The collapse of the Berlin Wall, the disintegration of the former USSR, the collapse of socialism in Albania, the failure of many revolutionary processes, all this led to the development of an extensive anti-communist campaign. With its political and ideological essence, this attack had a profound effect on communists, the parties of the proletariat and the international Marxist-Leninist movement. We all have been affected and weakened by this wave of attack, but not annihilated.
Imperialism, reaction and opportunism chanted cries of victory and declared the end of history and of all ideologies. They forgot about the scientific validity of Marxism-Leninism and the soundness of the ideology of the proletariat. They missed out the nature and the revolutionary tradition of the working class and the oppressed peoples. They forgot about the existence of the proletarian communist parties and their devotion to the revolutionary principles. They left out of account the determination of the proletarian revolutionaries, their resistance and decisiveness in keeping up the struggle. They overlooked the existence of the objective and subjective reasons forcing for change and giving way to revolutions. They forgot the fact that the history of humanity always developed in a spiral form, and that the retreats were the zigzags of the uninterrupted march of the proletarian social revolution.
The International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations is a revolutionary platform of the communists. We exist and struggle in our countries; we work for the unity and strengthening of the international communist movement. We are the followers of the Paris Commune, the October Revolution and the Communist International. In the revolutionary struggle we are guided by the proletarian ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin. We are based on the proletarian internationalism and the internationalist tradition of the communists of all countries.
In the course of the International Conference, our aim is to study seriously the old and the new problems of the revolution and socialism; to conduct a continual struggle against the bourgeois ideology, proposals and distraction; to keep up the fight against revisionism and opportunism; to consolidate our line and unite the struggle of the workers and peoples in every country an on the international scale. We have made some advances, but it is a long way, and we are determined to go to the end.
For the International Marxist-Leninist Commun-ist Movement it is of vital importance to achieve the ideological and political unity of the communists and their parties on an international scale through revolutionary practical and theoretical debates. This will also contribute to the growth of the parties of the movement and their organisational re-building.
The only way of making advances in the path of organising and realising the revolution is to link Marxism-Leninism with the life and the struggle of the working people. In order to enrich the theory and practice of the revolution we must continue to make profound analysis of the new problems of the revolution, without forgetting that we have Marxism-Leninism as our guide. We insist on the communist tradition of having open and sincere debates in order to identify and resolve the problems and to struggle. We are determined to undertake our responsibilities and fulfil our tasks accordingly.
The debates held during the sessions of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations prove the necessity of further deepening the discussions about the important problems of the revolution. With the intention of making the militants of our parties and organisations, other revolutionary organisations, our friends and sympathisers part of this discussion, we have decided to publish the documents presented to the Conference held in Germany in April 2000.
In this issue of Unity and Struggle we publish the documents with ideas and proposals not agreed by all the parties and organisations.
These documents were written by different parties and organisations designated by the Conference. The opinions expressed in them belong to the contributors, thus they should not be considered as collective documents of the Conference, unless stated otherwise. These documents are as follows:
“Present day imperialism” by the Red Flag Party of Venezuela and the M-L Communist Party of Ecuador.
“Evaluation of the Conferences”
“The Yugoslavia War: A product and manifestation of the increasing crisis of imperialism in Europe” by the Workers Communist Party of France and the Communist October Organisation of Spain.
“Report of the Regional Conference in the Middle East and the Balkans” by the Party of Labour of Iran (Toufan), the Organisation for the Communist Party of the Proletariat of Italy, the Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey, the Organisation for the Communist Party of Greece.
In addition to these documents we are publishing some decisions of the Conference. These are:
•For a combative May Day
•Solidarity with Hamma Hammami and with the people of Tunisia
•Solidarity with the people of Volta and the PCRV
•Solidarity with the people of Ecuador and the PCMLE
•Solidarity with comrade Francisco Caraballo
•Message to the Congress of the Workers Communist Party of Denmark
Publishing these materials is important for they show the level of unity among our parties and organisations, and that there may be differences in the approach of the Marxist-Leninists to different problems.
In any case, the journal Unity and Struggle manifests that we are the communist parties and organisations in action, fighting for the revolution and socialism.
The Coordinating Committee
October 200