D. Koutsoumbas: "The working class will rise to the challenge of its historic role"

Photo: Aris Oikonomou/SOOC.

The beginning of the works of the 20th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, which took place on Friday 23 November in Athens, was marked by a major speech delivered by the General Secretary of CC of the Communist Party of Greece Dimitris Koutsoumbas. Below you can read the full transcript of his speech: 

"We welcome you to the 20th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, here in Athens, the city where the International Meetings first began 20 years ago at the initiative of our Party. 

We are here today before you, having completed a century of life and action. We feel justifiably proud of the 100 honorable and heroic years of the KKE. 

International meeting of Communist Parties kicked off in Athens (Video & Photos)

In a fully packed congress hall at the headquarters of the Communist Party of Greece in Athens, the 20th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties began its works earlier today. The meeting is attended by 91 parties from 73 countries. 

An introductory speech was delivered by by the General Secretary of the CC of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas. 

The 20th IMCWP began with a short video showing significant moments from the 100 year-old activity of the KKE and the working class movement in Greece. After the video, members of the Greek Communist Youth (KNE) holding red flags and shouting slogans ("A century of struggle and sacrifice, the KKE in the vanguard") entered the hall.

100 years KKE: Successful events held by the Party organizations in London and Paris

From the event in London (Photo: 902.gr)

With successful political and cultural events which attracted Greek immigrants as well as local comrades the Party organizations of the KKE in Britain and France honored the 100 years of the Communist Party of Greece. 

On Saturday 17th November, the British branch of the KKE organized a successful event for the Party's 100th anniversary in the suburban district of Wood Green in London. The major speaker was Tilemachos Dimoulas, member of the Political Bureau of the CC. 

Hands off the DSE memorial in Dziwnów - New anticommunist provocation in Poland

The memorial with the plaque dedicated to the heroes of the
DSE in Dziwnowie. 

The anti-communist frenzy in Poland continues through the application of the reactionary "decommunization" laws which have been established by the bourgeois governments with the support of the European Union. A month ago, we had reported the demolition by polish authorities of a memorial dedicated to Soviet Red Army soldiers in Warsaw.

The latest incident in the series of anticommunist hysteria is taking place in the town of Dziwnów, where there is a monument in honor of the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE)*. More specifically, the monument pays tribute to wounded fighters of the Democratic Army of Greece who had been treated in a special military hospital especially founded by the Polish People's Republic. The fighters subsquently succumbed to their wounds and were buried in Dziwnów. The monument was built by polish soldiers during the socialist era.

100 YEARS OF KKE - We wrote History. We continue. We shall win!

"We wrote History. 

We continue. We shall win!"

Source: "Rizospastis", 

17-18 November 2018.

"At Hotel 'Piraeus', in the conference room of the union of steamboats engineers, the first socialist congress of Greece commenced yesterday at its first meeting, with the main purpose being the unification of all the existing in Greece socialist groups into a single party, uniformly governed and represented at the International...".

20th IMCWP: All the written contributions by the Communist & Workers' Parties (list)

As the 20th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) is due to take place in four days, we present all the up-to-date written contributions by the participating Communist and Workers' Parties.

More than 90 communist parties will be represented at the 20th IMCWP in Athens

91 communist and workers' parties from all over the world have registered to participate at the 20th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, which will be held in Athens between November 23-25. 

The 20th IMCWP will be hosted at the headquarters of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) in Perissos under the subject "The contemporary working class and its alliance. The tasks of its political vanguard – the Communist and Worker’s Parties – in the struggle against exploitation and imperialist wars, for the rights of the workers and of the peoples, for peace, for socialism”.

"Peterloo": A very British massacre (Review and Trailer)

Peterloo (2018) Film Review.

Director: Mike Leigh. Stars: Rory Kinnear, Maxine Peake and Neil Bell. 

Waterloo – a field in Belgium where in 1815 the armies of Britain, Prussia and other European powers defeated the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte. St Peters Field – a square in Manchester where on 19 August 1819 cavalry charged a crowd of unarmed protesters killing around 20 people. The closeness of the two events led to the latter being called the Peterloo Massacre; an event now the subject of a feature film, Peterloo, directed by Mike Leigh. The events in the field in Belgium were made into a film almost 50 years ago, in a film entitled Waterloo. A film about the events closer to home is long overdue.

45 years since the Polytechnic uprising in Greece: Large anti-imperialist rally to the US embassy in Athens

Under the slogan "No to the plans of the government and imperialists. NATO and its bases, out of Greece", thousands of people of every age participated in the large march, organized by the KKE, the KNE, workers and students' unions, in commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the 1973 Polytechnic uprising. 

The march began from Stadiou avenue, passed through Syntagma Square and ended at the U.S. embassy where the demonstrators shouted anti-imperialist slogans, raising their voice for Greece's disengagement from the dangerous NATO-USA-EU imperialist plans. 

Despicable anticommunism: MEPs urge Amazon to drop Soviet-themed goods!

A spectre is haunting the imperialist European Union. It's the Soviet Union and the socialist revolutions of the 20th century which paved the way for the abolition of the exploitation of man by man. 

The servants of the capitalist system tremble at the idea of a socialist revolution and make everything in order to "exorcise" such a perspective. They even tremble at the sight of t-shirts that bear the initials CCCP and the sickle and hammer! 

Greek soldier: "The bloodstained NATO flag is a disgrace for our Navy"

The advanced involvement of the Greek Armed Forces in NATO's imperialist missions and plans has led to multiple reactions within the ranks of soldiers who have publicly denounced the participation of Greece in NATO's drills. 

A month ago, Greek Navy conscripts had publicly protested the participation of Greek ships in NATO's military exercises. This time, Stavros Papadakis, member of the "Navarinon" frigate, officially reported his strong disagreement for the involvement of the frigate in the so-called "Sea Guardian" maritime security operation of NATO in the Mediterranean Sea.

100 years KKE: Moments from a century-old internationalist activity

This year, the KKE completes a century of struggles and sacrifices, remaining the only truly new party in Greece society because it is the only one that struggles for the abolition of the exploitation of man by man. Founded in 1918, in an era when the flame of the October Socialist Revolution of 1917 lent impetus to the revolutionary workers' movement, the KKE has a rich history of struggles, sacrificies and internationalist activity.

Cuban president Díaz-Canel paid tribute to Karl Marx grave in London

In a symbolic gesture, during his stay in London, the President of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez visited today the grave of one of the greatest thinkers of human history, Karl Marx.

Visiting Highgate Cemetery, the Cuban president deposited a bouquet of flowers in the name of the people of Cuba before Marx's tombstone where it reads: "Proletarians of all countries, unite". 

"We pay tribute to one of the great thinkers of humanity, Karl Marx, before his grave in Highgate Cemetery, for Cuba, in  the year of his birth's Bicentennial and the 135th anniversary of his physical disappearance", wrote the Cuban President in his twitter account. 

45 years since the 1973 Athens Polytechnic uprising against the Greek Junta

This Saturday, 17th November, marks the 45th anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising which subsequently led to the fall of the military dictatorial regime in Greece. 

The events at the Athens Polytechnic in 1973 consist one of the most significant moments of class struggle in Greece during the second half of the 20th century. 

Like every year, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and its youth wing (KNE) will organize a massive, anti-imperialist rally towards the U.S. embassy in Athens on Saturday 17th November. Similar events will take place in Thessaloniki and other major Greek cities. 

Communist Party of Ireland: The 1914-1918 War and the bankruptcy of Irish nationalism

Statement by the Communist Party of Ireland on the occasion of the celebrations for the end of the 1914-1918 First Imperialist World War:

9 November 2018.

This November is the centenary of the ending of the Imperialist War, 1914–1918, fought between British imperialism and its allies on the one side and German imperialism and its allies on the other.

It is believed that more than 10 million soldiers died in the fighting, as well as an estimated 13 million civilians. More than 65 million men from the various empires took part, of whom 5 million were British.

Poland's Communist Party denounces the fascist frenzy on independence day march

Regarding the provocative presence of far-right, fascist groups in yesterday's independence day march in Warsaw, the Communist Party of Poland (KPP) issued the following statement:

"In Poland, the 11th of November again became a pretext to promote the militarism and fascism. The authorities of the Polish state marched hand in hand with the nationalists. Once again the red and white banners serve as a cover-up for xenophobia, racism, and fascism. Poland's rulers once again use the nationalist euphoria in order to divert the attention from real social problems. The Polish state again gives the citizens nationalist paraphernalia instead of what they really need.

KKE: Tsipras "whitewashes" the EU for the people's suffering and rise of fascism

Regarding the speech of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at the Peace Forum in Paris, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued a statement: 

"Once again, Mr Tsipras tries to to "whitewash" the EU and its supposedly "moral" values, both for the suffering of the people as well as for the rise of nationalism and fascism. 

PCPE and KKE paid tribute to the legendary International Brigades in Madrid

In a joint event that took place at Morata de Tajuña, in the community of Madrid, the Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) paid tribute to the heroic International Bridages (Brigadas Internacionales) which fought against the fascists during the Spanish Civil War. 

The event took place on November 10th at the memorial dedicated to the men and women of the International Brigades, where representatives of the two parties laid wreaths in memory of the heroic fighters.

The General Secretary of the PCPE Ástor García attended the event, while the KKE was represented by the member of the Political Bureau Giorgos Marinos.

Kemal Okuyan: "The goal of communism is absolutely timely today"

On the occasion of the 101st anniversary of the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution, soL news portal interviewed Kemal Okuyan, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP):

On the 7th of November, 101st anniversary of the October Revolution will be celebrated. Is there anything left to celebrate?

USSR has been collapsed, that is, the country that is founded on the basis of the Revolution now does not exist. From that point of view, it might be thought that there is nothing to be celebrated, however, the Revolution is the greatest event of the 20th century whose remains cannot be wiped off from the earth and which still continues to inspire those who are oppressed all around the world. Today, in Russia, various rock bands are playing songs saying 'Towards New Octobers". 

Undercover cop busted by trade unionists at workers' congress in Greece

PAME Secretariat's member Giorgos Perros (left) shows the
id card of the undercover police agent who is next to him.

What does an undercover police officer do in a trade union center's congress? Seems that the Greek government decided to take us to previous decades, when police agents were assigned to monitor and record the proceedings within the trade union movement. 

According to a report published by 902 portal, members of the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) in Thessaloniki detected the presence of an undercover police officer at the beginning session of the 33rd Congress of the local Trade Union Centre. 

U.S. Midterm Elections: The working class trapped between capitalism's dead ends

The “next day” of the November 6th Midterm Elections in the United States finds the working masses of the country trapped between the continuous, sharpening intra-bourgeois confrontation between the two major parties (Republicans and Democrats). 

Once again, the election process proved that the capital is in the driver's seat while the workers and the popular strata remain disempowered and marginalized.

Any change in the correlation of forces between the Democrats and the Republicans in the Senate or the House of Representatives does not change the essense of the situation for the American people.