Vietnam's Vice President visits KKE headquarters in Athens

Dimitris Koutsoumbas, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), met on Monday with the Vice President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and member of the CC of the Communist Party of Vietnam Vo Thi Anh Xuan. The meeting took place at the headquarters of the KKE in Perissos, Athens.

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan is on a visit to Greece, as the head of a multi-member delegation consisting by the president of the Women's Union, the deputy ministers of Foreign Affairs, Labour and Social Affairs, Planning and Investments, Industry and Trade, as well as other governmental officials. From the side of the KKE the meeting was also attended by Giorgos Marinos, Politburo member, MEP Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos and Christina Skaloumpaka, president of the Greek Women's Federation. The Ambassador of Vietnam in Greece Le Hong Truong also participated in the meeting. 

Sudanese Communist Party: Message to the people of Sudan

In face of the recent developments in Sudan, the military coup and the people's uprising, the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Sudanese Communist Party addresses the people of the country with the following statement:

"The Security Committee, led by its head, carried out a military coup on 25 October 2021 as a link in a series of military coups that began with the palace coup on 11 April 2019. The aim is the same, which is to block the path to the continuation of the mass movement to achieve the goals and slogans of the glorious December Revolution.

Museum in honor of communist guerrillas unveiled in Greece

“The KKE is the power of the people today, because it doesn't enter the fold of the false 'national arrangements', it does not obey the hostile for the people bourgeois plans”, pointed out Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), during his speech in the northern Greek town of Nestorio on Sunday morning.

The speech was given on the occasion of the inauguration of a Museum-Memorial for  the communist guerrilla fighters of EAM-ELAS and the Democratic Army (DSE), who fought against the Axis occupation and during the Greek Civil War respectively. The Museum was a donation by Harisis Tsoutounis who provided a space “in memory of his militant parents”, as well as to “honor the struggle of EAM-ELAS and DSE, to which the people of the area contributed significantly”.

The 103rd anniversary of Komsomol was honored in Russia

In Red Square, Moscow.

The 29th of October marked the 103rd anniversary since the founding of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, known as Komsomol.

Komsomol became the hope and reserve of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. According to Lenin, it was an organization aimed to “teach communism” to the younger generations. Komsomol members defended the October Revolution from the very first moment, against the counterrevolutionaries and the foreign powers that attacked the country in 1918. 

Workers Lives Matter: Solidarity with the struggle of Cosco workers in Greece

On Monday 25th October, 46 year-old dockworker Dimitris Daglis was killed at pier 2 at the Cosco-owned Piraeus Port Container Station, after he was fatally hit by a crane bridge. 

"It's not the 'bad' moment. It is a result of the intensification of work, the lack of safety measures for our health and our integrity ", the Union of Container Workers at Piraeus Port (ENEDEP) underlined in its statement, declaring a strike in response to the tragic event. 

Important update on Cuba and new maneuvers against the Cuban Revolution

The main problem for the development of Cuba throughout history has been the hostility of the United States, which is not resigned to the existence of a socialist revolution in what they consider to be their backyard or area of influence. To overthrow the government of Cuba they have used the criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade, direct aggression and ideological subversion.

Today the Cuban population is experiencing a particularly difficult situation due to the combination of the blockade, the pandemic, and unilateral coercive measures taken by the US government to erode the people’s support for the revolution. This is compounded by campaigns of lies, of manipulations that try to blame the Cuban government for the economic difficulties in times of pandemic, and they try to present Cuba as a collapsed country and in chaos to provoke a social outbreak and justify external intervention.

Communist and Workers' Parties: The people of Sudan will win! The coup will fail!

In a joint statement, more than 35 Communist and Workers' Parties from all over the world condemn the military coup in Sudan and express their solidarity with the communists and the people of the African country. 

The statement reads:

"The Communist and Workers’ Parties signing this Joint Statement condemn the military coup that took place over the last hours in Sudan.

KKE denounces the despicable anti-communist "resolution" circulated in the European Parliament

Another despicable and unhistorical anti-communist “informal resolution” is being circulated in the European Parliament. According to 902.gr portal, the European Parliament Group of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) denounces that the so-called “Informal group on European Remembrance” tries to promote a shameful resolution which is undersigned by some MEPs from the “European People's Party (EPP)” and the “European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)”. 

What kind of “communists” were elected in Graz?

When the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) won the local elections in Graz, the country's second largest city, we did not hide our concern about the political orientation of the party. “The KPÖ is affiliated to the Party of the European Left, the political alliance which includes social democratic and opportunist forces, like Greece's SYRIZA, Germany's Die Linke and Spain's United Left”, we wrote.

Eventually, the KPO and its Graz branch has received strong, but justified, critique by the Party of Labour (PdA) which was formed in 2013 by a Marxist-Leninist breakaway faction of the KPÖ who disagreed with the party's opportunist turn. According to the Party of Labour's chairman, Tibor Zenker, the KPÖ “is not a Marxist-Leninist party”, while concepts such as class struggle, socialist revolution and communism are included neither in the rhetoric, nor in the activities, of the KPO ("Das dunkelrote Graz", zeitungderarbeit.at). 

Worker killed at Cosco-owned Piraeus Port in Greece

A 46-year-old dockworker was killed on Monday afternoon at pier 2 at the Piraeus Container Station, when, under unclear circumstances, he was fatally hit by a crane bridge.

"It's not the 'bad' moment. It is a result of the intensification of work, the lack of safety measures for our health and our integrity ", the Union of Container Workers at Piraeus Port underlines in its statement, demanding 6-hour shifts, abolition of counter shifts, conversion of all contracts into full and Health and Safety Committees by employees. 

KKE: Solidarity with the people of Sudan

In a statement (here in Greek) about the developments in Sudan, where the military seized power and dissolved civilian rule, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) points out the following:

“The KKE expresses its full solidarity to the suffering people of Sudan, the working class and the comrades of the Sudanese Communist Party, who are experiencing another coup. 

Free Carmen Villalba! Joint statement by Communist Parties denounces the Paraguayan government

In a joint statement titled "For the validity of the rule of law: freedom for prisoners with completed sentences", Communist and Workers' Parties denounce the illegal detention of Carmen Villalba despite the fact that she has completed all her prison sentences.

The full statement, which was published on solidnet.org, is the following (in English and Spanish):

The undersigned Communist and Workers Parties denounce the Paraguayan government to the international community for the illegal detention of Carmen Villalba, who is still being held in the Asunción Women's Prison, in Paraguay, despite the effective fulfillment of her sentence.

Truth and Lies about the 1956 counterrevolution in Hungary

The historical experience of socialist construction in the Soviet Union and the People's Democracies of Europe confirmed that class struggle continues during socialist construction, which means that a counterrevolution is possible. 

 

The attempts to overthrow the workers' power in a number of European countries (counterrevolutionary attempted coup in the GDR in 1953, attempted counterrevolutions in Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Poland in 1980-81) was nothing other than efforts of the defeated bourgeois classes of these countries to retake power. These efforts, as we shall see below, were strongly supported by international imperialism in a multifaceted way.

Communists back Tel Aviv SlutWalk against sexual violence

About 2,000 participants marched in a SlutWalk in Tel Aviv on Friday, October 15, protesting sexual violence, discrimination and victim-blaming.  

 

Participants, among them members of the Young Communist League of Israel, shouted slogans such as: “I believe you,” while carrying signs with pictures of sex offenders and major streets across the city were blocked as demonstrators made their way to the main rally at Habima Square.

Monument dedicated to Yuri Gagarin unveiled in Portugal

The bust of the legendary Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man who traveled to space in 1961, was unveiled in the Oeiras municipality of the Lisbon metropolitan area in Portugal.

The bronze bust, which was placed in the Tagush Park Technopark, was presented to the city by the International Charitable Foundation “Dialogue of Cultures – One World”, while the event was attended by the Russian Ambassador in Portugal.

PAME: Solidarity with the workers' strikes in the USA

John Deree employees protest in Davenport, Iowa.

In a statement of solidarity towards the recent mobilizations and strikes by workers throughout the United States, the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME), Greece's class-based union movement, stresses out:

"PAME, which represents the class union movement of Greece, a member of the WFTU, expresses solidarity with the workers in the USA who are in various mobilizations, strikes and protests, claiming Collective Agreements with salary increases in many sectors.

EU's concern for the rise of far-right extremism and racism is hypocritical, says KKE MEP

KKE MEP Kostas Papadakis speaking in Strasbourg.

“The organized struggle of the people against the system that generates fascism can isolate the criminal-fascist gangs, said Kostas Papadakis, MEP of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), highlighting the hypocrisy of the European Union on the matter, during his intervention at the Plenary of the EU Parliament in Strasbourg.

Speaking at the debate concerning the “rise of the right-wing extremism and racism in Europe” on October 20th, the KKE MEP pointed out:

Flashback: Remembering the 2011 murderous attack against PAME rally in Athens

Today, 20 October, marks the 10th anniversary of the organized murderous attack unleashed by parastatal groups, anarchists, fascists and other provocateurs against the huge rally of PAME and trade unions in Athens in 2011. Back then, as a response to the anti-people measures taken by the PASOK government, the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) and class-oriented trade unions and workers' associations had organized enormous strike mobilizations on 19-20 October throughout Greece,

Dutch communists condemn police violence against housing protesters in Rotterdam

Under the slogan "Houses for people, not profit," more than 7,000 people from all over the country gathered on Sunday in the city of Rotterdam for a national housing rally named "Woonopstand".

The demonstrators denounced the long waiting lists for social housing, the high prices in the private rental sector, the owner-occupied market, and the rising number of homeless people. 

"Farewell" to Colin Powell

Bolivia's jailed dictator Jeanine Áñez nominated for EU's Sakharov Prize!

The story behind the European Parliament's so-called “Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought” is known. Each year, the EU Parliament awards the Sakharov Prize to “honour” “exceptional individuals and organisations” who supposedly defend “human rights” and “fundamental freedoms”. 

 

Nonetheless, the actual aim behind this “award” is the attempt of the European Union to present herself as a “defender of human rights”, to reward the stooges of imperialism and to promote anti-communism. 

Mexico's AMLO government orders brutal crackdown against striking workers

Right: President Obrador with business magnate Carlos Slim

Since the early hours of yesterday, October 12, the more than 5,000 workers who are building the Dos Bocas refinery, in the Mexican state of Tabasco, began a protest against the ICA Fluor employer, owned by Carlos Slim, businessman affiliated to the current social democratic government headed by Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).

It is the second mobilization of workers so far this year, who do not stop demanding compliance with their labor rights, especially the reduction of their working hours, the payment of overtime and other basic rights.

KKE denounces the new Greece-US military agreement

In a press release on the amendment of the “Greece–US defence agreement” and the statements of Ministers of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias and Anthony Blinken in Washington DC, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) stresses the following:

“The so-called defence —but in reality extremely aggressive— agreement between Greece and the USA constitutes a dangerous development that further entangles our country in the US and NATO war plans in the wider region. Besides, the reference of the US Secretary of State to Greece's contribution to the war in Afghanistan foreshadows many new cases like Afghanistan, with the active participation of Greece. 

Chilean Communist Party condemns police violence against Mapuche people

With the declaration of a state of emergency, police repression and militarization of four provinces Chilean President Sebastián Piñera responds to the extensive demonstrations by indigenous Mapuche groups.

The Mapuches, which are the main indigenous group in Chile, are claiming the lands they have lived off for centuries and now are under the control of large domestic and foreign farming and forestry companies. 

California: A communist for Long Beach City Council

Good news come from California and especially Long Beach where a Communist Party (CPUSA) member is running for the City Council elections on June 2022. 

 

Steven Estrada, a community organizer and U.S. Army Veteran, is candidate for District 1 and, if elected, he would serve a four-year term alongside eight others representing different council members, People's World reports. 

Greece-US agreement on military bases must be cancelled!

By Nikos Mottas.

Today, Thursday 14 October, Greece's Minister of Foreign Affairs visits Washington DC in order to sign the the second Protocol of Amendment of the Greek-US Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA) with his U.S counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The right-wing New Democracy government, continuing the “Strategic Dialogue” with the United States which was initiated by social democratic SYRIZA, promotes the renewal of the Greece-US Agreement on military bases for a period of 5 years and then its transformation indefinetely, as well as the installation of more military bases in many regions.

Swaziland: Solidarity with the students — Down with Mswati

"The military and police in Swaziland (Eswatini) have been deployed all over the country as students’ protests continued on Tuesday. During the Monday protests, the security forces shot, arrested and tortured students who defended their right to education", reads a statement by the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS). 

Over 80 schools across Swaziland have been indefinitely shut down since the protests intensified in the last three weeks.

Iraqi communists boycott early elections, call for radical change

In a statement about the parliamentary elections in Iraq, the Iraqi Communist Party stresses out:

Iraq’s early parliamentary elections on 10 October 2021 were characterised by a very low turnout, at about 20%, confirming the fact that Iraqi voters have no confidence in an electoral system designed to perpetuate the corrupt ethno-sectarian power-sharing system that was installed after the US war and occupation of the country in 2003.

The Communist Party of Turkey on the Kurdish Issue

In a statement issued on 9 October, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) refers to the Kurdish Issue, stressing out that it must be analyzed from a class perspective. 

The full statement of the TKP is the following:

"A small segment of the population in Turkey possesses enormous wealth, while millions of people are struggling with poverty and unemployment.

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”. 

Czech Republic: Why did the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia fail in the elections?

For the first time since 1948, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) will not be represented in either house of the Czech government.

In this week's election in the Czech Republic, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia took 3.62% of the votes with nearly all precincts reporting, less than the 5% needed to enter parliament.

“I am very disappointed because it is a really big failure,” said KSČM leader Vojtech Filip, who also resigned. 

Greek communists honored the exiled martyrs of Gyaros

Hundreds of communists, members and friends of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) participated in an emotional event in Gyaros island (also known as Gioura), honoring the memory of the thousands of exiled communists and left political dissidents who were imprisoned there from 1948 to 1974.

The event, which took place on Saturday 9 October, was organized by the KKE Party Organization of Attica. 

Italy in the streets: General Strike on October 11th

In a statement the Italian USB Trade Union (Unione Sindacale di Base), jointly with other class oriented trade unions and workers' association, has proclaimed a General Strike, for both public and private sector, throughout the country on October 11th. 

The statement reads:

The Draghi government has literally removed from the economic recovery plan of the country the interests of Italian workers. With the complicit support of CGIL, CISL and UIL, the layoffs have been unlocked, starting a wave of redundancies, relocations and heavy restructuring throughout the private sector.

Solidarity with the working people and the CP of Venezuela (PCV) against the attack on its political and electoral rights

In a joint statement more than 25 Communist and Workers' Parties from all over the world express their solidarity with the working people and the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV). Among others, the statement denounces the recent anti-communist attacks in the National Assembly against PCV General Secretary Óscar Figuera.

The full statement (in English and Spanish) is the following: 

Communists in Vienna: "We are not paying for your crisis!"

“We are not paying for your crisis”. Under this campaign slogan, the Party of Labour of Austria (PdA) organized on Saturday 3 October a political rally at the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce at Wiedener Hauptstrasse in Vienna. In the coming weeks and months the party will intervene with a campaign which, among others, will focus on the collective bargaining and will try to expose the treacherous role of the social democratic labor aristocracy.

Speeches at the PdA rally were delivered by Tibor Zenker, the party's chairman, as well as Raffael Schöberl, former chairman of the Communist Youth of Austria (KJÖ). 

Stalin did not deport German communists to Hitler

By Grover Furr.

A critique of an essay by Alex de Jong in Jacobin magazine, August 2021.

In August 2021, the social-democratic magazine Jacobin published an article by Dutch writer Alex de Jong titled “Stalin Handed Hundreds of Communist Over to Hitler”. The assertion in the article’s title is false. De Jong’s article, and other articles and books that make this claim, all commit the following three cardinal errors:

KKE: "The mass people's struggle will crush the fascists"

"It is the mass popular action that will isolate and crush the fascist criminal elements" underlines a statement issued by the Press Bureau of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) concerning the murderous attack against KKE and KNE members which took place on Sunday 3/10 in Thessaloniki.

More specifically, the statement reads (here in Greek):

Greece – Fascists attacked and injured members of KKE and KNE in Thessaloniki

A murderous attack on members of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and its youth wing, KNE, who were distributing leaflets in Eleftherias Square in Ilioupolis, Thessaloniki, took place earlier today by a group of about 10 to 15 fascists.

According to eyewitnesses the fascist mob used thick chains, knives and even tasers, injuring at least three to four people before disappearing into the surrounding straits.

Communist Party of Armenia: Yerjanik Ghazaryan re-elected First Secretary

On September 26, during the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia, Yerjanik Ghazaryan was unanimously re-elected the First Secretary of the party.

The newly elected First Secretary delivered a speech, in which he referred to the internal political situation in Armenia, the Armenian-Russian relations, the forthcoming local elections, and the further actions of the party.

In a congratulatory message the First Vice Сhairman of the CC of the  Union of Communist Parties-Communist Party of the Soviet Union (UCP-CPSU) Kazbek Taysaev notes:

KKE and KNE are committed in the struggle against fascism

“The KKE and KNE, as they should do, are giving all their forces in the struggle against fascism, being aware of its abominable face, but also knowing that fascism will be irrevocably crushed by the people with their struggle against the capitalist system  which generates it”, points out Theano Kapeti, member of the Political Bureau of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and Secretary of the Party Organization in Central Macedonia, in an article published in “Ta Nea” newspaper.

Venezuela: Anti-communist rampage by PSUV deputy

PSUV's Pedro Carreño (left) and PCV leader Figuera

In a statement the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) denounces the anti-communist slanders launched by the deputy of the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Pedro Carreño against General Secretary Oscar Figuera in the National Assembly. 

Below you can read the statement of the PCV in English and Spanish:

"In the September 14 National Assembly session, Deputy Oscar Figuera (Communist Party (PCV) and Popular Revolutionary Alternative (APR)) raised questions over the current pact between bourgeois elites which seeks to impose neoliberal policies on the country. 

Israel's Communist Party to hold its 28th Congress

The Communist Party of Israel (CPI) is currently winding up its preparations for the party’s 28th Congress to be held between October 7th and 9th in the Arab city of Shefa-Amr (Shfar’am) in the Galilee.

The Congress will be taking place during a period of turbulent developments in the Middle East, with popular movements protesting for democracy and social justice in countries throughout the region, while the forces of Imperialism maneuver to take advantage of events for their own interests. Israel’s new Bennet government, which enjoys the backing of US Imperialism, repeatedly threatens to launch a new war of aggression, in particular against Iran. Such aggression would have grave consequences for the peoples of the region, with especially disastrous results for the people in Israel.

Greece: Fascists, neo-Nazis attack students outside school

A mob of fascists and neo-Nazis wearing hoods and crash helmets attacked an anti-fascist rally of students in a high school in the Greek city of Thessaloniki on Tuesday morning. The event took place outside the EPAL vocational school in the suburb of Stavroupolis, when a group of approximately 30 fascists came out of the school premises and attacked the rally with bats and knives leading to at least two injuries. 

KKE: Statement on Greece-France defense agreement

The Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued the following statement on the strategic partnership between Greece and France as well as Mitsotakis and Macron’s statements:

“The people need to understand the essence behind the government’s celebrations, namely the fierce geopolitical competition and negotiations in which Greece is dangerously involved. An integral part of the above is the excessive —and never-ending— expenditure on armament programmes, which mainly serve other objectives and not the country’s defence, while the Greek people are called upon to pay for them with heavy sacrifices.

Russia: CPRF statement on the election results

In a statement concerning the recent legislative elections, the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) demands the cancellation of the electronic voting results as fraud, a fair and open investigation on each violation case and calls the Russian government to stop the persecution of Party members and supporters!

The full statement of party is the following: 

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.