vol. 4, no. 6, November 12th, 2011
Si vous désirez lire en français: http://wwwlavienglish.blogspot.com/
“… Between 
Marx and Engels on the one hand, and Lenin, on the other, there lies a whole period of domination of opportunism… This was the period of the relatively peaceful development of capitalism, the pre-war period, so to speak, when the catastrophic contradictions of imperialism had not yet became so glaringly evident, when workers’ economic
Marx and Engels on the one hand, and Lenin, on the other, there lies a whole period of domination of opportunism… This was the period of the relatively peaceful development of capitalism, the pre-war period, so to speak, when the catastrophic contradictions of imperialism had not yet became so glaringly evident, when workers’ economic (Photo KKE: Greek people recalling their "no" to fascist Italy and current "no" to EU diktates)
strikes and trade unions were developing more or less ‘normally,’ when election campaigns and parliamentary groups yielded ‘dizzying’ successes, when legal forms of struggle were lauded to the skies, and when it was thought that capitalism would be ‘killed’ by legal means – in short, when the parties of the Second International were living in clover and had no inclination to think seriously about revolution, about the dictatorship of the proletariat, about the revolutionary education of the masses.
Instead of an integral revolutionary theory, there were contradictory theoretical postulates and fragments of theory, which were divorced from the actual revolutionary struggle of the masses and had been turned into threadbare dogmas. For the sake of appearances, Marx’s theory was mentioned, of course, but only to rob it of its living, revolutionary spirit. (J.V. Stalin, Foundations of Leninism, Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1975, p. 1975, pp. 11-12).
However, the Leninist theory or revolution proved that:
“the front of capital will be pierced where the chain of imperialism is weakest, for the proletarian revolution is the result of the breaking of the chain of the world imperialist front at its weakest link; and it may turn out that the country which has started the revolution, which has made a breach in the front of capital, is less developed in a capitalist sense than other, more developed, countries, which have, however, remained within the framework of capitalism.” (Ibidem, pp. 26-27)
After WW 2,
“ The confrontation between imperialism and the socialist camp was the genuine expression of class struggle at international scale. (Raul Martinez Turrero, From “Eurocommunism” to present opportunism), International Communist Review, Issue # 2, September 2011, p. 83)
The imperialist ideological think-tanks assisted and widely circulated Eurocommunist conceptions that they contemptuously called “orthodox” or “pro-Soviet”. Eurocommunism, represented mainly by the parties of Italy, France and Spain, is named after the capitalist news agencies, who with this name, referred to organizations that shared the defense of a number of points of view:
-Opposition to the existence of an organized international communist movement, defending the thesis of so-called “polycentrism” in face of the experience of the Communist International (Komintern) and the Information Office of the Communist and Workers' Parties (Kominform).
-The replacement of the category of “proletarian internationalism”, which they identified with the unconditional defense of the Soviet Union and the political line of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and with that of “internationalist solidarity” or “new internationalism”.
-The replacement of the category of “proletarian internationalism”, which they identified with the unconditional defense of the Soviet Union and the political line of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and with that of “internationalist solidarity” or “new internationalism”.
-The constant and open criticism to the USSR and the socialist countries from the standpoint of human rights and individual freedoms in their bourgeois concept.
- The revision and destruction of the “party of a new type” coined by Lenin, denying in one degree or another the revolutionary tasks of the communist party at the same time, denying also the revolutionary principles in what refers to organization and functioning.
Eurocommunism affected communist and workers' parties from different positions, some of them in power and, like other opportunistic currents throughout history, Eurocommunism had a clear international orientation, despite having as a thesis being a phenomenon attending to the national particularities and conditions. In this regard, Enrico Berlinguer, former General Secretary of PCI (Italian Communist Party, - Ed), said:
‘We obviously are not those who forged this term, but the very fact that it circulates so widely shows how the countries of Western Europe deeply aspire to see the affirmation and progress of new type solutions in the transformation of society in a socialist sense.’
The then General Secretary of the PCE (Communist Party of Spain, -Ed), Santiago Carrillo, added:
“... There is no such a thing as Eurocommunism, since some non-European communist parties, as the Japanese Communist Party, cannot be included under that label”.
Despite the inconsistencies and falsifications that have characterized the life of Carrillo, who months after denying the existence of “Eurocommunism”, published a book entitled "Eurocommunism and State"; he was right on one thing: the phenomenon was not limited to Western Europe. (Ibidem, p. 84)
But today in 2011, many years later, more and more European communist parties hold different views (based on the legacy of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin), such as the KKE (Communist Party of Greece, -Ed), whose General Secretary of its Central Committee, Aleka Papariga, made the following bold statement to the media, in connection with the deep confrontation between Labour and Capital in Greece:
“We must not waste even a day. Before the government even regroups, before it takes its first steps, it must find the people opposed to it. There are specific immediate problems e.g. for the heavy taxes to be abolished, immediate problems which are related to taxation, the ‘solidarity’ tax, school committees which have no money, student accommodation which will close tomorrow, there is no money for the universities, nowhere, to fund them.
(Photo WFTU: PAME Demonstration in Athens/Greece, October 2011)
“We must not waste even a day. Before the government even regroups, before it takes its first steps, it must find the people opposed to it. There are specific immediate problems e.g. for the heavy taxes to be abolished, immediate problems which are related to taxation, the ‘solidarity’ tax, school committees which have no money, student accommodation which will close tomorrow, there is no money for the universities, nowhere, to fund them.
(Photo WFTU: PAME Demonstration in Athens/Greece, October 2011)
Consequently, the problems are immediate and there must be struggles everywhere. Immediate and at the same time, of course, intensified demands to lead to the great people’s counterattack, because everything is fiscal. Do you know what fiscal means? It means cessation of funding for education, health, everything.”
The Greek working class and its allies don’t give an inch.
At its VI National Congress, 28-30 October 2011 (in Rimini), the Party of the Italian Communists (PdCI) adopted a document “for the reconstruction of the Communist Party”, where it stresses that:
“In the European context the experience of recent years has demolished the argument that in this part of the world a Communist revolutionary force, rejecting any reference to social-democracy and being compliant one, is inevitably destined to decline and marginalization. It shows, instead, that the opposite thesis is true, that the political-ideological party profile should always be accompanied with its ability in social setting, primarily in the workplaces and among young people. It is what AKEL of Cyprus, Greek KKE and Portuguese CP results show us, despite their differences; in recent years, they were able to reach some of the best election results throughout their history, that are also the product of their presence in society...” (p. 31)
L'Humanité in English: http://www.humaniteinenglish.com/
The Greek working class and its allies don’t give an inch.
At its VI National Congress, 28-30 October 2011 (in Rimini), the Party of the Italian Communists (PdCI) adopted a document “for the reconstruction of the Communist Party”, where it stresses that:
“In the European context the experience of recent years has demolished the argument that in this part of the world a Communist revolutionary force, rejecting any reference to social-democracy and being compliant one, is inevitably destined to decline and marginalization. It shows, instead, that the opposite thesis is true, that the political-ideological party profile should always be accompanied with its ability in social setting, primarily in the workplaces and among young people. It is what AKEL of Cyprus, Greek KKE and Portuguese CP results show us, despite their differences; in recent years, they were able to reach some of the best election results throughout their history, that are also the product of their presence in society...” (p. 31)
L'Humanité in English: http://www.humaniteinenglish.com/
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