CONTENTSFor Revolutionary Unity
* This article translated in Greek is available on issue 225 of Anasintaxi.
We, the Dominican Workers Party, PTD ML, and Communist Party of Labour, PCT, after several discussions and a long period of relationship in the popular and political struggles, have reached a political accord that we hope will contribute to widening the trench for popular and revolutionary struggle in our country. The content of the accord is as follows:
Political Accord
1. We, the Communist Party of Labour (PCT) and the Dominican Workers Party (PTD ML), after several rounds of political exchanges, have reached fundamental agreement on their views of the historic situation of the Dominican revolution and the evaluation of the changes that have occurred in Dominican society and the world in the last 25 years.
2. The social-economic, political and cultural changes that have taken place in the last decades, which have reinforced the capitalist model of exploitation in the Dominican Republic, though they have guaranteed the limited representative democracy seen in the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections every four years, have not prevented more than 80% of the Dominican population from being mired in poverty and nearly two million from suffering from illiteracy due to the exclusionary and exploitative character of the prevailing social and economic regime.
3. Thus the weakness and failure of the political-juridical institutions is clear; a minority of families and their business associates have the green light to do what they want and monopolise the decision-making.
4. National sovereignty has declined with the open intervention of the U.S. embassy and of the international financial agencies and other imperialist agencies in the internal affairs, the increase in the foreign debt, privatisation of the majority of state businesses and imposition of a socio-economic model based on profit and the predominance of the service sectors, financial and speculative activities, the informal economy and imports, to the detriment of the national productive sectors.
5. This reality places us in the field of programmatic struggles and slogans, the winning of participatory democracy, defence of national sovereignty and progress included as priority tasks in the Dominican revolutionary process in the present phase, without our organisations renouncing the strategic objectives of building socialism and communism, under the revolutionary leadership of the working class and its Marxist-Leninist proletarian party.
6. Understanding that the predominant tendency of the national political situation is toward the maintenance of the weak bourgeois institutionality, we take up as necessary the struggle for progressive reforms and changes, basing ourselves in the mobilisation of the masses, the civic resistance and parliamentary struggle, without ruling out any method of struggle that the changing circumstances call for, based on our ethical principles and our Marxist-Leninist conceptions.
7. Restating the revolutionary principle that the popular masses are the leading force of the revolution, the political organisation, education and mobilisation for the demands of the masses is a permanent task and fundamental axis of our strategy for the accumulation of forces, the struggle for power and national liberation.
8. The PTD ML and the PCT share a political unity of criticism and struggle against the top layers of the three traditional parties (PLD, PRD, PRSC [Party of Dominican Liberation, Democratic Revolutionary Party, Social-Christian Reformist Party – translator’s note]), which we consider as the political representatives of the big local and imperialist bourgeoisie, the social classes that monopolise the riches that our people have created, that control the political power; they are the historic allies of the foreign power and main obstacle to economic development, welfare and democracy.
9. Considering that the PCT and PTD ML maintain relations of respect and brotherhood forged in the daily struggle of our members and the class battles; that they are struggling for national liberation and socialism, with a long history of fighting against opportunism, with a common understanding of the political period that the local and international revolutionary process is experiencing and the tasks that we should take up in this phase, we promise to draw from all the positive things that we have accumulated in our relationship, to develop new levels of brotherhood, understanding and strategic commitments to develop greater stages of unity between our two parties and the progressive and revolutionary sectors of the Dominican people, for which we have agreed to the following Political Accord:
9.1. General Aspects:
a) We commit ourselves to guide our political relations based on mutual respect, reciprocal collaboration and revolutionary solidarity.
b) We will promote the fraternal daily struggle and comradely understanding between the membership of the two organisations in the spirit of forging a unitary culture that is directed toward the whole movement, without restricting the right to dissent and to criticism and self-criticism that should govern the relations of principle among revolutionaries.
c) This Political Accord does not limit the bilateral relations, nor the signing of agreements by our two organisations with other organisations, provided that these do not contravene the nature of this agreement.
9.2. Unitary Politics:
b) This unitary effort is inspired in the short and medium term, in the decision to build up a close coordination at all levels between the two organisations and to make significant contributions to building a unitary revolutionary leadership in the Dominican Republic, whose characteristics would be determined in the course of the process.
b) The PCT and the PTD ML commit their limited resources and experiences to strengthening and projecting the Unity of the People as the embryo of a unitary strategy and to lead in developing a broad political and social alternative that brings together the progressive and left-wing reserves of the Dominican people; to take power and build a sovereign and democratic nation.
9.3 Mass Work:
a) We will work together with other revolutionary organisations and progressive sectors for the restructuring and recomposition of the mass organisations; for a popular coordination based on the principle of representation and legitimacy that the groups at the base agree to. For a practice that opposes manipulation and bureaucracy; that practices democracy in making decisions; that diversifies the forms of organization, the methods of struggle and combine the processes of mobilisation with the strengths of organisation and formation of critical and revolutionary social consciousness.
b) To promote a unitary culture in the social movement and towards the other revolutionary organizations, with which we will try to work out common positions by means of bilateral and multilateral discussions.
c) To coordinate with and/or support each other in the main events and activities of the masses (educational days of struggle, cultural events, processes of organising and struggles) that promote both organisations, mainly in the youth-student, neighbourhood, teachers, trade union and peasant movements.
d) We commit ourselves to discuss supporting each other and other progressive sectors (with the participation of the comrades in their respective areas), in the mass movements of the two organisations, always in a spirit of solidarity, brotherhood, respect and openness.
e) To establish a programme of activities that guarantees the drawing together, fraternity and exchange of experience of the comrades of our parties specialised in the mass work and to promote a type of platform that allows our currents to express themselves and to act together in the mass movement, without subordinating ourselves to anybody.
f) In immediate terms we will take the necessary measures to advance toward the coordination and subsequent unification of a part or all the work that we are carrying out in the youth and teachers’ front.
9.4. Tasks of Construction:
a) Understanding the importance of the processes involved in the building of the revolutionary organisation and the revolutionary struggle of the working class and the oppressed peoples, we have decided the following in this area:
To carry out day-to-day meetings to discuss themes of political interest.
To organise activities of debate and construction in the mass movement.
To exchange delegations in the activities of our respective political schools.
b) Taking as the point of departure the activities discussed above we commit ourselves in a reasonable time to begin the first phase of the common political school.
9.5. International Relations and Solidarity:
a) To support each other in the international work by which:
We will do whatever possible to establish common positions relating to the important events that are taking place and in the events in which we decide to participate.
To try to send joint delegations to international events.
To support each other in international forums putting the resources of each organisation at the service of the other whenever necessary.
To work for the greatest possible solidarity in which the largest possible number of progressive and revolutionary sectors can converge.
To establish a Joint Commission to discuss international matters and to make proposals that can be carried out together.
In the National District, Capital of the Dominican Republic, on September 27, 2005
Signed:
Central Committee of the PCT,
Manuel Salazar
Secretary General
Central Committee PTD ML
Ivan Rodriguez
Chair
Lucha No. 95, November 2005
Organ of the Communist Party of Labour – PCT.
Translated from the Spanish by George Gruenthal
Opinions on the Political Accord between the PCT and the PTD
* This article translated in Greek is available on issue 234 of Anasintaxi.
By Francisco Caraballo*
The Accord signed recently seems to me to be very positive, because it presents an interesting perspective in the sense of broadening activities in the direction of common objectives. In this respect, the following comments are made:
1. This important political achievement shows the success in the combination of some objective conditions present in the reality of the country, with the determined will of joining forces and efforts toward common purposes.
2. One can see that on the international level unitary actions and plans are being carried out that have to be assessed and closely followed, to sum up experiences that can be useful for the fulfilment of tasks oriented to producing changes in the situation, in favour of the majorities that traditionally have been excluded. There are recent examples in Spain, France, Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia that, although different in their content and projection, show an interesting tendency.
3. It is evident that developments in the reality of these countries show a greater subordination to the designs of the power of the United States, the strengthening of the groups that determine the course of these countries and that benefit from the super-exploitation of broad sectors of the population, while denying solutions to serious social problems. The powerful economic groups linked to the multinationals are satisfied with their positive bottom lines, while those who produce the riches are becoming increasingly impoverished.
4. It is important – as part of the ideological struggle – to subject to severe criticism the falsehood of bourgeois democracy, not only for its own nature, but because those elements that have a positive meaning for the struggle of the peoples have been distorted. The denial or major restriction of freedoms and rights inherent in liberal democracy serve as an example.
5. In the Accord signed one can see the agreement on basic objectives, such as sovereignty, participatory democracy and the solution of the problems of the broad masses of the population. It is clear that these points show clearly the alternatives that stimulate the social struggle to win them; but having achieved a basic accord is very significant because it marks points of departure and roads to follow.
6. In the unitary processes it is clear that different levels exist that should be made specific, in order to avoid confusions that can become negative in the course of carrying out the joint tasks. This is especially important when there is the possibility of reaching out to other forces for unitary tasks.
7. Experience teaches that the strengthening of unity is achieved in the practice of the social and political struggle, that is, in the application of the common program, which becomes the unifying factor. Therefore it is necessary to pay very special attention to fulfilling the commitments and exercising organized control of the plans and tasks.
8. It would be helpful if the unitary agreements and commitments would be as widespread as possible among the different sectors of society. But above all it is necessary that the results of unitary politics should be visible in the social movement, which in many cases requires flexibility in the service of the most important purposes.
* Francisco Caraballo is a well-known Colombian revolutionary and communist leader. He is serving a long prison sentence as a political prisoner; on all continents a permanent campaign for his freedom is developing. Before being arrested, he served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Colombia, Marxist-Leninist and General Commander of the People’s Liberation Army, EPL.
Translated from the Spanish by George Gruenthal
* This article translated in Greek is available on issue 223 of Anasintaxi. We State the article only for information and this publication doesn't mean agreement with author's opinion
Pravda 29 December 2005
December 21 was the 126th birthday of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Historian and publicist Nikolay Dobryukha says the Kremlin archives contain documented evidence proving that Stalin was poisoned.
The discovered documents absolutely disprove all affirmations saying that Stalin died of cerebral hemorrhage caused by his poor health. These documents are the records of Stalin's medical examination within the period of over 30 years. These documents also demonstrate that Stalin was not at all apprehensive of medical examinations and was not afraid of receiving treatment of doctors as it was rumored. It was also said that for fear to visit doctors Stalin often resorted to self-medication. In fact, highly-qualified doctors were called for in case of Stalin's slightest indisposition and had close medical examination of the high-ranking client all day round.
Records made in September 1947 state that Joseph Stalin had initial stage hypertension, also chronic articular rheumatism and overfatigue. Doctor Kirillov made a record of Stalin's blood pressure - 145 per 85 - which was excellent for his age of 67 at that time.
At the age of 70, Stalin's blood pressure made up 140 per 80 and the pulse made up 74 beats per minute before taking bath. After the bath, blood pressure dropped to 138 per 75 and the pulse made up 68 per minute. The Soviet leader did not complain of bad sleep, had regular bowel movements and was fine in general. The medical records show Stalin had the blood pressure of 140 per 80 and the pulse 70 beats per minute at the age of 72. At that, the latter measuring was made when Stalin had flu and fever. It is unlikely that younger and healthier people can register similar showing. And this is astonishing that no other medical record mentions of the initial stage hypertension of Stalin.
It was not true when some people stated that "Stalin was seriously ill, especially after the dramatic stress he endured during WWII". These talks appeared as soon as bulletins about Stalin's health were published for the first time on March 4, 1953. These official bulletins stated that on the night of March 2 Joseph Stalin had cerebral hemorrhage caused by his hypertension and atherosclerosis.
The false statements were encouraged by Lavrentiy Beria and his prot?g?s Malenkov and Khrushchev as soon as they became leaders of the country.
The discovered documents reveal that the Soviet leader got poisoned within February 28 - March 1, 1953, between the Saturday night and Monday, the period when majority of doctors cannot be reached for because of their day off. That was done on purpose to give the poison enough time to take effect.
But it is not also ruled out that conspirators first immediately poisoned Stalin and only after that his double fell victim of the poison as well. In fact, Beria did not expect the poisoning would be so protracted and that is why he felt incredibly nervous. On March 4, newspapers controlled by Beria reported that "Stalin had cerebral hemorrhage staying in his Moscow apartment on the night of March 2" which was not true because Stalin died at the out-of-town residence. Why did Beria need to report the leader died in his Moscow apartment? Probably he spread misinformation to use Stalin's look-alike: maybe Stalin died immediately after poisoning staying in the out-of-town residence and his double "fell ill" in an instant in the Kremlin and then on the night of March 2 was moved to the out-of-town residence to substitute the already dead Lord. In a word, Beria's plan turned out to be not quite smooth. To be on the safe side, when it was publicly announced Stalin was dead Beria still arrested the head of a laboratory making poisons for secret killings.
Many people knew that Beria was going to wage war against Stalin. His son Sergo said that father highly likely schemed something against Stalin with the help of his supporters in law enforcement structures and with his own intelligence structure that was not controlled by any of the governmental structures.
Stalin's bodyguards say that the leader got poisoned immediately after he drank mineral water. Indeed, Stalin was found dead lying near a table on which a bottle with mineral water and a glass stood. The poison took effect instantaneously. Some sources state that Stalin fell down dead and others insist he fell down unconscious.
Study of the archives revealed that on November 8, 1953 the Kremlin sanitary department wanted to hand "medicaments and three empty mineral water battles" over to the Stalin Museum. But for some reason, the department handed just two empty bottles to the Museum on November 9. What is the secret of the third lost bottle?
The journal kept by doctors treating Stalin brings to nothing the memoirs and researches of Stalin's last illness and death. As seen from the records in the journal the doctors obviously understood that Stalin was poisoned. This is proved by prescriptions they made: ice application to the head; sweet tea with lemon; catharsis with sulfur-acid magnesia and so on.
When doctors examined Stalin at 7 a.m. March 2 they found the patient lying on his back on a sofa with the head turned to the left and the eyes closed. The hyperemia of face was moderate; the breathing was not upset. The pulse made up 78 beats per minute, the heart sounds were rather muffled. The blood pressure made up 190 per 110. The stomach was soft and the liver protruded 3-4 cm from under the rib edge. Stalin was unconscious; his condition was grave.
Doctor Lukomsky discovered that Stalin's right arm and leg were paralyzed. From time to time his left leg and arm moved a little. The medical records suggest that doctors did their best to treat the leader for poisoning and for its consequences, blood supply disturbance and insult, at the same time. But none of them pronounced that was poisoning.
It was on March 3 when Stalin's doctors registered that condition of the patient grew even worse and heart activity got weaker. Next day, March 4, the condition of the patient grew extremely grave because of frequent respiratory standstills. Suddenly, the skin on the face, legs and arms became blue which is quite typical of poisoning with some poisons. When a human organism is poisoned with aniline, nitrobenzene and others hemoglobin turns into methemoglobin having dark color. It is not ruled out that Stalin was poisoned with a mixture of different poisons.
On the night of March 5, doctors got results of Stalin's blood and urine tests which indicated the patient suffered from poisoning. But the doctors were afraid to tell Beria about poisoning as they feared he would blame any of them for the poisoning. Stalin's liver was still enlarged, another factor typical of poisoning.
Early in the morning March 5, Stalin had bloody vomit as a result of which the pulse declined and the blood pressure dropped. The doctors were at a loss how to explain what was happening to the patient. All day long Stalin had bloody vomit and was in collapse several times.
In the evening on March 5, Stalin was wet through with perspiration, the pulse was thready and cyanosis intensified. The doctors gave the patient carbogene several times but the condition did not improve. At 9:40 p.m. Stalin had artificial ventilation but in vain. His death was registered at 9:50 p.m.
Many of documented evidence left by doctors, including premortal examination of Stalin, disagree with recollections of other eyewitnesses. For instance, Stalin's daughter Svetlana said she could not recognize the father as his illness changed him beyond recognition. Was it possible that Beria's people substituted Stalin with his double and even his relatives could not recognize him?
One of the documents pertaining to Stalin's death discovered in the Kremlin archives seems to be particularly mysterious. The document says that nurse Moiseyeva gave Stalin an injection of calcium gluconate at 8:45 p.m. Never before that over the whole period of illness was Stalin given such an injection. At 9:48 p.m., the nurse affixed her signature to a document revealing she gave Stalin an injection of 20-percent camphor oil. Finally, the woman made an injection of adrenalin to Stalin for the first time over the whole course of treatment and made an official record of the fact. Soon after that the Soviet leader died. This coincidence probable gave rise to rumors that a Jewish woman trained by Beria dispatched Stalin to the next world by giving him a special injection.
When contemporary doctors studied medical records of Stalin's illness and last hours of life they stated adrenaline injections were forbidden for patients registering the same symptoms that Stalin had.
But it is a fact that soon after Stalin's brothers-in-arms distributed authority at a special plenary session in the Kremlin, they came to the out-of-town residence where Stalin was still staying alive and gave him the fatal injection.
This project elaborated by an ultra reactionary group of the European Parliament is a new attempt to criminalize communism. It is not the first one : in May 2005, the European commissar Fantini had tried to forbid the “communist symbols”. Today, this text is an open attack against the history of communism, the essential contribution of the communist parties, the contribution of the peoples of the USSR in the struggle and the victory over nazi-fascism. But this text goes another long step forward, pretending to forbid to the workers to refer themselves to the ideal of communism, trying to prohibit parties and organizations which refer themselves to this ideal. It dreams of getting rid off the “concept of class struggle”, which means to criminalize the workers and trade union movements. And as it proclaims it openly, it is addressing first the youth.
This new ideological offensive is part of the attacks of all hues, in all the European countries and even all around the world, launched by capitalism, the big monopolies, the imperialist powers against the social, political, democratic conquests of the workers and the people, especially those that the imperialist system had been obliged to concede after the victory over nazi-fascism.
This offensive takes place at a moment when imperialism is denounced all over the world, as a system responsible for famines, misery and wars, at a moment when the working class, the workers of cities and countryside, the youth, the people, are looking for an alternative that brakes with this system. The bourgeoisie fears that they turn their eyes towards socialism, towards parties and organisations that defend it.
We, Communist Marxist Leninist parties and organizations, members of the International conference of Marxist Leninist Parties and Organizations, are vigorously denouncing this reactionary project of resolution, full of revenge. We call the workers, the sane people, the democratic, progressive organisations to condemn firmly and loudly this new attack.
January 2006
Revolutionary Communist Party of Brazil (PCR)
Communist Party of Chile (Proletarian Action) (PC-AP)
Communist Party of Colombia Marxist-Leninist (PCdeC-ML)
Workers' Communist Party of Denmark (APK)
Communist Party of Labor, Dominican Republic (PCT)
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador (PCMLE)
Communist Party of the Workers of France (PCOF)
Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
Organization for the Reconstruction of the Communist Party of Greece
Party of Labour of Iran (Toufan)
Revolutionary Communist Party of Ivory Coast (RCPIC)
Communist Party of Mexico (Marxist-Leninist) (PCM (m-l))
Marxist-Leninist Organization Revolution of Norway
National Committee of Communist Organizations of Spain (CEOC) -
composed of the Communist Organization of Catalonia,
Communist Organization October,
September 27 Communist Collective – Castile and Leon –
and Communist Organization of the Valencia Country)
Communist Party of the Workers of Tunisia (PCOT)
Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey (TDKP)
Revolutionary Communist Party of Volta (PCRV)
This resolution is supported by
Euskal Herriko Komunistak (EHK) – Basque Communist Movement
Boltxe Kolektiboa (Euskal Herria) - Basque Country
Communist Party of Benin (PCB)
Arbeit – Zukunft (Organisation for the construction of a communist workers' party in Germany)
Magazine Revolutionary Democracy (India)
Magazine Teoria y Practica (Italy)
Pakistan Mazdoor Mahaaz – (Workers Front of Pakistan)
Refundación Comunista Puerto Rico
"Regülta" (Cantabria)
Action du Tchad pour l'Unité et le Socialisme (ACTUS, Tchad)
To: The Central Committee of TDKP Dear comrades,
The announcement of death of comrade Seref Aydin, member of the CP of TDKP, caused big sadness and grief in the lines of the Greek communists. The death a exceptionally modest and polite but, at the same time, very appreciable companion, a reliable and firm rebel communist and international', as comrade Seref Aydin constitutes big loss not only for the TDKP and the revolutionary communistic movement of Turkey but also for the international communistic and working movement that is guided by Marx-Engels-Lenin-Stalin.
We express our deep condolences and fighting greetings
"Movement for the Reorganization of the Communist Party of Greece 1918-55"
29.09.2006
* This article translated in Greek is available on issue 234 of Anasintaxi.
The primary schools' teachers in Greece decided to continue their strike for their 6th week. The strike has started on September 18th.
The Greek Primary Teachers Federation (DOE) demands rises in salaries and stop of the privatization of education. The teachers are against the, so-called, “evaluation system” and criticize the new school programs and books.
The same time over a thousand of high schools (over the 75% of high schools in Athens-Attica) and some Universities are under occupation.
The government answered with the brutal police attacks to the massive demonstrations. The police used chemicals against the demonstrators.
It is obvious that only the UNITED MASSIVE struggle can lead to the victory.
The revisionist so-called "Communist" Party of Greece, after failing to prevent the strikes, tried again to break people's unity by organizing separate demonstrations. It's actions have been condemned by the majority of the strikers.
The Movement for the Reorganisation of the Communist Party of Greece 1918-55 supports the struggle of the teachers and the students. Greets the great massive demonstrations and condemns the use of violence from the reactionary Karamanlis' government.