From En Marcha #1541
July 22-28, 2011
15th International Seminar: Problems of the Revolution in Latin America
Final Declaration
The world is still shaking from the economic crisis of the capitalist
system that broke out just over three years ago within U.S.
imperialism. Its manifestations and effects spread rapidly, first to
the more developed economies and then to the entire planet. The small
and brief signs of partial recovery, extolled by the financial groups
and economists who are defenders of the system as evidence that the
crisis has come to an end, have only confirmed the cyclical nature of
the crises, within the framework of the general crisis of capitalism.
The measures tried by the governments and international agencies to
overcome the problems have resulted in their intensification. By the
logic of the functioning of capitalism the working classes, youth and
peoples in general become principal victims of the crisis, but they do
not face it with resignation: they resist, they struggle and in
important sectors they come out with proposals demanding that the
crisis be paid by the capitalists who are responsible for it, not the
workers.
Today in various parts of the world the fight for wages, jobs,
education, and health care have been joined to the banners of
democracy, freedom and other political rights. We are experiencing a
period of the rise of the struggle of the masses and its torrent has
brought down authoritarian and dictatorial regimes such as Ben Ali (in
Tunisia) and Hozni Mubarak (in Egypt) and kept others in check. The
questioning of bourgeois institutions is present in these struggles, as
in the demands of the "indignant ones" in Spain, in the strikes by
workers in Greece and England, and in the mobilizations of the youth in
the Americas. It is obvious that the political expressions of the
crisis are becoming prominent.
In Latin America the democratic, progressive and left-wing tendency is
being affirmed and strengthened in the most advanced sectors. For some
time we have seen that there has been a change in the political and
social relationship of forces in the region: the neoliberal bourgeoisie
and its parties suffered political and electoral defeats in several
countries and lost positions in the administrative apparatus of the
State; some progressive governments emerged as a result of the search
for change by our peoples, of the fights waged against governments
openly subservient to foreign capital and to the interests of the local
ruling classes.
Without a doubt this new Latin American scenario marked a positive step
for the peoples, for the democratic, progressive and left-wing forces
because it encouraged the desire for change among the masses, it
affirmed their confidence in their ability to overcome a system that
has only brought hunger and hopelessness to the workers and peoples. A
crucial aspect is that the new situation put the prospect of socialism
as an alternative to the decadent capitalist system on the table for
discussion.
However, over the years, we have seen the political limits of those
governments. Some more rapidly than others have begun to turn to the
right, betraying the expectations of the beginning of those new times
for those who have always lived under oppression. Free trade agreements
with imperialist countries or blocs, anti-popular laws, processes of
criminalization of the social protest, handing over of natural
resources to foreign capital and neoliberal economic measures have been
adopted by almost all those governments that promised change.
Most of the regimes that encouraged the prospect of implementing
profound economic, political and social changes, and therefore opened
up spaces for the left-wing organizations to advance in the
accumulation of revolutionary forces, have become obstacles to the
advance of the struggle of the masses, to the perspective of the
revolution and socialism; they are, in fact, governments that support
the capitalist system.
The turn to the right taking place in the majority of those
governments, in spite of the expectations of the ruling classes and
imperialism, has not led to discouragement or frustration among the
peoples. The desire for change is still present; it is shown in the
protests against unemployment, for education, for the land, for water,
against taxes, for democracy, because their voice is heard when it is
time to make decisions in the spheres of government.
The prospect of the victory of the revolution and socialism is being
maintained, it does not depend on what opportunism, reformism or any
bourgeois pseudo left-wing faction does; it is in the hands of the
workers and peoples, of the genuinely revolutionary forces. For the
victory of the revolution, it is essential to utilize and combine all
forms of struggle, according to the features present in each of the
countries.
Now, in order to put an end to the contradiction that defines the
nature of the epoch in which we live, the contradiction between labor
and capital, we cannot ignore the fight against the policy that
social-democracy in power carries out in the name of social change but
for the benefit of the ruling classes and imperialist financial
capital.
For the advance of the revolutionary struggle it is necessary to remove
the nefarious bourgeois ideological influence in its different forms in
the movement of the workers, the youth, women and the popular movement
in general; to that end we must combine the momentum of the fight of
the masses for their material demands and political rights with the
ideological debate to expose the pro-capitalist character embodied in
these proposals. The unmasking of opportunism and social democracy is
part of the ideological struggle that we revolutionaries raise against
capitalism and its defenders in general.
The organizations of the revolutionary left are the most advanced
sector of the democratic, progressive and left-wing tendency, their
responsibility is to work to ensure that the whole tendency and the
peoples in general see and understand the political limits that the
progressive governments have and the nature of those of a neoliberal
character and above all, to ensure that they take up the banners and
program of a genuine revolution that leads to socialism.
In this process, the policy of unity with the sectors and forces
involved in the defense of the aspirations and rights of workers and
peoples and to defend the sovereign interests of the country is
essential.
Moreover, the unity must go beyond national borders, since, while the
revolution is a process that must be implemented in each country, in
essence it is an international movement. It is our commitment to form a
great anti-imperialist front of the peoples, which is expressed in
specific struggles and actions. The active solidarity with all those
peoples who are fighting for social and national liberation and
independence is part of our work. Today we express our support for the
struggle of the Palestinian people against criminal Israeli Zionism, to
the people of Puerto Rico in their struggle for independence; we reject
the imperialist blockade established for five decades against Cuba and
the presence of occupation troops in Haiti; we condemn all acts of
political and military aggression and intervention by the imperialist
powers against the peoples.
With our collective effort we have arrived at the 15th International
Seminar that, year after year, has followed-up on the fundamental
problems that circumstances impose on the revolutionary organizations.
We reaffirm the importance of such events that allow us to sum up and
share experiences; therefore we commit ourselves to continue this work
and to publicize the agreements and resolutions made on this occasion.
We call for a similar event next year.
15th International Seminar: Problems of the Revolution in Latin America
Quito, July 15, 2011
Revolutionary Communist Party of Argentina
Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary Party (Argentina)
Olga Benario Women’s Movement (Brazil)
Revolutionary Communist Party (Brazil)
Minga Sur Palmira – Alternative Democratic Pole (Colombia)
Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist)
Communist Party of Labor of the Dominican Republic
Caribbean Youth (Dominican Republic)
Communist Party of Mexico (Marxist-Leninist)
Revolutionary Popular Front (Mexico)
National Democratic Front (Philippines)
Caribbean and Latin American Coordinator (Puerto Rico)
Communist Party (Bolshevik) Russia
Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninist)
Socialist Revolutionary University Front (Venezuela)
Ana Soto Women’s Movement (Venezuela)
Education Movement for Emancipation (Venezuela)
Gayones Movement (Venezuela)
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Venezuela
Revolutionary Youth of Ecuador
Ecuadorian Confederation of Women for Change
Democratic Popular Movement (Ecuador)
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador
Click here to return to the April 2011 index.