Communist Workers' Party of Russia Party of Communists of
Russia,
Contribution to the Athens Meeting 21J2002
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From: Communist Workers' Party of Russia Party of
Communists of Russia ,
Wed, 26 June 2002
http://www.rkrp-rpk.ru/ , http://www.imcrkrp.newmail.ru/ ,
mailto:rkrprpk@peterlink.ru
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by V.Tiulkin

On behalf on our party I would like to greet all comrades
in the struggle. Let me express my special gratitude to the
communists of Greece, where our meetings have become
regular events thanks to the CPG's efforts.

That is precisely why while discussing today's subject we
are not beginning from zero but are rather continuing the
discussion we have already begun on the subjects of
"globalization" and the "workers' movement".

Speaking of the new situation in the world after September
11, 2001, we have as a starting point the analysis we made
last time, saying that this "new" element had already been
well-known to us for a long period of time and that today's
events had been foreseen. This "new" element is called
imperialism. In contemporary events, which many people like
to call globalization and which have now been supplemented
by the "antiterrorist" struggle, we find only a
confirmation of Lenin's theory of imperialism, confirmation
of its predatory, aggressive nature.

In this way we have to do not with a phenomenon of a new
nature, but rather with a manifestation of imperialism
under new conditions.

Speaking of its new manifestations, we should point out
that:
-The imperialists of the USA and the Zionists of Israel act
as a militant vanguard of world imperialism.
-They demonstrate unprecedented impertinence without taking
into account any international institutions, including the
UN.
-They have managed to concentrate capitalist forces around
them to an unprecedented degree.

Practically all of the capitalist countries are their
allies. For a certain period of time they have managed to
sweep aside their internal contradictions. On the whole we
have to state that the imperialist International is acting
successfully and poses a threat to the whole world.

Under these conditions the goals of our party consist not
so much in disclosing imperialism (every one of us has
expressed so many feelings on this subject that we could
hold a contest with grades given for technique and artistic
performance), as in:
-exchanging information on what is taking place in our
countries and
-trying to elaborate once more a course of joint struggle.

On The Situation In Russia

Many people, and even political forces inside Russia as
well as abroad, linked the hope for change in the policy of
Russia in a positive direction with Vladimir Putin's
undertaking the presidency of the country. We did not
entertain such illusions and practice has proved that we
were right. Putin is a firm follower of Yeltsin' s policy
under new conditions. In foreign policy Russian authorities
(having about 170 billion in foreign debt) obediently
follow the lead of US policy. They have supported the
so-called antiterrorist coalition. Putin keeps repeating
with pride that without Russia a reliable and effective
coalition could not have been a reality. Putin has not only
submitted but in fact encourages the US troops' presence on
the territories of the former republics of the USSR
(Georgia, Kirghizia, Uzbekistan). In accordance with the
formula "20+1" the Russia-NATO union is presented as an
achievement of foreign policy. We consider that the day
when Russia will be pushed from the role of supporting the
aggressors into direct participation in military actions is
not far off.

We must warn our friends from the KPDR, Vietnam, Cuba and
China that they should not trust Putin's regime, no matter
how independent and patriotic his position might look. You
will be betrayed and betrayed just as Yugoslavia was The
giving up of Russian (Soviet) military bases in Cuba and
Vietnam is proof of this. (It was not for nothing that
today's Russian flag was raised on Hitler' s side).

At the same time, in spite of the fact that the Russian
government is under the USA's heel we should note that
Russian capital, which is first of all connected with the
military-industrial complex, now has nothing against
profiting by kindling tensions in the world and supplying
weaponry (Appendix 1). In the present programme of Russian
manufacturers' output, 80% regards foreign orders. Putin
set an immediate task to make arms exports reach 4,4
billion dollars and this target is being successfully met.
Taking into consideration that the 1200 largest defence
enterprises are running at a capacity of only 20-30%, one
can imagine the potential for a buildup in the arms race.

Our party's CC has passed a special Resolution (Appendix 2)
concerning the participation of the Russian bourgeoisie in
pushing the world towards a new world war.

In domestic policy, Putin's regime is pursuing a course to
intensify reaction, strengthening the absolute nature of
the President's power and moving towards a dictatorship.
Thus, the right, pro-governmental forces have gained an
overwhelming majority in the State Duma (the lower house of
Parliament) and literally rubberstamp any anti-popular
laws. The upper house the Council of the Federation is
wholly subordinated to the President (here opposition
voices are heard at a ratio of 2 to 176). Russia is divided
into 7 federal regions where the power of the President's
representatives while is being strengthened in relation to
that of elected bodies.

A whole complex of reactionary laws has been imposed on
society:
-The Code of Labour Law has significantly limited the
capacity of the working people's organized resistance in
enterprises and has limited trade-unions' rights.
-The alterations made in the electoral laws have reinforced
the role of money and have limited the possibilities of
independent working people's organizations and independent
candidates.
-The law on political parties has introduced total control
over the setting up of political organizations and their
activities and in fact blocks the access of opposition
workers' organizations to public politics.

A propos, as far as this law is concerned, the Ministry of
Justice has refused to reregister our party on grounds that
the term "revolution" is used in the party's name as well
as in its Statutes. In the opinion of civil servants, this
is a call for a forceful, anti-constitutional upheaval. It
shows the extent to which Russian democracy has declined
and marks its shift towards fascism.

I would also like on this occasion to thank everyone who
has already expressed his solidarity with us on this
matter. We need it badly, since the battle is continuing
with a series of trials and demonstrations. We would also
like to ask all the participants in the meeting to sign the
corresponding joint Declaration of Protest addressed to the
President of Russia.

Russian authorities have also submitted a law on the
struggle against extremism to Parliament. It is surely
unnecessary to point out that the real objectives of this
struggle against popular protest and the repression of
communist and workers' organizations lie hidden behind the
words "the struggle against right and left extremism".

As far as domestic Russian policy is concerned, we consider
it necessary to point out the bankruptcy which, in our
opinion, the tactics of left centrism of the parliamentary
opposition headed by the CPRF (Zuganov's) has suffered the
stakes placed on "cooperating with the authorities", the
dreams of obtaining a qualified parliamentary majority
(2/3), the practice of supporting "red" governors, sending
their representatives to Primakov's bourgeois, so-called
government of popular trust all this has ended in a
failure. The right majority consolidated in Parliament has
not only unceremoniously deprived the parliamentary
opposition of all its positions, but has also given rise to
a whole series of betrayals. Suffice it to say that both
speakers of the house who have served during the history of
our capitalist Russia (from 1993 until the present) (Ribkin
and Seleznev) were nominated by the CPRF faction and then
crossed over to the side of the regime. It is clear that
this story has, in the eyes of citizens, caused great
damage and a loss of authority to the communist movement
and can be compared only to Gorbachev's treason. In
addition to this, the extraparliamentary front of struggle
proved to be totally inactive. And the theoretical
innovations on the part of the CPRF, such as rejection of
the slogan "Proletarians of all countries, unite!", the
priority of state-patriotic ideology over communist
ideology and the orientation that "Russia has exhausted her
capacity for revolution", are still being tried out in
practice in CPRF activities.

Under these conditions our party has set itself the task of
uniting all the forces and communist parties of Russia to
the left of the CPRF in a single party. To date the Russian
Communist and Workers' Party and Revolutionary Party of
Communists have merged, while the organization "Union of
Communists" is going to join us as well. We consider that
over the year we shall unite any significant really
functional and genuine communist organizations of Russia.

Comrades, coming back to the international scale of our
struggle, I would like to stress that there can be only one
answer to the question "what shall we do in order to
withstand the pressure of world capital?" and that is to
unite.

To unite in analysis and theoretical work. Today capitalism
has such experience and so many resources that it is no
longer satisfied, as it used to be in the past, with
bribing the workers' leaders, supporting opportunism and
organizing provocations. Now it is capable of organizing
whole pseudo-parties and even international movements
leading to the impasse of perfecting capitalism. They
elaborate and toss out to society theories well-shaped from
the point of view of propaganda, such as that of the
"golden billion" and class cooperation inside it.

We should unite and use the experience of the struggle.
(For instance, we should in every way support the
experience and international work of PAME the Greek All
Workers' Militant Front, the trade unions supporting class
positions).

We should strive to organize united action in different
countries, as already mentioned at least for one day but
all together.

Over the past five years we have taken certain steps (the
regularity of our meetings, the International Bulletin,
Solidnet), but the capitalists have left us behind. This is
not good at all. We should correct this, comrade fellow
communists.

Soon many will have nowhere to retreat. That is why we must
give ourselves an order: Forward, to the struggle!

Appendix 1
From the newspaper "Saint-Petersburg News" (7.06.2002)
I.Lisochkin. "Defense: Everything for Sale"

The State Armaments Programme up to 2010 comprising 34
volumes of documents has been approved by a special
Presidential Decree. In the opinion of Alexei Moskovskiy,
Deputy Defense Minister and Chief of Armaments of the Armed
Forces of the Russian Federation, the present programme is
"realistic and provided with finance and resources", in
contrast to those of 1986 and 1996, which were marked
failures.

Certainly the 34 volumes of the Programme are classified.
But the general strategy for its realization does not
constitute a secret Half the funds are to be invested in
defense, a sizable part of which for scientific research
and experimental construction elaboration. In spite of the
fact that today many samples of Russian military technology
the "Topol-M", the "Hepard" boat, the Nikonov automatic
weapon and others have reached a level unsurpassed by
other countries, a lag has already begun to show in a
number of directions. That is why plans are for special
attention to be placed on scientific research and
experimental construction elaboration. This is the general
scheme".

"Foreign orders have become a serious source of means. The
defense industry executives themselves have tried to
establish direct contacts with foreign partners and make
direct procurements.

This sector has developed in a surprisingly swift way.
China and India are the main buyers of Russian armaments
today. Moreover, 56 other states are also taking part in
this. Not so long ago the intelligence services of many
countries strived to solve the secrets of the T-80 tank,
the S-300 installation and the "Tornado" torpedo but today
all these are being exported. Even the most up-to-date
equipment is exported abroad. For instance, at the
St.Petersburg shipyards ships are being built equipped with
artillery installations which have not even gone through
the entire cycle of state testing. Trials will be continued
abroad by foreign fleets.

Today up to 80 percent of the portfolio of the orders
placed with our defense enterprises is foreign. Everything
is up for sale! Putin assigned the defense executives to
make arms exports reach the sum of 4,4 billion dollars per
year, a task which is being carried out quite successfully.

From the geopolitical point of view, this is not so good,
to put things mildly: Russia arms contiguous countries with
technical military means which even her own army and fleet
do not possess. From the historical point of view this
could have consequences. After all, arms can be shot in any
direction. And recent events in the Balkans and Afghanistan
have proven this strikingly.

But again there is no other way out. Without foreign orders
our domestic defense industry would not be capable of
addressing the needs of its own army, which has long been
waiting for "Iskander-E" sets, K-50 and K-52 helicopters,
anti-warship rockets with self-aiming warheads and modern
compact radio stations

We should not think that foreign orders are a shower of
gold. The situation in the sector continues to be quite
difficult. For those who like figures I can give pertinent
data. 1200 Russian defense enterprises maintain production
at less than 20 percent capacity (growth begins at 30 %).
They return 80% of the funds earned from state orders to
the state in the form of taxes and various payments.

"Today it is difficult to judge much that occurs in the
defense industry in a categorical manner, since things are
unsteady and have not stabilized yet. A great deal will
depend on the government. And today the leading executives
in the defense sector look to it inquiringly, as if to say
"Haven't you by any chance grown up yet, so as to begin the
revival of Russia's dignity in matters of defense?

Appendix 2
"THE WORKING CLASS AND WORLD WAR"
STATEMENT OF THE RCWP-RPC CC PLENARY MEETING

The capitalist way of production is inseparable from crises
and wars. This factor manifested itself especially in the
20th century with the transition of capitalism to the
imperialist stage of its development and the emergence of
world crises and world wars as a consequence. The 20th
century's first and second world wars confirmed Lenin's
theory of imperialism.

The events of September 11, 2001 in the USA have
demonstrated that in preparing for a large-scale war US
monopoly capital is seeking an exit from the deep crisis
which has hit the most highly technological sectors of the
American economy.

The Russian bourgeoisie, which has driven the economy of
the country into a prolonged crisis affecting all the
aspects of the socio-economic order is seeking an exit from
it in the same ways as the imperialist bourgeoisie of the
United States. The similarity of conclusions and the path
chosen by the captains of Russian and American capital
explain the allied relations of the two governments in
resolving the problem of "international terrorism" in
Chechnya, Afghanistan and other regions of the Asian
continent. The way they have chosen to solve the "problem"
means creating interconnected seats of conflict in Asia and
in this way establishing a capacious market for the
military-industrial complexes of the USA and Russia. The
strategists of the military-industrial complexes of the two
states consider that creating a situation in which "Asians
kill each other" will automatically gives rise to
conditions for a buildup in the production of scientific
weaponry, providing an exit from the general crisis for the
economies of the two states. In this way the global
bourgeoisie is pushing the planet towards a new world war,
the victims of which will be the millions of workers and
farmers of Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and
other countries of Asia.

It may be possible that some part of the people who are
dependent on the bourgeoisie will agree with such a
solution to Russian economic problems. Thus every day more
and more national, people's patriotic, Christian Orthodox
and other similar parties and movements call for agreement
with Putin on this matter.

In the meantime the workers and farmers of Russia should
know that the plan for the "exit of the world economy from
the crisis" worked out in deep secret from them will
inevitably lead to a military conflict between the armed
forces of the USA and Russia on the Asian continent. This
conflict, like a maelstrom, will draw many countries in and
lead to a new world war, demanding that the lives of
millions of simple people from all continents, including
all the capitalist countries - and perhaps Russia first and
foremost be sacrificed.

The Russian Communist Workers' Party Revolutionary Party
of Communists call for:

No support for the criminal plans of the Russian
bourgeoisie!

War on war!

The working class to unite in the struggle for socialism
and against capitalism and imperialism!

Proletarians of all countries, unite!

Leningrad, February 24, 2002

To the President of Russia
Vladimir Putin

Esteemed Mr. President,

We representatives of communist and workers' parties,
participants in the International Meeting in Athens,
express our bewilderment and protest the refusal on the
part of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation
(May 13, 2002) to reregister the Russian Communist Workers'
Party Revolutionary Party of Communists in accordance with
the new law.

The pretext found by the employees of the Ministry is that
in the name of the party and its Statutory documents the
word "REVOLUTION" is used and on the basis of one
dictionary this word means "an upheaval in socio-political
relations carried out in a forceful way". This sounds at
least ridiculous, since firstly it does not take into
consideration the generally recognized meaning of the term
"revolution" as a transition to a qualitatively new level
in any field of knowledge or man's activity. Secondly, it
is in fact an outrage upon the memory and history of the
struggle of the peoples for their national and social
liberation, including such great events as the French and
October revolutions.

The refusal of the Ministry of Justice contains a reference
to the position of the Statutes of the RCWP-RPC that "the
goal of the party is to form the public opinion of citizens
in the spirit of the teaching of scientific communism on
the necessity of revolutionary (meaning radical)
transformation of the arrangement of society establishing
domination of public possession of production means and
securing on this basis the all-round free development and
welfare of all members of society".

We consider that such an approach in fact means a ban on
the activities of the party, which has already been
operating in Russia for 10 years, taking part in
parliamentary election campaigns and supported by millions
of voters. In practice, it hinders the expression of free
will, the implementation of the people's right to freedom
of conscience and beliefs and the right to form political
organizations.

We demand that these discriminatory actions of the Ministry
of Justice be condemned and consider this behaviour of
Russian authorities to be incompatible with the intention
of Russia to become a member of the civilized community of
the countries of the European Union.

Athens, June ___ 2002