Newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist)
170, Wandsworth Road, London, SW8 2LA. Phone 0171 627 0599,
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Britain Blocks Progress in North of Ireland
Work in Preparation for National Consultative Conference
Principles of a National Health Service Must Be Taken to their Logical Conclusion
Success of Demonstration against Cardiff Euro Summit & Open Letter
Kent and Canterbury Campaigners Fight On
National Campaign to Save Community Hospitals and Services
For Your Information: The Berlin Airlift
BROAD ALLIANCE FOR A MODERN AUSTRALIA!
Understanding Korean Reunification
Albania: Interview with a Representative of the Valona Salvation Committee
| NO SOONER HAVE THE ELECTIONS to the Northern Ireland Assembly taken place than a course of mayhem has been set in motion by the British state in order to block the path to progress in the north of Ireland, the path towards the exercise of the inalienable right of self-determination of the Irish people. Within days of the election, thousands of extra British troops have been moved in, with 28,000, the highest number in recent years, now committed to the north of Ireland. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, flanked by her police chiefs, has been striding about the streets, issuing orders here, threatening to ban organisations from the Assembly there, like some 19th century colonial viceroy. Tony Blair has been integrally involved in directing operations. The newly elected First and Deputy Assembly Ministers have been made to look on like impotent bystanders. And this is supposed to be a peace process! Where is the exercise of the decision-making of a sovereign people in this? What could better illustrate that it is not the people of the north of Ireland, let alone of the whole of Ireland, who are dealing collectively with the problems which confront them and deciding their own future. The stand-off at Drumcree has been used once more to try and spark off sectarian conflict and increase tension in the north of Ireland. The issue here is that it is being used as a pretext by the British government at the first opportunity to stop in its tracks the process whereby the principle that the Irish people have the right to determine their own affairs is taken to its logical conclusion. The Labour government is trying to bury this principle as much for the working class in this country as for the Irish people. The Irish people and the political organisations which uphold their interests, while acknowledging the limitations, have rightly viewed the setting up of the Assembly and various cross-border bodies as a stage towards realising their aspiration for an end to British rule and the partition of their country, towards establishing sovereignty over their whole island. The British government, however, would like to establish the deep flaws of the Good Friday Agreement as its primary aspect. This document was pushed through by the British government with no serious discussion of fundamental principles. It does not address the crucial issue of the sovereignty of the Irish people over their whole territory. It institutionalises British rule and institutionalises the sectarian divisions resulting from that rule. The powers of the Assembly it establishes are severely limited, leaving control of security, policing and other essential matters in the hands of Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary. The working class and all progressive people in Britain cannot tolerate the situation whereby the British government refuses to recognise the exercise of sovereignty by the Irish people and continues to instigate tragic conflict in the north of Ireland. It insults the basic principles of internationalism and goes against the working class's own interests. The demand must be that immediate steps be taken to end British rule and interference in the six north-eastern counties of Ireland, the major block to the Irish people empowering themselves and establishing their rightful sovereignty over their whole territory, so that they can take the necessary steps to sort out the disastrous legacy of centuries of foreign rule and build a future for themselves. |
Work in Preparation for National Consultative ConferenceSerious work is taking place throughout the Party in preparation for the National Consultative Conference of RCPB(ML) being held on July 18-19. The National Consultative Conference is taking place at an extremely timely juncture of the Party's work and of the objective situation. The aim of the Conference is to discuss the stage of the work of the Party in the context of its plan and practical programme which it has been developing and implementing in the period beginning with the Coventry International Seminar of January 1994, in particular its most important programme to Improve the Content, Extend the Readership of Workers' Weekly. It is all the more crucial to take stock of the work and discuss how it should advance in the light of Tony Blair's over one year in office in which the offensive of the rich against the people has been carried forward. A Preparatory Committee of responsible comrades has been set up at the instigation and under the direction of the Central Committee with the brief of ensuring that the mobilisation of the entire Party is effected to ensure the political readiness of the activists, as well as overseeing the practical preparations, including the orientation of the work to invite the Party circles and other concerned people to the Conference. In the London region, basic organisations have met to critically sum up their own work and discuss crucial issues in connection with the aim of the Conference and how these might be raised. Individually, comrades are preparing to intervene on the basis of their particular experience, the basic organisations report. The activists have drawn up lists of possible recipients of invitations and are implementing a programme of mobilising people to come to the Conference.The Northern Regional Committee is implementing a programme of asking supporters and activists of the Party as well as political people in the forefront of the struggle against the anti-social offensive to come to and to mobilise others to come for the Conference. Although most of these have been invited already the intention is to see as many as possible to give them the formal invitation and further discuss how they can contribute to the event. Already a number of people, including youth, have expressed their support for the aims of the National Consultative Conference and are organising to come. In the West Midlands, a number of activists and supporters met to discuss the aim of the Conference and its significance, and how to make preparations. The discussion was extremely fruitful in clarifying the character and the aims of the Party's work in this period; and the work of the Party in the region, as well as some crucial political questions, were discussed in this context. The meeting enthusiastically discussed mobilising and inviting those active in the working class and people's movement to the Conference. Organisations of the Party in the East Midlands are also actively making preparations for the Conference. At a lively meeting on July 5 of a group of youth in Party circles who had gathered to discuss the Party and its work, a decision was taken to convene once again at the Conference venue on the morning of its opening. A number of the youth expressed great eagerness to attend the Conference itself. It is not too late for anyone interested to apply for an invitation to attend the National Consultative Conference. Please write to the Central Committee of RCPB(ML) at 170 Wandsworth Road, London SW8 2LA, telephone 0171-627 0599, fax 0171-498 5407 or e-mail jbbooks@lineone.net. All Out for the National Consultative Conference! |
THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NHS:
| WHEN THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE was inaugurated 50 years ago, on July 5,
1948, it could be said that here was an idea whose time had come.
Irrespective of why the government of the day sought to bring it about, or that
the capitalist class saw it was in their interests that the government initiate
a comprehensive health service nation-wide, the masses of the people saw that
an enlightened conception of public health, of a National Health Service, was
one where health care is available to all without distinction as between who
could afford and who could not afford to pay, and at the highest level that
society is capable of. To the extent that it was based on the conception that
the health of those who do not have the financial means to pay the cost of
medicines, drugs and all that is central to health care will be looked after,
this vision of the NHS recognised that society has a responsibility to care for
its members. It is this right which is central to the modern conception of a
national health service, and which people most passionately desire that the
health service should be based on.
Unfortunately, for all the government's words on "quality" and a
"first class service", it is precisely this feature of a public
health service – in fact this conception that society has a duty of care
towards its citizens – that is under attack at the present time. In actual
fact, what happens when one looks at, for example, the Consultation Document
"A First Class Service – Quality in the new NHS" is that one
reads that "high quality care should be a right for every patient in the
NHS". If only the "should be" were an "is"! In other
words, the government does not recognise this right as inviolable. Instead the
NHS is presented as doing a "remarkable job", but falling short of
"modern expectations", so that, for example, there has been "a
series of well-publicised lapses in quality". Thus, the "NHS does not
fulfil the highest expectations for everyone. For a national public service
like the NHS there are unacceptable variations in performance and practice. The
inequalities go beyond the provision of medicines and other treatments."
This reality is indictment enough. But when one looks further into the reality
lying beyond the policy documents, then it becomes clear that not only is the
right of every patient to high quality care not taken to its logical conclusion
and recognised as inviolable, merely being put forward as a policy objective
that the present organisation of the NHS falls short of, but that the policy
objective itself is just words. The concrete conditions are giving rise to
widespread protests against the anti-social offensive manifested in health care
and in the privatisation, or the PFI/PPP, which is ensuring that it is the
financial oligarchy which is making a killing through the NHS. In fact, rather
than taking the principle of universal public health care to its logical
conclusion, the government is using business criteria to judge how the health
service is being run and furthermore is going backwards in attacking this
principle of a national health service and putting profitability in command. In
other words, health care is increasingly being provided privately on the one
hand, and in terms of the NHS itself is increasingly run to make maximum
profits for the drugs companies, the construction companies and others, rather
than on the basis of the needs of the patients.
The government's analysis of what the problems are in the health service is
completely faulty and fraudulent. The government attempts to apportion the
blame between the previous government's "internal market" and other
defects of the NHS, such as lack of national standards and lack of
accountability, which the NHS has supposedly inherited from previous times.
There is no coherence in this. If universal public health care is to be
recognised as an inviolable right, the investments in the NHS must be made to
ensure that the concrete conditions are provided to allow satisfaction of this
right. But the government's argument does everything it can precisely to avoid
the solution of making such investments.
There is of course "new money" to be made available to meet the
pledge that waiting lists are to be reduced. But, as many commentators have
pointed out – including, it may be said, the Chief Executive of the NHS
– this is not designed to solve the crisis in the health service. In fact,
without the underlying causes of the crisis being sorted out, such an emphasis
will increase the contradictions within the service, since it means that
increasing burdens will be placed on staff and professionals, while the very
quality of care that the government says should be made available to all will
inevitably suffer, as on the one hand pressure is put on such criteria as
waiting lists, while the necessary overall level of investments required is not
forthcoming.
Such measures as the "Health Action Zones" and the "anti-fraud
prescription forms" come into the same category. They are based on the
same misleading analysis and on making something else the problem –
variations in actual quality and, that old chestnut of the government of the
day, that the claimants of benefit are themselves the problem and must be
sorted out. it cannot be accepted that in a civilised human society, there should be discrimination as to who is treated and what sort of treatment they receive Just as it cannot be accepted that Britain's expenditure per person in relation to GDP should be one of the lowest of the industrialised countries, so it cannot be accepted that in a civilised human society, there should be discrimination as to who is treated and what sort of treatment they receive on the grounds of financial considerations, age or any other criterion but that of need. Furthermore, the "middle way" of the system of "commissioning" of health services by GPs and local nurses is an arrangement whereby the onus of rationing health care is put on those who are themselves dedicated to providing health care. the present stage of society is one in which the financial oligarchy is demanding that the whole society pay tribute to them What is at stake here, what will solve the crisis in the health service, how should people fight to defend and safeguard the future of the NHS? What should be recognised here is that the present stage of society is one in which the financial oligarchy is demanding that the whole society pay tribute to them, and the government is ensuring that this is done on a continuous basis. The resources of the NHS are being put at the disposal of the pharmaceutical, construction and other monopolies for the making of maximum profit by the financial oligarchy. Without this problem being addressed, the deepening crisis in the NHS cannot be addressed. Furthermore, it has long been recognised that the increasing polarisation of society between rich and poor is itself leading to increasing ill health among the vulnerable members and the deprived areas of society, as well as an increasing number of stress and occupational related diseases as the rate of exploitation is stepped up, not to mention an increasing range of problems related to mental health. This analysis of the problem underlines that the question needs to be addressed of having a programme for the renovation of society with the starting point that the inviolable rights of all as human beings be recognised, including the right for universal health care without discrimination, a right which must be guaranteed by law. Such a programme is summed up in the demand to Stop Paying the Rich – Increase Investments in Social Programmes! From this follows the demand for a moratorium on debt servicing and repayment, and that funds which such a moratorium is one mechanism to make available are ploughed into the NHS so that it can be planned to meet the people's needs and with the guarantee that health services will be equally available to all at the highest standard, as an integral part of a society that recognises and meets the claims of all its members on it. It is the working class which must play the lead in opening up a path out of the crisis leading to the establishment of a socialist society which does guarantee the claims of all its members by virtue of their humanity. The workers must give support to all those in struggle against the anti-social offensive on health care and against social programmes as a whole. To do so means that the workers must make a break with the self-serving logic of the capitalists adopted by the present government so that they take a stand and fight for the rights of all, putting forward their own programme for the future of society and not becoming an appendage of the politics of New Labour. They must not give up fighting for their interests and the general interests of society on the grounds that the Labour government is taking care of things or is a more caring government than the possible alternatives, or that the prosperity of the country depends on not rocking the capitalist boat. In fact the very opposite is true. The very future of society demands that social programmes be extended and that the dignity of all is upheld. In summation, it can be said that the principles of a National Health Service must be taken to their logical conclusion so that the duty of society to ensure the health of its members is recognised as inviolable. In a modern society which builds such a health service, the right of all to health care at the highest standard must be recognised, the NHS must be planned so that it meets the people's needs, and within such a system the people, together with the health workers and professionals themselves, must become empowered to make the decisions, and the funds required to be invested must be guaranteed. This is the way to safeguard and defend the future of the NHS, and this is the programme the workers and all those concerned about the future of health care must fight for. |
| THE CARDIFF EURO DEMO COMMITTEE has released a bulletin thanking all those who supported the Cardiff Euro Demonstration which took place on June 13 to protest against and condemn the European Union. The demonstration took place on the occasion of the meeting of the European Council in Cardiff, hosted by Britain at the end of its six-month Presidency of the EU, and attended by the EU heads of state and government. The bulletin thanks all those who supported the demonstration and points out that the event was a big success. Well over two thousand people marched right through the centre of Cardiff in a spirited and noisy protest which won the warm support from the crowds that lined the streets. The placards, in both Welsh and English, declared: "Unite across Europe for jobs and democracy!" Demonstrators from all over Britain took part, as well as from all across Europe – from France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Ireland and Spain. These included large numbers from the AC! (Agir ensemble contre le Chômage) unemployed movement in Belgium and France. Activists and supporters of RCPB(ML) also participated in the demonstration, distributing over 70 copies of the June 13 issue of Workers' Weekly with its lead article: "No to the Europe of the Monopolies! Britain Must Get Out of the European Union!" The Cardiff Euro Demo bulletin explains that an open letter was launched at the demonstration, addressed to Tony Blair, Robin Cook, the other EU heads of government and the five Welsh MEPs. The text of the letter is reprinted below. |
| To: Tony Blair and Robin Cook; all EU leaders; the five Welsh MEPs
We have been promised a "People's Summit" in Cardiff, which
"focuses on the type of Europe we want to see". We reply - the
current European Union is unacceptable. We live in a Europe of:
• 18 million unemployed
• Welfare state cuts
• Increasing national and regional inequalities.
You have failed to tackle unemployment and are planning enlargement at the
expense of some of the EU's poorest nations and regions. The unaccountable
European Central Bank will use the single currency to boost corporate profits,
at the expense of jobs and public services. It is time to stop talking, to stop
promising "jobs tomorrow". It is time to act. We demand:
• A Policy of Job Creation - with secure jobs on decent wages! • Expansion of the Welfare State - increase spending on health and education! • A 35 Hour Week - with no loss of pay! Europe's 18 million unemployed, and those in low paid and insecure jobs, deserve nothing less. Published by: Cardiff Euro Demo Committee, c/o CCTUS, 131 Crwys Rd, Cathays, Cardiff, CF2 4NH, Wales. |
Kent and Canterbury Campaigners Fight On |
| ON JUNE 29, the East Kent Health Authority (EKHA) met to make a decision on the future of the Kent & Canterbury Hospital (K&C). The decision, as expected, was for the downgrading of services at the hospital, going against the wishes of the hundreds of thousands who have campaigned for the future of the hospital. The Canterbury and Thanet Community Health Council has referred this decision to the Health Secretary Frank Dobson and also backed a motion of no confidence in the EKHA. It has decided to ask Frank Dobson to review the process of consultation which, because of the proposed transfer of services, has sought to rely on the pitting of one community against another. A petition calling for the resignation of the EKHA is being circulated in the Canterbury area. Thus the people are to continue their just campaign to safeguard the future of the people's health care in the East Kent region. A 5,000-strong march has already taken place, ending with an open day at the K&C. The demonstrators carried banners and placards with such slogans as: "It Would Be Legalized Homicide to Close our Accessible Hospitals", "Save the K&C", and "The New Direction: Putting People First". Consultants at the Hospital have also reacted angrily to the EKHA decision and vowed to continue the fight to retain the A&E facilities, as well as other important specialities, such as the cancer and baby care units. One said, "The idea of a city the size of Canterbury being without an A&E borders on a joke." |
| Below is a short article reprinted from the East Kent Gazette of May 14, 1998. The newspaper has campaigned to save the K&C.; A complaint that this paper's coverage of the campaign to save K&C was "appallingly biased", has been dismissed by the Press Complaints Commission. Thanet council leader, Cllr Barry Coppock, complained that articles published on March 26, referring to the consultants' document A New Direction and the protestors' visit to the House of Commons, by Rosemary Braithwaite, showed that we had "abandoned all notions of fair and balanced reporting". The PCC ruled the paper had taken a position on an issue which was the subject of local debate. It was entitled to be partisan and publish opinion, provided it distinguished between comment, conjecture and fact. It found that coverage of the campaign was not misleading in breach of the PCC's Code of Practice. |
| On July 8, over 400 people lobbied Parliament against the government's closure programme for community hospitals and services in many parts of the country. Protestors included those from community hospitals in Oxfordshire, Cornwall, Devon, Essex, Hampshire, Hereford, Kent, Middlesex, Norfolk, Surrey, Wales and Northern Ireland. The protest was taken in two waves to the Grand Committee Room and a session of two hours in which people voiced their opposition to the cuts in beds and services to about 30 MPs who attended the lobby. The protest was organised by campaigns and committees set up in the different areas co-ordinated by a central campaign to Save Our Community Hospitals. The campaign can be contacted on the hotline: 01993-824315 |
114th Durham Miners Gala and Big Meeting:
| The following has been produced by the Northern Regional Committee of RCPB(M-L) for the Durham Miners Gala and Big Meeting taking place on Saturday, July 11. Thousands of people are taking part in this year's Durham Miners Gala and Big Meeting. Today, whilst the mining industry has been decimated in the region this event has important significance for the working class and people of the north. It is no accident that today trade union contingents from health, education, local government, public utilities and other sectors of the economy are taking part. Just as the miners faced the brutal onslaught of the state at the beginning of the anti-social offensive started by Margaret Thatcher, today that anti-social offensive is continuing and has serious consequences for the people in receiving health care, education, housing and in all spheres of the economy and of life. One year of New Labour has shown that it has a programme of further putting the economy at the disposal of the financial circles in increasing and guaranteeing their profits and huge payments to them whilst imposing restrictions on social spending on all public services and other social programmes aimed at poverty. At the same time, it is also carrying out "reviews" with which it is introducing cut backs in benefits and pensions, and is introducing charges to students. On behalf of the financial circles New Labour is directing its main blow against the most vulnerable in society, a programme which the isolated and failing Conservative government was unable to implement. The miners, who were one of the first victims of this brutal onslaught of the capitalist class and their politicians in the eighties, have neither had the sacked miners re-instated, nor have the working miners had a pay rise for 15 years and they continue to receive poverty pay. New Labour has its programme which is to pay the financial oligarchy and continue to withdraw the notion that society should be responsible for the well being of its members. It is right that more and more workers are rejecting this programme of New Labour which is opposed to their interests and spells further disaster for the people. But the central point is not one of criticising New Labour for not taxing the rich enough, who use such slogans to further attack the middle strata, but that the working class must have its own independent programme that does the opposite of paying the financial oligarchy. The focus of the programme of the working class should be to "Stop Paying the Rich! Increase Investments in Social Programmes!" Workers should demand a moratorium on debt and interest payments to the financial oligarchy and an increase in investments in the economy to benefit their interests and meet their needs. Such a programme is a first step to developing both a planned national economy and a new political system where the people are sovereign. At this time, such a movement will be decisive in opening up the path to achieving our aim of socialism. |
FOR YOUR INFORMATION |
| JUNE 26 marked the 50th anniversary of the start of the so-called Berlin Airlift that has recently been commemorated as a great victory by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and the governments of Britain, Germany and other countries. The airlift brought food and other supplies to Berlin, for a period of eleven months, at a time when that city and Germany itself were being divided as a consequence of the actions of the British, US and French imperialists in the period following World War Two. It was a disastrous event for the peoples of Europe which led to the deaths of 39 British airmen and was a major part of the process leading to the creation of the warmongering North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The anniversary was marked with press reports and television documentaries that simply repeated the lies and propaganda of the Cold War period, alleging that the Berlin Airlift was necessary because the Soviet Union blockaded Berlin in an attempt to "break the city's link with the West and freedom". It must be remembered that following World War Two, Germany and its capital Berlin were temporarily divided into zones by the occupying Allied powers, Britain, the Soviet Union, the US and France. The four powers agreed to jointly administer Germany until such time as it had been demilitarised, the fascist state apparatus had been totally dismantled and a peace treaty with a democratic Germany could be signed. Berlin although similarly divided was situated within that part of Germany administered by the Soviet Union. Not only did the three "Western" powers not carry out this agreement, but in 1948 they combined their zones into a new militarised West Germany, which in due course was incorporated into the warmongering NATO alliance. As part of this plan, the three powers unilaterally decided to issue a new German currency in their zones. The Soviet Union was therefore forced to take measures to safeguard the stability of the currency in the zones of Berlin and Germany it administered, by temporarily closing land routes to Berlin, while at the same time proposing that it would supply the other zones of Berlin with the necessary supplies. This offer was rejected and attempts to resolve the crisis and introduce a uniform currency for Germany were also rejected by the US and Britain. The governments of the US and Britain then instituted their "Airlift" alleging that the Soviet Union was attempting to "starve Berlin into submission" and to incorporate the entire city into the Soviet zone. The actions of the US and British imperialists 50 years ago, the launch of the Cold War, the introduction of the Marshall plan, the division of Europe and the creation of the warmongering NATO alliance, were not only directed against the Soviet Union, but were also designed to "contain communism", to undermine all progressive change and keep the people of Europe from liberating themselves. Far from being a great victory for the peoples of Europe, as the imperialists and the bourgeois media suggest, the Berlin Airlift was instigated for the most reactionary aims during the most violent period of counter-revolution the world has ever witnessed. |
| Are You Being Involved in Decisions Affecting Your Lives? Vote Broad Alliance to Shape a Better Future! Workers' Weekly is reprinting below a leaflet published by the Broad Alliance for a Modern Australia. The past two years have witnessed an escalation of attacks on fundamental rights of the majority of Australian people. The cutbacks and increasing privatisation of education and health, changes in industrial relations, promotion of racism, cutbacks in immigration, the erosion of basic rights of Aboriginal peoples and denial of their right of self-determination, people being denied involvement in making decisions governing their lives are all a part of the escalation of the anti-social offensive of the Australian government. The anti-social offensive is an attack on all Australians. An injury to one is an injury to all. It is a denial of basic rights belonging to all human beings. The pretext used for cutbacks in the social sector is that there is no money and there has been a heavy burden on the Australian people in the form of the national debt. A cursory glance at the economy of Australia and other countries attempting to dupe their people into believing this hoax shows that the national debt was not incurred by ordinary people but by governments to further increase the wealth of a tiny minority. The development of welfare and social services was merely a product of this policy. The loans were taken to build an infrastructure benefiting first and foremost the sectional minority that controls the wealth of Australia. There is no reason for Australians to pay for a debt not incurred by them or for them. There should be a moratorium on the debt and the money saved along with the wealth produced by Australians used to increase funding for providing for a free education, health, secure employment and overall welfare of the majority. The Australian people have responded with militant opposition to the anti-social offensive. This is reflected in large scale protests and meetings. Racism is deliberately promoted to divert peoples attention away from the issues of concern to all Australians, divide them and attempt to weaken their common resistance. Escalation of racism assists the government to pass legislations attacking basic rights of all Australian people. Pauline Hanson's "One Nation Party" is a convenient tool in this process. The "One Nation Party" as well as other mainstream political parties pursue policies to further enrich a minority which has a monopoly over the wealth of Australia. Society should serve the interest of human beings at the centre stage as a fundamental policy. The Broad Alliance stands for building maximum unity on the basis of a pro-social programme putting the interests of the majority as the cornerstone of its aims. The Alliance calls for a moratorium on the national debt and increased funding for free, quality education, free, quality health, continuous improvements in living standards, affordable housing, secure employment and abolition of the Work Relations Act. Racism has no place in a modern Australia. All racist immigration legislation should be revoked. The Alliance stands for the right of self-determination of Aboriginal peoples, Aboriginal peoples' land rights and for them to be equal partners in governing Australia. All communities to have equal rights on basis of equality of cultures, affirmation of women's rights, a secure future and quality life for our youth. Australian people should be empowered to participate in decisions governing their lives. Electoral reforms and other mechanisms should be put in place to assist this. Unite to build a bright future for all Australians and creation of a society heralding a new era in the 21st century. Join "Broad Alliance" and participate in shaping your future. Contact: S. Dhillon: (02) 94393357; Rupen 96335858; Jenny Munroe: 93196955; Azad: 96601333. |
| The Institute for Independence Studies is organising a public meeting under the above title on Thursday, July 16, at 7.00 pm at the Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1. Present at the meeting will be Guy Dupré, General Secretary of CILRECO (The International Liaison Committee for the Reunification of Korea, Paris) and other speakers. The meeting forms part of a Month of Solidarity with Korea. The Institute for Independence Studies writes: "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea represents a symbol of unbroken faith in the building of socialism as an alternative to the insecurity, injustice and war that is offered to the peoples of Asia by the capitalist system. The very survival of this indomitably anti-imperialist state for 50 years in the face of constant military threats is a victory for socialism, and a threat to imperialist dominance of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The independent and peaceful reunification of Korea will represent a tremendous change in the political scene not only in the East Asian region but throughout the world." For further information, phone: 0171-436 4636. |
| Protest at the south Korean embassy in London Demand the Release of All Political Prisoners, Including Prisoners of War Saturday, July 25, 1.00 – 2.00 pm 60 Buckingham Gate, London SW1 (nearest stations: Victoria and St James tube) Organised by the Korea Friendship and Solidarity Campaign in support of the month of solidarity with the Korean people, June 25 to July 27 KFSC, BCM Box 7970, London WC1N 3XX |
Albania:
| Question: Valona has been called the Stalingrad of the Balkans. Is
this town playing a major role in the struggle for the restoration of socialism
in Albania?
Answer: I think so. We should understand the gravity and the dimensions
of the Albanian crisis: the political, economic and ideological crisis. This
crisis is particularly deep here in Valona, which was hit hard by the so-called
"financial pyramids". The fraud amounted to $600 million US, half of
the money taken by the "pyramids" in all Albania. The cause of
today's struggle was in the beginning mainly economic, but it grew as our
people began to denounce the regime of Sali Berisha. But while the objective
conditions were mature, the subjective factors were still lacking, since our
young Communist Party of Albania was (and still is) illegal and had to endure a
ferocious repression, and lacked organisation which did not permit it to fully
play the leading role in the popular rebellion.
Question: But the party was legal in the beginning, wasn't it?
Answer: Yes, it was legal from its foundation in 1991 until the end of
1992. But the most important thing for a Marxist-Leninist party is not whether
it is legal or illegal, although legality is very useful. What is important is
to be at the head of the people, the women, the youth. Historically my people
have always struggled for freedom, and the Valonians are particularly known as
fighters. Berisha found in Valona an unshakeable bastion, the heart of our
people. Everybody, the youth and the elderly, were united when 5,000 troops
sent by Berisha entered Valona and were forced to retreat in 15-20 minutes. The
revolt swept away all the state institutions and for six months Valona was
Berisha's Stalingrad.
Question: What is the name of the Committee that led the struggle and
does it still exist?
Answer: It is called the Salvation Committee. The Committee was formed
first in our town, but soon we sent representatives to all the cities of
Albania who participated in the formation of such Committees. The rebellion
needed a head, an organisation and a strategy. The Committees were made up of
socialists, republicans, people from the "National Front",
"Legality" and of course from the Communist Party which was then an
illegal party, although everybody knew of its presence. In the framework of
this struggle for national interests we stand for the formation of a broad
front, as Lenin taught. The Committee led the political struggle, while a
military Committee organised battalions, companies, squads, and led the people
in seizing weapons from the army. We had the territory under our control and
followed the movements of the enemy troops, an "enemy" in quotation
marks since they were Albanians deceived by Berisha. The resistance began as
guerrilla detachments based on the villages around Valona, where we had the
core of our forces. We built up barricades throughout the city, which can still
be seen. The rebellion in Valona alarmed Europe, not because Albania is
important, being a small country, but because of the example that it set.
People in Germany, Naples and other places people saw the masses struggling in
the streets. The foreigners tried to understand what is the character of our
revolt (political or economic), since the capitalists know that when the masses
move the states can easily collapse. For example, General Giglio of the
Multinational Force always asked me: "If you win, what type of regime will
be established in Albania?" and he waited for my answer staring at the
portrait of Stalin behind me. I tried to calm him by saying that Stalin was a
great anti-fascist who led the struggle of the peoples against Nazi-fascism.
As communists, we a criticise the "Refoundation Party." If they are
communists, they should be consistent: in the beginning they opposed the
intervention of the Multinational Force, but in the end their representative
Brunetti voted for the intervention. If one advocates proletarian
internationalism one should be consistent: our people also suffer from this
intervention. They have committed a great mistake, they are not true
communists, but false ones and they serve the interests of the bourgeoisie. Question: Do the Salvation Committees still exist? Answer: After the elections the Committees had exhausted their task. But we Marxist-Leninist communists know that the problems of our people will not be resolved while capitalism still exists. Although with Fatos Nano we have a democratic regime which is better than that of Berisha, Nano is the other side of the same coin. The Socialist Party says it is on the left but in practice it is always on the right. The people of Valona have exposed Berisha and his criminal collaborators, but in a year nothing has been done. This question still remains unresolved and it is not surprising that the socialist Fatos Nano is doing nothing. After the dissolution of the Salvation Committees, two organisations were formed. The first is called "10th of February" in honour of our hero Abdul Rusteni, who fell during the revolt; the second is called the "Committee for the defence of the interests of the people". We communists work in both these committees. Question: After the first stage of the struggle, the collapse of the fascist regime of Berisha, what are the tasks of the communists today? Answer: Our situation is very peculiar. We have passed from socialism to capitalism, and now we are acquiring experience in the struggle under new conditions. In any case we have the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin, of comrade Enver Hoxha. We stand for the class struggle, for the revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat. We suffer from all the evils of capitalism and from the consequences of the policies of the revisionists. The creation a strong organisation is very important and the popular revolt has been a great school for the formation and evaluation of cadres. Our Party works in the unions and in the organisations of peasants (who account for 60% of the population and are very patriotic). Question: The Socialist Party of Fatos Nano is pursuing some goals: the total liquidation of the socialist property, the complete restoration of capitalism, the insertion of Albania into the system of the European imperialism, of NATO, the penetration of foreign capital in Albania, etc. What is the programme of your Communist Party? Answer: First of all one should remember that the treason of Ramiz Alia and his clique had affected the country first ideologically, then economically and finally politically. Berisha and Fatos Nano became the followers of Alia. The state economy has shrunk by 80%; 18,000 employees were fired. First of all the communists; 100,000 employees from various economic sectors have been laid off, 700,000 Albanians (out of 3 million), most of them youths, were forced to emigrate; 22,000 young women have been forced to become prostitutes abroad; in 1997-98, 13,900 children could not go to school; in the country marijuana is raised and many kinds of drugs are smuggled into the country; the financial pyramids have seized 5,000 homes as private property. Question: The mass "information" media report that the situation in Albania is the result of a war among gangs. What is the truth? Answer: The Albanian revolt was a popular upsurge that has matured over time, that was detonated by the "pyramid" fraud that amounted to more than $1.2 billion US. During the revolt 2,000 demonstrators died, mainly youths, and more than 10,000 were wounded. But this struggle will continue, because our people are armed. Published in "La Nostra Lotta," June, 1998. (Note: Since time of interview, we are informed CPA is now a legal party – Ed.) |