVEMBER 2014
We thank our comrades of the CP Ecuador for their hospitality. We support their struggles for social and political emancipation of the people and the working class in the country. We stand in solidarity with your struggle.
The crisis of the system has resulted in the sharp escalation of the contradictions and antagonisms between the powerful centers of the world; to the intensification of the class contradictions between capital and labour. The crisis of the system, the poverty it further provokes, the wars and instability it creates, confirm the timeliness of the ideals and the necessity of socialism for humanity. Socialism and peace go hand in hand contrary to the contemporary, barbaric international situation.
Since our last meeting in Lisbon, one year ago, profound developments have taken place and issues have emerged:
South Eastern Mediterranean is on fire once again. The assault against Libya ended with the de facto dismantling of the country. Imperialists have spread havoc and are exploiting Libya’s oil reserves. Another lethal aggression of Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza took place. The hypocrisy of the US and the EU is evident: they practically supported Israeli aggressiveness.
We stand for solidarity and freedom for Palestine. We propose that on the 29th of November the Communist and Worker Parties and the peace-loving movement, the World Peace Council, should on an international level coordinate a simultaneous campaign all over the world under the motto free Palestine. Prepare a collective visit to Palestine. This was also the spirit of the Regional Meeting of CW Parties of the Middle East held in Cyprus, organized by the PPP and CP of Israel and hosted by AKEL on the 24-25 October 2014.
The imperialist intervention against Syria, the support of islamist criminal organizations by these forces, culminated to a new war waged by the so called Western allies in Iraq and Syria. Turkey, in an extremely provocative way, is violating once again international law by an act tantamount to invasion of the sovereignty of teh Republic of Cyprus. The “designation” of part of the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus by Turkey and the launching of military vessels there, threatens and aims to impede gas explorations of the Republic of Cyprus. This is an attempt to violently control the natural gas reserves of the regions in favor of the neo-ottoman policies of Erdogan’s government in Turkey. Forty years after the beginning of the occupation of Cyprus, bicommunal talks are in stalemate due to the aggressiveness of the country occupying Cyprus, and the USA and EU policies of tolerating these policies.
AKEL expresses gratitude for the solidarity of the Communist movement with the struggle of the people of Cyprus for freedom and reunification of our country and people. The rivalry between Turkey and Israel for dominance in the region poses grave threats for the peoples because it aspires to control militarily the existing and potential energy resources in a future coordination between the two countries with the USA.
Communist and Workers Parties of the region must strengthen in coordination their campaign against the so-called New Middle East Plans of imperialism that aims at the control of governments, imposing puppet regimes and controling all energy routes and resources. There is a lot of room for our joint activity to be more evident to the peoples of the region.
The coup d’état in Ukraine, with the support of the US and the EU and the participation of neo-Nazis, aimed at radically detaching the country from its historical relations and interdependence with Russia and to align it to the EU and NATO. Their strategic vision is to fully control not only the broader region but also Russia as Brezinsky has long ago portrayed. They will not hesitate to use the same means that lead to the devastation of Yugoslavia and the USSR in order to achieve effective control on basic ersources and raw materials. The last decade has led to a deepening of the relationship of imperialist alliances and their action. The USA, NATO and the EU defend their hegemony through their economic-political and military aggressiveness notwithstanding their internal antagonisms.
Our parties are in solidarity and must strengthen their actions against imperialist intervention in the region and towards the Communists in Ukraine that have suffered a major dictatorial and fascist blow.
The rise of reactionary, racist, antimigrant, neo- fascist movements is a clear tendency in Europe. This trend is not new of course. But these parties’ strong representation at the levels of the European Parliament and in national elections during the last two years is the expression of the deadlock of mainstream political parties of the right and social democrats and their policies. It is the result of the fierce implementation of anti-people measures, of the Mass Media propaganda; a result of the policies of dominant imperialist powers that through wars of all types create huge migratory waves with the victims – the migrants- perceived by a portion of the population as enemies. At the end of the day, it is the big capital that exploits both local and foreign workers. Anticommunism and the tolerance of anticommunism pave the way to these reactionary forces to spread and gain political and social ground. Our parties are at the forefront of the struggle against both the causes of and of the fascist and reactionary organisations themselves. We must campaign and remind the people of the conditions that led to the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe, after the great capitalist crisis of 1929 and its management by mainstream parties, their cooperation in some countries with the fascists that eventually led to the Second World War.
In many countries of Latin America, US interventions are encountering stiff resistance. The danger of a reactionary and conservative setback remains, despite the election results achieved in Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Salvador, Nicaragua, and the success in forwarding changes in policies that improve the standard of living of the peoples.
The US blockade against Cuba and the so-called EU Common Position on Cuba, aim at undermining both the national sovereignty, morale and the socialist economy of the Cuban people. It is of the utmost importance for the communist movement to extend in every possible way our support to and solidarity with the struggle of the Cuban people; to actively demonstrate our solidarity towards the right of the peoples of the region to their sovereignty, to their right to decide for themselves the model of production and governance, contrary to the propaganda of the USA and the EU pretending to strive for people’s rights. This is an important task in front of us and we should not neglect expressing it because of our political differences.
Dear comrades,
AKEL believes in strengthening our coordination in the face of the capitalist crisis and its social consequences and imperialist wars. The coming year will be very crucial for our parties and also for the International Meetings and our joint initiatives. We must work harder and prepare our coordination.
We are autonomous parties, each working and living under differing conditions, facing common but also particular challenges. But we all have high responsibility vis-a-vis our respective peoples, the working people, the future of our children, the future of humanity. And we should be able to stand above our differences and concentrate on what we could do in common. The challenges are too high for us not to try to achieve convergences in our struggles for our common ideals, without trying to hide our differences.
We should accept the divergencies of approaches among our parties and work on the common ideals and struggles we share. If we do that we will be in a better position to resist the offensive of both the right-wing and the social democrats against the rights of the peoples, to resist anticommunism, to resist rising reactionary and neofascist tendencies and inspire the people to take part in our political, social and international struggles.
Buen trabajo compañeros
Long Live Intenationalist solidarity
Viva Palestina Libre
Hasta la Vuctoria siempre
Guayaquil, Ecuador, 14.11.2014