Category: Communist Party Russian Federation
Russian Communists start campaign to put country’s vast collection of Lenin statues & busts on UNESCO World Heritage list
worker | April 25, 2021 | 8:46 pm | Communist Party Russian Federation | Comments closed

https://www.rt.com/russia/521793-lenin-statues-unesco-heritage-list/

Russian Communists start campaign to put country’s vast collection of Lenin statues & busts on UNESCO World Heritage list

Russian Communists start campaign to put country’s vast collection of Lenin statues & busts on UNESCO World Heritage list
On what would have been the 151st birthday of Soviet revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Communists of Russia party has appealed to the UN and UNESCO to put monuments of the politician on the cultural heritage list.

Speaking to TV channel 360, Maksim Suraykin expressed his opinion that Lenin was “one of the greatest thinkers on the planet” and “changed the course of history for the better.”

“Thanks to him, there are still eight socialist countries. The largest is China, which is almost a quarter of the world’s population,” Suraykin said.

The Communists of Russia are a small political party, with no seats in either house of parliament. Founded in 2009 and officially registered in 2012 as an alternative to the much better-known Communist Party of the Russian Federation, members believe that they represent true Marxism, with its older rival having moved away from far-left ideas.

ALSO ON RT.COMBBC visits Krasnoyarsk, tells us nothing about Siberia & instead focuses on Putin, Lenin & a bear – is this the best it can do?“Let’s hope that those who make decisions at UNESCO really care about the cultural heritage of the whole planet,” Suraykin continued. “Even in America, which is a capitalist country, there is a very powerful socialist movement. Even Bernie Sanders, a convinced socialist, almost became a candidate for president of the United States.”

Lenin, born in 1870, was a revolutionary who helped lead the Russian Revolution and overthrow the ruling royal family. He is known as the father of the Soviet Union, and was the country’s first-ever leader. Nowadays, almost every town and city in Russia has a monument to Lenin, generally located in the central square. According to Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, in 2003, there were around 1,800 statues and up to 20,000 busts of the revolutionary.

UNESCO is an agency of the United Nations, and maintains a list of World Heritage Sites, chosen for their cultural, historical, scientific, or other significance. There are currently 869 cultural sites on the list, including 18 from Russia. The Kremlin and Red Square were inscribed in 1990.

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Statement by the Presidium of the CC CPRF
worker | January 12, 2021 | 8:32 pm | China, Communist Party Russian Federation, Donald Trump | Comments closed

Official website of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
Statement by the Presidium of the CC CPRF
The Trump Administration is stepping up its policy of counteracting the development of socialist China. This takes place against the background of the deepening world crisis, the growth of the coronavirus pandemic and approaching Presidential elections in the USA. Measures aimed at undermining the PRC’s economic and political stability are multiplying at a feverish pace. “Soft power” instruments have proved to be signally ineffective in the struggle against Beijing. Yet Washington has not embarked on the path of wide-ranging dialogue and cooperation. On the contrary, it is becoming increasingly aggressive in its China policy.

For many years the American strategists have concentrated on attempts to undermine the territorial integrity and weaken China’s economy. The USA suffered a series of setbacks in trying to destabilize the situation in the Xingjiang-Uigur and Tibet Autonomous Regions and Ao Ming and Xiangang regions. Washington met with a fitting rebuff during the course of its provocations in Hong Kong. Attempts to undermine China’s power by introducing high custom duties contrary to WTO rules have failed. Discrimination against Huawei and other Chinse companies did not help.

At this stage an openly “hawkish” line towards the PRC has prevailed in Washington. Sabre-rattling is growing louder and bellicose statements have become more frequent. The Communist Party of China has been declared to be “one of the main threats” to the existence of the United States.

In its attempts to drag the world into a new Cold War and retain its hegemony the USA leadership is ready for new provocations and adventures. The US Secretary of State and former director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, openly proclaimed Washington’s desire to drag Russia into a confrontation with China. He said this possibility flowed “naturally” from the relationship between Beijing and Moscow. These disingenuous hints should not be underestimated.

In its relations with China the United States follows the same logic as was used to destroy the Soviet Union. Like then, an enemy image is moulded of a country that has become “a mortal threat to the free world.” Pompeo’s speech at the Richard Nixon presidential library is a carbon copy of Churchill’s Fulton speech. Only now the US is calling for a crusade against the PRC.

The head of the US diplomacy declares that “unless the free world changes Communist China Communist China will change us. The free world must prevail over the new tyranny.” And Pompeo called for an “alliance of democratic states” and is beginning to pull Russia into it. He said that if Washington and Moscow together responded to major strategic challenges the world would become a safer place.

It is an extremely dangerous and destructive proposal. It aggravates international tensions and intensifies the arms race. At the same time it seeks to drive a wedge into the strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China.

The American initiative of building a global alliance against China stems from the fact that the USA cannot overcome China by itself. The rickety NATO structure does not suit that purpose. A number of European countries are actively cooperating with China economically and stand to lose from a confrontation with Beijing. Besides, the course for isolating China is simply impossible without Russia’s participation in this criminal alliance.

Of late the US administration has been increasingly revealing its true face disfigured by anti-Communism, Russophobia and anti-China anger. The White House is persistently bringing back its aggressive policy at its worst. The people of the world have no right to forget American imperialism’s adventures in Korea and Vietnam, Yugoslavia and Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Among the latest victims are the people of Ukraine which has been put at the mercy of the most reactionary forces, and the population of Donbass which is suffering from cruel slaughter and semi-starved existence.

The globalists’ growing fury is understandable. China, led by its Communist Party, is successfully building socialism. It is confidently overcoming the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. Unlike most major countries, the Chinese economy has reported growth at the end of the year. The Chinese leadership is demonstrating to the whole world how abject poverty can be eliminated and high technology developed. Beijing has every chance to become the leader of the world economy, scientific and technical development and in the innovation sphere.

The model of international relations proposed by China is growing ever more attractive. It has no place for the vices of globalism with its horrifying inequality, sharpening confrontation and worldwide expansion of the new colonizers. The concept of the PRC Chairman Xi Jinping, Community of Shared Destiny for Mankind, articulates highly promising principles of equal cooperation among nations for the common good.

The CPRF welcomes the fact that Russia and China have confidently extended the hand of friendship and close cooperation to each other. Growing trade and large-scale joint projects, shared views on key world historic events, their common victory over German Fascism and Japanese militarism, similar views on events and phenomena in international politics – these are strong bonds between our countries.

The Communist Party of China spearheads its rapid advance. Loyal to the socialist cause, the CPC correctly assesses the challenges and threats, and comes up with convincing answers to them. The CPRF has always worked towards stronger relations between the two countries. Our links with the CPC are aimed at bringing the two peoples closer together, strengthening security and harmony in international relations. These common aspirations were sealed by the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between our parties in December of 2019.

The path of development of the world civilization proposed by the PRC poses a threat not to the peoples, but to the imperialists with their appetites of exploiters and predators. China’s enemies stop at nothing in their aggressive attacks on it. They are launching a slander campaign, waging trade wars, try to foment separatism and cause the PRC to quarrel with its neighbouring countries.

All the signs are that the US strategists seek to assign a special role to our country in these treacherous designs. They will try to provoke discord in the relations between Moscow and Beijing promising that Russia would gain from a change of its geopolitical orientation. The position of Yeltsin’s underlings in the top echelons of power, the economy and finance, politics and the mass media are still very strong. Their close links with the “Washington party committee” are evidenced by the massive capital drain, recurrent “offshore scandals” and the multi-billion overseas assets of Russian tightwads. For these people the officially proclaimed “pivot to the East” is but a temporary maneuver. They see their own and their offspring’s future in the “Western paradise.”

The CPRF comes out for a stronger strategic partnership between Russia and China. We are sure that Washington’s sugary promises are but a cover for its dangerous and perfidious plans. To bring about a quarrel between Moscow and Beijing means to defeat us one by one. Our countries are the main obstacles for the globalist elite which is striving to perpetuate its dominance. It will persist in its manic attempts to strangle Russia, with its military potential and vast resources which world capitalism would like to grab. It would gladly destroy China as a rival which is making a massive leap forward becoming the powerhouse of the world economy.

For Washington to put our countries on ”opposite sides of the ring” would mean to weaken both of them. It is a means for globalists to implement their ugliest plans. In the event of success, Central Asia may be set ablaze. The Middle East may turn into one large ”hot spot.” The Far East may become a zone of sharp conflicts… Capital would not stop at any crime to preserve its dominance and its profits.

Russia has its own national interests. The CPRF is sure that they will be served not by the here-and-now handouts from the West but by stronger strategic relations with those who seek peace and social progress. For us the relations of friendship and partnership with China make it possible together to develop the economy and technology, to strengthen peace and security, to uphold our sovereignty in the face of any threats.

We are convinced that the deepening of strategic interaction with Beijing holds out a promise. It is based on economic and political realities and has a solid historical foundation. The strengthening of our ties will take us to a new and unprecedented level of relations and guarantee sovereign development of our two states. We are all extremely interested in an effective struggle against anti-Communism and anti-Sovietism, Russohobia and anti-China hysteria.

Washington strategists are set to pull our country into the infamous “alliance of democracies.” To make it happen they are ready to promise anything: from the lifting of sanctions to granting preferences. We cannot rule out that the fact that Pompeo’s anti-China speech coincides with the telephone conversation between Putin and Trump is not fortuitous. We hope that President Putin is very mindful of the adventurous nature of these proposals.

The historical experience of the destruction of the Soviet Union shows that the promises from across the ocean should not be believed. It is inconceivable to put these ephemeral pledges on a par with the deepening cooperation between Russia and China, the other BRICS and SCO countries and the strengthening of Eurasian integration. For our country to yield to the blandishments of the US would be tantamount to betraying our own interests. Yet this is precisely the aim of “the fifth column.”It does not mind the mass expulsions of Russian diplomats, the seizure of Russian property in the US, the swelling lists of Russian officials and parliament deputies banned from traveling to the West or the hail of all sorts of sanctions.

Russia must not repeat former mistakes and has no right to be a bargaining chip in the geopolitical games of the USA. The Russian, Chinese and all the other peoples have the right to follow the path of sovereign development setting themselves long-term goals and confidently achieving them.

The future of the people is friendship and all-round cooperation!

Gennady Zyuganov,

Chairman of the CC CPRF, Head of the CPRF at the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation

Communist Party candidate withdraws from debates as TV discussion descends into chaos
worker | March 1, 2018 | 9:12 pm | Communist Party Russian Federation, Pavel Grudinin | Comments closed

https://www.rt.com/politics/420123-communist-party-candidate-out/

Communist Party candidate withdraws from debates as TV discussion descends into chaos

Communist Party candidate withdraws from debates as TV discussion descends into chaos
Pavel Grudinin has accused the election authorities of deliberately turning televised debates into “cheap shows,” and said he would no longer take part after other contenders exchanged insults and even threw water at each other.

“What is going on here is not debates, it is more like a bazaar with all the shouting without waiting for turns. Debates are arguments between opponents and here we see questions and answers – this is called an interview,” Grudinin said after announcing that he was refusing to participate in further debates. “It is impossible to explain why we all spend an hour here standing up, when each of us has just six minutes to make statements.”

The candidate went on to accuse the Central Elections Commission and federal television management of having a deliberate plan to damage the public attitude to the presidential election. “The Central Elections Commission and central TV channels do not want us to debate one-on-one, they turned these debates into a so-called show, and now they do only one thing – they spoil the public attitude to the presidential polls,” he stated.

“I am not going to participate in this anymore, because you are doing everything to prevent the people from coming to the elections. Because all this is more like buffoonery,” Grudinin said before leaving.

In further comments posted on his Instagram account, he addressed incumbent President Vladimir Putin with a proposal to hold “real” debates followed by “real” elections.

Grudinin’s reaction came soon after two presidential candidates – Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the Liberal Democratic Party and Ksenia Sobchak, who is running as a “none-of-the-above” candidate – started to bicker during the debates and then resorted to verbal assaults. At one point, Sobchak poured a glass of water over Zhirinovsky, prompting the show host to intervene.

Earlier, business-oriented Russian newspaper Vedomosti quoted the head of Sobchak’s election HQ, Timur Valeyev, as saying that Grudinin, Sobchak and Zhirinovsky had allegedly agreed not to follow the rules imposed on them by organizers of the debates and to start bilateral arguments.

The Russian presidential elections are scheduled for March 18 with eight people running for the post. The latest opinion polls indicate that President Vladimir Putin is likely to win in the first round.

Common appeal by Communist and Workers’ Parties: Solidarity with the people of Iran – No to any foreign intervention

Monday, January 22, 2018

Common appeal by Communist and Workers Parties: Solidarity with the people of Iran – No to any foreign intervention

http://www.idcommunism.com/2018/01/common-appeal-by-communist-and-workers.html
With a common declaration, Communist and Workers’ parties from all over the world express their solidarity towards the people of Iran and condemn any attempt of foreign intervention in the country’s internal affairs:
The Communist and Workers parties that sign this statement have followed with concern the recent developments in Iran where tens of thousands of people in many towns and cities across Iran protested against the policies of the autocratic regime.
The protests were against the destructive economic policies of the regime, its brutal violation of human and democratic rights and disregard for the ILO conventions regarding workers rights and its widespread corruption. Young people have been the main victims of the regime’s policies, including more than five million unemployed graduates. Those who came out were predominantly young and from poor working class districts demanding fundamental economic, social and cultural change for jobs, a living wage, dignity, respect and justice.
We have received credible reports about brutal tactics used by the security forces and the regime’s paramilitary militia to violently break up these mainly peaceful demonstrations by ordinary people.  At least 20 demonstrators have been killed and more than 3700 people arrested and taken into custody.  The security forces have raided and occupied university campuses in different parts of the country to stop the student movement from joining the protests.  A significant number of university students not involved in any protest demonstration were arrested at home or on the campuses of their universities. The authorities have claimed that this illegal measure is preventative.
The people of Iran and their progressive forces have repeatedly and resolutely stated that, based on their own history and experience of recent tragedies in the Middle East, they reject any outside intervention in the internal affairs of Iran under any pretext whatsoever and believe that the future of Iran should be decided only by the Iranian people themselves.
We believe that the realisation of the demands of the protesters for peace, progress and social justice is the best guarantee for Iran’s independence and for genuine popular sovereignty.  This is the only sure way to guard against foreign interference in the internal affairs of the country and for the Iranian people to stand firm and united against the machinations of US imperialism and its allies, in particular the Israeli government and the reactionary regimes in Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf States.
The Communist and Workers parties co-signing this statement of support for the struggle of the Iranian people for peace, progress and social justice are united in:
  • Condemning the use of repressive measures against civilian protesters which have resulted in at least 22 deaths and the arrest of thousands of protesters and activists. 
  • Demanding that the authorities publish a list of names of all those arrested during the protest demonstrations and where they are being held, and immediately release all those detained by the security forces. 
  • Requesting that all those held are guaranteed access to legal representation of their own choosing. 
  • Demanding an end to the use of all forms of torture. 
  • Demanding the removal of all military and security units from university campuses.
  • Supporting the demands of the protesters for an end to privatisation, unemployment and corruption – all outcomes of the neoliberal-driven austerity policies of the regime. 
  • Rejecting any foreign intervention whatsoever in the internal affairs of Iran and emphasizing that the future of Iran should be decided by the Iranian people themselves alone.
PARTIES THAT SIGN THE COMMON APPEAL:
1.   AKEL
2.   Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
3.   Communist Party of Greece
4.   Communist Party of India
5.   Communist Party of India Marxist
6.   Tudeh Party of Iran
7.   Communist Party of the Russian Federation
8.   South African Communist Party
9.   Communist Party of Spain
10. Communist Party of Turkey
11. Communist Party of Ukraine 
[The appeal is open for further signatures]
19 January, 2018.
Russian newspaper “Sovetskaya Rossiya” awards the General Secretary of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas
worker | January 7, 2018 | 6:46 pm | Communist Party Greece (KKE), Communist Party Russian Federation | Comments closed

https://communismgr.blogspot.com/2018/01/russian-newspaper-sovetskaya-rossiya.html

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Russian newspaper “Sovetskaya Rossiya” awards the General Secretary of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas

The General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, is among the 10 personalities (writers, politicians, journalists, etc.) who have been choosen by the Russian newspaper “Sovetskaya Rossiya” for this year’s prize “A Word to the People” (Слово к народу). 

General Secretary Koutsoumbas receives the award for his speech at the 19th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties which took place on November 2017 in Leningrad. 
 
“Sovetskaya Rossiya”, founded on July 1956, is one of Russia’s historic newspapers and the only one which has kept the name “Soviet” in her name, more than 25 years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Today, the newspaper is politically orientated towards the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF). 
The prize “A Word to the People” was established since 1992. Under this title, the newspaper had published on July 1991 an open letter signed by Soviet politicians, intellectuals and others, pleading against the counter-revolutionary plans for the USSR’s dissolution. Since then, the prize is awarded to prominent figures who have written for “Sovetskaya Rossiya” supporting socialism, the soviet values, the struggle for a fair society. 
 
On December 28, 2017, “Sovetskaya Rossiya” published an article by the KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas, under the title “We draw conclusions, we become stronger”, on the occasion of the 100 years since the Great October Socialist Revolution.
 
Dimitris Koutsoumbas: We draw conclusions, we become stronger – ДИМИТРИС КУЦУМБАС (КПГ): ИЗВЛЕКАЕМ УРОКИ, СТАНОВИМСЯ СИЛЬНЕЕ

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Dimitris Koutsoumbas: We draw conclusions, we become stronger – ДИМИТРИС КУЦУМБАС (КПГ): ИЗВЛЕКАЕМ УРОКИ, СТАНОВИМСЯ СИЛЬНЕЕ

https://communismgr.blogspot.com/2017/12/dimitris-koutsoumbas-we-draw.html
It is with particular joy that I address via the pages of the historical newspaper “Sovetskaya Rossiya” the workers of Russia, of the country where the “ice broke”, as Lenin said, where “the way has been shown” as regards the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and the construction of the new socialist-communist society. 
The consequences of the counterrevolution and the overthrow of socialism did not cloud the eyes, mind and judgment of the communists of Greece, the KKE. Indeed on the 28th of December 1991, a few hours after the red flag was taken down from the Kremlin, Rizospastis, the journalistic organ of the CC of the KKE, wrote on its historic front page: “Comrades, hold the flag high! Hope is to be found in the struggles of the peoples”! 
In 2017, the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, was marked by the multifaceted activity of our party. Our party is one of the fruits of the revolutionary flame of October. 
In our country hundreds of significant political and cultural activities in honour of the Socialist Revolution were carried out. 
At the same time, we sought through our political and ideological activity, as well as our activity inside the trade unions and other mass popular organizations, defending the just cause of the working class, the other poor strata against the anti-people political line, to highlight the need for workers’ power, which is the only real alternative to capitalist barbarity. 
The communists of Greece fought to organize the struggle of the working class against the bourgeois government of the “new” social-democracy SYRiZA, which governs for the last 3 years with the support if a rightwing party, ANEL and with the backing of the EU, NATO, USA. 
In difficult conditions of high unemployment caused by the capitalist crisis, the intensification of employer intimidation in the workplaces, government-state repression and undermining of the right to strike, the communists strived as best they could to organize major workers’ struggles, demonstrations, nationwide strikes. 
This struggle, beyond the various gains achieved by the workers in some sectors, such as in construction, in shipbuilding and repair and elsewhere, further strengthened the positions of the communists, of the class-oriented forces as a whole that struggle in the ranks of the All-workers’ Militant Front (PAME).The class-oriented forces won over new forces. Today it is the second force in the trade union movement and the best organized. 
In addition, the communists also actively mobilize amongst the poor farmers, who in 2017 had blocked the country’s highways at 100 points for 40 days, struggling against the political line of the government and EU, which is driving them to ruin. 
The same is true as regards the struggles of the petty bourgeois urban strata, the self-employed, and also the struggles of the women and youth with a working class-popular background. 
It is no accident that KNE over the last 4 years has won the second position nationally in the elections for the student unions, with over 20%. 
The communists, either in the Greek Parliament (the KKE has 15 MPs), or in the European Parliament (where we have 2 MEPs), or in the ranks of the thousands of people who have demonstrated many times for the workers’-people’s rights, as well as outside the NATO bases and command centres, with a consistent stance against imperialist wars, against Greece’s participation in them, against the transformation of our country into a launching pad for the promotion of the plans of the USA, NATO, EU in the Middle East, in Africa, in Ukraine, in the Black Sea and elsewhere. They took a position in favour of the country’s disengagement from the imperialist unions of NATO and the EU, from all imperialist alliances, something that can only be guaranteed by workers’ governance in Greece. Just as only workers’ power can put an end to the anti-worker anti-people measures, socializing the means of production, with scientific planning of the economy and workers’ control. 
The 20th Congress of our party, which was held at the end of March 2017, engaged with question of how our party will become more effective in its activity. We set the bar even higher at this Congress. We set as an immediate task the strengthening of the KKE so that our party becomes more capable as a party of social revolution to realize its historical vanguard role. A party capable of leading the struggle of the working class and the entire people for the regroupment of the labour and trade union movement, the promotion of the Social Alliance in an anti-capitalist anti-monopoly direction, against imperialist wars, for workers’ power. 
Because we know very well that the October Revolution was not an “accident of history” or a “disastrous coup” of the Bolsheviks, as the bourgeois say and write, or an “immature and premature” revolution as every kind of renegade, opportunist and adventurist says and writes. 
The October Revolution was a climactic world-historic event which signaled the beginning of an era in which the working class became the protagonist in the developments and pushed the wheel of history forwards, taking power and organizing new socialist communist relations of production, reshaping society as a whole. 
This assessment is also valid today when we see capitalism in its imperialist stage dominant globally, as whatever socialist relations survive in some countries are remnants of the first attempt to construct socialism that began in 1917 and continued in various countries throughout the 20th century. 
However, socialism continues to be as timely and necessary as ever in the history of humanity. And this, like the socialist character of the revolution in our era, does not depend on the contingent correlation of forces, but it emerges from the impasses of capitalism, the fact that the material preconditions for the passage to a new society have matured. 
Today the inter-imperialist antagonisms have sharpened even further. The major contradictions over the division of the markets, the control of the natural resources, the transport routes for energy and commodities, geopolitical control. New alliances and blocs of forces are being created, increasing the danger of military conflicts. 
In the framework of these conflicts, the international communist movement, each communist party must form its own line of battle. A line for the overthrow of the imperialist barbarity that brings economic crises, poverty, unemployment and wars or “peace” with a gun to the people’s head. And this must be done by studying historical experience, rejecting mistaken analyses of previous decades that led revolutionary forces in society to passivity, ineffectiveness and confusion. 
As the experience of October and the entire course of the revolutionary labour movement internationally demonstrated, there is no room for any cooperation-alliance with the bourgeois class as a whole or any of its sections in the name of defending bourgeois democracy, of “humanizing capitalism”, of some intermediate stage to socialism or with the argument of avoiding some “extreme pro-war forces”. 
The bourgeoisie and the bourgeois power undermine and suppress workers’ and people’s rights, achievements. In their “peaceful conditions” they prepare wars. Τhe consolidation of the anti-capitalist-antimonopoly struggle, of the struggle for socialism requires the alliance of the working class with the poor farmers and the self-employed craftsmen. 
The line of social democracy since the beginning of the previous century until today has completely failed, it has caused great damage, it led to the defeat of the revolutionary communist movement, it assimilated working masses in the capitalist exploitative system; it led militant, progressive forces in favour of social development to be disarmed. This, like the irreplaceable role of the CP emerges from our theory, which is Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism. 
Socialist construction as the first immature phase of the communist society highlighted the scientific laws that the revolutionary vanguard must be aware of and not violate so as to eradicate consciously and methodically the seeds of counterrevolution. More specifically, the theory and practical implementation of “market socialism” is disastrous for socialist construction, something that happened gradually in the USSR via the opportunist sliding over a period of time beginning in 1956 and violently manifesting itself in 1991, with the complete dissolution of the USSR and CPSU. 
Historical experience has demonstrated that the problems that arose in the course of socialist construction were mistakenly interpreted as inherent weaknesses of central planning. The solution was sought in the expansion of market, which was a step backwards, instead of taking a step forward expanding and strengthening the socialist-communist relations of production. 
Today, drawing the correct conclusions from our history, we become stronger. We are better ideologically and politically equipped for the class battles that we are waging and we will wage in the future. Our weapon is proletarian internationalism, our joint struggle, our class and comradely solidarity which is necessary against national isolationism and imperialist cosmopolitanism. 
The KKE, which in 2018 will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its foundation, will follow the CPRF in hosting the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties . We will seek with the 20th International Meeting that will be held in Athens, as well as with other forms, to contribute so that the international communist movement, which today is divided and faces major difficulties, to take steps towards its revolutionary regroupment, because this is its only positive prospect. 
We wish the readers of “Sovetskaya Rossiya” health and strength for the new struggles of 2018. Our future is not capitalism, but the new world of socialist revolutions, of socialist-communist construction. 
Best wishes to all!
Published 28/12/2017.
* * * 
СТАТЬЯ ГЕНСЕКА ЦК КПГ В ГАЗЕТЕ «СОВЕТСКАЯ РОССИЯ»
ДИМИТРИС КУЦУМБАС: ИЗВЛЕКАЕМ УРОКИ, СТАНОВИМСЯ СИЛЬНЕЕ
Я с особой радостью обращаюсь со страниц исторической газеты «Советская Россия» к трудящимся России – страны, которая сломала лед, как говорил Ленин, показала дорогу революционного свержения капитализма и строительства нового, социалистического-коммунистического общества.
То, что произошло в результате контрреволюционных процессов, не затмило глаза, ум коммунистов Греции, Коммунистической партии Греции. 
Даже в день, когда спускался красный флаг над Кремлем, 28 декабря 1991 года, на первой странице «Ризоспастиса» – печатного органа ЦК КПГ, был напечатан призыв: «Товарищи, выше флаг! Надежда – в борьбе народов!» 
2017 год – год 100-летия Великой Октябрьской социалистической революции – вооружил нашу партию богатым опытом деятельности. Наша партия также является плодом революционного пламени Октября. 
В нашей стране были проведены сотни важных политических и культурных мероприятий в честь Социалистической революции.
В то же время мы старались с помощью нашей идеологической и политической деятельности, деятельности в профсоюзах и других массовых народных организациях, защищая права рабочего класса, других бедных слоев населения от антинародной политики, показать необходимость завоевания власти трудящимися, которая является единственной реальной противостоящей силой капиталистическому варварству. 
Коммунисты Греции организовали борьбу рабочего класса против «нового» социал-демократического буржуазного правительства СИРИЗА, которое находится у власти 3 года в коалиции с правой партией АНЭЛ, имея поддержку капитала, ЕС, НАТО, США. 
В сложных условиях сохраняющейся высокой безработицы, вызванной капиталистическим кризисом, когда усиливаются работодательский террор на рабочих местах, репрессии со стороны государства и правительства и ущемляются права на забастовку, коммунисты отдают все свои силы для организации борьбы трудящихся, акций протеста, забастовок во всегреческом масштабе. 
Эта борьба, помимо отдельных успехов, достигнутых трудящимися в некоторых отраслях (строительной, судостроительной и др.), еще больше укрепила позиции коммунистов, в целом классовых сил, борющихся в рядах Всегреческого боевого фронта (ПАМЕ). Классовые силы окрепли. Сегодня они являются второй силой в профсоюзном движении и самыми хорошо организованными. 
Кроме того, коммунисты также активно действуют среди бедных крестьян, которые в 2017 году в течение 40 дней перекрывали центральные автомагистрали страны в 100 точках, выступая против политики правительства и ЕС, ведущей их к разорению. 
Такую же работу ведут коммунисты, участвуя в борьбе средних слоев населения города, самозанятых, а также женщин и молодежи из рабочего класса. 
Неслучайно Коммунистическая молодежь Греции в последние 4 года занимает второе место и набирает более чем 20% во всей стране на выборах в студенческих профсоюзах. 
Коммунисты, находясь в парламенте Греции (КПГ насчитывает 15 депутатов), в Европейском парламенте (имеет 2 евродепутатов) или в рядах демонстрантов, неоднократно протестующих против ущемления прав народа, а также у стен натовских военных баз и штабов, последовательно выступали против империалистических войн, против участия Греции в них, против превращения нашей страны в плацдарм для продвижения планов США, НАТО, ЕС на Ближнем Востоке, в Африке, на Украине, в Черном море и в других регионах. Они выступают за выход страны из империалистических союзов – НАТО и ЕС, из любого другого империалистического союза, а это может гарантировать только рабочее правление в Греции. Только рабочая власть может гарантировать, что обобществление средств производства, централизованное планирование и рабочий контроль могут стать «надгробным камнем» для антирабочих, антинародных мер. 
Вопрос о том, как сделать деятельность нашей партии более результативной, также рассматривался на состоявшемся в марте 2017 года XX съезде КПГ, на котором мы подняли планку еще выше. Мы поставили перед собой задачу укрепить КПГ, чтобы наша партия как партия социального низвержения стала способной выполнить свою историческую, авангардную роль. Чтобы она была способна возглавить борьбу рабочего класса и всего народа за реорганизацию рабочего профсоюзного движения, развитие социального союза в антикапиталистическом, антимонополистическом направлении, против империалистической войны, за рабочую власть. 
Нам очень хорошо известно, что Октябрьская революция не была ни драмой истории, ни переворотом большевиков, как говорит и пишет буржуазия, не была ни незрелой, ни преждевременной, как говорят и пишут всевозможные ренегаты, оппортунисты-авантюристы.
Октябрьская революция явилась вершинным, всемирно-историческим событием, ознаменовавшим начало новой эпохи, в которой рабочий класс стал главным героем событий и повернул колесо истории, захватив власть и установив новые коммунистические производственные отношения, изменив все общество. 
Эта оценка и сегодня соответствует действительности, мы видим, что капитализм, находящийся на империалистической стадии, господствует во всем мире, так как социалистические отношения, сохраняющиеся еще в некоторых странах, являются всего лишь остатками первой попытки социалистического строительства, которое началось в 1917 году и продолжалось в различных странах на протяжении всего XX века. 
Впрочем, социализм продолжает оставаться актуальным и необходимым как никогда в истории человечества. Необходимость и актуальность социализма, социалистический характер революции не зависят от расклада сил в определенный момент, а вытекают из тупиков капиталистического способа производства, из того факта, что созрели материальные предпосылки для перехода к новому обществу. 
Сегодня обостряются межимпериалистические противоречия: большие противоречия вокруг раздела рынков, контроля над природными ресурсами, путями транспортировки энергии и товаров, геополитического контроля. Создаются новые союзы и блоки держав, приводящие к созданию коалиций и антикоалиций, растет угроза военных конфликтов.
Международное коммунистическое движение и каждая компартия в частности не должны бездействовать в этих столкновениях. Они должны разработать собственную линию борьбы. Линию на свержение империалистического варварства, приводящего к экономическим кризисам, бедности, безработице, войнам или к «миру» с пистолетом у виска народов. Это должно произойти при исследовании исторического опыта, сознательном отказе от ошибочных разработок предыдущих десятилетий, которые, помимо безрезультатности, привели революционные силы общества к разоружению и большему бездействию.
Как, впрочем, показал и опыт Октября, а также весь ход мирового революционного рабочего движения, уже нет места для сотрудничества, для союза с буржуазией в целом или с какой-то ее частью во имя защиты буржуазной демократии или «очеловечивания» капитализма, во имя некой промежуточной стадии между капитализмом и социализмом или во избежание некоторых сил, которые ратуют за войну.
Буржуазия и ее власть подрывают и ущемляют права трудящихся, народа, лишают народ завоеваний, готовят войны, подписывая «мирные договоры». Союз рабочего класса с бедным крестьянством и самозанятыми производителями является перспективой для усиления антикапиталистической, антимонополистической борьбы, за социализм. 
Линия социал-демократии с начала прошлого века и до наших дней потерпела фиаско, причинила большой вред, привела к поражению революционное коммунистическое движение, способствовала приспособлению рабочих к капиталистической эксплуататорской системе, разоружила боевые, прогрессивные силы социального развития. Вот почему коммунисты на вопрос: «Реформа или революция?» – отвечают «Революция», так как ни один орган буржуазной власти не может стать гуманным. Это, как и незаменимая роль компартии, вытекает из нашей теории – из марксизма-ленинизма и пролетарского интернационализма. 
Строительство социализма как первой незрелой фазы коммунистического общества показало, какие закономерности должен знать революционный авангард и не нарушать их, чтобы искоренять сознательно и планомерно ростки контрреволюции. Более конкретно – пагубной для социалистического строительства является теория и практика «рыночного социализма». Все это внедрилось в СССР постепенно, посредством медленного скатывания к оппортунизму, начиная с 1956 года, и его последствия резко проявились в 1991 году и ознаменовались окончательным распадом СССР и КПСС. 
Исторический опыт показывает нам, что проблемы, возникшие в процессе социалистического строительства, ошибочно трактовались как недостатки централизованного планирования. Решение искали в возврате назад, в расширении рынка, а не в движении вперед, в расширении и укреплении социалистических, коммунистических производственных отношений. 
Сегодня, делая правильные выводы из нашей истории, мы становимся более сильными. Лучше вооружаемся идеологически и политически для ведения классовой борьбы сегодня и в будущем. 
Наше оружие – пролетарский интернационализм, наша общая борьба, классовая и товарищеская солидарность, необходимая против национальной изоляции и против империалистического космополитизма. 
KПГ, которая в 2018 году отметит свой 100-летний юбилей, получила после КПРФ право на проведение следующей Международной встречи коммунистических и рабочих партий. Мы постараемся, чтобы 20-я Международная встреча, которая состоится в Афинах, а также другие виды деятельности внесли вклад в развитие международного коммунистического движения, которое сегодня является раздробленным и сталкивается с большими трудностями, чтобы оно сделало шаги в направлении революционной реорганизации, так как только в этом перспективы его развития. 
Желаем читателям «Советской России» здоровья и боевых успехов в 2018. Наше будущее – не капитализм, а новый мир социалистических революций и строительства социалистического, коммунистического общества. 
Я желаю всем хорошего Нового года!
Опубликована 28.12.2017 - http://sovross.ru/articles/1644/37274
Russia’s New Communist Candidate: Friend or Foe of Vladimir Putin?
worker | December 26, 2017 | 8:01 pm | Communist Party Russian Federation, political struggle, Russia | 1 Comment

http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/12/russias-new-communist-candidate-friend.html

Russia’s New Communist Candidate: Friend or Foe of Vladimir Putin?

December 25, 2017 – Fort Russ –
By Eduard Popov, translated by Jafe Arnold –
Pavel Grudinin
On December 18th, the presidential election race kicked off in Russia. The date of elections, March 18th, was not chosen lightly, as it harkens back to the historic State Council meeting of 2014 when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Crimea and Sevastopol had been accepted into the Russian Federation.
Several days ago, it still seemed like the main intrigue of the elections would center around Putin’s running. As it turns out, Russia’s communists are the ones with the surprise up their sleeves. For quite some time, discussions have been ongoing as to whether the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) should nominate a different candidate than its leader, Gennady Zyuganov, a genuine veteran of Russian politics and one of the founders of the party who has run in every election since 1996. 
For some time now, the idea has been floated around that the director of the Lenin Sovkhoz (a form of collective farm founded in the Soviet era), Pavel Grudinin, should run on behalf of the communists. Nevertheless, until literally just the other day, it seemed like the CPRF would stick to tradition with its usual presidential candidate, Zyuganov. 
 
But now a real sensation has captured headlines. 
At a meeting of the CPRF’s Central Committee Presidium on December 21st-22nd and amidst heated discussions, the party’s leaders voted for several candidates. Deputy Central Committee Chairman for ideology, Dmitry Novikov, stated in an interview with Russian media that the presidium had discussed more than one candidate. Earlier, Zyuganov had proposed a list of more than two dozen people for party branches to decide who is suitable for nomination. According to Novikov, half of the list was discussed. 
 
It has since been reported that Zyuganov led the vote by a huge margin, but ultimately refused to run in the elections. Thus, the victory went to Pavel Grudinin, for whom the majority of regional party organizations voted. According to Grudinin, the CPRF displayed a high level of inner-party democracy.
 
The Central Committee Presidium recommended Grudinin’s candidacy at the CPRF congress held on December 23rd, at which Zyuganov confirmed that the congress would support Grudinin in Russia’s presidential elections. Meanwhile, the leading organs of the party have been in close communication, with Zyuganov announcing that he will head Grudinin’s campaign headquarters.
 
Grudinin (Left) and Zyuganov (Right)
Thus, the CPRF is going to the polls with a new face. This is significant insofar as the higher echelons of Russian politics are dominated by old-time veterans, and presidential elections usually feature the same longstanding candidates – Zhirinovsky from the LDPR, Zyuganov from the CPRF, Yavlinsky from Yabloko, etc. Now, however, there is a distinct tiredness of the old politicians and a demand for new faces. 
Vladimir Putin has felt this surge as well. Hence why the nature of his announcement to run demonstrated an innovative approach. The autocratic LDPR, meanwhile, is once again running with its adroit and shocking Zhirinovsky. 
 
Alas, the traditional Russian troika of presidential candidates – Putin, Zhirinovsky, and Zyuganov – has been shockingly broken with the replacement of the latter candidate. This carries definite risks, but also offers tangible benefits. Overall, I believe that the CPRF Presidium has made a strong and bold move. Russia’s communists have long been expected to work on rejuvenation and renewal, a process which they have now kicked off with a new presidential candidate who could, given competent work, easily take second place after Putin. 
 
Now a little about the candidate. Pavel Grudinin is 57 years old and is, by education and professor, a farmer and engineer. Grudinin founded the Lenin Sovkhoz in the Moscow region which is now a thriving agricultural holding successfully operating on collectivist principles and boasting strong, social-oriented business. The CPRF presents this as a beautiful sample of the triumph of socialist economics in agriculture. Grudinin himself, meanwhile, can be called a patriot and statist. 
 
The Lenin Sovkhoz
 
In 2000, Grudinin represented Vladimir Putin’s candidacy and, in his own testimony, supported the latter’s fight against the oligarchy. Most interesting of all, perhaps, is that Grudinin is not a member of the CPRF, and until 2011 he was a member of United Russia. 
Pavel Grudinin’s personality evokes considerable interest and sympathy, but also gives rise to a number of questions. Judging by some of his statements, Grudinin is a man who has his own opinion; he is non-conformist and charismatic. In my opinion, some of his expressions can even be said to reveal inexperience and excessive radicalism. Nevertheless, Grudinin will not be an easy competitor for Vladimir Putin. 
 
Russian politics is now dominated by demands to address socio-economic problems. Despite indisputable and sometimes striking successful military development – which indeed deserves Boris Johnson’s apt comparison to Sparta – Russia’s economic and social development leaves much to be desired. This fact has confronted Vladimir Putin, for whose presidential campaign socio-economic issues will be key. 
 
Meanwhile, the only candidates with any chances of obtaining serious results are those who belong to what I call the “Crimean consensus,” or the camp of patriotic politicians who support President Putin and the results of the referendum in 2014 in Crimea and Sevastopol. 
Russian society has demonstrated a high demand for development and social justice. But it has also demonstrated patriotism and nationalism not of an ethnic, but civic nature (which in Russia is called “statism” – gosudarstvennichestvo or derzhavnost). Some small percentage of voters will cast their ballots against patriotic values, but only the statist candidates will collect any noteworthy results. 
The CPRF’s candidate, Pavel Grudinin, is totally capable of taking second place. The CPRF’s traditional electorate as well as new voters who do not personally take a liking to Zyuganov or the Communist Party will vote for Grudinin, as will many of my friends. In another situation, they would all vote for Vladimir Putin, who is seen as the leader of the nation, but the gross failures of the economic and social policies pursued by the liberal government of Dmitry Medevedev, with whom Putin is associated, have provoked growing, almost universal irritation. 
 
The best case scenario for these elections would, in our view, be the establishment of a government of public trust headed by President Putin with a cabinet of ministers including accountable professionals aiming for long-term development, not blindly coping Western liberal dogma. 
 
The CPRF, without a doubt, could become a solid base for such cooperation, as its very program has long called for forming such a “government of popular trust.” Hence why Pavel Grudinin is potentially not only a competitor, but a comrade of Vladimir Putin. 
 
Eduard Popov is a Rostov State University graduate with a PhD in history and philosophy. In 2008, he founded the Center for Ukrainian Studies of the Southern Federal University of Russia, and from 2009-2013, he was the founding head of the Black Sea-Caspian Center of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, an analytical institute of the Presidential Administration of Russia. In June 2014, Popov headed the establishment of the Representative Office of the Donetsk People’s Republic in Rostov-on-Don and actively participated in humanitarian aid efforts in Donbass. In addition to being Fort Russ’ guest analyst since June, 2016, Popov is currently the leading research fellow of the Institute of the Russian Abroad and the founding director of the Europe Center for Public Initiatives. 

Jafe Arnold is Special Editor of Fort Russ, Special Projects Director of the Center for Syncretic Studies, and the founding Editor-in-Chief of Eurasianist Internet Archive. Holding a Bachelors in European Cultures from the University of Wroclaw (Poland), Arnold is currently undertaking his Masters in Western Esotericism at the University of Amsterdam. 
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