Messages to WWP: Economic crisis, elections are the big questions

By John Catalinotto
New York

Some 25 workers’ organizations, communists and anti-imperialist activists from four continents sent messages of solidarity to the Nov. 15-16 Workers World Party National Conference. It was no surprise that the main themes of the messages were the worldwide capitalist economic crisis, the U.S. presidential election and the prospect for deepening international collaboration.

The messages themselves further the discussion of these questions. To read beyond the short excerpts below, see workersworld.net for the full statements.

From the Communist Party of Cuba: “In Cuba, after the terrible blows of powerful hurricanes, our government representatives went into the streets to work day and night with the people. That is why nobody feels abandoned. That is why there is hope, when in many other places in the world the word hope is only an illusion. Even before, the Cuban government spent valuable resources to save lives, which is indeed the most valuable thing.

“Thank you for your bravery, solidarity and unconditional support for Cuba and against the blockade, which was overwhelmingly rejected recently by the United Nations, and for the freedom of our five brothers, who from the coldness of an unjust imprisonment are teaching us a real example of resistance, courage and patriotism.”

From the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea: “The struggle by the Workers’ Party of Korea and the Korean people to build a great, powerful and prosperous nation and achieve Korea’s national reunification is making headway, amid ever-escalating tension fueled by the U.S. imperialists and their underlings that pursue the policy of hostility against the DPRK.

“The persistence of the United States and South Korean war hawks in their policy of hostility and war against the DPRK has only forced the DPRK’s hand to opt to further boost all of its war deterrence.

“The Workers’ Party of Korea stands consistent in its commitment to the ‘denuclearization’ of the whole Korean Peninsula, peace and reunification of the Peninsula.

“We will continue working hard to open up a new era of independent reunification, peace and prosperity through the united efforts of the whole Korean nation.

“We would like to take this opportunity to express our profound gratitude to your Party for your precious support and encouragement to the WPK and the Korean people.”

From the Philippines: “The National Democratic Front of the Philippines and its 17 allied revolutionary organizations convey warmest and militant greetings of solidarity to the organizers and all the participants of the Workers World Party Conference.

“The revolutionary movement in the Philippines is determined to continue its struggle for national and social liberation against U.S. imperialism and the local reactionaries presently headed by the fascist, U.S.-backed Arroyo regime. We call on the American people to stand in solidarity with us in our just struggles, just as the Filipino people stand in solidarity with the American people in their struggle against U.S. imperialism.”

From Colombia, the food and food service workers organized in Sinaltrainal describe the current situation: “A great labor strike of the sugar cane cutters and an immense mobilization of the Indigenous peoples are developing in our Colombia, as a response to the policy of the government of Álvaro Uribe Vélez that day to day impoverishes more and more the vast majority of the people for the benefit of the financial system and the transnational companies, many of them with their headquarters in the United States.

“The immense solidarity of the peoples of the United States and especially yours, dear comrades, has strengthened us and allows us to continue living.”

Questions on the crisis

From the Communist Party of Venezuela: “Our Party awaits with great interest the conclusions of your conference, since surely it will deal with the important issues that also have implications in Venezuela: the policy of North American President-elect Barack Obama and the financial and economic crisis, events that require a rigorous analysis.

“The world is immersed in a persistent and ever-larger discussion in the search for alternatives that make it possible to end poverty, inequalities and war. Socialism has become the most viable option as a system to allow the development of nations, faced with the destruction that capitalism and neoliberalism have inflicted upon us.”

The Pole of the Communist Rebirth in France comments: “Less than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the defeat of the European socialist camp, the same capitalism that then proclaimed that it was the end of history has entered into a structural crisis that Marxists have analyzed as sharpening over the last period.”

The Communist Party of Bolivia adds: “The methods the Bush administration has adopted are aimed at saving the bankers and in general the big bourgeoisie, passing on the costs [of the crisis] to the true producers of social wealth, who are the workers. Also, the peoples of the world, especially those in the weakest position, will also suffer the effects of the crisis. At the same time this will contribute to clarifying the minds of the people so they see that it is the capitalist system in its entirety that is guilty of creating this suffering.”

From the Spanish state, the Red Current group writes: “You know that your struggle provides an example for workers in countries like ours, with very similar models of growth, and in which the consequences of the crisis affect the working class in a similar way: massive layoffs, scarcities of necessities of life and loss of homes.

“We are facing, as you are too, the need to rebuild the workers’ movement. Your fight is central for all the peoples of the world and we value your efforts as we do our own.”

The Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain adds: “At this time, the tremendous bankruptcy of the model of capitalist domination confirms and validates the justice of our vision of the world, of Marxist-Leninist analyses and of the necessity of our struggle.”

The Socialist Unity Center of India points out that “in all the countries the capitalist class, in its fanatic bid to tide over the crisis, is trying to shift and pass on the entire burden arising out of this crisis to the working class of the respective countries. We strongly feel that at this juncture, it is the first and foremost duty of all genuine Marxist-Leninist parties to come forward to organize the working class against these onslaughts.”

The New Left-Caamanistas Circles of the Dominican Republic says: “The great crises of capitalism are breeding ground for self-determination, new democracies and new socialisms.”

The Union of the People of Galicia writes: “We are also in agreement regarding the [conference’s] objectives: the defense of the working class and the oppressed people, beginning with the conviction that—as you write in your poster—‘Capitalism is the problem and socialism is the solution.’”

The Danish Communist Party says: “It is precisely in moments of serious structural crisis that there are real possibilities of mobilizing the working class and its allies in order to challenge the very exploiting logic of the capitalist system and replace it with a human system built upon new relations of solidarity, social property and internationalism.

“Let the capitalists pay for their own crisis!”

U.S. elections: what now?

The Workers’ General Confederation-Brazil writes that the Brazilian workers show “our joy for the impressive victory that the American people conquered with the victory of Barack Obama in the elections of Nov. 4. The multitude that came out to the streets expressing its hope in the changes shows that a new moment can begin.”

Marcia Campos of the Women’s International Democratic Federation writes that the crisis “aided greatly in electing the Democrat Barack Obama president of the USA, vehemently defeating President Bush and all he represents. For the first time, a Black person was elected president of the USA. The participation of the people of the U.S. in the elections will remain an historic event for the USA.”

The Communist Party of Brazil writes that “the people of the world hope that President-elect Barack Obama keeps his promise of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and that he removes with urgency the criminal blockade of Cuba.”

The Union of African Workers-Senegal raises important questions: “It’s certain that this electoral victory is historical and very symbolic, but one has to ask what the working class could expect from the first Black president? Is Obama capable of making any significant changes toward the national liberation of oppressed nations in the U.S. and elsewhere? Is he going to concentrate on fixing the capitalist crisis or to help to get rid of the system itself, knowing that it is the cause of the crisis?”

Remarking on the same event, the Party of Liberation in Argentina writes: “It is obvious that [WWP] will have to make a wise and very concrete analysis of the future Obama government, which in our humble judgment will also be an imperialist government. WWP will know how to resolve this contradiction.”

On the common struggle

The Socialist Front of Puerto Rico writes: “We know that as revolutionaries in the belly of the beast you have a firm commitment to the struggle that will liberate our people of Puerto Rico, as well as to the Cuban Revolution and the developing Bolivarian Revolution in our America.”

Leila Ghanem, an organizer of an upcoming Beirut international forum on Jan. 16-18, 2009, writes: “We salute your political stand and your solidarity with the people of the Middle East, who are in the first line of opposition to imperialism and predatory capitalism and colonialism in Iraq, in Lebanon and in Palestine. Your solidarity goes beyond compassion with the suffering that our people experience but it is a real class solidarity, which confronts imperialism on its own territory and within its machinery.”

The Energy Workers Front in Mexico says: “The collapse of capitalism is not going to happen either immediately, nor can it happen spontaneously. We lack an organized and conscious struggle on a world scale. We need a transitional program from an organization that can extend and consolidate to the movement and that can contribute in a practical way to solidarity with all workers and peoples in struggle.”

The Anti-Imperialist Camp writes: “We believe that we will see increased wars driven by the U.S. and NATO not only in the Middle East but also in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. In this sense we look forward to a strong cooperation, while working towards the unification of the global anti-imperialist forces as well as the construction of new anti-capitalist nuclei also in the West.”

These parties, along with the Portuguese Communist Party and the Bolivarian Continental Coordinating Committee sent their greetings to the comrades here and wishes for our success.

---