En Marcha -- The ICMLPO: 30 years of struggle for the revolution and socialism

Below are two translated articles from December 2024 editions of En Marcha I received; both are slightly edited again here.  The first article was originally posted December 11th at:  www.pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13533 

En Marcha #2120 from December 11 to 17, 2024 
Central Organ of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador

The ICMLPO: 30 Years of Struggle for the Revolution and Socialism

In the long struggle of the communists [1] to organize and make the revolution, the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the construction of the workers' society, socialism, towards the strategic goal of the classless society, communism, it is necessary to keep in mind the processes, successes and victories achieved, as well as the turning points, setbacks and defeats.

The struggle for the revolution and socialism was conceived and undertaken, since the publication of the Manifesto of the Communist Party, as the international revolution of the proletariat, but also as a battle waged within the framework of the national state.

The International Working Men's Association (IWA) or First International (1864) was the first experience of the conscious international proletariat to organize its struggle beyond national borders. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels played a decisive role in defining the strategic objectives of their struggle and their ideological-political conceptions; at the same time, they confronted and unmasked the political positions alien to the ideology of the proletariat present within the IWA.

The First International fulfilled the purposes that motivated its formation. After its dissolution (1876), Karl Marx said that, "far from having died, the International developed from one level to a higher one, in which many of its original attempts have already been realized."

The development of the consciousness and organization of the proletariat created the conditions to form a new example of coordination of the struggle at the international level, and the Second International was created, made up mainly of parties of the working class. At the beginning it waged a sharp battle against the bourgeois and petty bourgeois thought acting within the workers' movement.

The development of the struggle and organization of the working class allowed the Second International to acquire important prestige; its activity caused the bourgeoisie and the ruling classes to see this organization as an enemy that had to be liquidated. After the death of Friederich Engels, a severe ideological crisis occurred within the International, caused by E. Bernstein's views on Marxism, in which he proposed its revision because "it had been overtaken by the evolution of modern society."

Revisionism and opportunism took hold of the Second International, it ceased to fulfill its function and its revolutionary character died, becoming a tool at the service of bourgeois power. Lenin stated: "The Second International is dead, defeated by opportunism. Down with opportunism and long live the Third International, purged not only of the 'defectors', but also of opportunism!" "The Second International fulfilled its task, carrying out useful preparatory work for the prior organization of the proletarian masses within the long 'peaceful' epoch of the cruelest capitalist slavery and the most rapid capitalist progress of the last third of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th."

In the first decades of the 20th century, Lenin and the Bolshevik Party had the responsibility of confronting and combating the theses of revisionism of calling on the proletarians to enlist in the armies of the bourgeoisie; and, above all, the great task of organizing the revolutionary struggle for socialism.

In 1919, in Moscow, with the direct participation of Lenin and Stalin, the Constituent Congress of the Communist International, also known as the Third International, was held. Its contribution to the ideological, political and organizational development of the International Communist Movement is unquestionable; the policy defined by the Communist International to confront Nazi-fascism during the Second World War was fundamental to organizing the forces of the working class and peoples in the struggle against that political expression of the most reactionary and anti-communist sectors of the big bourgeoisie and the financial oligarchy.

Proletarian Internationalism, from then on, reached dimensions to promote the united struggle of communists and proletarians, solidarity with the fighters for freedom and independence that were being waged in colonial and semi-colonial countries, the certain possibility that these processes would advance uninterruptedly to the revolution and socialism.

In 1943 the International was dissolved, on the grounds that the Communist Parties had reached the maturity and experience to act without the need for an international center of leadership and that the reasons why the Communist International was created had been fulfilled. History has shown that despite their verbal recognition, not all parties had affirmed themselves in the principles of Marxism-Leninism, which is why – in some of them – points of view and positions contrary to the ideology of the proletariat later appeared; We also see that it is always necessary to have an example of discussion and coordination of the Communist and Workers' Parties at the international level.

From the 20th Congress of the CPSU onwards, revisionism and opportunism assaulted the leadership of the Soviet Party and State and took root in the leadership of the majority of the communist parties.

In the face of the betrayal of revolution and socialism, the Chinese Communist Party apparently took up the defense of Marxism-Leninism and, for a time, appeared as a reference point for the proletarian revolutionaries of the various communist parties. Over time, anti-Marxist positions became evident and were and are being fought by Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Party of Labor of Albania, PLA, affirmed in Marxist-Leninist principles and in the practice of proletarian internationalism, developed an intense internationalist activity, helped by disseminating its experience and denouncing the leadership of the Soviet Party and State as traitors and opportunists.

In the ranks of the Communist Parties of all countries there were revolutionary militants trained in the principles of Marxism-Leninism, brave fighters who took part in the struggle for the revolution and socialism, against fascism, who did not accept those "new ideas" promoted by Khrushchevite revisionism, who persisted in proletarian revolutionary positions, who resisted and fought ideologically and politically, and who finally decided that there was no place for them in these pacifist and reformist formations, that it was necessary to organize genuine communist parties.

A good number of parties were born that demarcated positions with revisionism and opportunism, raised the banners of the revolution and socialism and became directly involved in the organization of the working class and peoples for the struggle against capitalism, for socialism. These new parties raised high the principles of communism, the struggle for the revolution and socialism, the responsibility of forming themselves as parties of a new type, they defined themselves as Marxist-Leninist communists. Later, new Marxist-Leninist parties emerged as an expression of the need to fight for the revolution and socialism.

[1] We reproduce the first part of the Document that assesses the 30 years of the ICMLPO, approved in its recent plenary session held in Germany.

Posted December 17th at:  www.pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13547 excerpted from:  cipoml.net/en/icmlpo-30-years-of-struggle-for-revolution-and-socialism/

En Marcha #2121 from December 18 to 31, 2024
Central Organ of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador

The ICMLPO: 30 Years of Struggle for the Revolution and Socialism*

For the new Marxist-Leninist parties, the responsibilities of organizing and making the revolution in their countries and being part of the organization of the international revolution of the proletariat, and of reconstructing the proletarian internationalism defeated by the revisionists were imposed.

It was necessary to confront positions such as those that proposed restricting the political activity and responsibility of parties within their own national borders; the opinions regarding the "autonomy" of the parties, that, under the pretext of Proletarian Internationalism, there is an attempt to interfere in the internal problems and affairs of the parties, or that the existence of an international organization of the communist parties could become a center for the leadership of the revolutionary struggle.

Under difficult conditions, the struggle for the unity of the communists on an international scale was raised. Discussions, bilateral and multilateral meetings were held, agreements were established. Initially, these multilateral meetings were held in Europe and Latin America. As a result of these activities, the International Journal Theory and Practice (10 issues) was published, and the International Camps of Anti-Imperialist and Anti-Fascist Youth were held.

The Marxist-Leninist parties, going beyond regional limits, convened for an internationalist meeting in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (1992). On this occasion, with the participation of parties from Europe and Latin America, internationalist positions were taken up, a joint declaration was approved and they called for a new meeting in the Netherlands (1993), under the auspices of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey [DS:  the TDKP -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Communist_Party_of_Turkey , founded February 2, 1980?  Related to the THKO -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Liberation_Army_of_Turkey , founded December 29, 1968?  Garbis Altinoglu's view of the history, from July 2000:  ml-review.ca/aml/AllianceIssues/ALL35MLCP%28TURKEY%29GA2000.HTM ]. This meeting signified a new step in the process of building the international unity of Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations. A Joint Declaration was discussed and a new International Meeting of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations was convened for Quito, Ecuador, in August 1994.

The Quito Conference was held with the participation of 15 Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations, it discussed and approved various ideological and political materials. We remember here, once again, comrade Raúl Marco, founding member of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Spain, who died 4 years ago, and his contribution to the foundation and development of our Conference.

The Quito Conference is the starting point of a new stage of the International Marxist-Leninist Communist Movement. It is a path in which the parties and organizations are integrated to develop the struggle of the working class and people for the revolution and socialism.

The Communist Proclamation was approved, recognized as the Quito Declaration that serves as an ideological and political reference point [DS:  I think the Declaration can be read here:  ml-review.ca/aml/AllianceIssues/AppendicesFinal.html  ? -- cipoml.net/en/declarations/ ].

The fundamental aspect of the Plenum was the formation of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations, ICMLPO, the formulation of the Organizational Norms of the ICMLPO, the publication of the international journal Unity and Struggle and the continuation of the International Youth Camps.

The Communist Proclamation reaffirms the validity of the revolution and socialism, of the revolutionary principles of Marxism-Leninism, of proletarian internationalism; it demarcates positions with revisionism and opportunism in all their manifestations; the role of the proletariat as the leading class of the process of social and national liberation, of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the need for the Communist Party, for democratic centralism and for the path of the revolution.

The International Organization of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations, ICMLPO, is the ideological, political and organizational integration, it constitutes a center of reference for the struggle for social emancipation. The life of the ICMLPO is expressed in the activity of the parties and organizations that make it up, in the Plenary meetings, in the fraternal debate among its members, in the formulation of general and specific orientations for the organization and struggle of the workers and peoples, in internationalist solidarity, in the role of the Coordination Committee; in the publication of Unity and Struggle, in the regional meetings and activities.

…The ICMLPO is a reality, a reference point for the activity and struggle of the communist parties in their own countries and on an international scale, more than that it is gaining recognition among important sectors of the working class, among the revolutionaries who are inspired by Marxism-Leninism; however, its presence and influence is still small and limited.

Certainly the ICMLPO must play a more dynamic role in promoting its organization, its policies and proposals. This objective will be fulfilled if each party promotes the ICMLPO, its publications, the magazine and its documents, if, in fact, the ICMLPO is recognized by the working class as its organizer and leader.

The ICMLPO is part of the process for the building of a new Communist International that involves the Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations that are being formed in other countries. This is an objective that demands the work of the ICMLPO as an International Collective and of each and every one of our parties and organizations.

* This is the second installment of excerpts from the Document that assesses the 30th anniversary of the ICMLPO, approved at its recent plenary session held in Germany. The full document can be obtained on our website [DS:  ? -- cipoml.net/en/declarations/  In the translated document:] [see above].

A few upcoming events are listed at:  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2024/11/adc-statements-on-ceasefire-in-lebanon.html 

Duke University marine geologist Orrin Hendren Pilkey Jr passed away December 13, 2024; he was born September 19, 1934 in New York City:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orrin_H._Pilkey and nicholas.duke.edu/news/orrin-pilkey-coastal-geologist-and-long-time-duke-professor-dies

Federalist Party leaders discussed the secession of the New England states, among other things, at the Hartford Convention, held December 15, 1814 – January 5, 1815 in Hartford, Connecticut.  This was during the War of 1812 (June 18, 1812 – February 17, 1815); the Battle of New Orleans was January 8, 1815 and raised up Andrew Jackson, who seems to have been an early 19th century 'Donald Trump' to his opponents.

South Carolina seceded December 20, 1860.

Living Coelacanths, "living fossils," were first caught and noticed by science December 22, 1938 off South Africa and again December 20, 1952 off Comoros; a video was recorded November  22, 2019 off South Africa, etc.  Another species was noticed in a market on Manado Tua, near Sulawesi, in Indonesia September 18, 1997.  These ancient fish had been caught, unintentionally, before 1938, but their significance and value wasn't realized until shortly before WWII; in the rest of the world they had been thought to be long extinct, if they were thought about at all. – Living Fossil: the Story of the Coelacanth by Keith S Thomson, 1991 and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latimeria 

Japanese writer and screenwriter Gen Urobuchi (虚淵 玄, Urobuchi Gen, in Japanese name order; not his birth name?) was born December 20, 1972 in Tokyo:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gen_Urobuchi

The US, under George HW Bush, attacked and occupied Panama December 20, 1989, 35 years ago:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_invasion_of_Panama

Portugal restored Macau to Chinese sovereignty December 20, 1999.

The UN's International Human Solidarity Day is December 20th? – www.un.org/en/observances/human-solidarity-day

Marcha Contra El Bloqueo – Y la permanencia de Cuba en la lista de paises supuestamente patrocinadores del terrorismo:  At 4pm on December 20, 2024 on Havana, Cuba's seaside Malecon Habanero there was a march against the US blockade and the charge that Cuba sponsors terrorism; people in the US are urged to lobby the Biden administration:  IFCO/P4P – ifconews.org

Georgian Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet statesman J.V. Stalin (Joseph Vissarionovich Djugashvili; Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин; იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე სტალინი) was born December 21, 1879 or 1878 in Gori, now in the Republic of Georgia, but at the time part of the Tsarist Russian Empire:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin  Many of his writings are available online at www.marx2mao.com/Stalin/Index.html , www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/decades-index.htm , redstarpublishers.org/  , in Spanish at:  pcmml.org/biblioteca/ , etc.  

Thomas Sankara, called Africa's Che Guevara, was president of Burkina Faso from 1983 until he was assassinated October 15, 1987.  Sankara was born December 21, 1949, in the northern town of Yako, in what was then the French colony of Upper Volta:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sankara  Some of his writings are posted at:  www.marxists.org/archive/sankara/index.htm 

The Apollo 8 mission was December 21-28, 1968, and was the first Saturn V launch with a crew and the first crewed mission to leave Earth orbit and orbit the Moon.  The three crew members, Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders, were the first to visit another celestial body and see the Earth 'rise.'  An influential photo taken on the 24th by Anders might have aided the development of environmental protection movements.

The Cambodian-Vietnamese War, in which Vietnam overthrew the Khmer Rouge government of Democratic Kampuchea, began December 21, 1978.

The USSR launched Vega 2 to Venus and Halley's Comet December 21, 1984; Vega 1 had been launched earlier, December 15th.

Former US political prisoner or hostage Alex Saab was born December 21, 1971 in Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia, and was aparently serving as a diplomat for Venezuela when he was seized by Cape Verde and turned over to the US.  He was released about a year ago and is an official of the Venezuelan government:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Saab

The Northern Hemisphere's winter solstice will be Saturday, December 21st in 2024, with the longest night of the year.  Technically, it will be between 4 and 5am this year, if I remember correctly.  The Earth is actually closest to the Sun in the Northern Hemisphere's winter.

Saturday, December 21st 2-3pm, with a hybrid format, attend in-person at Yesa Farms in Mebane, NC or online -- "Planning Meeting: Inclusion of Indigenous Voices in Mebane City Plans (allies welcome!):"  actionnetwork.org/events/planning-meeting-hybrid-virtual-and-in-person-inclusion-of-indigenous-people-in-the-city-of-mebane-plans/ and 7directionsofservice.com/events 

The First Battle of Fort Fisher was December 23-27, 1864.

Soviet statesman Lavrenti Beria was shot (executed) December 23, 1953 in Moscow as Nikita Khrushchev rose to power.  He was born March 29, 1899 in Merkheuli, near Sukhumi, in the Russian Empire, now in Abkhazia but claimed by the Republic of Georgia.  Some of Beria's works are available at www.marxists.org/archive/beria/index.htm and redstarpublishers.org/  For some political and historical analysis of his actions see:  ml-review.ca/aml/index/subject.html

Sen Katayama (片山 潜, Kateyama Sen, in Japanese name order), co-founder of the Japanese Communist Party and an official in the Comintern, was born December 26, 1859 (birth name Yabuki Sugatarō, 藪木 菅太郎).  He was one of the first members of the CPUSA and was also active in Canada and Mexico; he is buried in Moscow's Kremlin Wall Necropolis:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sen_Katayama  Some of his writings are available at www.marxists.org/archive/katayama/index.htm and there is a book about his legacy at redstarpublishers.org 

The Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812, was December 24, 1814.

Soldiers organized informal Christmas truces during WWI (especially on the Western Front, but also in the East), especially early in the war (1914) and less so in later years.  In many cases these fraternizing truces were repressed and there might have been cover ups.  worldbeyondwar.org/christmastruce/ www.veteransforpeace.org/take-action/remembering-christmas-truce

WWI was supposed to be over by Christmas; a war over Serbia became a world war, and today the US elite portrays the potential for war over Ukraine or Taiwan as nothing to worry about.  Are they taking the world towards a global conflagration or are they bluffing?  Soon women might be required to register for the draft, so they can die for US imperialism as well, assuming it takes a while for WWIII to go nuclear on a large scale or maybe by then autonomous swarms of drone will be WMDs.     

Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu were executed December 25, 1989.  Romanian President and General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party Nicolae Ceaușescu, his wife Elena, Romania's Deputy Prime Minister, and others were captured December 22, 1989.  Whatever their revisionism or alleged crimes, the Ceaușescus were barely given a trial before being executed by firing squad on the 25th (which is apparently also Romania's date for Christmas).  The Romanian Communist Party vanished, but former members continued to run Romania, as happened elsewhere in Eastern Europe and the former USSR.  Is this being repeated in Syria?  Apparently the Ceaușescus were the last people killed before Romania abolished the death penalty.

Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics December 25, 1991, one of the last events after years of active destruction and dismantling, not passive, natural, and inevitable "collapse" of the Soviet socialist project.

Astronomer Vera Florence Cooper Rubin, namesake of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, formerly the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, nearing completion on Cerro Pachon in Chile – July 23, 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-December 25, 2016 in Princeton, New Jersey:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Rubin

December 26, 1862, following the Dakota War, 38 Dakota or Dakota Sioux were hung, the largest mass execution in US history.  303 Dakota were convicted of murder or rape, some in trials lasting less than 5 minutes, and without defense attorneys.  Lincoln commuted the sentences of 264 prisoners and one more received a reprieve.  Those who were executed were buried in a mass grave, possibly after skin was taken from some of the bodies.  Graverobbers later stole bodies for anatomy specimens.  Except for a group that helped the American settlers, the rest of the Dakota lost their reservation and were exiled from Minnesota over the next few months, and many died during the journey.  Any Dakota found in Minnesota could be killed, with the offer of a $25 dollar bounty.  The unrelated Ho-chunk tribe was also expelled.  Nonetheless some Dakota remained or returned to Minnesota 20 years later.

Chinese revolutionary and statesman Mao Zedong (or Mao Tsetung; 毛泽东) was born December 26, 1893 in Hunan Province, People's Republic of China:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong  Many of his writings are available online at:  www.marx2mao.com/Mao/Index.html , www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/date-index.htm , foreignlanguages.press , redstarpublishers.org/ , etc.

Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet politician Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky was born November 23 or 24 in what is now Poltava, Ukraine.  He was appointed as the USSR's ambassador to Spain but passed away December 26, 1933 in France.  In 1932 he represented the USSR at the League of Nations.   

The great Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami / Boxing Day Tsunami/ Sumatra/Andaman Earthquake was December 26, 2004 off northern Sumatra, Indonesia, close to Aceh.

American entomologist E.O. Wilson, known for his work on ants, sociobiology, island biogeography, biodiversity, and the online Encyclopedia of Life, though he was also condemned by the PLP, passed away December 26, 2021.  He was born June 10, 1929 in Birmingham, Alabama and was a professor at Harvard, etc.:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._O._Wilson

Hinton Rowan Helper, author of The Impending Crisis of the South:  How to Meet It (first printed in 1857; around the 90's a copy from I think 1859 could be checked out from Durham's Main Library like an ordinary library book), etc., was born December 27, 1829 in the vicinity of Mocksville, in Davie County, North Carolina and committed suicide, by gas asphyxiation, March 9, 1909 in Washington, DC:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinton_Rowan_Helper

Anthropologist Sidney Wilfred Mintz, author of Sweetness and Power, etc. – November 16, 1922-December 27, 2015:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Mintz

According to Wikipedia, the People's Liberation Army of Turkey (Türkiye Halk Kurtuluş Ordusu, or THKO) was founded December 29, 1968 and was dissolved May 6, 1981:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Liberation_Army_of_Turkey

The Together for Palestine fundraiser with live folk music, etc. will be December 29th 6-10pm at 740 SE Maynard Road in Cary, NC:  @onebodyevents ? -- From VJP

Verso Books End of Year Sale 2024 -- November 18th-January 1st (I think it has been extended in previous years):  www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/verso-end-of-year-sale-2024

Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet statesman V.I. Lenin (Ленин) passed away January 21, 1924 in Gorki, RSFSR; he was born April 22, 1870 in Simbirsk, now Ulyanovsk:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin

NC PALI's Inaurgural Roots of Resilience Banquet will be January 25th at 6:30pm at 740 SE Maynard Road in Cary, NC.

According to Wikipedia, the underground Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey (Türkiye Devrimci Komünist Partisi, or TDKP) was founded February 2, 1980 and still exists:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Communist_Party_of_Turkey