http://www.pcdob.org.br , mailto:internacional@pcdob.org.br

Speech by Renato Rabelo, National President of the

Communist Party of Brazil-PCdoB in the opening of the

10th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties

PCdoB supports the peoples’ struggle

In a short period, liberalism - then victorious in 1990s, time when it euphorically proclaimed its eternal life - causes today through the development of its policies, a major disaster for mankind. The neoliberal paradigms, so absolute during that period, shattered as they faced the realities of life. The world is being shaken with the emergence of an economic and financial crisis of vast magnitude. Capitalism is going through one of the most serious crises during its long history.

The great crisis - which has at its epicenter, the supremacist imperialist power - includes the whole system on a global scale, involving financial and productive plans, and through its depth and scope, could bring heavy losses to the workers and peoples around the world, as well as a strong negative impact on countries seeking a sovereign development. Given its dimension, this crisis could further shake up the current world order lead by the USA.

Financial and economic crisis of the capitalism – global and systemic

Our party has made clear in its last Congresses - and Seminars with broad national and international participation, - that the recurring economic and financial crises in the 1980s and 1990s had shown the limits of a historical capitalism, based upon contradictory processes that conceived a structural character, derived from the fundaments of the system.

The present crisis, which contains the cumulative effects of its predecessors, has achieved greater magnitude. It is not a passing phenomenon, which further aggravates the structural character of capitalism, which becomes increasingly powerless to democratize the society (universalize health and quality of education and expand workers' rights), defend our sovereignty and promote national development; follow the path of social progress (improve quality of life for most of the nation). Therefore, this crisis can not be solved effectively within the framework of the capitalist system. The truth is upon us: time will prove that the only way out is socialism.

The crisis tends to get worse throughout the next few years, with the establishment of a framework that is already in a state of recession in developed capitalist countries and the proliferation of bankruptcy, negatively affecting the production sectors. In the countries of the so-called periphery, there is a drop in levels of economic activity and flight of capital with the possibility of a new round of currency exchange crises, aggravating the external vulnerability. This crisis is already beginning to rapidly increase the rate of unemployment in the United States and Europe and can reach negative unprecedented numbers since the 2nd World War. It could also have serious harmful social effects throughout the world.

The failure of the systemic, proclaimed and imposed neo-liberal model cannot be disguised, especially after the Washington Consensus - which most promoted financial deregulation, free circulation of capital and goods, privatization of public enterprises, institutionalized speculation and removal of workers' rights.

However, before the disaster, it is justifiable for the dominating power to provide a ready intervention from the capitalist States, using trillions of US dollars, in an attempt to save the system in its critical phase, transferring huge numbers of public wealth and raising the State deficit, to protect the large capital and the financial oligarchy.

In this desperation to save the system, the recent presence of Alan Greenspan, Chairman of FED (American Central Bank) for the first time in more than a decade in the House of Representatives of the United States is enlightening. Faced with the parliamentarians, while presenting the reasons for the crisis, he said that for these last 40 years, he thought that his model was right. But today, in face of the oncoming disaster, acknowledges that his vision of the world, his ideology was erroneous. This is an eloquent sign that explains the situation of profound ideological crisis experienced by capitalism.

The logic of the senile dominant capitalist ideology defends austerity in public spending, imposes wage squeezes and restraining of jobs, but to the contrary, the capitalist State has every right to scandalously overspend unprecedented amounts, to rescue the big capitalists from the abyss. Such actions are major aggressions on workers, and will not resolve the serious social problems created by the crisis. On the contrary, they could cause heavy setbacks. In fact, the current times show that capitalism is incapable of being changed in the sense of social progress.

The objective causes of the crisis in effect, intrinsic to the very accumulation of capital, have their peculiarities at the present stage. We, at PCdoB, think, that the application of neo-liberal policies unleashed huge financing, reaching an unprecedented volume of fictitious capital, which came to act intensively on the sphere of production. In order to meet its demands for geometric profits, the capitalists expect its fulfillment through the titles of the futures market and institutionalized speculation through the multitude of securities and derivatives based on private and public rising debts, generated in the form of credits. Thus, the relationship between productive capital and financial capital is apart making the system extremely vulnerable. In short, we can clearly see a situation of overproduction and over-accumulation of capital - fundamental phenomena of the crisis of capitalism.

The world situation is aggravated with the current crisis

This crisis breaks within a global framework in which the beginning of the Century XXI is marked by a large and intense offensive of US imperialism, with a unilateral expansionist and militaristic foreign policy, - the "preventive" war of the Bush Doctrine - leading to a situation of great instability and uncertainty, in a more disparate and unequal world. This extensive and violent onslaught against the peoples and sovereign nations - to maintain the unipolar US supremacy – goes against the interests of peoples and countries in the world. As a result, upsurge a counter-movement that is developing in various forms of resistance and counter-supremacy.

Also, the beginning of this century is marked by a continuous imposition of the neo-liberal policies of dominant interests of the monopoly capitalists - whose core is New York City – and who are contrary to the interests of workers, peoples and countries who are fighting for a sovereign national development. Such imposition has generated a broad desire for change that has transformed, mainly in Latin America, in an increasing democratic, progressive, popular, anti-imperialist movement.

In short, the global reality is characterized on one hand by the imperialist offensive and neo-liberal dominance and, by the other, by increasing resistance from peoples and nations at various levels and growth among the developing countries of poles and blocks of counter-supremacy with the rapid economic rise of China, and recovery of Russia besides other dynamic poles in the so-called periphery. Also in this overall situation, can be detached a major offensive failures of the US imperialism in its wars of occupation and domination. These global trends are already forming a contentious process that indicates the existence of a world in transition, which expresses the whole global framework of a relative decline of US unipolar supremacy.

Now, the outbreak of this crisis of major proportions can impact the ongoing transition in the power relations of the international system, adversely affecting mechanisms that sustain the American supremacy - especially those relating to the freeing of global financial and currency markets dominated by the US dollar. Around the so-called periphery of the system, new players who will occupy the role of powers of regional or global influence - as the People's Republic of China - can act according to the sovereign position of the national government and the interests of its people, against the trend of devastation from the central capitalist countries. By building strategic partnerships among the (G-20 in the WTO, G-5, BRIC, IBSA, Intercontinental Summits) - expanding their domestic markets and intensifying the exchange trading in the search for an alternative.

In any case, the crisis may increase the contradictions that lead to the decline and decay of the unipolar supremacy of the USA, may be carried within a framework of major conflicts, enabling the transition to a new order, a new epoch.

In the current scenery the capitalist powers seek to formulate a solution favorable to them. On Nov. 15, 2008 it was held in Washington, DC the international summit, the G-20, which implicitly recognizes the G-7 as obsolete. However, this was done during the change of governments in the USA, under the sponsor of George Bush, that is going out demoralized by the majority of the people of the United States. The Final Declaration issued by the summit, which reflects the supremacy of the empire, stresses the reform of neo-liberalism.

On our opinion, the election of Barack Obama reflects an objective reality of the trends of changes in the USA, represents the defeat of the Bush’s bellicose and genocidal policies. Meanwhile, the PCdoB has no illusions about the possibility to change the imperialist system through cooperation between Republicans and Democrats in the government.

Developing countries may reach their goals of unity for the defense of their interests in these events - and above all working in cooperation with one another - to maintain a level of upward growth of their economies; reasserting their sovereignty; and defending the interests of their people and world peace. The mechanisms of sovereign integration in Latin America and the Caribbean - Mercosur, Alba, the Andean Pact, UNASUL, South American Defense Council, South Bank etc. - are initiatives that can strengthen those areas in face of the imperialist supremacy and at the same time, strengthen the sovereignty of each country.

The context of the new struggle for Socialism

The events triggered by this crisis open a new phase in a political and ideological struggle between capitalism and socialism. We went from the beginning of the decade 1990 – from the assertion of identity and defense of the communist revolutionary principles – to the current reaffirmation of the socialist alternative. The ideological orphan hood of capitalism has become more evident in the worsening of the class struggle around the world, as the path of the current capitalist crisis.

Nowadays, within each country, as in historical periods of transformation, the union of working class and peoples organized into movements of ample political fronts and strong social bases can build a powerful force of masses, which could remove from the dominant capitalist sectors important concessions; stopping radical actions of the right wing, and pave the way for advanced steps toward revolutionary path.

PCdoB believes that the success of the new struggle for socialism lies in matching the development and upgrade of advanced revolutionary thinking, to match our times and the fundamental aspirations of workers and the masses. The revolutionary theory for our time, is being forged from the most positive lessons from the of the last century socialists experiences, their successes and its setbacks. From actual experience of socialist countries that have not succumbed to the counter-revolution - but maintained their institutions emerged from the revolution and reaffirmed theirs socialist perspective - and also from the recent experience of the initial process of progressive and revolutionary struggles in Latin America and in other fronts of advanced struggles.

The political processes of progressive and revolutionary direction are objectively contradictory, have no preset paths, since the ways of the rising sense of democratic and popular struggles will depend on the of the historical period conditions and peculiarities of each country - and will be subject to steps and transitions that allow the achievement of the major objective of socialism.

From the rich experience of the socialist construction of the past century was the idea that there is no single model of socialist path and that the transition from capitalism to socialism requires a transition period - which begins with the conquest of political power by social classes forming the majority of the nation, especially the proletariat, interested in transformation. This transition does not cover the total socialization, but objectively, can be carried out in stages and with its own laws. It may be more or less long as the level of economic development and social and historical particularities of each country, and conditions of the process of revolutionary transformation in the world.

In our experience in Brazil, the existence of a strong Communist Party - who knows unite political forces advanced and enjoy great influence and prestige among the working classes and popular sectors of society - it is an essential and decisive factor for the successful tactic of Party. This tactic seeks to boost the Lula’s government towards the assertion of national sovereignty, the process of democratization, the progress of integration and social solidarity of the continent and thus bring the social movement alternative to the transition to socialism: strategic objective of the PCdoB.

We defend the building of a great revolutionary, renewed, internationalist party, composed of extensive militancy, directed by cadres committed to the new struggle for socialism of this century, integrated with the lives of workers and the people and effectively meet their basic aspirations.

In terms of the current historical period - even in terms of prevalence of general defensive strategy of the revolutionary movement – the intervention in the concrete political progress occupies an important place in our strategic and tactical thinking, This political progress is led by the accumulation of forces in the revolutionary sense, having as an axis the growth of the Communist Party, the most advanced political forces and the level of organization of people.

This process of accumulation of forces is formed on particular conditions of our experience in Brazil in the inter-relationship of basic and essential tasks: 1) articulation of the initiative to build broad political fronts, acting in the sphere institutions, governments and parliaments, 2) with the intervention that follows the direction of giving key role for the mobilization and organization of the working masses and the people, main source of growth and strength of the Party-driving basic changes, 3) and at the same time, permanent role in the struggles of ideas, in order to support and revive the revolutionary perspective, the socialist alternative.

Concluding, the PCdoB raises further their conviction that it is possible to build a new society, advancement of high civilization, free of oppression and capitalist exploitation: the socialism. Our Party appreciates the various efforts to build unity, forums and attempts to groups of the left forces in every continent in search of alternatives to neo-liberalism and political conservative.

For our party, this multilateral international forum of the communist and bilateral meetings are essential for strengthening the common drive around in our class interests and the construction of the socialist alternative, considering the different paths. Also deserve our commitment and participation in forums which bring together progressive and anti-imperialist forces in support of national sovereignty and defense of workers and peoples interests around the world.

On this occasion, in which mankind lives one of the most complex and difficult periods in its history - exacerbated by a systemic crisis of capitalism, which triggers other global crises producing serious threats to the peoples and countries - the PCdoB strongly supports the struggle of workers and peoples for their rights and reinforces the importance of unity of the communists and revolutionaries and the opportunity, in this moment, to build ample fronts with progressive political forces that represent multiple social layers affected by the crisis.

Long live to the 10th International Meeting of the Communist and Workers’ Parties!

Renato Rabelo, National President of the Communist Party of Brazil – PCdoB.