KKE and French communists honored the 150th anniversary of the Paris Commune

Photo: 902.gr

“We are here in Paris to culminate the rich program of tributes, events, publications and other activities through which our Party honors the heroic Paris Commune, 150 years since the first “storming of dream” by the working class. We are here, we walked in the footsteps of the Commune and drawing strength and knowledge from its teachings, we continue the beautiful but difficult struggle. So that dreams will be vindicated”, said Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the CC of the KKE, during a speech in Paris, France.

Dimitris Koutsoumbas — The struggle against “green” and “digital” capitalist barbarism

On Sunday 28 November, the European Communist Initiative held a teleconference titled "The communists at the forefront of the workers’–people’s struggle against “green” and “digital” capitalist barbarism, for the contemporary popular needs, for the real way out, socialism". 

Below you can read the introductory speech delivered by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas:

Communist Party of Ireland on COP26: "There is no green capitalism possible"

In a statement about the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference held in Glasgow, the Communist Party of Ireland stresses out:

"The future belongs to socialism and to those who fight for it.

The jamboree that was the COP26 closed and a statement issued to the press. Their carefully choreographed opinion pieces, the television news features of how “western democracies” are leading the fight to save the planet and the parcelling of selected nations as villains into neat packages to reassure the gullible that it is not capitalism that is the problem. Nothing has fundamentally changed.   

USSR 2.0: Half of Russians would prefer the Soviet system

Thirty years after the counterrevolution and the restoration of capitalism in Russia, the prestige of socialism remains in high levels despite the waves of anti-communist propaganda.

 

A recent poll conducted by Levada Center comes to confirm that more and more Russians appreciate the significant achievements of the socialist period.

According to the survey, which was conducted between 19 and 26 August 2021, half of Russians (49%) would prefer the Soviet political system. This is the highest number since the early 2000s. Only 18% chose the current political system, while 16% believe that the best political system is “the Western model of democracy”. 

Socialism Is a Series of Communist Projects

By Charles Andrews*.

In the 1950s many workers had steady jobs with a health plan, sick leave, and annual paid vacation. They could afford to buy a home, which in parts of the country had mortgage payments as low as rent. It was a dramatic change from the Great Depression of the 1930s. 

What did tomorrow hold? The outlook was vague but good. Neither the capitalist class, its government officials, nor church leaders offered a definite vision of the future. Very few people sought out the left.

"As long as the Soviet Union existed no one was hungry"

A white t-shirt with the initials of the Soviet Union in Russian (CCCP) and the sickle and hammer were enough to infuriate anti-communists in social media. 

Julia Nova, a Greek model and TV presenter (photo), decided to share with her followers the happiness of pregnancy by uploading a photo on her Instagram profile account. 

The photo of her wearing a t-shirt with the "USSR" initials on it provoked the angry reaction of anti-communists, right-wingers and various social media trolls who attacked her. Julia, who is of Ukrainian origin, became the target of rude and derisive comments by some users who apparently can't stand in the view of the sickle and hammer.

Cuba's example shone in Tokyo Olympics with 15 medals

 By Nikos Mottas

The performance of the Cuban athletes who took part in the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo and achieved a total of 15 medals causes admiration and pride. 

Leaving behind much larger countries with rich tradition in sports, the small socialist Cuba with a population of 11 million people ranked 14th in the Olympic medal list, winning seven gold, three silver and five bronze medals.

Of course, this is not the first time that Cuba performs great in the Olympics; For many decades, despite the genocidal economic, trade and financial blockade imposed by the United States, the Island of the Revolution has triumphed in multiple Olympiads.

USA: More than 40% of Americans view socialism positively

Despite the decades of persistent and severe anti-communist propaganda by the bourgeois mechanisms in the United States of America, more than 40% of adult U.S. citizens view socialism in a positive way.

According to a recent survey conducted by Axios/Momentive, socialism has positive connotations for 41% of adult U.S. citizens, 2 per cent up since 2019.  Furthermore, Socialism has positive connotations for 60% of Black Americans, 45% of American women and 33% of non-white Republicans. Those numbers have grown over the past two years from 53%, 41% and 27%, respectively.  

“Since the time of Perestroika we have been freezing": 85-year-old Russian woman lived without heating for 30 years

Her name is Vera Pavlova and she is 85 years old. She survived the Siege of Leningrad in 1942, overpassing the difficulties of the Second World War, but the restoration of capitalism in the Soviet Union reserved a devastating surprise for her: She lived without heating for 30 years!

Pavlova's apartment is on a five-story building which stands on the shore of the bay next to a Soviet shipyard in Feodosia, Crimea. After the victory of the counterrevolution in the beginning of 1990s, the plant and the boiler house that provided heating to the workers' houses, was closed. 

A YEAR OF CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC — JOINT STATEMENT BY COMMUNIST AND WORKERS' PARTIES

A year after the outbreak of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Communist and Workers' Parties from all over the world issued a statement assessing the current situation and pledge to continue the struggle for public, free and universal healthcare services, as well as for protection of the workers-people's democratic rights. 

 

The statement, among others, underline the fact that the pandemic has highlighted the necessity of Socialism which can put the contemporary scientific and technological potential at the service of the people's needs. 

The full statement is as follows:

PCTE: 100 years after the foundation of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE)

Statement of the Central Committee of the PCTE on the Centenary of the Foundation of the PCE (SEIC):

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE) addresses to all the workers from our country in the start of 2021 – 100 years after the foundation of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) as the Spanish Section of the Communist International (SEIC) – and conveys the following statement.

62nd anniversary of the Cuban Revolution - Somos Continuidad!

By Nikos Mottas.

Sixty-two years ago, on January 1, 1959, the rebel forces of the 26th of July Movement, led by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, seized the capital Havana, forcing dictator Batista to flee. Hence started a long and tumultuous journey of rebuilding a nation based on the principles of socialism.

The Cuban Revolution, the first socialist revolution in the Americas, was one of the 20th century's most significant events. It became - and continues being - a reference point for the workers-people's movement in Latin America and the whole world.

Capitalism is the virus, Socialism is the vaccine!

By Nikos Mottas.

The 2008 global capitalist economic crisis, the effects of which are still visible today, was a tremendous opportunity for the big capitalists to increase their wealth. During a period of ten years, from 2008 to 2018, the number of billionaires was doubled, like their profits. It has been proved that the crisis generates more capitalists.

The Coronavirus pandemic, which has plagued the world since the beginning of 2020, comes to confirm that capitalist barbarity “feeds” from the people's death, poverty, impoverishment and exploitation. The recent report by Forbes is revealing: 

Youth in Survival Against Pandemic and Capitalism: SOCIALISM or BARBARISM

Twenty European Communist Youth Organizations have gathered on the 103rd anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution at the “Online Meeting of European Communist Youth Organizations to Share Experiences” and exchanged their experiences about the struggle of the youth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, working people all around the world are envisaging numerous attacks against their rights. Their right to healthcare is getting vandalized by capitalist governments who are promoting private health industry instead of public healthcare. 

Hanna Gharib: The socialist ideology has succeeded in the battle against Covid-19, whereas capitalism failed

"The socialist ideology had succeeded in the battle against COVID-19, whereas capitalist-oriented countries had failed. This pandemic had explicitly showed the greedy side of the capitalist system", was the message conveyed by Hanna Gharib, General Secretary of the Lebanese Communist Party, during the online lecture “Socialism and Capitalism in post-COVID-19 era”, organized by the Chinese Communist Party, in partnership with Arab Leftist Parties. 

Hanna Gharib referred on how states like China, Cuba and Vietnam succeeded against the COVID-19 pandemic, in sharp contrast with the failure of most capitalist states to protect their people. (Read here his speech)

Nostalgia for Socialism: Most Russians say that life would be better if Perestroika had never happened

Thirty-five years have passed since the beginning of Mikhail Gorbachev disastrous Perestroika policy which led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Today, almost half of the Russian people believe that life would be better if Perestroika had never happened. 

According to a poll conducted by Levada Center, 47% of Russians acknowledge that life in the country was better before Gorbachev's destructive reform plan, with just 39% disagreeing. A 14% of the participants found "difficult to answer". 

Croatia's Socialist Workers' Party (SRP) ready to participate in July 5th parliamentary elections

Under the slogans “Consistent for Socialism” and “Capitalism is barbarism”, the Socialist Workers’ Party of Croatia (SRP) participates in the parliamentary election which will take place on July 5, 2020. 

The Socialist Worker’s Party is a member of the European Communist Initiative and a frequent participant in the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP). 

Not Populism, Not Socialism, but Communism Will Get It Done

By Charles Andrews.

The ruling classes of developed countries get a lot of pushback these days from the masses they hold in contempt. The voters whom U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton insulted as “deplorables” went and put Donald Trump in the Oval office in 2016, daring to elect someone who was not a vetted ruler of capitalism. Then his near opposite, self-identified socialist Bernie Sanders, came back stronger than ever for the 2020 presidential primaries. Socialism has become a recognized political stance that cannot be red-baited off the stage. 

How the Indian communist-run state of Kerala successfully fought Coronavirus outbreak

The Indian state of Kerala has been a role model in the fight against Coronavirus pandemic. With a population of 34 million people, Kerala is governed by the ruling coalition of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which is led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The state’s Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, is a member of the Communist Party’s Political Bureau. 

The communist party-run state has managed to contain COVID-19 spread better than most other Indian states. Kerala has reported only 4 deaths (COVID-19 related) with 600 cases after more than 3 months since the first outbreak of the virus in January. 

European Communist Initiative: The slogan "Socialism or Barbarity" is more timely than ever

On May 10, 2020, a Teleconference of the parties of the European Communist Initiative was held, with the theme: "The struggle of the Communist and Labor Parties in the conditions of the pandemic and the new capitalist crisis".

The Teleconference was attended by 24 Communist and Labor Parties from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland,  Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine.