10) COMMUNIST PARTIES PLAN COMMON ACTIONS FOR 2014

 

            The 77 parties which took part in the 15th international Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP), held Nov. 8-10 in Lisbon, adopted a set of guidelines for "common or convergent action." The meeting mandated the Working Group of the IMCWP to implement these guidelines in coordination with other parties of the Solidnet List (http://solidnet.org).

 

            Activities will be held to commemorate 2014 as the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I, and the 75th anniversary of the beginning of World War II, "through a joint campaign alerting to the dangers of new international military clashes, the need to enhance the struggle for peace and against imperialist aggressiveness and wars, and highlighting that the struggle for peace is intimately linked with the struggle for socialism."

 

            Next year is also the 15th anniversary of the criminal NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which marked a new phase in the development of imperialist military strategy.

 

            The Working Group, in coordination with parties from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribe, will hold an international seminar on the impact of the capitalist crisis in the developing countries. The seminar will focus on issues such as the right to economic and social development, protection of natural resources, agriculture, land tenure, and food security.

 

            International campaigns will build solidarity with socialist Cuba against the US blockade, with Bolivarian Venezuela, and with the Colombian people's struggle for peace with social justice.

 

            Taking advantage of international events where a large number of Parties are present, efforts will be made to organize a working meeting to debate the ideological offensive and the mass media's role, and to exchange experiences on mass communication work.

 

            Parties will mark International Women's Day (March 8), by highlighting the effect of the crisis and the imperialist offensive on working women and national oppressed women, expressing solidarity with their struggles.

 

            May Day 2014 will be honoured with participation in struggles in each country to defend workers' economic and social rights, highlighting the importance of the class struggle for the abolition of exploitation. Particular attention will be given to actions against youth unemployment and to defend the rights of trade unions.

 

            Convergent actions will be considered to combat racism, xenophobia, and fascism, stressing the importance of the ideological struggle against anti‑communism, and denouncing the European Union's campaign to equate communism with fascism. A day of action will be announced against the persecution of communist parties and the ban against communist symbols in several countries.             The 95th anniversary of the creation of the Communist International (March 3, 1919) will be commemorated, emphasizing the central contributions of V.I. Lenin to the international communist movement.

 

            Parties from the Arab countries and Middle East will organize an international seminar on the social and national emancipation struggles of that region, expressing solidarity with the victims of imperialist and Zionist crimes and aggressions, including the Palestinian and Syrian peoples.

 

            The Communist parties will continue to denounce imperialist intervention against Syria and Iran, and to struggle for the recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

 

            Finally, to promote the international front against imperialism, the parties will continue to support the activities of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), the World Peace Council (WPC), the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY), and the Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF), in the specific framework of every country.

 

(The above article is from the December 1-31, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)