Yesterday, April 22, marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great revolutionary leader and theorist of scientific socialism, V.I. Lenin. To commemorate the event, dozens of Communist and Workers’ Parties signed a joint statement to honor Lenin and to commit themselves to the continuation of his work. Their statement follows.
“Especially under the current conditions, while the pandemic of CoVID-19 is spreading and tragically demonstrating the great inadequacies of health systems in capitalist countries, as well as the anti-social and parasitic nature of the capitalist system itself; in the face of the new crisis, the burdens of which will again be placed upon the shoulders of the workers, the aggressive nature of capitalism and the escalation of imperialist competition, which pose new dangers to peace and peoples around the world, we feel an even greater need to call attention to the historic role of V.I. Lenin: a personality who dedicated his life to the cause of the working class and other popular strata, to the struggle for the abolition of exploitation and the construction of a socialist society.
“We honor V.I. Lenin as the founder of the contemporary working-class party, the “party of a new type,” which was firmly differentiated from the opportunism and apostasy of the old social-democratic parties. Such was the Bolshevik Party, which was at the forefront of the class struggle of the proletariat and the other oppressed strata of Russia. Lenin’s party led Russia’s working class to victory by overthrowing the exploiting classes and establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat, the government of the workers and peasants, in the service of the interests of the many, the exploited and the oppressed. V.I. Lenin defined and substantiated the leading role of the Communist Party, not only in establishing workers’ power but also in constructing socialism.
“We honor V.I. Lenin as the theorist who, taking into account the particular reality of his place and time, further developed the constituent parts of Marxism, i.e., philosophy, political economy, and scientific communism. He was an opponent of any opportunistic and revisionist distortion of revolutionary theory and practice, dogmatism, sectarianism, and parliamentary illusions, without denying the possibility of intervention through the parliament.
“Among his hundreds of written works are milestones in the propagation and development of Marxism and revolutionary struggle such as: What the friends of the people are and how they fight the Social Democrats, The Development of Capitalism in Russia, What Is to Be Done, Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution, Materialism and Empirio-criticism, Marxism and Revisionism, The Collapse of the Second International, Socialism and War, On the Slogan for the United States of Europe, Imperialism – The Highest Stage of Capitalism, The State and Revolution, The April Theses, Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder, The Immediate Tasks of the Soviet Government, and The Great Initiative. Lenin’s valuable theoretical work is still timely and serves as a beacon for the ideological-political education and action of every new generation of revolutionaries.
“We honor V.I. Lenin as the leader of the Great October Socialist Revolution, which shook the world a century ago. The victorious revolution illuminated the power of the class struggle, the power of the exploited and the oppressed – when they take the cause of their interests into their own hands and turn the wheel of history forward – in the direction of social liberation. The October flame led and accelerated the establishment of a number of Communist and revolutionary Workers’ parties. Lenin had an insightful strategic ability and skillfully handled alliances, abilities that he devoted to the cause of the socialist revolution.
“We honor V.I. Lenin as the leader of the world’s first socialist state, which for the first time established workers’ power based on new revolutionary institutions, such as the Soviets, sought the economic functioning of society on a new basis, that of the satisfaction of contemporary people’s needs and the multi-faceted free development of all people, rather than the profits of the few. The USSR, the first socialist state in the world, which was attained through the special contribution of V.I. Lenin, brought to the fore new unprecedented economic, social, political, and cultural achievements for the working class and the wider popular strata that had a profound effect on historical progressive developments around the world. It was a support to the peoples in the struggle for socialism and peace.
“We honor V.I. Lenin as the great internationalist, the leader who raised the flag of proletarian internationalism against the treacherous attitude of the Second International during the imperialist First World War, opposed bourgeois nationalism and other bourgeois views such as the cosmopolitanism of the capital, and led the establishment of the Third Communist International, which made a major contribution to the international labor and communist movements, and today is a basic source for drawing useful lessons from the experience it accumulated through its action. Lenin’s positions on colonialism led the Communists to understand the issue of colonies and inspired them to lead anti-colonial struggles, both in colonial countries and colonies.
“We honor V.I. Lenin as the tireless and consistent opponent of the imperialist war, the defender of peoples’ struggle for national and social liberation, social justice, peace and socialism.
“The counter-revolution and capitalist restoration cannot conceal the achievements of Socialism. The disasters and injustice we are experiencing, the acute problems and the suffering of the working class, the perpetually shrinking middle strata, the peasantry and the peoples overall caused by capitalist exploitation and oppression, emphasize the necessity and timeliness of socialism all over the world.
“The Communist and Workers’ Parties denounce the wave of silence as well as the reactionary and anti-communist distortions that have been unleashed around the world by the political forces that serve the interests of the capital against the workers and youth. We struggle for the continuation of Lenin’s work. We are committed to continue defending and propagating his legacy. And we call on the workers and the popular masses to learn from it.”
Signatory Parties to the Joint Statement:
- Communist Party of Albania
- PADS Algeria
- Communist Party of Argentina
- Communist Party of Armenia
- Communist Party of Australia
- Party of Labor of Austria
- Communist Party of Azerbaijan
- Democratic Progressive Tribune of Bahrain
- Communist Party of Bangladesh
- Communist Party of Belarus
- Communist Party of Belgium
- Brazilian Communist Party
- Communist Party of Britain
- New Communist Party of Britain
- Communist Party of Bulgaria
- Party of Bulgarian Communists
- Communist Party of Canada
- Communist Party of Chile
- Socialist Workers’ Party of Croatia
- AKEL – Cyprus
- Communist Party of Bohemia-Moravia
- Communist Party of Denmark
- Communist Party in Denmark
- Force of the Revolution, Dominican Republic
- Communist Party Ecuador
- Communist Party of El Salvador
- Communist Party of Finland
- United Communist Party of Georgia
- German Communist Party
- Communist Party of Greece
- Hungarian Workers Party
- Communist Party of India
- Communist Party of India (Marxist)
- Communist Party of Kurdistan – Iraq
- Tudeh Party of Iran
- Workers’ Party of Ireland Communist Party of Ireland
- Communist Party of Israel
- Communist Party, Italy
- Italian Communist Party
- Jordanian Communist Party
- Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan
- Workers’ Party of Korea
- Party of the Communists of Kyrgyzstan
- Lebanese Communist Party
- Socialist Party of Latvia
- Socialist Party, Lithuania
- Communist Party of Luxembourg
- Communist Party of Malta
- Communist Party of Mexico
- Communist Party of Norway
- New Communist Party of the Netherlands
- Communist Party of Pakistan
- Palestinian Communist Party
- Palestinian People’s Party
- Paraguayan Communist Party
- Peruvian Communist Party
- Communist Party of Poland
- Portuguese Communist Party
- Philippine Communist Party (PKP-1930)
- Communist Party of Ukraine 62
- Union of Communists of Ukraine
- Communist Party of the Russian Federation
- Communist Workers’ Party of Russia
- Communist Party of the Soviet Union
- Union of Communist Parties – CPSU 67
- New Communist Party of Yugoslavia
- Communists of Serbia
- Communist Party of Slovakia
- South African Communist Party
- Communist Party of Spain
- Communist Party of the Workers of Spain
- Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain
- Communists of Catalonia
- Communist Party of Sri Lanka
- Communist Party of Swaziland
- Communist Party of Sweden
- Sudanese Communist Party
- Syrian Communist Party
- Communist Party of Turkey
- Communist Party of Venezuela
- Union of Communists in Bulgaria
- Communist Revolutionary Party of France
- Pole of Communist Revival in France
- Shiso-Undo, Japan
- Communist Party of Puerto Rico
- Galician People’s Union
- Communist Party, Switzerland
- Communist Party USA
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