Greece's SYRIZA-ANEL "left" government undertakes a more active role in NATO's imperialist plans

The SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government of Greece is moving towards a more active participation in NATO's imperialist plans. It is characteristic that last Wednesday, the Greek parliament ratified a memorandum of understanding on the Joint Electronic Warfare Core Staff (JEWCS), aimed at supporting the planning and execution of NATO’s operations. 

The bourgeois parties (SYRIZA, New Democracy, Independent Greeks-ANEL, PASOK, Potami, Center Union) voted in favor of the memorandum, while the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) was the only party which voted against it, rejecting and denouncing the involvement of the country in the imperialist plans of NATO. 

Interview of Dimitris Koutsoumbas: Popular discontent can find a way out through the political proposal of KKE

Interview of the GS of the CC of KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas on the ERT1 public television channel, on 24/10. Below are extended excerpts from the interview. Source: inter.kke.gr.

-        I read the following in “Rizospastis”: The day when the government begins the discussion with the “institutions” (Troika) about the new attack against working and trade union rights, SYRIZA and ND choose to squabble about their favourites and also about the misleading issue of corruption in order to hide their convergence on the antiworker measures. Is corruption a misleading issue? Can you explain this? Doesn't this issue objectively exist in our lives?

Olga Benário Prestes (1908-1942)

Olga Benário Prestes is an extraordinary- but not broadly known- case of a Brazilian communist hero. Olga was born in Munich, Germany as Olga Gutmann Benário, to a Jewish family. At the age of 15, In 1923, she joined the Communist Youth International and in 1928 she helped her husband and comrade Otto Braun's escape from Moabit prison. She went to Czechoslovakia and from there, reunited with Braun, to Moscow. As an active figure of the Communist Youth International, Olga undertakes several missions; in one of these she was briefly arrested in Britain accussed as a spy. 

In 1934 she was tasked with helping the return to Brazil of Luís Carlos Prestes, the leader of the Communist Party of Brazil, to whom she was assigned as a bodyguard. In order to accomplish this mission, false papers were created stating that they were a Portuguese married couple. After a failed insurrection in November 1935, Benário and her husband went into hiding, and after barely escaping a police raid at Ipanema, they were both eventually arrested in January 1936, during the harsh anti-communist campaign declared after dictator Getúlio Vargas had proclaimed martial law and was already plotting the 1937 coup that would eventually lead to the institution of the fascist-like Estado Novo régime.

Shameful anticommunist discrimination against young scholar in Bavaria, Germany

"The Bolshevism"...
Nazi anti-communist propapanda
poster of 1930s.  

Kerem Schamberger, the spokesperson of the German Communist Party (DKP)- Munich was declared inadmissable in scholarly job at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Bavaria. 

Source: International Communist Press, 29 October 2016.

El Diario.es reported that Kerem Schamberger, the spokesperson of the German Communist Party (DKP)-Munich, was not able to start his job in the German Ludwig Maximilian University because of his membership of DKP, although being legal, has been under the vigilance of the Federal Office of Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz), which categorizes the party as an extremist one.

This case of Kerem Schamberger reveals that demonization and intimidation of the communists continue in Germany. The doctorate programs in the country are being based on labour contracts, which include both research and teaching at the university. Schamberger, who studied communication at German Ludwig Maximilian University, was supposed to start his doctoral studies on October 1st but could not yet, because since July the university awaits the approval of the German internal intelligence service.

Various contributions at the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties

Contribution by various parties to the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties held in Hanoi, Vietnam:

Speech by Giorgos Marinos, KKE Politburo member, at the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties

"Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive-Strategy and Tactics of the Communist and Workers Parties in the struggle for peace, workers' and people's rights, for socialism." - Speech by Giorgos Marinos, member of the Political Bureau of the CC of KKE at the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties. 

Source: inter.kke.gr.

Dear comrades,

The Communist Party of Greece salutes the 18th International Meeting of the Communist and Workers Parties and warmly thanks the CP of Vietnam for its hospitality.

Our party has expressed its internationalist solidarity and has stood for many decades at the side of the Vietnamese people in their struggle against French and Japanese colonialism, against the imperialist intervention and crimes of the USA.

The glorious victory of the working class, of the people of Vietnam under the leadership of the Communist Party and its leader comrade Ho Chi Minh was a great victory of international significance and demonstrated that when the people are determined, well organized and armed, they can defeat the strongest opponents-dynasts and break the shackles of exploitation and oppression.

The history of the communist movement is full of heroic pages and is a valuable source for study and the drawing of conclusions that will lend strength to the communists so that they can meet the challenge of the complex conditions of the class struggle, fighting for the overthrow of capitalist exploitation and the construction of socialism-communism.

NATO Imperialists not welcome in Piraeus! KKE denounces the presense of US Navy flagship in Greek port

The presense of the United States 6th Fleet command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) and USS Mason, a US navy destroyer, in the port of Piraeus on October 24th has been strongly denounced by the KKE Piraeus Sectoral Organisation. In its announcement, the KKE calls the city's people to strengthen their struggle against the involvement of Greece in NATO's war plans. 

More specifically, the KKE Piraeus S.O. points out:

"They have the audacity to dock at the port of Piraeus, while the presense of NATO in the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Aegean and the Mediterranean is enhanced, using for the last two sea areas the pretext of controlling the refugee flows which are caused and amplified by the imperialist wars and the dire consequences against the people.

Truth and Lies about Socialism: On the 60th anniversary of the counterrevolutionary events in Hungary 1956

On the 60th anniversary of the 

counterrevolutionary events in Hungary 1956.

Below you can find extracts from the publication of the CC of KNE “Truth and Lies about Socialism” (Synchroni Epohi 2012) in relation to the counterrevolutionary events that took place in Hungary in 1956.

THE COUNTERREVOLUTIONARY EVENTS IN EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.

"In autumn 1956, Hungary announced its withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, but Soviet troops invaded the country and suppressed the uprising."

US President Obama to visit Greece: When SYRIZA's social democracy "worships" the Imperialists

The President of the United States of America Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Athens in mid November, according to a statement issued by the White House.

President Obama will meet with the President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on 15 November, with the refugee crisis and economic reforms being at the top of the agenda. This will be the fourth official visit of a US President to Greece. The first American President to visit was Dwight Eisenhower in December of 1959, the second George Bush in July of 1991 and the third was Bill Clinton in November of 1999. 

According to the official statement issued by the White House "The President on November 15 will arrive in Greece, where he will see President Pavlopoulos, meet with Prime Minister Tsipras, and reaffirm our support for ongoing efforts to place the Greek economy on a path to sustainability and renewed prosperity. In the birthplace of democracy, the President will also reaffirm the resilience of democratic values, which have done so much to deliver peace and prosperity to Europe and the wider world. Additionally, the President will make clear our appreciation for the remarkable generosity shown by the Greek Government and people to refugees and migrants".

Political event by KKE in Edinburgh: "The current political situation and the viewpoint of the Greek Communist Party"

The KKE Party Branch of Britain organises a political event in Edinburgh, Scotland on Sunday, October 30th. The event's title is: "The current political situation and the viewpoint of the Greek Communist Party" and will take place at 3 pm local time, at David Hume Tower building, room 4.18. 

The 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) to be held in Hanoi, 28-30 October 2016

The 18th of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) is scheduled to be held at Hanoi between 28-30 October, hosted by Communist Party of Vietnam. 

The theme of the meeting is: “Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive - Strategy and tactics of the Communist and Workers’ Parties in the struggle for peace, workers’ and peoples’ rights, socialism.”

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) will participate in the International Meeting with a delegation which includes Giorgos Marinos, member of the Political Bureau of the CC, Eliseos Vagenas, member of the CC and responsible of the Partry's International Relations Department and Danae Helmi, collaborator of the Int. Relations Department of the CC of KKE. 

PAME: "Everyone in the struggle" - General Strike to take place on November 24th in Greece

"No waiting, no delay! We respond: General Strike on November 24th!" stresses a recent declaration of the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) which calls in struggle for the rights in labour and life, according to the needs of the working people.

The declaration PAME calls the workers, the self-employed, the youth and the pensioners of the country to give a militant response to the barbaric, antipeople measures of the SYRIZA-ANEL government. "We demand rights in our work and life, according to our era- the 21st century, our needs!" as PAME points out in its call for the strike. 

Vulgar anticommunist delirium from New Democracy's vice president Georgiadis

He is known for his far-right, nationalistic political views. A publisher, tv presenter and bookstore owner by profession, Adonis Georgiadis is the current vice president of the conservative party of "New Democracy".

He started his political career from the ultra-right, neofascist and xenophobic "Laos" party, under the leadership of Giorgos Karatzaferis. As a very frequent guest at TV political talk shows, Georgiadis never hide his vulgar, grotesque anticommunism. 

In a recent speech in the island of Chios, the VP of New Democracy unleashed another anticommunist delirium saying, among other things: "If you go to any place of the world, when you say that you are a communist you go to jail. In Greece, it's the opposite that happens".

Regarding Georgiadis' filthy remarks, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued the following comment:

"Long live the international working class!": Closing remarks by George Mavrikos at the 17th World Trade Union Congress

Closing remarks by George Mavrikos, General Secretary of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), at the 17th World Trade Union Congress held in Durban, South Africa. 

Dear friends and militants,

First of all, I want to express my appreciation for the trust you demonstrated towards me by electing me as General Secretary of WFTU. On behalf of PAME and the class-oriented trade union movement of Greece we thank you for your repeated support. With my reelection, I feel an ever greater responsibility towards you and I commit to give all my best efforts to the struggle for the strengthening of the WFTU and the emancipation of the international working class.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Philippine Communist Party (PKP-1939) - Assessment of the first 100 days of the Duterte administration

We publish an interesting assessment by the Philippine Communist Party (PKP-1939) regarding the bourgeois government of Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines.

Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte's presidential electoral campaign focused on the need to weed out the illegal drugs trade, calling it the prime menace to the people and the root of heinous crimes and even of corruption. He promised a bloody campaign which will fill Manila Bay with the cadavers of drug pushers and criminals, and called on the people to apprehend known drug pushers everywhere, and even to use lethal force against the armed resistance of drug pushers.

Turkey: Police raid young members of the Communist Party (KP), threatened students

According to SOL International, Turkish police raided members of the Communist Youth who were working for an event of the ‘Socialism Schools’.

Young members of Communist Party, Turkey, (KP) were forcefully taken to a police station due to their works in front of Kadıköy Anadolu Lisesi (a prominent high school in Kadıköy/Istanbul), for the event of the ‘Socialism Schools’ that will be held on October 22, Saturday.

   

A member of Communist Party (KP) was attacked, and his mobile phone was seized on the grounds that he wanted to call his lawyer. Police did not permit any calls to lawyers.

Five years since the organized murderous attack against PAME rally in Athens

Article of the International Relations Section of the CC of the KKE in relation to the statements of the international Media on the murderous attack on the large demonstration of PAME.

26 October 2011.

PAME: Solidarity with the General Strike of Italy's USB (Unione Sindacale di Base) on October 21

The All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) expresses its solidarity with the workers and the USB (Unione Sindacale di Base) of Italy for their strike on October 21.

The attack of the Renzi Government in Italy, as well as the directives of the European Union in all countries of Europe, for wage and pension cuts, cuts in social benefits and social security, they all aim to safeguard the profits of the business groups. In this context escalates oppression, repression against trade union rights and freedoms, intimidations by the employers. Tragic consequence of these developments was the recent murder of the striker-USB member Abdel Salam El Danaf.

The class trade union movement of Greece supports the just demands of the Italian workers and expresses its solidarity to USB for the Strike it organizes on October 21.

Interview with Kostas Papadakis (KKE): "SYRIZA has been chosen by the bourgeois class to complete the dirty work..."

Special interview with Kostas Papadakis, member of the CC of the KKE and Member of the European Parliament.

International Communist Press, 17th October 2016.

ICP: After the 3rd memorandum in Greece, we are all witnessing anti-worker and anti-popular laws passing from the parliament. Is it possible to say that the people are getting more and more politicized and organized as their standard of living has been decreased into half?

Kostas Papadakis: The SYRIZA-ANEL government established its own memorandum, which was passed together with the votes of the "rightwing" and "centre" bourgeois parties (ND, PASOK, POTAMI), on the basis of the two previous memoranda. The memoranda are not just an agreement with the imperialist institutions, but the "programme" of the bourgeois class in order to return to profitability, reducing labour rights and the price of labour power.

The SYRIZA-ANEL government, taking harsh anti-worker measures, causes deep disillusionment amongst wide sections of the people. Amongst those who believed that the memoranda could allegedly be abolished via parliament and referenda.

KKE GS D.Koutsoumbas: "The Greek people must throw in the trash the lies and the propaganda of the government"

The General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas, who attended the large demonstration in Athens on Monday, made the following statement: 

"The Greek people must throw in the trash the lies and the propaganda of the government, the conclusions of the various alleged specialists, the pressure of the creditors, of the EU and the IMF and engrave its own way of struggle. General uprising everywhere, with the working class on the forefront, in alliance with the other popular strata, aiming against the monopolies and the capitalist way of development itself which brings poverty, crises, unemployment. There is no other solution, there is no other way out". 

KKE honoured the great Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich

"A Composer of his great era" says the banner above the orchestra. Photo from the two-day
event organised by the KKE in Athens.

In a two-day cultural event held at the Party's headquarters in Athens, the Attica Party Organisation of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) honoured the legendary Soviet composer and musician Dmitri Shostakovich. 

The event began with an introductory speech by Themis Gionis, member of the CC of KKE and also member of the Political Bureau of the KKE Attica Party Organisation, who among other things said:

Mass demonstrations organized by Labour Unions to take place in Greece on October 17th

Source: PAME (All-Workers Militant Front).

On Monday 17th October: In Athens at Syntagma Square at 18.30, in Thessaloniki at 18.30 at Venizelos statue.

More than 400 trade union organizations, federations, labour centres, industrial unions, etc from all branches and sectors, all over Greece, we coordinate, demand and fight for the cancelation of all anti-workers laws and measures of the recent years. We fight for the signing of National Collective Agreement and sectoral Collective Contracts.

We demand the reestablishment and the signing of sectoral Collective Contracts, the recovering of all of our losses! No worker without the minimum wage! All in the struggle for full time steady jobs, with full rights, higher wages, pensions and social benefits!

Comment by KKE: Syriza's "Left" is the old, classic, sinful social democracy

On the occasion of Alexis Tsipras' speech at the congress of SYRIZA, the Press Office of the CC of KKE issued the following comment:

"Yesterday Mr.Tsipras tried to give a left, progressive wrapper to the invitation of submission he sends to the people, as well as to the total transformation of SYRIZA into a bourgeois social democratic party.

The "left" which undertakes duties and responsibilities for the management of the system has nothing to do with the militant traditions of our people. It is the old, classic, sinful social democracy, which the people has experienced for many years- and which is usually in line with its supposed enemy, the "neoliberalism"-in Greece and Europe, in order to jointly vote harsh antipeople measures and memorandums. This is the source of SYRIZA's openings to various "stars" of social democracy, both in Greece and abroad.

On the developments in Colombia and the peace agreement

On the developments in Colombia.

Οriginally published in 'Rizospastis', 9 October 2016.

Source: inter.kke.gr.

As is well-known, on Sunday 2 October, the peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP) was put to a referendum. In the referendum, where only the 37% of the eligible voters participated, the agreement was rejected by a 50.2% vote.

The agreement was finalized after four years of negotiations that took place in Oslo and Havana and aimed at putting an end to the armed conflict which began in 1964, when FARC-CP was founded as a response to the attack of the bourgeois army against the rural population of the Marquetalia region (1). At the same time, it had been announced that talks will also be pursued with the country’s other significant guerrilla organization, the National Liberation Army (ELN).