Dimitris Koutsoumbas: Internationalist solidarity with Cuba, the U.S. blockade must stop

Photo from the meeting (902.gr)

During a meeting with a delegation of the Workers' Central Union of Cuba (Central de Trabajadores de Cuba - CTC) today in Athens, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas denounced the unacceptable long-standing blockade of Cuba by the U.S imperialism and demanded its immediate ending. 

 

Secretary Koutsoumbas also referred to the constant internationalist solidarity of the KKE towards the Communist Party and the people of Cuba.

KKE General Secretary Koutsoumbas: "Greece must be immediately disengaged from the imperialist war"

The General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Dimitris Koutsoumbas, proceeded today in a comment concerning the dangerous developments in the imperialist war in Ukraine

The comment of General Secretary Koutsoumbas reads:

“The developments on the front of the imperialist war in Ukraine mark the intensity of the confrontation with incalculable dangers for the peoples. Not only for the people of Ukraine and Russia who are at the center of this conflict, but also for the people of the entire world who are already paying the heavy cost of expensiveness and energy poverty. 

Dimitris Koutsoumbas' speech: "With the KKE, for the great, the beautiful and utterly amazing, for Socialism!"

The events of the 48th Festival of KNE-Odigitis in Athens were successfully completed on Saturday 24 September. The huge “Antonis Tritsis” Park proved too small to host the tens of thousands of people and youth that participated inthe events. 

 

The Festival culminated with the keynote speech of the GS of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Dimitris Koutsoumbas, preceded by an address by the Secretary of the CC of KNE, Nikos Ambatielos.

The full speech by Dimitris Koutsoumbas reads as follows:

D. Koutsoumbas: The peoples’ struggle can put an end to the causes of the bloodshed of war

The 48th festival of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) continues with a wide range of political and cultural activities. On Saturday 17/9/22, the GS of the CC of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, addressed a speech at the events in Thessaloniki. 

 

In his speech, he highlighted the strategic identification of the parties supporting Euro-Atlanticism and the choices of capital and referred in detail to the struggle of the KKE and its political proposal. He devoted an important part of his speech to international developments and the KKE’s assessments of them,an extensive excerpt of which reads as follows:

Massive internationalist rally of the KKE in Volos sends powerful anti-imperialist message

A large political event, organized by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), took place on Saturday afternoon in the city of Volos. Thousands of KKE members and friends, workers, young men and women, flocked the central promenade of the city, holding banners and flags and shouting anti-imperialist slogans. 

The event marked the culmination of the festivities of the 31st Anti-imperialist Camp of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) which takes place in the seaside village of Nies, Central Greece.  

Speech by Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the KKE, at the quadripartite meeting of the 8th of July

On 8 July 2022, a quadripartite meeting between the CP of Greece, the CP of Mexico, the CP of the Workers of Spain, and the CP of Turkey was held in Athens, at the headquarters of the CC of the KKE. The opening speech of Dimitris Koutsoumbas, GS of the CC of the KKE reads as follows:

“Dear comrades,

We are always happy to welcome the delegates of fraternal Communist Parties at the headquarters of the CC of the KKE. All the more so today, after the pandemic, which had limited our in-person multilateral contact.

Quadripartite meeting of Communist Parties of Greece, Spain, Mexico and Turkey to be held in Athens

A quadripartite meeting between the Communist Parties of Greece (KKE), Workers of Spain (PCTE), Mexico (PCM) and Turkey (TKP) is going to be held on Friday 8 July in Athens. 

The theme of the meeting, which will take place at the KKE Party headquarters in Perissos, is "We strengthen the workers-people's struggle against the imperialist war and capital's attack, for socialism". According to Rizospastis, all the four parties will be represented by their heads. More specifically, the participant comrades are:

The pandemic revealed the bankruptcy of capitalism

On 15/6, the Health–Welfare Section of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) presented its new publication under the title “COVID-19 pandemic: Capitalism in its twilight”. Workers in the Health–Welfare and other sectors, young people, and students flooded the park next to the largest hospital in the country, “Evangelismos”, where the book presentation took place. Among them were many vanguard trade unionists who work in public hospitals and who, for the past two years, under the extremely difficult conditions of the pandemic, have been at the forefront of the struggle to defend people’s health. 

The KKE stands by the side of the workers of LARCO mining industry

D. Koutsoumbas addressing the protesters outside the Parliament.

On Tuesday 14/6, the MPs of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) demanded the withdrawal of the despicable legislative amendment concerning the sell-off of the large nickel processing enterprise of LARCO. During the debate in the Plenary Session of the Parliament, the KKE MPs conveyed the demands of the workers of LARCO, who, together with thousands of other workers, demonstrated outside the Parliament chanting “Hands off LARCO”. 

The KKE requested a roll-call vote on the amendment. This initiative aimed on the one hand to upset the plans of the government to pass it on the sly and on the other hand to expose those who will vote for this shameful amendment to the people. 

Working Class Heroes: KKE event in honor of political prisoners held in Anafi island

In an emotional event held earlier on Saturday 4 July in the Aegean island of Anafi, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) honored the hundreds of communists and other political prisoners who were exiled in the island for several decades throughout the 20th century. 

Paying tribute to all those heroes of the class struggle, the Central Committee of the KKE unveiled a monument created by sculptor Antonis Myrodias. 

Koutsoumbas: “The right side of history is the struggle against the imperialist war in every country”

“The anniversary of Greece's accession to NATO may be, without doubt, a black anniversary, but for the working class and the people, especially the younger ones, is also an opportunity: To refer to the blood-stained, full of crimes history of this imperialist organization which continues to be written even today”, stressed out the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece Dimitris Koutsoumbas during a speech at the Party's headquarters in Athens. 

May Day 2022 in Greece: "The working class does not bow its head" (VIDEO)

“The working class will not bow its head” was the message sent by thousands of demonstrators on May 1st in Athens' Syntagma Square, on the occasion of the International Workers' Day. With a militant rally, trade unions that participate in the ranks of the All-Workers' Militant Front (PAME) raised their voice against the rise of prices and Greece's involvement in the imperialist war in Ukraine.

136 years since the uprising in Chicago, in the shadow of another imperialist war that is taking place for the profits of the capitalists, in the face of the escalating attack of governments against the workers' rights, the message of the May 1st protests throughout Greece is a beacon of hope. 

KKE-TKP: Joint statement by Dimitris Koutsoumbas and Kemal Okuyan

On Monday 11 April, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas met with Kemal Okuyan, General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), in Athens where they talked about the developments with the war in Ukraine as well as the political situation in Turkey, Greece and the broader region.

Following the meeting, the two leaders signed the following joint statement (in Greek and in Turkish): 

D. Koutsoumbas: “We do not choose a camp between thieves, we choose the camp of the peoples”

On Friday 1 April 2022, thousands of people participated in the rally of the Party Organization of Attica of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) at Athens' Syntagma Square, where the General Secretary of the CC of the Party Dimitris Koutsoumbas delivered a speech. 

The demonstrators united their voices under the slogan “No to the imperialist war in Ukraine”. They demanded that our country's involvement should stop. They shouted that they will not accept that the people pay the price of the war, that they face high prices that erode the income of the working class and greater energy poverty.

Massive anti-war rally of the KKE in Athens

KKE rally in Syntagma Square, Friday 1 April 2022.

Thousands of protesters in Athens responded to the call of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and participated in a large anti-imperialist, anti-war rally held at Syntagma Square, in front of the Parliament. 

Waving red flags and shouting anti-imperialist slogans, the demonstrators raised their voice against the imperialist war in Ukraine and expressed their firm opposition to Greece's involvement in the dangerous US-NATO-EU plans. 

D. Koutsoumbas: "The people of Ukraine have become a punching bag among ruthless imperialists"

On 14 March, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, GS of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), delivered a speech at a political rally in Corinth, noting, among other things: “More than 10 years have passed and the Greek people are still paying for the successive capitalist crises with impoverishment, three memoranda, and hundreds of anti-popular and anti-labour laws. They also pay for the recovery by constantly making new sacrifices to shield the profitability of a few business groups.

Now they are being told that they must pay the price of Greece’s participation in imperialist war. To pay ‘the price of participation in the war for freedom’, as the Prime Minister, K. Mitsotakis, said.

KKE leader Koutsoumbas blasts PM Mitsotakis on Greece's involvement in Ukraine war

The government of the right-wing ND party with the support of the other bourgeois parties of the social-democratic “left” SYRIZA and the also social-democratic KINAL/PASOK proceeds with the deeper involvement of Greece in the ongoing imperialist war in Ukraine, always on the side of the USA–NATO–EU. This was apparent in the discussion between the leaders of the political parties in the Plenary Session of the Parliament on 1 March 2022.

In his speech, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, GS of the CC of the KKE, stressed, among other things, the following:

Dimitris Koutsoumbas: No to imperialist war! Greece’s involvement must stop immediately!

On 27/2/22, the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) organized an event in the city of Lamia in honour of the 80 years of the Greek People’s Liberation Army (ELAS), which was the military wing of the National Liberation Front (EAM). Both EAM and ELAS were founded following a decision of the KKE and fought against the fascist triple foreign occupation (German, Italian, and Bulgarian) of Greece during the imperialist Second World War.

The event took place in Lamia, the native city of Aris Velouchiotis, leader of ELAS and cadre of the KKE.

KKE votes against the new large armament programme, calls for Greece's disengagement from NATO-EU

On 15/2/22, the Plenary Session of the Greek Parliament approved the bill submitted by the Ministry of National Defence regarding the purchase of three French “Belharra” frigates and six “Rafale” jets (in addition to the already acquired eighteen ones). Right-wing ND, social-democratic KINAL/PASOK, and right-wing Elliniki Lysi (Greek Solution) voted in favour of the bill while social-democratic SYRIZA voted “present”.

This is another large armament programme integrated into the criminal USA–NATO–EU plans in which the local bourgeoisie is actively participating to enhance its role and business in the wider area while ND, SYRIZA, and the other bourgeois parties, despite their remarks on specific points, support its interests.

Dimitris Koutsoumbas: "Capitalist growth, by definition, is anti-popular in any management formula"

Capitalist growth, by definition, is anti-popular in any management formula, stressed Dimitris Koutsoumbas, the GS of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), speaking in Parliament on 02/02/22, noting that ND and SYRIZA with their “development” laws compete over how they will distribute billions of euros to the few by crushing the people.

Speaking about the new “development” law, he highlighted that the mockery must end and that the tale of capitalist development is the same old story that does not convince anyone. He added that growth is here, but wages —average and minimum— remain stagnant because capitalist growth is based on the intensification of the exploitation of workers.