From The Forge, Organ of the Communist Party of the Workers of France, November 15-30, 1994

There are two fundamental causes for the tragedy which Albania is experiencing today: one the one hand there is the treason of the PLA (Party of Labor of Albania) and on the other hand there external pressure.

Ramiz Alia (1) worked consciously to destroy the party. He carried on an open policy of accepting into the party old traitors and saboteurs of the struggle for national liberation. There was a directive given to the whole party. He also squandered all the economic reserves which had been accumulated for the following eight years. For five years, he had lied to the Albanian people, calling on the people to defend socialism but putting into practice a policy designed to liquidate it. It was he who launched the first attacks against Enver Hoxha. In Zeri i popullit (2) there had been attacks against Stalin; the ordinary people understood them as attacks against Enver Hoxha. All the opportunists, all the traitors, all those who have struggled for the restoration of capitalism have begun by attacking Stalin; Ramiz Alia did the same.

At the 10th Congress of the PLA (3), Ramiz Alia prepared the liquidation of the party. Ramiz Alia mobilized certain sectors of the population against the party committees. He made public opinion believe that if he did not liquidate Enver Hoxha and his work, Albania would not be recognized by Europe or by the USA.

The destruction of socialism has meant the destruction of industry, the educational system, health, the cooperatives, public transportation, social security...

In Albania there are today 500,000 people unemployed, not counting the 500,000 Albanians who are searching for work in Italy, Greece, France. The Albanian state is a police state with 40,000 police. It is the only country that does not celebrate the victory of the struggle for national liberation, November 29. All the war criminals, all the fascists have been pardoned. They are presented today as heros. One of them, responsible for the massacre of many women and who had fled to Canada, returned to Albania this year and appeared on television. He has admitted his act. He has been received by the current president, Sali Berisha. This latter is a puppet. All the politics are directed by the American ambassador posted to Tirana.

The skilled workers are out in the street; they have to survive by selling cigarettes. In towns such as Shkodra, there is a state of emergency which prohibits anyone from being out after 6 p.m. Crime is on the rise, the Albanian mafia is conducting its business openly. Drugs have made their appearance and agricultural areas are used to grow opium poppies. The people are beginning to rebel. Last August 13, 100,000 people demonstrated in Tirana, shouting slogans against the dictatorship: "Down with the fascist president," "U.S. ambassador, out!" Orders were given to shoot at the demonstrators. But the police refused to do this. Many police and soldiers, in civilian clothes, participated in this demonstration. In response the regime dismissed 500 police. All the leaders of the Socialist Party, the largest party in the country, have been arrested on the charge of corruption. In reality, they have been arrested for political reasons. Today, the people want new elections and if these were held now, the Democratic Party of Berisha would be defeated.

Several days before the tearing down of the statues of Enver Hoxha, the association "Partisans of Enver" was formed. It had 50,000 members on the evening of its first day. Several days later it had 1.2 million members, that is, one third of the population. The representatives of the association have demanded that Ramiz Alia hold a referendum on the person of Enver Hoxha. He promised to do it within 30 days. But this promise was made only to gain time. The Socialist Party, which came out of the PLA, is opposed to the association and has prohibited its members from belonging to it. The association has been accused of wanting to make a civil war. But in reality, this movement is a very massive movement which has the supported of the majority of the population. The demonstrations of the association were peaceful. The people did not want a confrontation. The group of Ramiz Alia was very afraid. It was he who started this propaganda about the danger of civil war. Its goal was to present him as the one who knew how to avoid this.

This is the only party that has not been created by Ramiz Alia. The CPA had been legal for nine months. When the regime in power saw that the CPA was becoming stronger, it declared it illegal and decreed that "communists, Enverists, Stalinists... cannot participate in elections." The PCA is presently functioning under very difficult conditions. Communist militants are expelled from their work-places. The party today lacks the means to make propaganda. Despite this, the party is advancing. It is working in all parts of the country. The PCA is continuing on the road traversed by the PLA under the direction of Enver Hoxha. Its primary objective is to reunify its forces, organize the true communists, the true patriots, those who, both in the country and abroad, are struggling for the ideals of communism. The communists are struggling to expel the fascists from their country, to prevent the rebirth of fascism and to restore socialism.

1) Ramiz Alia was the last general secretary of the PLA. He succeeded Enver Hoxha at the 9th Congress in November of 1986.

2) The central organ of the PLA

3) The last congress was held in June of 1991. The PLA was dissolved to give birth to the Socialist Party of Albania, a party of a social-democratic type.

From La Forge, July, 1994

In the morning of June 22, special troops of the Colombian army arrested Francisco Caraballo, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Colombia (M-L) and Commander in Chief of the People's Liberation Army (Ejército Popular de Liberación, EPL). Several other people were arrested with him, including his wife and 16 year old son.

This news has made, for the first time, the headlines of the Colombian press, but besides that nothing has been said. It is necessary to say that the Colombian media are submitted to censorship in everything that concerns the guerrilla movement.

Declarations of the Colombian authorities in favor of internal peace have not been lacking. The last president who was elected had made it an axis of his campaign. But the numbers of the "disappeared," of assassinations of political militants, of trade unionists and of militants for human rights by the armed forces and by the paramilitary groups has never been so high. This is why we are particularly worried about the fate in store for Francisco Caraballo and the people arrested with him.

Francisco Caraballo is an official of a political party and of a political-military organization with thirty years of existence. It is neither an accident or an anachronism that the Colombian guerrilla movement is one of the oldest in Latin America. It finds its source in the considerable social disparities, in a frozen [blocked] political and institutional system, in the violence with which the owners respond to the legitimate demands of the popular strata and of their political and social organization. On several occasions discussions have begun between the authorities and the guerrilla organizations. In August, 1984, a cease-fire agreement was concluded. One of the signatories, Oscar William Calvo, member of the leadership of the Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist) was assassinated on an open street of Bogota the following year. He had had the opportunity, several months beforehand, to come to France to talk about the situation in his country and about the political proposals of his organization. The Colombian authorities were concerned about the proceeding of the discussion, as witnessed by the massacre at the Palace of Justice in which the principal responsibility rests with the armed forces.

At the request of the guerrilla organizations grouped under the "Simón Bolívar Guerrilla Coordination" new discussions began in 1991 in Caracas and later at Tlaxcala (Mexico). It soon became apparent that the government had no intention of succeeding and that it was seeking nothing more than a pure and simple surrender of the guerrilla forces, without giving the least response to the political and social problems at the origin of this violent protest which is the guerrilla phenomenon. The negotiations therefore failed once again and certain negotiators were arrested. The "state of internal unrest" that was decreed had the aim of transforming the guerrillas from political opponents into "criminals." Militants and leaders of the guerrilla organizations have been captured and imprisoned without sentence and most often without any contact with the outside. Compared to the attitude adopted by the authorities towards the drug traffickers, the difference is both glaring and revealing.

Francisco Caraballo is one of the historic leaders of the guerrilla movement. The partisans within the army and the government of the "strong manner" have but one with: to get rid of him as soon as possible. The silence which has fallen makes one fear the worst. The solution to the internal war which Colombia has been experiencing for dozens of years is political and social: it can not be deadlocked [?] with a real negotiation with the guerrilla organizations and with their leaders.

We address ourselves to all those who are worried about the human rights situation in Colombia. We ask you to intercede with the Colombian authorities so that they treat the leaders of the different guerrilla organizations as political officials, that those who are in their hands benefit from democratic guarantees and that their physical and mental integrity be preserved. This appeal concerns particularly Francisco Caraballo and the militants arrested with him.

Paris, July 2, 1994

Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Workers of France

The life of F. Caraballo is really in danger. The press articles which appeared at the time of his capture tried to present him in the most negative picture possible with the evident goal of isolating him and presenting him as some kind of "undefendable" person. It is necessary to break this isolation as quickly as possible. This is the reason for the campaign which we have launched by disseminating the above communique and in inviting individuals and organizations to make themselves heard and requesting them to intercede with the Colombian authorities to treat F. Caraballo as a political militant. This campaign is being waged on the international level as well. To do it, one can utilize the text of the petition below and sent it to the Attorney General of Colombia and the Ambassador to France. One of the objectives is to form a commission which would meet in Colombia to see F. Caraballo. The class enemy has struck a blow. But it is deceiving itself when it affirms that this is the end of the party and of the EPL. The struggle will not cease with this arrest, on the contrary, and the CPC(M-L) has faced other blows from the enemy which it believed were decisive. It is necessary that the international solidarity be demonstrated quickly and concretely.

Francisco Caraballo, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist) and Commander in Chief of the People's Liberation Army (EPL) was arrested on June 22, 1994, by the armed forces.

We demand of the Colombian authorities that they treat him as a political prisoner and that his physical and mental integrity be preserved.

Francisco Caraballo was born in 1936. At a very early age he joined the Communist Party of Colombia. In 1964, along with other comrades he founded the Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist) and shortly thereafter the EPL, of which he became the first commander.

He has been a member of the Secretariat of the CPC(M-L) since its creation. After the assassination of Pedro León Arboleda in 1971, he was chosen First Secretary of the party. He has occupied that post ever since.

After the assassination of Ernesto Rojas (February 15, 1987), commander of the EPL and member of the Central Executive Committee of the CPC(M-L), it was Francisco Caraballo who assumed "the military command at the head of the general staff." He participated in this capacity in various meetings of the heads of the guerrilla organizations united in the Simón Bolívar Coordination.

From La Forge, January 1-15, 1992

"Polemic." A lively general debate between different or contradictory ideas and positions. Polemics serve to make dynamic the exchange of points of view, to submit them to close criticism, to advance correct ideas. It requires the taking seriously of the points of view which it is proposed to criticize, and excludes all anathema, distortion or simplification. This is our ambition in today beginning this column in our paper. It will deal particularly with political and ideological questions... concerning the positions of the parties and organizations which consider themselves Marxist-Leninist. These differences are known by all those who have access to the publications of the parties, that is to say, they are widely known publicly (especially by the bourgeoisie!). They coexist without a real public polemic having been engaged in by the Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations, with the goal of clarifying, deepening and finally arriving at correct formulations. We have assessed that this situation is all the more harmful because today it is more than ever necessary to revive Marxism-Leninism, to go over the criteria with the fine-toothed comb of experience and to submit them to the fire of practice and of the actual development of the class struggle on a national and international level.

For a long time it has been the custom within what is called the international communist movement (a notion that, in itself, deserves a full analysis) of "not displaying our differences an front of the class enemy." The result: the class enemy knows perfectly well these differences while the parties prohibit public polemics among themselves. This attitude has contributed to a certain sclerosis of Marxism-Leninism, of which one can today measure the dangers and the damage. It has also been able to create a certain extra distance between the parties which consider themselves Marxist-Leninist and all those who are interested in Marxism-Leninism, for whom Marxism-Leninism is a reference, but who, for different reasons, are not members of a Marxist-Leninist party.

We begin this column with an article about the differences that appeared concerning the Gulf war.

The "new world order" is being built with fire and blood. The war in the Gulf has been a macabre illustration. The "war itself" was nothing other than a slaughter, with aerial bombardments of towns, of Iraqi soldiers buried alive by U.S. bulldozers. The Iraqi population is the principle victim of the blockade that the great powers are continuing to carry out against this country which has been destroyed economically.

This war has led to the taking of different positions among the forces and parties that consider themselves Marxist-Leninist. These differences are essentially about the attitude to adopt towards the regime of Saddam Hussein.

The first one advocates support to this regime against the imperialist coalition. [Translator's note: the text here has a bad typo, saying "the anti-imperialist coalition."] It stems from the idea that the policies and actions of S. Hussein weaken the world imperialist system by damaging the interests of the great imperialist powers, particularly those of American imperialism. It is the reaction of these imperialist powers themselves that, according to the partisans of support for S. Hussein, furnish proof of the correctness of their position. This support is presented as a tactic comparable to that of the CPSU during the time of Lenin and Stalin, when the Bolsheviks supported Sultan Kabous of Afghanistan against the imperialist powers of that time, particularly England.

We have defended a different position, taking as our target the imperialist coalition and working to develop a popular opposition to this reactionary war, without creating illusions about the regime of S. Hussein and therefore without calling for supporting him.

The existence of these differences has, among other consequences, made it practically impossible to carry out a coordinated action of the Marxist-Leninist forces. But if we return to this question today, it is because this problem will inevitably arise again. In effect, the "new order" of world imperialism is characterized by a profound disruption of the relationship of forces, of alliances and of zones of influence among the imperialist powers.

The breaking up of the USSR, the deepening of the crisis in the world capitalist imperialist system which is functioning at present along one model (symbolized by the notion of a "market economy") is sharpening the contradictions among the different imperialist countries, between the imperialist countries and the less developed capitalist countries. The end to the bi-polarization of USA-USSR is disrupting the zones of influence and is creating "voids". These provide opportunities for the imperialist states to redraw or consolidate their zones of influence, and for capitalist countries with a certain economic and military development to cut out a regional zone of influence. This is necessarily done against the interests of other states, particularly against those of the imperialist powers, but still within the framework of the imperialist system. This is the case, among others, of Turkey, India, Brazil, China... This is what S. Hussein dreamed of realizing in annexing the petroleum riches of Kuwait, which would have increased his economic and military power within this strategic region of the planet (major petroleum deposits and main known petroleum reserves). He could believe that the imperialists would let him do it. The USSR and France had over-armed him during eight years of the reactionary war with Iran, and the USA had given proof of a great understanding in this regard (see insert).

That his calculations failed and that he served up on a silver platter a pretext for the imperialists to intervene and break his back, does not change the problem at all as to knowing what interests S. Hussein was pursuing in annexing Kuwait.

To this question we answer: that of a bourgeois who aspires to a bigger piece of the pie, of a bourgeois who wants to have a greater share within the framework of the world imperialist system.

Iraq is a link in the imperialist chain, a country largely dependent on the imperialist great powers, particularly in the domain of the supply of arms, but also in the economic plane (imports of agricultural products, construction of means of communications...). The Iraqi bourgeoisie aspires, as does every bourgeoisie, to develop itself and to exercise its domination, at first regionally. The instrument of its politics is a militarist and police state and the only party in power: the Baath party. As so many other regimes in Africa and the Middle East, it has kept a socialistic speech, basing itself on a real economic development, a social politics particularly in the realm of the struggle against illiteracy and on the secular character of the state. Compared to the reactionary, obscurantist and corrupt regimes in the region, it could have passed all the more easily as a "progressive" regime which had the support of the USSR. But its class nature is openly manifested in two areas:

- The policy of brutal repression against the opposition of the left. In 1978, S. Hussein distanced himself from the USSR in order to draw closer to the emirs of the Gulf with the hope of playing the role of gendarme in the region in place of Egypt (discredited by its policy of conciliation with regard to Israel). So it eliminated the militants of the Iraqi CP. The prisons are full of opponents, particularly those who opposed the Iran-Iraq war. The Kurdish population has been the victim of many military operations, including, in 1988, the use of poison gas.

- The policy of military aggression against Iran, ordered and sustained by the imperialist powers who wanted to liquidate the anti-imperialist struggle of the Iranian masses. At that moment in 1980, the struggle in Iran between the anti-imperialist forces and the reactionary mullahs had not yet been settled. S. Hussein played the role of the military arm of imperialism. That war plunged the Iraqi people into misery, and served to squelch every form of internal struggle.

Among the reasons which S. Hussein had to invade Kuwait, there is clear evidence of the desire to divert the anger of the Iraqi population weary after eight years of war, of deprivations and of the absence of democracy. The popular surge on which S. Hussein counted did not take place, far from it. The imperialists by means of their barbaric war, the economic blockade and all their interference after the military phase (particularly in Kurdistan), have in the final analysis contributed to maintaining the regime of S. Hussein, preventing a democratic, progressive and anti-imperialist alternative from being formed.

We know well that imperialism utilizes the question of human rights to try to justify their reactionary policies of domination and destruction, although its spokespeople are the last to be able to give lessons in democracy. But should that lead the revolutionaries, the communists to refrain from denouncing the violation of bourgeois democratic rights by the Iraqi regime, under the pretext that it is today in the gun-sights of the imperialist powers? This would mean abandoning to imperialism and reaction the terrain of democratic liberties with all that follows, such as falsifications and manipulations. This would bring grist to the mill of all the anti-communists, who have not ceased to claim that communism is the antithesis of democracy and who have been able to draw from numerous examples from the image given by the revisionist countries.

The argument according to which the support for S. Hussein is a purely tactical question, relies on a confusion full of consequences. In effect, in the elaboration of its tactics, a communist party takes account of its forces, of its capacities and the means to put them into operation. Concretely, in the era of Lenin and Stalin, the CPSU and the USSR had a considerable weight in all fields, which permitted them very bold tactics in relation to the governments of dependent countries. Now, the least that can be said is that, for a long time we have not had that!

In other words, what weight, what pressure could the Marxist-Leninist movement -- much less the Marxist-Leninist parties taken individually -- exercise so that their support to S. Hussein could lead to a reinforcement of the interests of the peoples, of the revolutionary and anti-imperialist movement? Frankly, this support could not be anything but "lost money." And very logically, those who supported S. Hussein would feel and present his failure as a failure for the workers and popular movement, reinforcing again a little more the idea that it is very difficult to fight, and even more so to overturn imperialism.

It would be dangerous if tomorrow, either there or in another region of the world, another Saddam Hussein would engage his people in the same bloody adventure and the forces who consider themselves Marxist-Leninist would come to his aid.

Iran and Iraq bought about $65 billion dollars worth of arms between 1981 and 1988. This war caused 1,250,000 casualties. 41 countries supplied the arms, of which 21 supplied them to both countries at the same time.

Among the public suppliers of arms are the great French arms manufacturers: Dassault-Breguet, Aerospatiale (missiles, Matra-Manurhin (shells), Thompson (electronic equipment)...

From April 28 to May 5, 1989 a big fair was held in Baghdad in which 200 exhibitors participated. Besides the suppliers of heavy and sophisticated equipment one notes the presence of manufacturers coming from medium-developed countries, such as Avibras (Brazil), which concluded a deal for missiles and launch-missiles (SS-60s) of a million dollars, and the Chilean company Cardoen.

MBB, the large German consortium, was also very much present, notably in the area of missiles and the production of poison gas.

The array of products sold ran from troop transport trucks (Iveco-Magirus, Daimler-Benz...) to ground-to-air missiles "Roland" (MBB-Euromissile) to Alphajet helicopters (Dornier-Dassault), not to mention engineering for the enrichment of uranium, the production of munitions and trucks (more than 100 companies involved). The financing and the guarantees were assured on the German side, by Deutche Bank and Hermes.

As to the USA, if it did not officially supply arms to Iraq, it largely supported the war effort. During this period Iraq was crossed off the "black list" of terrorist states, which permitted the farmers in the Mid-West to sell large quantities of wheat and other agricultural products.

At the end of the war, the Iraqi debt reached $70 billion, leading to the greater and greater reluctance of the suppliers to deliver the new arms insistently demanded by S. Hussein.

(1) These two countries are known to have greatly increased their sales of arms on an international level between 1982 and '87. Brazil went from $670 million for the period 1976-81 to 2.6 billion (for the period 1982-87). As to China, it went, in the same periods, from $1.25 billion to $7.8 billion. As a point of comparison, North Korea, Israel and South Korea each exported between $2.1 and $2.4 billions in arms.

Besides these figures it is necessary as well to take into account the type of arms sold. The large suppliers often sold expensive and sophisticated weapons (planes, heavy tanks, electronic material...), the middle level suppliers are more specialized in the area of light arms (automatic machine-guns, anti-guerrilla arms...) used in particular to maintain internal order and to fight against resistance movements.

How could the Iraqi regime pay for all these arms, and for what were they used. Because the debts had accumulated, the regime paid its suppliers. This was done very evidently to the detriment of the Iraqi masses, at the price of a terrible training of the population by the army, the different police forces and the Baath party, the only party in power. Among the "chief events" of the regime of S. Hussein, we note the liquidation of the members of the Communist Party of Iraq, following a reversal of international alliances (S. Hussein distanced himself from the USSR to reconcile himself with the emirs of the Gulf). Let us also recall the gassing of the Kurdish population in March, 1988, in the region of Halabjeh.

From La Forge, December 1995

Since the world system of imperialism is sinking deeper into crisis every day, sharpening all the contradictions and provoking social explosions which directly pose the question of the alternative to this society, the Marxist-Leninist forces are working fiercely to unite themselves on an international plane.

It is within that effort that it is necessary to place the holding of the 2nd International Conference of Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations which brought together organizations from 15 countries, representing 4 continents (Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia).

Convinced that socialism (as a society of transition towards communism) is the only alternative to the present mode of production, these forces are working, each in their own country and together on an international level, to give over to this objective all their capacity for mobilization. To do this, they are defending the history of the world workers and communist movement -- which is their history -- and its achievements, which are so much points of support. They recognize the failures and try to analyze them to understand and to learn.

They are engaged, each one in their own country, in the class struggle and to try to open up a concrete road to the revolution and the seizure of power by the proletariat and its allies.

Knowing that the interests of the working class and of the peoples are the same beyond the borders, this [pole] works to make a reality of the slogan of Marx and Engels, "Workers of the World, Unite!"

This is why those who pose the question of the revolutionary alternative are following with interest the efforts of the unity of the communists and are interested in knowing the results of this 2nd conference as our Party analyzes them.

This 2nd Conference continued a process begun in 1994 at Quito (Ecuador). The Quito Conference was itself the fruit of the work waged by our parties, including ours, for several years for the unity of the international communist movement (see La Forge - September 1994). The Paris conference is a step forward in the work to reunify and reorganize the movement. It is the consolidation of this new step which was begun at Quito.

This consolidation is manifested by:

the importance of participation: 15 delegations, with new participants;

the preparation: agenda fixed in advance, the outcome of the coordination committee for the tasks fixed at Quito, numerous contributions of the parties. Several delegations came with a written contribution to the points submitted for discussion;

the session: agenda respected, despite differences; a very strong will to work together and to affirm the existence of a Marxist-Leninist pole. A very great maturity of all the organizations, which permitted them to surmount the obstacles and to find the means to pursue the work in common.

Charged by the Conference with, as its name indicates, "coordinating," the coordination committee presented a summary of the work done since Quito, on the basis of information which had been provided to them.

The declaration adopted at Quito has been signed and reproduced by numerous parties, including many who had not participated at Quito.

The review Unity and Struggle has seen several editions in different countries and has been published in French, Spanish, English and Turkish. If its circulation has had an unequal breadth in each country, its echoes have been heard beyond the ranks of our parties. On can thus verify the importance of the fact that the Conference has an organ of expression which permits one to affirm the existence of a Marxist-Leninist pole in the face of the various revisionist currents.

The campaigns of solidarity with F. CARABALLO and H. HAMAMMI have had positive repercussions, even if the participation of the different organizations has been unequal and often short of the possibilities.

The committee has also made a self-critical summary of the tasks which had been assigned to it at Quito. This summary, which bore a positive appreciation, has been enriched by the intervention of several parties and very largely shared by all the participants.

The discussion on the summary of the experience of the USSR and the reasons of its failure also been initiated at Quito. It should have been pursued on the basis of a text presented by our party. But it was not possible for this text to be translated and communicated to all the participants before the Conference. Our party therefore explained at the Conference the essential content of its contribution. Taking account the concrete conditions, this explanation was followed by those of different organizations and could not lead to [?] a true discussion,

This point of the agenda revealed several things:

a very unequal level in the study and reflection on this question and, in fact, very different, even contradictory, points of view;

a non-negligible number of organizations saw the importance of studying these questions and are themselves engaged in that work;

it is possible today to attack complicated and delicate questions since the idea [fait son chemin, has taken hold?] that Marxism-Leninism must be enriched and that it is up to the Marxist-Leninist parties to do this individually and collectively, basing themselves on dialectical materialism and in direct link with revolutionary practice.

The process of discussions and exchanges which took place should find the means to pursue to arrive at a unity on the fundamental questions of the strategy of the communists.

A means to succeed is, besides being favored by all the means of bilateral and multilateral exchanges between the parties, that the Marxist-Leninist forces who participated at the Conference worked together on more limited questions, where we were able to arrive at agreement without great difficulties. In thus working on more modest but not less important objectives for our parties, we created the conditions to reenforce unity and carry it further.

pursuit of the circulation of the communist Proclamation;

pursuit of the journal Unity and Struggle, with two issues a year;

pursuit of the campaign of solidarity;

contact and discussion with organizations who call themselves Marxist-Leninist and are interested in participating in the Conference.

As to other news, there is the case in particular of the work on elaborating a tactical platform for the workers and popular movement.

All the forces who participated in the conference are taking part in that work, charged by the coordinating committee with finding the forms, taking account the concrete conditions, that would permit a truly collective work.

This tactical platform will be the principal point on the agenda for the next Conference. And there will be discussed a text of synthesis, presented by the coordination committee.

This commitment to work together on the elaboration of a text which, if it is adopted, would be a text of the Conference, is a new important element.

Our party is aware that this work for the ideological, political and organizational unity of the Marxist-Leninist forces on a world level is difficult, very long and filled with pitfalls. But the pole which will give birth to a reorganized Communist Movement exists. It is represented by these Conferences and demands from each great efforts, at the measure of stakes. Our party, in unison with the forces which participated at these Conferences, wishes that they play the role of a pole of attraction for the revolutionary forces who call themselves Marxist-Leninist.

This opening wish is conforming to the situation; the delimitation of the camps can not be other than the issue of an intense ideological and political struggle.

Last September there was held in Paris the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations (see list below).

This Conference proceeded with the summary of the tasks fixed from the previous Conference which was held in 1994 at Quito, Ecuador, notably the circulation of the journal Unity and Struggle, the campaigns f solidarity with the imprisoned comrades, Hamma Hammami of the Communist Party of the Workers of Tunisia and Francisco Caraballo, first secretary of the Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist), etc.

It proceeded as well with an exchange of points of view on the summary of the experience of the construction of socialism in the USSR and on the causes of its failure.

The discussion was as well directed towards the necessity of elaborating a tactical platform of Marxist-Leninists for the popular and workers movement. This is one of the principal tasks fixed for the next Conference. The coordination Committee named at this Conference is charged with seeing to their accomplishment.

Paris, September 1995

The International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations

Communist Party of Germany

Revolutionary Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist)

Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist)

Revolutionary Communist Party of the Ivory Coast

Communist Party of Labor of the Dominican Republic

Communist Party Marxist-Leninist of Ecuador

Communist Organization "October" of Spain

Communist Party of the Workers of France

Organization for the United Communist Party of Greece

Party of Labor of Iran

Organization for the Communist Party of the Proletariat of Italy

Communist Party of the Workers of Tunisia

Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey

Red Flag Party of Venezuela

Voltaic Revolutionary Communist Party

Communist Party of Japan (Left)

Chilean Communist Party (Proletarian Action)

From La Forge, November 15-30, 1993

The Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations participating in the multilateral meeting held in November, 1993, in Europe, after having reviewed the international situation and discussed the problems of the international communist movement, declare:

The great changes that have taken place in the last years have turned the contemporary world upside down, bringing along with this a recomposition of the social, economic and political forces. Despite their importance, these changes have not modified the nature of the epoch: we continue to live in the epoch of imperialism and of the proletarian revolution. The contradictions between capital and labor, between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, between imperialism and the peoples, have an effect on the development of society. Events confirm the principle of the class struggle as the motive force of history.

The disappearance of the USSR has put an end to the contradiction between the two superpowers, the Unit States and the USSR, and has led to an increased sharpening of the inter-imperialist contradictions. Other imperialist powers are entering into this competition and the struggle for a redivision of the world is expressed in the formation and reformation of blocs, alliances and inter-imperialist agreements of a commercial, economic, political and military character. These contradictions manifest themselves in the new conflicts and new aggressions against the oppressed peoples and nations, they can in the future lead to a world-wide conflagration.

A great general crisis is shaking the present capitalist world. The supremacy of capitalism, proclaimed with great pomp, is nothing but a huge farce. The workers and the peoples, principal victims of the crisis, are suffering the consequences of recession, inflation, unemployment, wage freezes, the taking back of social gains, the brutal aggression of capitalism.

The objective conditions of the revolution, the necessity of the social revolution and the perspective of socialism are the questions of the day. They demand from the communists a determined and persistent action in order to assume in reality the leading role of the revolutionary party of the proletariat.

The blows struck by the counter-revolution, the aggressive anti-communist campaign and the reverses suffered by the workers and the peoples will inevitably lead to new class confrontations, to a rise in the revolutionary struggle.

The work of ideological diffusion conducted by reaction and the revisionists among the working class and the peoples, poses for the Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations the urgent necessity of redoubling their efforts for unity, to take up the analysis and discussion of the new situations and problems, to give a Marxist-Leninist response, and to become in reality a real alternative in each of their countries and on an international scale. This task is inseparable from the uncompromising struggle in defense of Marxism-Leninism and to unmask and combat revisionism and opportunism in all its forms. As Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations created in the process of the struggle against modern revisionism, with the PLA led by Enver Hoxha and other Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations of the world, we reaffirm the Leninist thesis according to which revisionism is an international phenomenon, a product of imperialism and it continues to present a great danger for the parties, for the revolutionary process and for the building of socialism.

We parties and organizations affirm our will to intensify the struggle against capitalist exploitation, against imperialist domination, for the international solidarity among the workers and peoples, for the organization of the workers' movement and for the real practice of proletarian internationalism.

We are continuing our work to reinforce the international communist movement, on the basis of the principles formulated by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin, to succeed, on the basis of open, sincere discussion and ideological struggle, in surmounting our differences, our errors and our limitations to reach new levels of ideological and political unity.

We invite the other Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations, that for different reasons are absent from this meeting, to take part in this work and to meet again with us soon for a general conference of the international Marxist-Leninist communist movement.

Communist Party of Albania

Communist Party of Colombia Marxist-Leninist

Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador

Communist Organization "October" of Spain

Communist Party of the Workers of France

Organization for the United Communist Party of Greece

Organization for the Communist Party of the Proletariat of Italy

Party of Labor of Iran

Communist Party of Mexico Marxist-Leninist

Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey

Voltaic Revolutionary Communist Party

From messages to the 4th Congress of the PCOF (Communist Party of the Workers of France):

Ivory Coast: Ivorian Revolution

Comrades of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Workers of France, Comrade delegates, Comrade members,

[The beginning of the message contains greetings to the congress and support for the work done on "an approach to a summation of the socialist experience in the USSR" and "the analysis of the technology in the capitalist system and the evolution of the working class."]

The Revolutionary Communist Party of the Ivory Coast wages its struggle in extremely difficult conditions. We are faced with an autocratic power, a medieval obscurantism, strongly supported by imperialism, particularly French imperialism.

In spite of this situation, our party, which has only been in existence for a few years, wages a firm combat in which it seeks to carry out all the democratic tasks necessary to the advance of the conditions for the socialist revolution.

The struggle of the Ivorian people has entered a particular phase several months ago. From October to December 1995 there will be held general, presidential, legislative and municipal elections. The autocratic power has fixed conditions of elections that will guarantee its party, the Democratic Party of the Ivory Coast (PDCI), a certain "victory." While denouncing the electoral code, the reformist parties have prepared for the elections and appealed to the people to vote for their candidates. But, faced with the refusal of the autocracy to give in to their demands, these parties, in this case the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) and the Assembly of Republicans (RDR) have decided to appeal for a boycott of all the elections. The taking of this position is a tactic of the opportunist leaders to present themselves in the eyes of the masses as fighters for democracy and freedom. During this time, they negotiated with the power and made concessions which renders obsolete their slogan of boycott. They have in effect passed from demanding the withdrawal of the electoral code to requesting minor modifications. However the autocratic Ivorian power, totally opposed to every overture, has finally rejected all the offers made by the reformists.

The attitude of the pro-imperialist Ivorian power since the opening of the electoral process shows that the Ivorian big bourgeoisie, counting on the support of the French bourgeoisie, is still not ready to share power with other bourgeois sections. The reformists, who were caught unprepared for such intransigence, went on [? sont amenés] to appeal to the people, who for five years have shown a real desire for change, to adventurist actions. Without any preparation and without guarantee of showing the firmness in relation to an insurrectional option, they appealed to the people to confront with bare hands the forces of repression. This has lead to the deaths of at least six people since the power gave the order to fire without warning on the demonstrators.

Our party, the PCRCI, has made a correct analysis of the repressive and anti-democratic character of the power, and has come to the conclusion that the Ivorian proletariat and people will not gain anything by participating in these elections in which the results will not be rendered by the reality of the terrain. It appeals to the workers and the people to not participate in these elections, to boycott them and to fight for a provisional revolutionary government. The activities that we are carrying on at the present moment are based on this orientation. The people are realizing as time passes that they have ben deceived for five years by the reformists with their slogan of 'peaceful transition to democracy."

Conscious of the fact that the people aspire to a profound change and that the taking of positions of the PCRCI have an undeniable attraction for all those who are really engaged sincerely in the struggle for liberty and democracy, the opportunist leaders hesitate. They wished to agree to the conditions fixed by the power; it happened, that they necessarily cut themselves off from their base, thus creating conditions for an immediate and spectacular reinforcement of the revolutionary democracy. This is evidently feared by all the imperialists and the Ivorian bourgeoisie. To avoid this issue, they are obliged to radicalize their position, launching adventurist slogans which will not lead to anything good.

In either case, the conditions are developing for the people to understand that only the revolution can put an end to the current pro-imperialist dictatorship and that reforms can not do anything. The revolutionary process is being reinforced in the Ivory Coast. In the present period, in which the people are not sufficiently prepared for the confrontation and in which the reformist parties are limiting the struggle of the masses to the withdrawal of the electoral code, our party is fighting to show that, without the fall of the autocracy, there can not be free and democratic elections. One must buckle down to take advantage of the mobilization of the people to consolidate the organization of these in view of the future struggles, so that the insurrection, as the conditions progressively mature, will be a fortunate issue.

We know that you are following closely the development of this situation. The PCOF and the PCRCI have, as you know, many reasons to be particularly close to each other in the common struggle to contribute to the world proletarian revolution. Every blow struck by the PCOF against the French bourgeoisie constitutes a precious aid to the struggle of the PCRCI. In the same manner, every advance of the anti-imperialist struggle waged by the PCRCI reinforces the action of the PCOF, since this anti-imperialist struggle weakens world imperialism, French imperialism in particular.

In the expectation of the resolutions of your 4th Congress and in wishing you, dear comrades, a brilliant success in the work of your sessions, we ask you to accept the expression of our communist greetings.

The Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party of the Ivory Coast

From messages to the 4th Congress of the PCOF (Communist Party of the Workers of France):

Japan: The People's Star

International Bulletin of the Communist Party of Japan (Left) - (Extracts from the Japanese message)

La Forge, November 1995

Dear comrades,

In the name of the Japanese proletariat, we address our sincere greetings to your 4th Congress. It is an important event for the Marxist-Leninists and the working class of France.

We wish full success to your Congress which, without any doubt, can only reinforce the Marxist-Leninist character of your Party and will permit you to work out a positive orientation in the work of rooting yourself deep in the working class and for the revolutionary socialist movement with a view to the overthrow of French imperialism.

Our Party held its 4th Congress at the end of the year 1993. On that occasion we analyzed that the Party was not in a position to carry out its revolutionary tasks. We concluded as well that it was going through its most serious crisis since its foundation at the moment when the collapse of the USA-USSR rivalry is provoking a chaotic situation, both on the national as well as the international plane and that the economic crisis is deepening and that it is increasing the danger of war and revolution.

(...) The congress allowed us to define the means to rectify the errors and to build an authentic vanguard party. During the two years of anti-imperialist and anti-revisionist struggle which followed the Congress, we tried hard to establish the idea of serving the people, of persevering on the road of the masses and of rebuilding the mass movement on the basis of the Marxist-Leninist line and of its principal leaders.

We have raised the quality of our work to transform the activity of the cells of our Party in the factories and other establishments, to develop the Party in the key industries, to reactivate the movement of the working class and to form a revolutionary united front. We have also made important efforts to understand the vital needs of diverse classes and strata of the working masses, to promote the struggle against the atomic and hydrogen bombs, to support the movement of the survivors of the atomic bomb and to push forward the other combats on different fronts and terrains of struggle.

Although we have only accomplished modest steps, we are determined to carry on in this direction and to reconstruct an authentic vanguard party, capable of leading the revolutionary socialist movement in Japan.

Our two Parties are united in their struggle against imperialism and revisionism and in the realization of the historic mission of the proletariat, which is to push forward the socialist revolution up to the institution of communism.

Long live internationalism and proletarian internationalism!

Central Committee of the Communist Party of Japan (Left)

From La Forge, July 15 - August 31, 1992

[Editorial introduction]

Albania continues to sink into chaos. Hundreds of people have again sought to storm embassies and boats to try to leave the country. The new leaders of the Democratic Party in power are already splitting up. The risk is great in this context to want to lay responsibility on the back of the former regime and make the leaders of the PLA into scapegoats. The remains of those who were buried in the cemetery of martyrs have been removed from that symbolic place to be placed into a common grave. Scores of former responsible people are currently under indictment. Among them is Nexhmije Hoxha, a member of the leadership of the PLA since its foundation, the widow of the leader of the PLA Enver Hoxha (who died in April of 1985). At the age of 75, she is imprisoned, in isolation, sick, under the expectation of either being sentenced or set free.

In one of its last issues, the journal "A Classe Operaria" of the Communist Party of Brazil (CPB) published a translation of a long letter from Nexhmije Hoxha addressed to Joao Amazonas, President of the CPB. She thanks among others all those who, from France, Italy, Brazil... have showed her their sympathy or have undertaken interventions with the Albanian authorities that she be given the benefit of a minimum of judicial guarantees.

We publish extracts of this letter (translated from the Portuguese by ourselves) for two main reasons.

It first of all concerns a militant who still upholds communism and who is being persecuted by a regime that wants to put an end to everything that, more closely or further away, is linked to the socialist past of that country.

It also concerns testimony, limited of course, concerning the last period of the history of Albania that has seen the total liquidation of the socialist regime. As she emphasizes at the end of her letter, all the archives of the PLA are today in the hands of the Socialist Party, a party which has thrown itself into the arms of the Socialist International. One can imagine the use that can be made of them.

For reasons of length, we are publishing only extracts concerning less known aspects of the situation. Our readers can refer back to articles which we have written in our previous issues about the current chaotic situation, about the maneuvers of internal reaction supported by the imperialists, and about the cowardly behavior of certain false communists.

[Letter]

Tirana, April 14, 1992

"... I have seen with full confidence the activity of a new organization, the Euro-socialist youth who, despite what they call themselves and the fact that they are a branch of the Socialist Party, the are independent of the latter. Even though they have distanced themselves from the past and they criticize the PLA and Enver Hoxha, what is important is that this organization is in the process of rallying the young people who are stable, healthy, cultivated, who love to learn and are opposed to the DP [Democratic Party] and its youth organization, which is known for its degenerate liberalism, its anarchistic spirit, its cosmopolitanism and snobbery."

Explaining why she does not have confidence in the Socialist Party, N. Hoxha reviews the party currently in power and shows its incapability:

"The new President, Sali Berisha, practiced the politics of a dilettante and is a person who is lacking in stability. (He was a Communist for 27 years and Secretary of the Party at the School of Medicine and has transformed himself today into a furious anti-communist.)"

She proceeds to discuss the last period:

"... It is above all after the statue of Enver was torn down in Tirana, and it is strongly suspected that the former Minister of the Interior Hekuram Isai didn't do anything about this, that President Ramiz Alia lost the confidence of the people, he under-estimated the people and lost contact with them, to the point of losing the election in his own district. Distant, he remained isolated, without comrades, without the people, without power. Certain people say that he was sacrificed and that he had assumed a burden that was too heavy. This is true, but he should have shown more determination. Certain people question his patience, his tolerance and his consistent attitude of avoiding the spilling of blood despite the illegal demonstrations, or when the monuments were being destroyed all over. No one wanted blood to be spilled. This has been affirmed by all, including the Plenum of the CC of the Party. I also said that. When the statue of Enver was overturned in Tirana, and when I saw on television the angry people in the meetings, when a million people had signed a document stating their willingness to defend Enver, with the slogan: 'Let's go to Tirana to set the statue back on its feet," I too was afraid that a barbaric action by the vandals of the DP should not lead our people into a bloody provocation, and that that would be an indelible stain linked to the name of Enver.

"... I went to the headquarters of the CC, directly to Ramiz Alia's cabinet. He had numerous letters from the meetings, containing insults and unequivocal criticisms concerning him, directed against the decree which he had signed, and condemning the barbarous tearing down of the statue of Enver which had been shown many times on television. Evidently he was very desperate faced with the situation created.

"... I said to Ramiz that, as a communist militant who bore the name of Enver, I was prepared to go to all regions of the country, to reunite the people, to speak with them, to calm their spirits, etc.... But he hesitated because in the regions there were also extremists of the DP, furious anti-Enverists, and that something might happen to me. We agreed to call together in Tirana 20 to 30 people from each region. We talked with them for two days.

"The people spoke freely about the capitulations of Ramiz Alia and he said: "Where are you leading us?" He realized that he had lost the confidence of the communists and of the sympathizers of the PLA and of Enver. The people demanded with insistence a referendum to decide if the statue should not be put back in its place. I spoke and, among others, I defended Ramiz because the situation demanded it: "On whom are we going to confer the direction of the country?" I asked myself. About the referendum, I said that in case it is decided to hold one, it would not be a matter only of deciding what to do with the statue, but moreover of deciding the role and the place of E. Hoxha in the history of this half century."

She refers next to the 10th and last Congress of the PLA:

"... For the preparation of the report and of the documents of the Congress, Ramiz had proposed the creation of a large commission, outside of the CC, which was accepted. In the course of the plenum of the CC held two days before the Congress, certain members of the commission started to attack the members of the Political Bureau and to demand their expulsion from the plenum and from the party. Proposals were made to dissolve the whole CC, so that at the Congress the voice new forces could be heard. I said to Comrade Ramiz that this has a name: a putsch. How could a commission be able to reverse the CC of the Party, besides the fact that the Congress would be meeting here in two days and that the majority of the CC was not opposed to a new line, but that it discussed, debated and showed itself pre-occupied? What did not take place at the plenum did happen at the first session of the Congress. There was a demand for accounting from the old leadership of the Party, but not a demand for self-criticism of the political line (which would have equally implicated the former first secretary, Ramiz Alia). What it did was to enumerate facts and figures to discredit the comrades of the leadership who had certain privileges linked to their function, but which hit the spirits of the fact of certain excesses committed by certain comrades, such as the granting of favors to people close to them, of differences concerning food, lodging, etc., such elements which, in the context of great difficulties created by the lack of work, of food, have made the delegates to the Congress very sensitive. Many of these leaders have been expelled from the Party, without taking into account their struggle and their work which represented, for some of them, 40 to 45 years of their lives.

"... Recently the Communist Party has been formed on the basis of the Associations of the Partisans of Enver. In my opinion it would have been better if this association had been maintained as such, at least for the moment; it would be able to remain a broad movement. But the members wanted to create a Party to participate in the parliamentary life (they have not succeeded, victims of numerous manipulations and scheming). They wanted also to have an organ of the press, which is permitted to parties. In any way, they would have had a hard time. The President of the Party is a poet, Hysni Milloshi, a simple man, very courageous and guided by an inflexible logic. His articles are much welcomed by the communists and the sympathizers of Enver.

"To conclude, a few words about myself. I have been a prisoner since December 4. An investigation has been made in my absence and the initial accusations of "appropriation of important sums [of money] from the state" have failed to hold one after the other. The press has made its arguments on the fact that we supposedly seized the treasury of the state and that we had made deposits in Swiss banks. Nonsense! The accusations of usurpation of power have no foundation. No legal accusation has been brought against me because all the expenses have been justified by the decisions of the party or of the state, with documents signed by the authorities for everything concerning reception [of money], of what follows, etc.

"... After the investigation had begun, six or seven lawyers have refused to defend me because they did not want to compromise themselves. The one who had accepted abandoned me during the investigation because he, as well as his family, was the victim of threats, as the mafia carries out in certain countries. I took on my own defense until the end of the investigation. But when I ended my political declaration, in which I rejected all the accusations, they immediately notified me of the decision to arrest me and I was led directly from the place of the investigation to prison and placed in an isolation regime.

"... There are twenty of us accused, and four or five in prison. I have demanded that my case be disassociated from that of the others and to not appear before a military tribunal. In case where the judgement is delayed I have demanded the benefit of house imprisonment. In fact, the judgement has not taken place for electoral reasons. No judge or prosecutor wants, by freeing us, to sacrifice the post which the new Parliament had conferred on him."