On the termination of the activity of the European Communist Initiative and the role of opportunism

By Nikos Mottas.

The erosive and undermining role of opportunism in the international communist movement has made its appearance again, this time by leading to the termination of the activity of the European Communist Initiative (INITIATIVE).

According to a statement by the Secretariat of the INITIATIVE, the “important ideological and political differences that have arisen over time and which have been aggravated since the outbreak of the war being waged between the USA-NATO-EU and capitalist Russia” were assessed during a last teleconference held on September 9.

Cuba arrests 17 for trafficking men to fight for Russia in Ukraine: "Cuba is not part of the military conflict"

Cuban authorities informed on Thursday about the arrest of 17 people involved in a human trafficking network that operated to incorporate Cuban citizens into war operations in Ukraine. 

 

Specialists from the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation at the Ministry of the Interior said on national television that the persons involved in this criminal network in Cuba are being investigated.

They added that three persons belonged to the recruitment scheme within Cuba, directed from abroad. The remaining 14 persons confessed that they had joined the operation by their individual and voluntary decision in exchange for residence in Russia and substantial monetary compensation.

 

KKE on Mitsotakis-Zelensky joint declaration: Their invocation of international law is hypocritical

In a statement concerning the Joint Declaration signed by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskyy in Athens, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) stresses out:

“As much as Mr Mitsotakis hypocritically invokes the “international law”, he can't hide that actual aim of his government, which is the more active and deep involvement of our country in the imperialist war in Ukraine and in NATO plans in the region. Essentially, that is, the ND government feeds those factors that led both to the NATO-Russia conflict in Ukraine, as well as to the aggravation of the problems in the Balkan countries. 

Niger coup: Why West Africa has become the center of inter-imperialist standoff

By Nikos Mottas.

The military coup d'etat of July 26th in Niger, which deposed pro-French President Mohammad Bazoum, is part of the broader imperialist confrontation of the Western powers (USA, NATO, EU) with Russia and China. This time, the imperialist standoff is focused on the resource-rich region of Sahel, activating the decades-old political divisions in West Africa. 

The timely task of struggling against NATO is linked to a revolutionary understanding of the world

"The timely task of struggling against NATO is linked to a revolutionary understanding of the world, to confidence in the power of class struggle"

 

On 14/7/23, Eliseos Vagenas, member of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and Head of the International Relations Section of the CC of the KKE, delivered a speech during the 32nd Anti-imperialist Camp of KNE, held in Nestorio, under the theme “NATO Summit: more fuel to the fire of war and competition”.

 

KKE: The NATO Summit in Vilnius will add further fuel to the fire of imperialist competition and wars

The Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued a statement on the NATO Summit in Vilnius, which reads as follows:

“The NATO Summit in Vilnius (Lithuania), which is due to be held on 11–12 July 2023, will add further fuel to the fire of imperialist wars and rivalries. These rivalries are currently manifested in the fierce military conflict in Ukraine, as well as in the tension in the Indo-Pacific and other regions, where the struggle over raw materials, energy, the transport routes of the commodities, market shares, i.e. for the division of capital’s profits, is escalating.

Ho Chi Minh statue unveiled in Leningrad

Photo: VNA

A ceremony was held in the city of Leningrad (Saint Petersburg), Russia, on June 30 to inaugurate the statue of Vietnamese communist hero and leader Ho Chi Minh.

The three-meter-tall bronze statue of President Ho Chi Minh is placed on a 1.5-meter-high pedestal in a beautiful flower garden at the intersection of Ho Chi Minh Street and Prosvescheniya Avenue in Vyborgsky District of Saint Petersburg.

 

Revolutionary Communist Youth Union (Bolsheviks): Statement on the Putin-Wagner standoff in Russia

In a statement about the recent developments in Russia, with the "rebellion" of Prigozhin's Wagner against the government of Vladimir Putin, the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Youth Union (Bolsheviks) points out:

 

"On June 23, 2023, the owner of the Wagner private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, declared a rebellion and moved his troops into the territory of the Russian Federation. The Russian President Vladimir Putin called these actions «a treason» and «a stab in the back», while drawing analogies with the actions of the Bolsheviks in 1917. 

Rabid anti-communist Putin likens Wagner rebellion to the 1917 October Revolution

In his today's statement over the ongoing developments in Russia, President Vladimir Putin went so far as to liken the stance of Wagner private army and its leader Prigozhin with the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution!

Once again,  President Putin has chosen to make absolutely clear that anti-communism is a key element of the Russian government's policy. 

 

Who forgets Putin's hideously slanderous attacks against Vladimir Lenin and his even more vicious comments against the legacy of Joseph Stalin? 

New Communist Party of the Netherlands (NCPN): Stop involving the Netherlands in imperialist wars!

In a statement, the International Committee of the New Communist Party of the Netherlands (Nieuwe Communistische Partij van Nederland - NCPN) points out:

"According to NOS (Dutch state media), part of the bourgeois political top in The Hague has known for a year about the heavy suspicions against the Ukrainian government for blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipeline. The Dutch military intelligence service (MIVD) warned the US intelligence agency (CIA) a year ago that there were plans from Ukraine to blow up the gas pipeline. The consequences of blowing up the Nord Stream have been very detrimental, including for the Dutch working class. 

Communist Youth of Denmark: On the opportunist character of the "World Anti-imperialist Platform"

The Executive Committee of the Communist Youth of Denmark (DKU) issued a statement on the so-called "World Anti-imperialist Platform", accusing it as an opportunist formation that every principled communist must condemn:

"The World Anti-imperialist Platform (WAP) is the latest addition to the consolidation of opportunist forces in this period. 

On the political economy of contemporary imperialism: The concept of the “imperialist pyramid” and its critics

By Thanasis Spanidis

Summary in short theses: 

1. In the Programmatic Theses of Kommunistische Organisation (KO) we find (in broad outline) a clear orientation for the analysis of imperialism. The theoretical conception developed therein has now been rejected in a number of contributions to the discussion (Klara Bina, Alexander Kiknadze, to a lesser extent Paul Oswald). 

2. The assertion that the imperialist world system is characterized by a “unipolar world order” led by the USA cannot be confirmed by the available data. Both the economic and military balance of power at the top of the imperialist world order refute the picture of singular U.S. domination. 

KKE condemns reinforcement of NATO's presence in Kosovo, calls for the withdrawal of Greek forces

Statement of the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) on the developments in Kosovo:

Unacceptable reinforcement of NATO’s presence - Greek forces must withdraw immediately

Nowadays, there is a sharpening conflict of imperialist interests in various regions of the world, including the Balkans, where the situation formed by Euro-Atlantic intervention, NATO bombings and the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s remains a festering wound.

KKE: On the so-called World Anti-Imperialist Platform and its damaging and disorienting position

Article by the International Relations Section of the CC of the KKE

The outbreak of the imperialist war in Ukraine has sharpened the contradictions within the international communist movement around serious ideological-political issues that have been plaguing it for years and express the opportunist influence in its ranks. Naturally, the focus was on the stance towards the imperialist character of the war that is being waged between the USA-NATO-EU and capitalist Russia on the territory of Ukraine, the stance towards the bourgeoisie and its political representatives such as social democracy, the problematic analyses of the imperialist system and the position of China and Russia, and other issues, more deeply connected with the question of the erroneous strategy of stages towards socialism, of support for and participation in bourgeois governments.

Joint Statement of Communist and Workers' Parties on the one year since the imperialist war in Ukraine

JOINT STATEMENT OF THE COMMUNIST AND WORKERS’ PARTIES ON THE ONE YEAR SINCE THE IMPERIALIST WAR IN UKRAINE

We must strengthen the struggle against the monopolies and the bourgeois classes, for the overthrow of capitalism, for the strengthening of the class struggle against the imperialist war, for socialism!

One year has passed since the start of the imperialist conflict in Ukraine, which is one of the consequences of the tragic situation that has developed for the peoples after the overthrow of socialism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. 

KKE: On the war in Ukraine and China’s “proposals for peace”

On the war in Ukraine and China’s “proposals for peace”" 

Their peace is being built upon the ashes and in the fire of the imperialist war

“Those at the top say:
Peace and war
Are of different substance.
But their peace and their war
Are like wind and storm.
War grows from their peace
Like son from his mother.
He bears
Her frightful features.”

— B. Brecht, From A German War Primer

KKE: Greece’s participation in the imperialist war in Ukraine must stop!

We do not choose a camp between thieves, our only hope lies in the struggle of the peoples!

The KKE addresses the people who want to live in peace, who can no longer bear to see other peoples and their lands being destroyed, who are concerned about the powder keg that has been storing up and the escalation of the imperialist confrontation in Ukraine.

Moscow: Thousands commemorated Joseph Stalin's 70th death anniversary

Defying cold and low temperatures thousands of Muscovites gathered in Red Square on Sunday 5 March in order to commemorate Soviet revolutionary leader Joseph Stalin on the 70th anniversary of his death. 

Waiving soviet flags, holding portraits of Stalin and flowers, people of every age created a long queue in order to pay tribute to the late leader's grave at the Kremlin Necropolis. 

Note on the "World Anti-Imperialist Platform" Meeting in Caracas

In a statement about the meeting of the so-called "World Anti-Imperialist Platform" in Caracas, Venezuela, the International Relations Section of the CC of the Communist Party of Mexico (PCM) notes:

"On March 3, the third meeting of the "World Anti-Imperialist Platform" begins, which amalgamates confused forces unknown until recently, together with strange to the communist movement political groups. Some exist only in the computers and minds of their spokespersons, such as the non-existent "Collective of Struggle for the Revolutionary Unification of Humanity" or the "Platform for Independence" of Greece. 

Italy: Workers, students rally against the imperialist war and the transportation of weapons to Ukraine

Under the slogan “Put down the weapons, raise the wages”, thousands of dockworkers and students protested last week in Genoa and other cities in Italy against the imperialist war and the transportation of weapons to Ukraine.

A strike was declared and organized by USB (Unione Sindacale di Base) trade union, while multiple protests were also held in other cities, including Rome, Milan, Turin and Bologna.