ICOR-Resolution: The ICOR and the worldwide struggle for democracy and freedom!

1. Three and a half years after September 2008 a deep downturn of the continuing world economic and financial crisis again is in the offing. A so far unprecedented joint international imperialist crisis management initiated by the G20 in November 2008 succeeded for the time being in preventing an uncontrolled collapse of the world financial system and cushioning the impact of the crash. Above all, those in power could dampen for a while the political upheavals which accompany such economic crises. However, the speculative hopes of international finance capital for a worldwide economic upturn have been shattered. At the same time the failure of this upturn to materialize was the starting point for the liquidity crisis in Europe. As the loans could no longer be serviced by the reduced national budgets, early in 2010 the financial crisis openly broke out again in the form of the euro crisis. This time, however, it did not come from individual monopoly banks as in 2008, but from the instruments of the crisis management itself – the national budgets. International crisis management itself was drawn into a deep crisis. At the beginning of the year 2012 the governments of the imperialist countries stand before the shambles of their economic and financial fantasies.

2. The inter-imperialist contradictions move into the foreground again because of the uneven economic development and different impact of the world economic and financial crisis: the contradictions within the EU on sharing the burdens of the economic and financial crisis, also the contradictions between the EU and the USA on the one hand and between the EU and the USA versus Russia and China on the other hand.

3. Meanwhile the main problem of those in power is that they do not have the political effects of the world economic and financial crisis under control anymore. Thus the leeway of state measures to continue the crisis management is drastically restricted. A simple repetition of the joint international crisis management cannot be expected due to the tense situation of the public finances and could trigger off a chain reaction of state bankruptcies, bank collapses or even the collapse of the whole world finance system. The deepening of the world economic and financial crisis has already led to mass layoffs and the dismantling of wages and social achievements worldwide. This will further increase the rage of the broad masses against the governments and the imperialist world system. An intensification of the class struggle worldwide will be the answer.

4. The crisis of the crisis management was connected with an increased shifting of the burdens of crisis to the broad masses in many countries and to those countries oppressed by and dependent on imperialism. That marked the beginning of a turnaround in the mood of the masses. A struggle for freedom and democracy progressing from country to country developed as one of the most striking phenomena of our time. The history of the working-class movement teaches us that in fascist countries, military dictatorships and countries with very limited democratic rights and liberties the struggle for freedom and democracy is a necessary preliminary stage of the revolutionary struggle for the toppling of imperialism and the construction of a socialist society.

Lenin pointed out:

"Capitalism in general, and imperialism in particular, turn democracy into an illusion – though at the same time capitalism engenders democratic aspirations in the masses…, but the awakening and growth of socialist revolt against imperialism are indissolubly linked with the growth of democratic resistance and unrest." (Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 23)

Sooner or later the turbulences of the imperialist world system will inevitably lead to a revolutionary world crisis!

Starting from the democratic rebellion movement in North Africa (especially Tunisia and Egypt) struggles are spreading throughout Europe like waves via Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal. In about 50 percent of the countries of the world the societal relations are questioned by uprisings, mass demonstrations, general strikes or armed conflicts. 35 of 177 examined states in 2011 were regarded as "acutely" instable because of an accelerated general state disruption; in further 130 countries political stability is "threatened". The accelerated development of a process of fermentation is conspicuous. Worldwide the broad masses have become sensitized to the dictatorship of the international finance capital and its exploitative and oppressive methods. There are an increasing number of clashes with state authorities which directly raise the question of the character of the imperialist system and of revolutionary alternatives.

The industrial proletariat working in the places of production of the international monopolies more clearly emerges as leading force of the world revolutionary process. Almost one million miners took part in miners' struggles during the last months. Worldwide rebellion of the youth, which has reached a new level, is a harbinger of the revolutionary world crisis. The first World Women's Conference of rank-and-file women in Venezuela from March 4 to 8, 2011, with participants from 42 countries, practically demonstrates the awakening of a new international militant women's movement, which has become an essential part of the struggle for freedom and democracy in a historically unprecedented way.

With the upswing of the democratic and liberation struggle of the broad masses on an international scale the tendency to political reaction has increased as well. In Egypt they ruthlessly bash and shoot at the masses. In Kazakhstan, at least 70 striking oil workers were shot dead. In Russia the Putin government tries to keep the people quiet with election fraud and state terror. In Congo the state apparatus took action using state terror against the mass demonstrations. In Turkey systematic mass arrests of Kurdish politicians are taking place behind a feigned democratic facade. The revolutionaries of the world must prepare themselves for a drastic intensification of class disputes in 2012 and resolutely brave the intensified counterrevolution.

The militant striving of the working class and the broad masses for democracy and freedom, on the other hand the intensified reactionary violence of the imperialist rulers and their local governors – are the soil of a revolutionization of the broad masses.

5. Although the main tendency in the world is the struggle for freedom and democracy, the continuing and intensifying world economic and financial crisis aggravates the general danger of war. Presently the escalation between the USA and Iran is in the focus. The EU now has threatened to boycott Iranian oil in order to force Iran to its knees and thwart its nuclear program. In answer to this Iran wants to block the Strait of Hormuz. At least 40 percent of the world oil supply has to pass through this strait. The US Obama administration has already declared the blocking of this strait to be a reason for war and, with aircraft carriers penetrating the Persian Gulf, has taken up position in the Arabian Sea and the Mediterranean. As before in Libya, the masses in Syria have to prepare themselves against imperialist aggression. The struggle for the defense of world peace has become an immediate task of the international revolutionary and working-class movement.

6. The nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, Japan, in March 2011 plunged the imperialist energy policy into an open crisis. A worldwide anti-nuclear movement came into existence and was stimulated. Internationally the awareness of the danger of an environmental catastrophe has been strengthened and struggles against the destruction of the foundations of human life are developing. The joint day of struggle carried out by ICOR and ILPS on the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl, the international day of struggle for saving the natural environment on December 3, 2011, and the one-year campaign against the imperialist nuclear policy approved by ICOR and ILPS give an important, fresh impetus to the building of an international front of resistance. To stop the global environmental catastrophe a force has to be developed which is superior to the dictatorship of finance capital. The present environmental movement does not yet represent this. Today we need an international front of resistance and an upheaval of the whole societal relations of production and conditions of life which lastingly opposes the imperialist profit system. Such a gigantic task necessarily is society-changing. Therefore, the struggle against the imminent environmental catastrophe must also become a struggle against imperialism and for asserting socialist relations.

7. On the part of imperialism and its mass media, they react to the worldwide trend to the left by attempting to instrumentalize movements in a reformist way. In the "Occupy" movement heaven and earth are moved to guide the outrage against finance capital onto the mills of illusory hopes. They feed the illusion that by cutting back the rights of the banks capitalism could be tamed. However, the banks are a central instrument to organize the process of production and reproduction and cannot simply be "operated away" without overcoming capitalism itself. While the participation of the majority of mainly young people shows a growing outrage and rebellion at the more and more conspicuous dictatorship of the international finance capital, petty-bourgeois organizers of this movement introduce a whole arsenal of petty-bourgeois principles in order to prevent its revolutionization. Part of this is disorientation by renunciation of unified aims and demands, disorganization by worship of spontaneity, non-binding actionism and petty-bourgeois individualism, hostility to parties as pretext for anticommunist exclusion, non-violence and "civil disobedience" as highest allowable form of resistance.

8. The emergence of a global mass movement for freedom and democracy is a qualitative leap in the development of class consciousness. The central question is whether this mass movement for freedom and democracy will develop further into a revolutionary class struggle for people's democracy and socialism or whether Islamist forces will reap the rewards and the reactionary governments will succeed with their propaganda and oppression in changing the movement into a simple affirmation of the hypocritical Western type of bourgeois democracy. The international revolutionary and working-class movement must take up this international struggle for freedom and democracy and show the revolutionary way out with the overthrow of imperialism and construction of socialist societal relations to the broad masses by patient persuasion work. The revolutionaries of the world are challenged to contribute to raising class consciousness to a higher level. That requires an international process of coordination and revolutionization of the mass movements. The building of ICOR is an important answer in this situation. ICOR will experience its practical baptism of fire in this process.

In these times ICOR is looking for close cooperation with all revolutionary forces on the basis of equal rights. ICOR calls on all class-conscious workers, the oppressed peoples, the militant women, the rebellious youth and the broad masses to make the building and the strengthening of ICOR their very cause through material and practical support and to strengthen organization and party building.

Forward with ICOR – the union of revolutionary parties and organizations all over the world!

Workers of all countries, unite!

Workers of all countries and oppressed peoples, unite!

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Signatories (on 14. March 2012, further signatories possible):

1. MLOA, Marxist-Leninist Organization of Afghanistan

2. CPB, Communist Party of Bangladesh

3. GRC, Group of communist revolutionaries “Krasny Klin” (“Red Wedge”) Belarus

4. BCP, Bulgarian Communist Party

5. BRP(K), Bulgarian Workers Party (Communists)

6. ORC, Revolutionary Organization Congo

7. SMKC-KSM, Union of Young Communists of Czechoslovakia

8. PC (ML), Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) Dominican Republic

9. MLPD, Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany

10. KOE, Communist Organization of Greece

11. CPI (ML), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)

12. Ranjbaran, Ranjbaran Party of Iran

13. KOL, Communist Organization of Luxemburg

14. Organization from Marocco

15. NCP (Mashal), Nepal Communist Party (Mashal)

16. GML / Rode Morgen Netherlands

17. PCP-I, Paraguayan Communist Party (Independent)

18. PML del Peru, Marxist-Leninist Party of Peru

19. Marxist-Leninist Platform Russia

20. CPSA (ML), Communist Party of South Africa (Marxist-Leninist)

21. MLGS, Marxist-Leninist Group of Switzerland

22. TIKB, The Union of Revolutionary Communists of Turkey

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International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations

- Office of the ICC -

Buerer Strasse 39

D-45899 Gelsenkirchen

Germany

Phone: + 49-209-3597479

Email: coordinationint@yahoo.co.uk

Website: www.icor.info