The world and Europe after 1989-91

10. The dramatic developments of 1989-91 do not concern communists and the international communist movement alone. The adverse effects have marked humanity as a whole. The peoples have been deprived temporarily of their major support, their true ally in the struggle for progress, development, democracy, freedom and socialism. The sacrifices of the dead and the victims of the imperialist intervention and war continue. There have been millions of victims, dead, disabled and refugees in the turbulent Balkans. The peoples of Rwanda, Haiti, Somalia and the Indians of Mexico are some of the most characteristic victims of the new adverse global correlation of forces after 1989-91. Capitalism is revealing its most savage and repulsive face at a time when it feels its hands have been freed from the restrictions and hurdles raised during the preceding period by the socialist system. It is attempting to make international organisations, including the UN, subservient to its anti-popular targets and pursuits.

On "the morning after" without the Soviet Union, the European socialist countries and the Warsaw Treaty, the world is full of the deep wounds made by the unbridled imperialist intervention, by multinational competition in the redistribution of markets and by the subjugation and annexation of countries, of entire regions even, through the bonds of a savage "modern" colonialism in the heart of Europe and all over the planet.

An increasingly large number of countries have been passing under grim imperialist dependence and subservience. This happens in various ways, by handing key sectors of the economy over to transnational capital, through privatisations'1, through the abolition of the last elementary or rudimentary barriers to the free movement of capital and goods, through the reinforcement of technological dependence and the concentration of up-to-date knowledge and technology in the hands of the transnationals.

National chauvinism, social racism, religious and cultural differences, anti-socialism and anti-communism are becoming weapons in the hands of the imperialists to foment discord among the peoples and to fragment states into small, weak and subservient nations. In Europe symptoms of degradation and poverty have begun to appear on a massive scale. The gap between the developed capitalist countries and the others is becoming ever wider. There are still large numbers of nuclear weapons deployed, the number of local wars and civil conflicts is increasing, and there are now more than 100 hot spots of local and civil conflict all over the world. The ethical and cultural crisis, the scourge of narcotics and social criminality are growing at rapid and extremely dangerous rates. The working class and the working people in all countries are paying heavily for the new adverse correlations and the new situation, as modern capitalist barbarism is mounting a crazed attack against everything that has been won through hard struggles during the previous decades.

11. The reversals of the 1989-91 period created an extremely negative international environment in the non-European socialist countries of Cuba, Mongolia, China, Vietnam and North Korea. The new problems and contradictions existing in the transition from capitalism to socialism, due to the international balance of forces and the difficulties sustained by the international workers' and communist movement, are increasing and becoming more intense.

Under the current conditions, party and state leaderships in these countries are pushing through reforms, mainly in the realm of the economy, which allow the inflow and utilisation of foreign investment capital in sectors of production and tourism. These reforms, because of the more general conditions and their nature, are leading to the creation of a capitalist sector which acts competitively with respect to socialist ownership. The imperialist powers are seeking through the action of their capital, to exert an ideological and political influence on the internal affairs of these countries.

Confronting and averting the hardships and dangers entailed in this particular phase depend on specific factors such as: the level of the people's social and political awareness, the correctness of the communist parties' policy, and their endurance and militancy in face of the enormous objective difficulties. The successful outcome of these efforts will depend also on international developments, the increased activity by the workers' and communist movement, the improvement and change in the international balance of forces to the benefit of the   anti-imperialist forces,   which   are fighting for the   victory   of   socialism.

Communists, progressive people, anti-imperialist and peace movements have the obligation to show solidarity with and active support for the peoples who are resisting the restoration of capitalism. The issue is defending the right of every country and people to choose their own road to social development without external intervention and coercion.

12. Cuba is fighting for survival under the conditions of an imperialist blockade, The bonds of the party with the people and its experience -since, from the first moment of its independence, it suffered from imperialist intervention - constitute significant factors helping the country to resist the implacable embargo raised by imperialism, particularly after having lost the advantages of the socialist division of labour.

The hurdles and hardships are enormous. And new problems have also come along such as the fact that Cuba is obliged to seek relations with capitalist countries whose aim is to change its political system and return the country to its pre-revolutionary situation.

In China, the change in the international balance of forces aggravated the existing problems stemming from its relative backwardness and large population. The Communist Party of China has opted for the policy of "reforms and opening to the outside world" in order to spur its economic and technological development, assessing that the country is at a primary stage of socialist construction. The action of foreign capital in this great country and specifically in the zones of its activity, are inevitably leading to the appearance of a capitalist relations sector, resulting in the development of social differentiation and stratification. Objective conditions are being created for the sharpening of the class struggle. The difficulties and dangers which hinder the course of building socialism in China have become more visible.

Similar problems and trials are being faced by Vietnam and Mongolia, while North Korea is witnessing the consequences of direct imperialist interference and the brutal pressure exerted on the pretext of arms control.

13. The picture shown today by the former socialist countries, despite the differences and gradations between them, is more or less the same in the basic fields:

The "dismantling" of the gains won by the people in the course of socialist construction has begun. "Shock-treatment" is being applied broadly, as sectors of strategic importance are being handed over to foreign capital, enterprises are being privatised, the land is being returned to the old capitalist owners, free services are being abolished. As the number of capitalist owners with fabulous fortunes is increasing, so is the incidence of poverty, deprivation and unemployment - phenomena unheard of for years. Persecutions of communist parties and communists have become daily events. Well-orchestrated trials continue alleging squandering and embezzlement of public funds. The activity of communist parties is hindered. The smear campaign against socialism, the lies and slanders continue, become stronger and will become even stronger as the people are clearly beginning to look back with nostalgia on the socialist past and to make comparisons between today and yesterday.

The organisation of the resistance, for the time being, is encountering difficulties, as party and trade union organisations have been dissolved and others have suffered overwhelming damage.

The shock of unexpected changes has kept significant popular forces temporarily in a state of disappointment and inertia.

Pockets of protest and resistance are appearing in most countries, particularly where communist parties and political forces which, irrespective of their ideological orientations, show a disposition to defend the gains and rights of the working people, are active. A characteristic example of the mood of the peoples can be seen in the results of several election battles in which the parties and politicians who led the counter-revolution and the restoration of capitalism have been voted out. On the contrary, communist parties or parties which, irrespective of their present orientation, are associated in the minds of the working people with the previous social system, are beginning to gather positive electoral percentages.

14. The advocates of the capitalist system in Greece and abroad who hastened to predict that the reversal of socialism would "mean the end of the cold war", and that we are entering a period of great "democratic changes", at the end of which the forces of "freedom, democracy and human prosperity" will triumph are being proved wrong.

Today the coincidence of the neo-liberal, social democratic and "new left" parties which abandoned the ranks of the communist movement in the name of "renewal" has become more obvious.

The slandering of socialism, the nihilism and the talk of mistakes have spread widely, particularly during the first years, when leading cadres of the communist parties in both socialist and capitalist countries joined the anti-communist campaign and hysteria. Their "revelations" were utilised by the advocates of the capitalist system as being allegedly reliable assessments and testimonies from "within".

People of good will, objective and impartial judges, can understand that such theories are nothing but a pretext to justify the harsh intervention and aggressiveness of imperialism, to show "forgiveness" for the sins and crimes committed by capitalism throughout its history.