http://www.nkp.no , mailto:nkp@nkp.no

“New phenomena in the international framework. Worsening national, social, environmental and interimperialist contradictions and problems. The struggle for peace, democracy, sovereignty, progress and socialism and unity of actionof Communist and Workers Parties”.

Comrades, many thanks to The Communist Party of Brasil for hosting this 10th International meeting, the first meeting in the Latin American hemisphere and this is no coincidence. Latin America is changing. Workers and national peoples movements have won elections in country after country, important social and political changes are taking place, step by step creating better living conditions for the people.

It has been, and still is looking to be a though classfight. The rich capitalist strata and their servants, both ideological and criminal, are creating difficult conditions for the transition to the peoples antimonopolist power, and to socialism.

The victories cuban socialist revolution is this year celebrating its 50 years. It has survived the very harsch 48 year blocade from their big imperialist neighbour USA, and have suffered many attacs from the CIA- financed and trained terrorist-organizations in Miami killing 3500 cubans. The 5 great anti-terrorist cuban heroes have this year been political prisoners in USA for more than 10 years. Their “crime” was successfully reveal terrorists in Miami, hinder and stopp terrorist plots on tourists, cubans and the leaders of the cuban revolution. The CIA agents Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carrilles organized many terrorist attacs on Cuba. They bombed a sivilian Cubana airplane in the air over Caracas Venezuela in 1976, where 73 innocent people died. Venezuela have claimed USA to extradite Carrilles to Venezuela to stand trial for this crime. But USA denies, and both terrorists are walking free in the USA. This showes USAs double standards in the way they are dealing with their socalled “fight against terror”.

When Latin America was USAs backyard Cuba was very alone. They no longer are, and the cuban example have surely been inspiring the successful social and revolutionary peoples movements in the countries of Latin America, as well as in other countries around the world in Africa, Asia and even in Europe. Even in the very harsch special periode of the downfall of the Sovjet Union and the socialism in Europe when Cuba over night lost 85% of their international trade, they never stopped their socialist educational and health policies. Today they are giving support from their vast “human capital” to other countries in Latin America through ALBA and other cooperative projects, and are giving huge health services in solidarity to poor peoples around the world, which shows real proletarian internationalism.

Communist Party of Norway is very proud to be communists and fighting for the same causes as you, when we know what The Communist Party of Cuba and the cuban people have endured and accomplished trough the cuban revolution.

The EU is a constructed tool for finance capital to perform its neoliberal policies and fight the trade unions. The welfare state was build after world war 2 by the trade unions and the working class movement, under the “umbrella” of the Sovjet Union. Through the EU policies the “welfare state” has been built down to create new privatized arenas for super profits for the Transnationals. This process has gone far in Norway too even if Norway is one of richest countries in the world.

The anti-EU alliance in Norway is consisting of working class, peasants, national patriotic organizations and intellectuals, that two times won the referendum on EU membership, in 1972 and 1994. The fight was won in LO (Trade Union Centrals) congress, that voted NO to EU in 1994, even if the leaders both of The Social democratic Party and LO was supporting EU membership.

A united trade-union movement voted in the parliamentary elections in 2005 for the socalled “red-green” government, consisting of The Socialdemocratic Party, The Sosialist-Left Party and The Centerparty, a green peasants party. This was a direct reaction to the active build down of workers, and unemployds securities by the burgeois government. The new government stopped some of the reactionary regulations, but has a long way to go to fulfil the claims from the trade unions, and the promises of the governing parties.

EUs Lisbon strategy of 2000 for lower salaries was slow. The EU opening for 8 new member states from eastern Europe gave way for high movement to the west of low paid workers, which was dumping the national tariffs of the trade unions. The trade unions in Norway have been active fighting this “social dumping”. Then EU decided a Service Directive to hinder national governments and parliaments support national tarriffs and workers rights.

Norway is not member a of the EU, but is voluntarily affiliated. When EU decides a new directive Norway have to veto it, if not it eventually becomes Norwegian law.

Nearly all trade unions in Norway have acted against EU Service Directive, and have claimed the government veto it.

On the 13th of November The Socialdemocratic Party decided with the smallest margin of 10 to 9 ministers(Socialist-Left and Centerparty) that the government accept the EU Service Directive, and the two other parties acted only as dissidents, and accepted the majority decision.

The biggest trade union Fagforbundet in Akershus province had a meeting of representatives from all trade unions in the province the same day.

A very strong declaration was given unanimously which stated that they will not support The Socialdemocratic Party in the parliamentary election September 2009, but they will support the Centerparty and the left-parties. They also stated that the policies of the Socialdemocratic Party is no longer in accordance with the policies of our trade union. The leader of LO (Trade Union Central) supported publicly the decision of The Socialdemocratic Party. This caused a immediate strong reaction from the most influential local LO districts that claimed no support for the EU Service Directive till after the LO (Trade Union Central) congress. The neo-liberal principles of EU and the Service Directive will undermine the national tariff systems and severely lead to weekening of the trade union movement. Most trade unions acknowledge this scenario, and therefore this is going to be a hard fight.

Acting in this way the social democrats have created a serious split both in the government and to their power base the trade unions

The Communist Party of Norway has in this situation stated that The Socialdemocratic Party acts like the most efficient tool of neo-liberal state monopoly capitalism in Norway, both in this case, as in the case of privatizising and diminishing of state pensions, in the organizing for privatization of the Hospital sector, privatization in transport, in oil and in energy sector.

The “red-green” government no longer will be able to present themselves as an alternative to the workers and trade union members.

Communist Party of Norway will work to develop unity in the labour movement for working class policies, and isolation of finance capital and the transnationals, as the real class alternative to the policies of The Socialdemocratic Party, The Conservative Party and the xenophobical neo-liberal right wing party, that has shown themselves as tools of state monopoly capitalism.

In the present profound economic crises of capitalism, the finance minister (which is the leader of Socialist-Left Party) has so far only given public finance of 350 billion N.kr. (eq. $ 50 billion) to the banks and big financial institutions in Norway, to help the owners of these institutions, and the capitalist system. They have done nothing to help the crise-stricken workers and people.

The “red-green” government is only following the same procedures as the imperialist powers, trying to give the impression that these crises are small, and that it can be handled with this kind of procedures.

We are happy for the local initiative coming from LO (Trade Union Central )in Stavanger and Rogaland Province, on the West coast of Norway, that have suggested economic actions from the government, lower rent to keep up investments, investments in social house-building, hinder a housing catastrophy and debt crisis, and investments by the “red-green” government in public schools, public buildings, railways and roads, to reduce mass unemployment for carpenters and workers in the building industry that stand without work by the end of this year. They suggest granting 30 billions N.kr. for these important issues, which is less than one tenth of the finance ministers “gift” to finance capital.

The Communist Party of Norway will suggest measures to help crise-stricken people, and will support god initiatives like the abovementioned.

For a small party like Communist Party of Norway it is important with a close cooperation with the other communist parties in the northern region. We have regular meetings, and organize common summercamp every year. Communist Party of Norway is rebuilding our youth organization, and it is essential in this situation to use the opportunity to strengthen both our party and the youth organization, and strengthen marxist-leninist understanding of the capitalist crises and its only solution, our broad democratic antimonopoly strategy to isolate finance capital and the transnationals, fight state monopoly capitalism, and build socialism.

Thanks for your patience.