Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) wins local election in Graz

The Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) is the winner of the municipal election held on Sunday in the country’s second-largest city, Graz.

According to preliminary results, the KPÖ came out on top on Sunday with 29% of the vote, ahead of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) on 25.7%.

Communist candidate Elke Kahr told reporters that the magnitude of the municipal election result was "more than surprising".  "Some people make promises a few weeks before the elections. We are there every day and for years for the people, especially for the poorest," she said.

September 11th, 2001: A tragedy utilized by imperialism

 By Nikos Mottas.

The September 11th marked the 20th anniversary since the terrorist attacks in New York City and Virginia which costed the lives of 3,000 people. Following the attacks the U.S. administration of George W. Bush launched the so-called “War against Terrorism” which led to military interventions in the Middle East, starting with the imperialist war in Afghanistan. Twenty years later we can draw important conclusions about how the U.S. government and its NATO allies actually utilized the savage terrorist attacks of September 11th in order to consolidate and spread their power throughout the world. 

KKE on German election: No positive change for the people

Germany's center-left Social Democrats (SPD) won the biggest share of the vote in Sunday election, narrowly beating outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Union bloc (CDU/CSU) in a closely fought race that will determine who succeeds the long-time leader at the helm of Europe's biggest economy.

With all 299 of Germany's electoral districts reporting, the SPD won 25.7% of the vote, beating out the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the centrist-right, conservative party of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, which posted record losses by taking 24.1%, according to the Federal Returning Officer. 

Dimitris Koutsoumbas at KNE-Odigitis festival: "The KKE is here, for the society of true freedom, for socialism!"

The third and last day of the 47th KNE-Odigitis festival in Athens, on Saturday 25th September, was concluded with a massive political event with speakers being Nikos Abatielos, Secretary of the Central Council of KNE and Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). 

 

This year's festival was marked by a record attendance, with thousands of people, workers, young men and women, from every part of the Greek capital participating in the major events.

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.

Italy: Solidarity with Alitalia workers!

Hundreds of striking air workers blocked the highway to Rome's Fiumicino airport on Friday demonstrating against the government's plans to cut jobs in the transition between Alitalia and a new carrier dubbed ITA. 

Italian police forces responded with violence to the workers' protesting at the highway. 

Unions say that only 2,800 out of a total of nearly 11,000 employees of Alitalia will be immediately re-hired by ITA and that the labour contract offered by ITA will be less generous than the one of Alitalia.

German elections: The workers must strengthen the DKP!

The 2021 German Federal election (Bundestagswahl 2021) is expected to be held on Sunday 26 September to elect members of the 20th Bundestag. On the same day, state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are going to be held. 

Although the election process in bourgeois democracy is certainly not an instrument for revolutionary change, the working men and women of Germany have on Sunday an extraordinary opportunity: To strengthen their own voice, by voting the German Communist Party (DKP). 

KNE-Odigitis Festival kicked off in Athens (Drone video)

Thousands of people of every age, from every part of Athens, attended the events of the first day of the 47th KNE-Odigitis Festival which kicked off yesterday at Tritsis multidisciplinacy park. 

Numerous cultural and political events took place on Thursday, including a music concert by popular singer George Dalaras dedicated to the late iconic composer Mikis Theodorakis, stand up comedy, concerts at the student's stage, as well as a theatrical performance about the Paris Commune and a discussion on the situation in Afghanistan. 

The legalization of the KKE in 1974

By Nikos Mottas.

It was on 23 September 1974 when the Greek government of “national unity”, under Konstantine Karamanlis, was publicly announcing the legalization of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) after 27 years. Alongside with the legislative decree, the government was repealing the infamous Law 509/1947 which was a source of persecutions, exiles, tortures and executions of thousands of communists during the post-war years. 

On 25 September 1974 the front page of “Rizospastis”, the official organ of the KKE, was dominated by the Greeting Message of the Central Committee to the working class, the peasantry, the whole people. Here is a significant excerpt of the message:

Greece: Thousands delivery workers rallied against "e-food" blackmails

Thousands food-delivery workers held massive moto-protests in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities all over Greece demanding Jobs with rights and permanent contracts against the threats and blackmails of the company "e-food" (subsidiary of the German multinational "Delivery Hero") which threatened the workers with a text to their phones either to accept becoming a “freelancer” or to be fired by not renewing the three-month contracts.

Communist Party of Mexico bids farewell to long-time cadre Héctor Colío Galindo

Héctor Colío Galindo, a militant communist and long-time cadre of the Communist Party of Mexico, has died of Covid-19 on September 21, his Party announced. 

In a statement issued today, the Communist Party (PCM) bids farewell to comrade Héctor Colío Galindo.

Héctor Colío Galindo was Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Mexico in 1999-2000 and in 2001-2003. He was born on August 1, 1951 in Mexico City, and at the age of 17, in 1968, he began his militancy. As a communist youth leader, he was one of those responsible for the activity of the World Federation of Democratic Youth in Mexico, and as such one of the members of the International Organizing Committee of the XI World Festival of Youth and Students.

Australian communists condemn AUKUS agreement

In a statement about the tripartite Agreement between the Governments of Australia, the United States and Britain (AUKUS), the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) points out the following:

"The Communist Party of Australia urges all its members and supporters to actively oppose the Morrison Government’s decision to join the AUKUS Agreement; to buy nuclear-powered submarines; to purchase cruise missiles and other offensive weapons; and for Australia to host more US troops, warships, weapons, and planes. The announcement was made at the 31st Australia-United States Ministerial Consultation in Washington. 

Russia: Communist Party gets big boost in elections

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) is considered the big winner of the 2021 legislative elections despite the victory of Vladimir Putin's governing United Russia party.  

 

Russian authorities have been accused of large-scale vote rigging in the election process over the weekend, while the Kremlin denies the allegations.

With 95.05% of the voting results processed, CPRF gains 19.20% of the votes, while the United Russia party secures 49.63% of the ballots on the party list to the State Duma (lower house of parliament).

Thousands of people attended KNE Festival in Thessaloniki

It was one of the largest festivals organized by the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) in Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city, during the last 30 years. Thousands of people of every age visited the KNE-Odigitis Festival which was organized on September 16-18 at the open space of Karatasou multidisciplinacy park under the slogan "live, dare, move on - for the society of true freedom, Socialism".

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas visited the festival on Thursday 16 September, while the central political event took place on Friday with a speech delivered by the KKE Political Bureau member Kyrillos Papastavrou. 

"No to AUKUS, war and imperialism", says Britain's YCL

The Central Committee of the Young Communist League of Britain (YCL) has issued the following statement in response to the announcement of the new AUKUS (Australia-UK-US) nuclear aggression pact.

The YCL completely opposes the reckless and aggressive actions of Boris Johnson’s Tory Government, at the command of their US puppet masters in the White House and the Pentagon, to create a new hostile pact aimed at attacking China and exerting imperialist control over South East Asia.

Anti-imperialist protest against NATO Military Committee summit in Athens

“Neither soil nor water to the murderers of the people”. With this slogan, thousands of working men and women, trade unions, the Greek Committee for International Detente and Peace (EEDYE), the Federation of Greek Women (OGE) and students' unions marched on Friday in Athens against NATO's Military Committee which convenes in the Greek capital on 17-19 September.

The protesters gathered at Eleftherias Square and then marched towards the U.S. embassy, denouncing the strengthening of the so-called Greece-USA “defense agreement” which turns the country into a vast US-NATO military base. The demonstrators called for the decisive organization of the struggle against the dangerous policy of the Greek government, against the country's involvement in the US-NATO imperialist plans which pose grave threats for the people. 

Russia Duma elections: Communist Party (CPRF) denounces law violations and censorship

Parliamentary and local elections began on Friday in Russia and will last three days. Voters are electing 450 MPs for the Duma (parliament) in Moscow and a number of cities have introduced electronic voting. 

President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party is expected to win despite the decline of popularity in the last few years. 

In a statement the International Department of the CC of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) denounces attacks on the party, law violations by the government and censorship by mass media. The full statement is the following:

KKE MEP denounces EU machinations against Cuba

Once again, the European Union and its mechanisms play a leading role in promotin counterrevolutionary “voices” against Cuba. This time, the anti-Cuban show was staged at the EU Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) under the mantle of “activism” and with the known pretexts of “democracy” and “human rights”.

In his intervention, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) MEP Kostas Papadakis strongly denounced the anti-communist provocations against Cuba. More specifically, the KKE eurodeputy said:

Communist employees turn London arms fair upside down

Employees organized a surprise protest at an arms fair in London, by setting off flares and smoke grenades during the event. 

The men were working at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair at the ExCeL in east London when they set off the flares.

In footage posted by the Young Communist League (YCL), the protesters stood on a carpet outside a stall for security firm Lockheed Martin while dressed in high-viz jackets. They then lifted their arms in the air and set off their smoke grenades as men dressed in suits shuffled past.   

Communist Party of Venezuela: Maduro government returns to the IMF, gives in to imperialism

In a statement concerning the second round of negotiations between the social democratic government of Nicolas Maduro and the pro-US opposition in Mexico, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) points out:

"The second round of negotiations between the two opposing groups of the national bourgeoisie took place in Mexico from September 3 to 6. Both sides have announced two initial partial agreements as being a great advance for the interests of the country and the Venezuelan people. One agreement refers to "the defense of the sovereignty of Venezuela over the Essequibo Strip" while the other comes under the title of "an agreement for the social protection of the Venezuelan people”. 

Abimael Guzmán, leader of Peru's Shining Path, dies at 86

Abimael Guzmán, the historic leader of the Shining Path, died on Saturday at the age of 86 in Peru while serving a life sentence in the maximum security prison of the Callao Naval Base.

Also known by the name "comrade Gonzalo," Guzmán died due to a generalized infection at the Naval Hospital, where he was being treated for deterioration in his health.

A former philosophy professor, he had been serving a life sentence for terrorism and treason since 1992. In 1969 Abimael Guzmán and 11 others founded the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso in Spanish), a guerrilla group of Maoist influences which tried to lead a "people's war" to overthrow Peru's bourgeois democracy. 

Big rally by TKP in Istanbul: Now is the time for socialism!

Photo: sol.org.tr

Under the slogan "Now is the time for socialism", thousands of people, men and women of every age, gathered at Kartal Square, Istanbul, in order to attend the rally organized by the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP). 

Speaking at the rally, TKP Secretary General Kemal Okuyan said among others: "We are a family, a growing family that fights against lies and exploitation. TKP is acting with great self-confidence at its 101st year, it is spreading and growing. Come and be a part of this struggle, if you are still not in the ranks of the TKP. We are the future of Turkey".