Meet Christopher Helali: The Communist from Vermont who runs for U.S. Congress

For the first time since 1984 a Communist Party candidate will participate in a major U.S. election. The last time was 36 years ago when Gus Hall and Angela Davis ran for U.S. President and Vice President respectively. 

His name is Christopher Helali and he joins the electoral battle for Vermont’s at-large congressional district for the November 3rd elections. Helali is officially supported by the Party of Communists, USA (PCUSA). 

Christopher was born in Worcester, Massachusetts to immigrant parents. His mother was born in Canada of Greek parents who fled after the Greek Civil War and the subsequent persecution of Communists by the right wing government. His father was born in Iran, to ethnic Lur and Kurdish parents, and left his homeland in 1979 in the midst of the Iranian Revolution.

Lebanese Communist Party (LCP) leader Hanna Gharib comments on government's resignation

Lebanon's government stepped down on Monday night, less than a week after a massive explosion in Beirut killed more than 160 people and sparked days of mass protests. 

In a press statement about the developments the General Secretary of the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP) Hanna Gharib points out the following: 

First, LCP condemns the burning of the Martyrs’ monument that happened in the southern Village of Zraryeh. This incident which occurred at late night of Sunday August 9 reveals bad intentions against the Lebanese National Resistance Front, and against the party who was the backbone of this Front. 

Netanyahu resign! Thousands of demonstrators attend anti-governmental rallies in Israel

Hadash and Communist Party of Israel activists participated in the
demonstration at Jerusalem’s Paris Square. The Arabic and Hebrew banner
reads, “We are the Revolution.” (Photo: Zu Haderech).

Protests against Israel's far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued nationwide on Saturday evening, August 8, with tens of thousands of people gathering outside the Prime Minister’s Residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem. 

In addition, approximately 1,000 demonstrators stationed themselves at a main intersection exiting Caesarea, site of Netanyahu’s private residence, to assure that he would have to pass them as he was driven back to Jerusalem on Saturday night. 

Among the protestors in Jerusalem was Joint List MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash) and numerous activists from Hadash, the Communist Party of Israel, and members of the Young Communist League.

Turkey's communists at the forefront of the struggle for women's rights, against femicides

Thousands of women took the streets in more than 16 cities in Turkey, on August 5, demonstrating under the slogan "We are not giving up our rights, implement the Istanbul Convention". 

In Istanbul's Kadıköy district, women carried placards with the name of 350 murdered women and the slogan "She would be alive if the Istanbul Convention was implemented". 

In Izmir, protesters faced with police's violent response and 16 women werre detained. 

Greece-Egypt EEZ agreement: KKE expresses "deep concern" over regional developments

In a joint press conference held in Cairo on Tuesday, the Foreign Ministers of Egypt and Greece, Sameh Shoukry and Nikos Dendias, announced that the two countries signed an agreement on setting up an exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

The Greek-Egyptian agreement comes in a period of increased tension between the governments of Turkey and Greece over gas fields in Eastern Mediterranean. The situation has been particularly tense after Turkey issued an illegal NAVTEX on July 21st, blocking an extended area south east of the Greek island of Kastelorizo in order to carry out seismic surveys. You can read here a joint declaration of the Communist Parties of Greece and Turkey (KKE and TKP) on the latest dangerous developments.

Hiroshima-Nagasaki: Statement of the KKE for the 75 years since the nuclear holocaust

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary since the dropping of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S. military, the Press Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued a statement.

The statement, published in 902 portal, is as follows:

"Seventy-five years have passed since the United States committed one of the most barbaric crimes against humanity – on August 6th in Hiroshima and a few days later, on August 9th in Nagasaki – by dropping for the first time the atomic bomb resulting to hundreds of thousands victims and many more in the following years due to the radioactivity effects. 

Beirut explosion: Solidarity messages by the Communist Parties of Greece, Cyprus, Turkey

At least 100 people were killed and 4,000 were wounded after the massive blast that rocked Beirut on Tuesday. The whole city was shaken by the explosion and a mushroom cloud could be seen spreading over the port area. 

The Lebanese Communist Party (LCP) declared the 5th of August as a day of humanitarian solidarity and requested a prompt investigation for the incident. 

Statements of condolences and solidarity towards the people of Lebanon were issued by the Communist Parties of Greece (KKE), Cyprus (AKEL) and Turkey (TKP):

Beirut explosion: Lebanese Communist Party requests a prompt investigation

A massive explosion rocked Lebanon's capital city, Beirut, on Tuesday, killing dozens of people, injuring thousands and blowing out windows in buildings across the city. According to reports, the was felt in the neighboring island of Cyprus, around 240 kilometers away.

In a statement, the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP) expresses its condolences to the families of the victims and requests a prompt investigation to reveal the responsibilities. 

The statement reads:

Spanish communists slam Juan Carlos, call for an end to the institution of the monarchy

In a statement published on its website, the Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE) commented on the decision of the embattled ex-King Juan Carlos to leave the country amid investigations for corruption scandals. 

The royal parasite, whose full name is Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón, reigned as King of Spain from November 1975 until his abdication in June 2014.

In the statement, the PCTE points out: 

Free Simon Trinidad! Joint statement by the Communist Parties of the USA and Colombia

Joint statement by the Communist Party, USA (CPUSA) and the Communist Party of Colombia (Partido Comunista Colombiano) for the release of political prisoner and former FARC-EP combatant, Simón Trinidad (real name Ricardo Palmera):

On the occasion of his 70th birthday, the Communist Party USA, together with Communist and Workers’ parties, and with other political organizations, calls upon the U.S. government to release political prisoner Simón Trinidad.  

FESTA DO AVANTE and KNE-ODIGITIS FESTIVAL: Europe’s largest communist festivals to be held in September

The posters of this year's festivals in Portugal and Greece:
Festa do Avante! and the 46th KNE-Odigitis Festival.

Despite pressure and efforts by reactionary bourgeois political forces to postpone this year’s “Festa do Avante” due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) has decided to proceed to the organisation of the festival, ensuring that all the necessary health measures will be taken. 

In a statement, the PCP provide solid answers to its critics about the festival’s organisation. The governmental decree on summer festivals and similar activities stresses out that they can be carried out as long as they comply with the necessary health rules and obligations. “The attack on the party is just an expression of the reactionary forces’ long-standing objective: to question the exercise of political rights and more particularly the activity of the PCP and unions”, points out an article of the Party titled “Why we organize the Avante Festival”. 

Nikos Zachariadis: 47 years since the death of the Greek communist leader

Today, August 1, 2020, marks the 47th anniversary of the death of Nikos Zachariadis, General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) from 1931 to 1956, one of the most significant figures of the european and international communist movement in the 20th century. 

He was born to ethnic Greek parents in Ottoman Empire's Edirne (Andrianoupolis) in 1903. At the age of 16, Nikos moved to Istanbul where he worked in various jobs, including as a dockworker and sailor. It was there when he started having his first organised relationship with the working-class movement. 

Britain's Communist Party centenary weekend: 100 years for socialism

The weekend of July 31 and August 1, 2020 marks 100 years since the historic gathering of delegates at the Canon Street Hotel in London to form a united Communist Party.

On this occasion, the Communist Party of Britain organises a series of events which have been adjusted to meet the situation of social distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

According to the Communist Party, the programme of public meetings entitled “Pandemonium” is designed to “provoke and inspire the imagination” and the 13 Red Wedge live-and-direct meetings, which will be held on August 1, are a great opportunity to measure the Party's achievement so far. You can read more and join the "Pandemonium" here: http://www.communistparty.org.uk/pandemonium.

India: Communist Parties slam government's "New Education Policy"

The "New Education Policy" approved by the government of Narendra Modi leads to the further privatization and commercialisation of Indian education, point out the Communist Parties (CPIM and CPI) condemning the proposed reforms. 

In a statement, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) stresses out:

Nina Andreyeva, the woman who stood against Gorbachev's Perestroika, dies at 81

© Ivan Kurtov,Sergey Smolsky/TASS

Nina Alexandrovna Andreyeva, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of the Bolsheviks, passed away on July 24th in St. Petersburg (Leningrad). She was 81 years old. 

Born on October 1938 to a working class family in Leningrad, Nina Andreeva lost her father during the Second World War. 

She graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Technology and joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1966. 

International Communist Bulletin #6 2020

Week #6, July 2020

Greek and Turkish Communists: No to a military confrontation for the interests of the bourgeois classes and imperialist alliances!

In a joint statement, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) express their deep concern over the latest dangerous developments in the relations between the two countries and declare once again that the people of Greece and Turkey have the right to live in peace and shape their future, against capitalist exploitation and tensions created by the interests of the bourgeois classes and the imperialist alliances.

You can read below the statement in English, Greek and Turkish language.

Turkey needs a strong communist party: The 13th Congress of TKP to be held on August 9th

In a statement addressed to the fraternal Communist and Workers' Parties, the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) informs that the 13th Party Congress will be held on August 9th, 2020. 

More specifically, the TKP points out:

"The 13th Congress of TKP will take place under conditions of the pandemic, and more importantly, at a time when the "parasitism and decay" of imperialism/capitalism, referring to the great analysis of Lenin, have become apparent in front of wide masses, in almost every country.

French communist Maurice Cukierman dies

Maurice Cukierman, leader of the Communist Revolutionary Party of France (PCRF), has died at 71 after a long battle with a serious illness. 

Cukierman was born in 1949. A politically active person, he joined the Communist Youth in 1963 and the French Communist Party (PCF) in 1968.

Maurice Cukierman had active participation in numerous solidarity movements in France, such as the one for the Vietnamese people. 

During the 1970s he opposed the revisionist and eurocommunist trend within the French Communist Party. In 1982 he was among the editors of the so-called "Letter to the Central Committee", alongside Jeannette Vermeersch, Georges Bouvard, Marcel Fryedman, Jean Mérot, Jean Salem.

Turkey-Greece tensions: The USA-EU stance adds fuel to Turkish government's aggression

Tensions in Eastern Mediterranean are, once again, at high level after the NAVTEX issued by Turkey on Tuesday, with which Ankara blocks the maritime zone south-east of the Greek island of Kastellorizo in order to carry out seismic surveys. 

From its side, the Greek government filed a protest demarche to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and raised the issue with the EU, NATO and the United Nations. 

“Today’s announcement of Turkish surveys in a section of the Greek continental shelf through a new illegal NAVTEX constitutes an escalation of tension in our region”, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement issued on Tuesday. 

"Capitalism has led Russia into a 30-year depression", says Moscow City Duma deputy

Moscow City deputy for CPRF Nikolai Zubrilin.

The Lenin State Farm (Lenin Sovkhoz), a 2,000-hectare sprawl of fields growing fruits and vegetables on the outskirts of Moscow faces the danger of closing. 

In what seems to be a coordinated attack from multiple directions, Pavel Grudinin, the Farm’s director and the Communist Party’s presidential candidate in the 2018 elections, faces potential bankruptcy as the Moscow Region Arbitration Court has ordered him to pay a fine of over one million rubles ($15 million) for supposed “illegal transfer of lands”. 

From its side, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) has strongly denounced the “organized attack” against the Lenin State Farm, calling the accusations against Grudinin as arbitrary and lawless. 

Danish communist Betty Frydensbjerg Carlsson dies at 76

In a statement the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Denmark (KPiD) announced the death of its former General Secretary Betty Frydensbjerg Carlsson, who died on July 19th at the age of 76.

Betty was from the foundation of The Communist Party in Denmark in 1993 our general secretary. In 2015 the had to step down from this function due to her health condition, but she was still to her death member of our central committee and editor of our monthly paper.