WORKERS OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!
FOR BOLSHEVISM
INSIDE THE COMMUNIST AND WORKERS’ MOVEMENT
AUCPB - ВКПБ
No 6 (75) JUNE 2009 AUCPB – ВКПБ
STATEMENT BY THE AUCPB in connection with the nuclear test carried out by the DPRK on 25 May 09, the launch of a series of short range missiles on 25 -26 May and the restarting of the Yongben nuclear reactor on 26 May 2009.
We received he news of the launch this week of the 6 missiles including winged missiles as a necessary and needed decision by the Supreme leadership of the DPRK.
We fully support the restarting of the Yongben nuclear rector for obtaining weapons grade plutonium.
We fully support the carrying out of nuclear tests without which it would be impossible to design the technology for a reliable nuclear shield for the country.
We greet the present policy of the DPRK as a policy of strengthening the necessary self-defence of the DPRK, since it is truly directed at the restraining of a military attack unleahed by the USA by the present US administration under Barak Obama on the Korean peninsula.
The people of the DPRK back in 1945 chose independently their path of development and the Korean revolution must and is simply its duty with dignity to defend itself, which is being done as had been done throughout the past.
One can only be inspired by the political direction of the North Korean leadership and the high patriotism of the people, building their own Korean socialist, prosperous state in extremely difficult conditions in the flow of the entire history of the XX century and the present century.
To go along with the sweet, false and completely empty pledges and promises of negotiations of any kind with an armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons 5th party (whether it be US, China, Russia, or South Korean with US military bases and Japan – means to retreat, surrender, weaken and betray the people who believe in their Higher Leadership and who are prepared to support IT at any moment. Nowadays, there is a lot of chatter from information agencies across the world, stupid proposals about some kind of new talks, for there have been more than enough talks. But during that time nobody from the imperialist sides of the talks had put forth a plan for their own disarmament, but on the contrary have been arming themselves up even more.
Parties to the talks from the US administration in the face of the UN security council can draw up any number of resolutions, plan as many brutal sanctions as they wish against the DPRK eaning their bread before the USA. But one should not forget with this, that any kind of action taken will lead to counter-action by the DPRK. We recommend to the parties to the talks not to overdo it on the use of brutal sanctions against the DPRK. Progamme director of the US non-profit organisation “Oral Fund” Paul Karol who is occupied with the averting of the spread of nuclear weapons recently stated that firm measures in relation to the DPRK are dangerous to adopt. The sanctions which the UN are drawing up may lead to inadequate reaction on part of the DPRK. The hot-headed servants of the USA would be well-advised to head to the words of Karol.
Concerning the firm measures taken against the DPRK, then this socialist country has already seen everything, has endured everything and is standing like a inaccessible cliff, bringing about heart-rending shrieks by the treacherous pro-US media.
It is stupid to talk about the threat to the USA from tiny Korea, by the US who considers the Korean peninsula to be its zone of interest like this was in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq and others. The decision taken by the Central Military Commission of the WPK was absolutely correct not to believe itself connected with the Armistice Treaty of 1953.
Designing its own nuclear energy system and nuclear weapons, the DPRK its defending its own right to independence and life itself. If Saddam Hussein really did have WMB-s then the US would not have invaded Iraq and murdered Saddam amorally in a dirty fashion in the spirit of Americans themselves.
All the US presidents have constantly tried solving the question about the destruction of the DPRK, have sought out the most realistic paths towards this end. This was the Korean War of 1950 -53, the 60- year old economic embargo and various cunning talks under Clinton and the high-handed arrogant policy under Bush. These actions by the US have compelled the DPRK to develop its own nuclear weapons as the only – as Margaret Thatcher put it – the only restraining factor in the confrontation between the powers.
Today, the DPRK is a strong industrial nuclear power, in possession of the modern means of defence from any aggressor and is able to survive in conditions which any other state would have collapsed.
We the AUCPB fully support the foreign an domestic policy of the DPRK and wish our friends forward advancement, only advancement by the path chosen by them and not reacting to the evil howling by the bourgeois media outlets and the adoption by them of any kinds of sanctions against the DPRK.
Today the DPRK stands well ahead in the entire planet on the construction of a new communist society. We sincerely wish YOU, our friends, success in the building of mighty socialist power.
Long live the people of the DPRK, a labouring people, a creative people!
Long live the glorious collectives, scientists, designers and engineers providing technical progress in the DPRK!
Long live the mighty armed forces of the DPRK –the defence and creative force in socialist construction!
Long the WPK led by the Central Committee and Central Military commission – the political core of socialist construction!
Long live the National Defence Commission of the DPRK led by Great Kim Jong Il
N.A. ANDREEVA
General Secretary of the AUCPB
Leningrad
DPRK Foreign Ministry Spokesman Clarifies Its Stand on UNSC's Increasing
Threat
Pyongyang, May 29 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry
issued a statement on Friday as regards the UNSC's threat to put
additional sanctions against the DPRK, terming its successful nuclear test
a violation of the UNSC Resolution 1718.
Over the past several decades, the DPRK has made every possible effort for
the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but the U.S., instead of
seeking a substantial removal of nuclear threats, has steadily increased
the level of pressure upon the DPRK and it has eventually brought even the
six-party talks to collapse in wanton violation of the principles of
respect for the sovereignty and sovereign equality, the underlying spirits
of the September 19 Joint Statement, over the DPRK's launch of satellite,
the universally recognized right of each state, the statement noted, and
said:
At present, some countries were shocked at the news of the DPRK's second
nuclear test. But an exceptional act has its exceptional reason.
The recent nuclear test conducted by the DPRK is the 2054th one on the earth.
The five permanent members of the UNSC have conducted 99.99 percent of all
the nuclear tests.
Those countries have posed the biggest nuclear threats to the world. But
they took issue with our first nuclear test, which was conducted in
October 2006 as a self-defensive measure to cope with increased nuclear
threats by the U.S., terming it a "threat to the international peace" and
adopted the sanctions resolution against the DPRK. This is exactly the
UNSC Resolution 1718.
This resolution fabricated by the hypocrites has immediately invited a
total rejection by the DPRK and we still do not recognize such resolution.
The UNSC with such a record produced the "presidential statement" on April
14 putting in question only the satellite launched by the DPRK for the
peaceful purpose and put into force the sanctions under its Resolution
1718 on April 24 only to cause an unbearable insult to the dignity of our
people and gravely infringe upon the sovereignty of the DPRK.
The DPRK is neither a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty
nor to the Missile Technology Control Regime or MTCR. Such being the case,
it has a right to conduct as many nuclear tests or missile launches as it
wants in the event that the supreme interests of the state are infringed
upon. Such self-defensive measures do not run counter to any other
international law.
The UNSC has committed such unprecedented crime as the wanton infringement
upon the right of a sovereign state to explore outer space for peaceful
purposes and, instead of repenting of it, it is proactive in its outcry to
cover up its crime. Under these circumstances, the DPRK, at this point,
would like to draw a clear line of confrontation which will help clearly
state who is to blame for the future unpredictable development of the
situation.
First, the UNSC is involved in its high-handed act which will never be
tolerated and it is the part of the self-defensive measures of the DPRK to
respond to this with its own nuclear test which we had already made public
to the world. There is a limit to our patience.
It is none other than the U.S. and other forces courting the U.S. favor
who should be held entirely responsible for driving the situation to such
a pass as they took the DPRK's peaceful satellite launch to the UN to
launch a condemnation campaign.
It is what they said to the DPRK that a satellite launch belongs to an
independent right of a sovereign state. But, after our actual satellite
launch, they took sides with the U.S. in its move to condemn the DPRK.
Those countries remained silent when the large scale nuclear war exercises
such as Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises took place in
the depth of the Korean peninsula. But, When the DPRK was compelled to
conduct a nuclear test as a self-defensive measure, they are united in
their voice, condemning it as "a threat to the regional peace and
stability".
It means that they do not like the DPRK to possess what they had already
put in place. In the final analysis, they mean small countries should obey
big countries. The DPRK, though small in its territory and population, has
self-confidence and grit that it is a politically and militarily strong
country.
Second, we solemnly demanded that the UNSC make an apology for its crime
of having seriously encroached upon the sovereignty of a sovereign state
in gross violation of the Space Treaty and that it withdraw all its
previously-crafted, unfair resolutions and decisions. Such a demand still
remains in force.
As long as the Permanent Five alone invested with veto power and nuclear
weapons have the mandate to identify what constitutes a "threat to
international peace and security", the UNSC is not supposed to bring their
own acts of intimidation into question indefinitely.
As long as the UNSC fails to respond to the DPRK's just demand, the DPRK
will not recognize any resolution and decision of the UNSC in the future,
too.
Third, if the UNSC will make further provocative actions, this will
inevitably lead to the DPRK's approach towards adopting stronger
self-defensive counter-measures.
The end of the Cold War worldwide works only between big powers, but a
Cold War still persists on the Korean Peninsula.
The UNSC-crafted UN Command itself is a signatory to the Korean Armistice
Agreement.
Any hostile act by the UNSC immediately means the abrogation of the
Armistice Agreement.
The world will soon find out how the army and people of the DPRK will
stand up against the high-handed and get-it-alone approach of the UNSC in
defending its dignity and sovereignty.
The U.S. is keen on using a catchphrase "Carrot and stick."
It would be better for the "Donkey" of the U.S. Democratic Party to lick
the carrot.
Dear comrades-compatriot s! Veterans of the front and rear in the Great Patriotic War! Glorious veterans of the II World War fighters, internationalists who fought together with us against the Hitlerite scourge!
The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (CC AUCPB) congratulates YOU ALL on 9 MAY – Victory Day, on the 64th anniversary since the VICTORY of the Soviet people over fascist Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941 – 1945.
THE GREAT VICTORY was won by the Soviet people under the wise leadership of Supreme Commander-in- Chief Generalissimo J.V. STALIN. J.V. Stalin headed the Party of Bolsheviks and the Soviet state after V.I. Lenin, skillfully in the shortest period of time implemented the country’s industrialization and with that prepared the country for a brutal battle with Hitlerite fascism, which the industry of the whole of Europe work for, occupied by Hitler. After difficult defensive battles in the initial period, Soviet troops after a year, thanks to achieving superiority in the latest weapons, crossed over into counter-offensive mode and in May 1945, smashed fascism in its den, in Berlin, having liberated the peoples of Europe from fascist enslavement. We paid a heavy price for this victory, a very heavy price – with millions of lives of the best of the best of Soviet people, left on the battlefields or who had died during the blockade! Heroes had died, defending the honour, freedom and independence of our Socialist Motherland….We shall always remember THIS…
The CC AUCPB wishes YOU ALL, dear veterans, our Soviet co-citizens and fighters-internatio nalists the best of health, long years of life ahead and high spirits. We wish Soviet people certainty in the morrow, and that means – in the re-birth of socialism on our excellent Motherland.
IN ORDER TO DESTROY THE CRISIS, WE NEED TO DESTROY CAPITALISM!
Comrades, workers!
“The main thing that the bourgeoisie of all countries especially try to achieve along with their reformist henchmen is the rooting out of the working class the belief in its own strength, belief in the possibility and the inevitability of its triumph and at the same time, make capitalist slavery everlasting. As the bourgeoisie know that if capitalism is still not overthrown and it continues to still exist, then it has to, not by its own good qualities, but by the fact that the proletariat (workers) does not have enough belief in the possibility in their victory…” Stalin 18th Congress AUCP (Bolshevik). From these words by Stalin, the task for today’s workers is in BELIEVING IN THEIR OWN STRENGHTS, to strengthen belief in their own victory. If the workers do not believe in their own strengths and do not announce themselves at the top of their voices then they will remain pitiful slaves working for just a few pennies.
Today, when we are amidst an economic crisis, the Izhevsk workers should rise up to the struggle even more. Why? Because the bourgeoisie for example at the “Izhmash” machine-building plant, reducing the working week are sharply reducing pay. And on the contrary, at “Izhmash”, workers are being made to work on the weekends. At other factories, management are trying their hardest to lay off workers.
All of this is a gross violation of workers’ rights! Even according to the acting labour laws, heads of management must pay weekend rates of pay. But this is not being done! The chiefs – the bourgeoisie have to pay the weekend rate of pay in line with labour laws, when a worker is not working due to the introduction of a three-day week )for example not working on Thursdays and Fridays). This is not being done! All this is an excellent reason to start a struggle against the despotism of the management – bourgeoisie.
Comrades workers! Demand pay for all five weekdays (if a three day or even four day week is introduced)! Demand the preserving if only of the pre-crisis level of pay!
Demand double time for a weekend day! Demand the ending of layoffs! If you do not do this then the bourgeoisie will turn you into true slaves, who will be forced to work for your boss, for nothing! If your demands will not be met, then announce an all-out strike at the factory! And remember that only a SOCIALIST REVOLUTION, socialism can help the workers to free themselves from poverty and impoverishment. Under socialism in the USSR there were no such economic crises – neither in the nineteen thirties, sixties or in the eighties. Stalin said: “In order to destroy crises, capitalism needs to be destroyed!”
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WE NEED TO COPY THEIR EXAMPLE!
An unprecedented case in the history of the modern workers’ movement took place on 3 February 2009 at the southern Ukrainian town of Kherson. Ignoring the cowardly gate security, more then 1500 workers seized the management building of the KhMF – a local machine-building factory. They demanded full back pay owed to them which amounted to more than 5 million gryvnas. Besides this, the workers put forth the slogan for nationalization of the factory without compensation to the former private owner.
By example of the Russian proletarian who rose up during the times of the 1905 Revolution, a Soviet of the workers collective was elected by the workers themselves. By evening on the same day, the number of workers occupying the factory management building had increased. Workers of the factory blocked all the factory entrances by way of pickets and began controlling a large part of the factory.
The proletariat (workers) of several Kherson enterprises carried out acts of solidarity in support of the take over of the KhMF factory management building. To start with, they held a demonstration. The column of demonstrators moved along the Ushakov Prospect towards the town’s central square where meeting was held in solidarity with the KhMF workers. In this action, representatives took part from the Kherson cotton factory, the sea port workers and an oil refinery. The KhMF workers who had seized the factory management offices displayed decisiveness and good organisations abilities. The Communist Party of Bolsheviks fully and whole-heartedly stands on the side of the Kherson workers! We support their decisiveness to fight for their rights. However, if one analyses the demands of the KhMF workers, then one comes to the conclusion that these slogans virtually do not leave the boundaries of economics. But indeed everything depends on the political powers, from the political system, on capitalism! While in power remain the bourgeoisie led by Yushenko, Medvedev and Putin, wages will not be paid on time, and while the bourgeoisie are in power, there will be no full scale stae orders, and while the bourgeoisie are in power, we will not escape the worst sides of the financial-economic crisis and mainly – poverty. The full realization, the full satisfying of all the workers’ demands will be impossible to achieve under capitalism. Only socialism can guarantee wages on time, only socialism is able to provide full valued state orders, only socialism can stop the stop the collapse of production and free the workers from all the consequences of the economic crisis, from poverty.
The path to socialism needs to be laid down via a general POLITICAL strike which has to paralyze the bourgeois state apparatus and place a start to a proletarian revolution.
In Kherson in the first half of February, good conditions were formed for the organisation of a general POLITICAL strike. The workers of other factories of the town should, like at the KhMF take the struggle up to complete control over their own enterprises. Besides that, it is necessary to declare a general strike and stop all factories and enterprises at Kherson. This will create the chance for the proletariat (workers) to take power in the town, and after that, take power into their owns across the entire region under the slogans; “Long live nationalization of all enterprises with no exception!”, “Down with the bourgeoisie!”, “Down with the nationalists!”, “Long live socialism!”.
The experience of the class struggle by the workers of Kherson will come in handy for the Russian proletariat also.
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30.10.09
IZHEVSK WORKERS PROTEST
Workers at the “Boommash” factory staged a protest against layoffs and reduction in the working week. On 26 January from 15.00 until 17.00, a picket was held at the “Boommash” factory entrance in Izhevsk and at the public transport station “Boommash” along Votkinsky highway. The slogans by the workers were: “No to layoffs!”, “No to reduction of the working week!”.
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30.01.09
STRIKING MINERS
Around 600 miners at a Chelyabinsk coal mining company in the town of Korkino refused to turn up for work. People were disgruntled at the sum of money paid out as wages to them for December last year. Many miners were paid just 4 thousand rubles. The Chelyabinsk coal mining company still way back before the New Year had closed two mines on account of non-profitability in the town of Kopeisk, but then Korkinsky reserves should have been operating. However, like elsewhere there is no work. On Thursday, a section of the striking miners went into Yuzhnouralsk and the picketed the power station office building. The miners declared their intention not to return to work until all their wages owing had been paid to them in full.
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SAME CONTENT ONLY DIFFERENT IN FORM
Major industrial enterprises of all capitalist countries without exception, have had to reduce production or stop the conveyors altogether. In the notorious USA, car factories are on the edge of a catastrophe and only assistance by the state has given them a bit of time to put off the agony.
The marketers have ended up in front of a broken trough. Even such an imperialist hound as French president Sarkozy speaks about the need for state intervention in running the economy.
The crisis has affected another imperialist monster – Japan. Bourgeoisie- owners of car factories are throwing one lot of workers onto the streets, the others are having their pay reduced. What we have here is a classic crisis of overproduction! The Marxist-Leninist analysis of the capitalist economy has always been based on this situation. Russia, unfortunately is no exception. In Izhevsk, for example, almost all the factories (and there are around ten of them) have already crossed over, or are going to cross over onto a reduction in the workweek. Many workers have been laid off. And this is being done, as a rule, violating their own labour laws which were adopted in the interests of the bourgeoisie. Inflation is also growing at a serious rate.
Similar to the first half of the 1930-s, in some capitalist countries, some representatives of the major bourgeoisie are committing suicide when they find out that they have gone bust. For example, already in January, German monopolist Merkel threw himself under a moving train. Around the same time, another capitalist shot himself in his car with a hunting rifle. For such people, former parasites, poverty is worse than death. History develops in a spiral. Everything repeats itself. The content of capitalist crises is always one and the same. Only the form differs.
One of such forms was the mortgage crisis in the US from which everything began. The “domino effect” kicked in.
The mechanics of the crisis
To start with, the enormous financial pyramid collapsed, which was formed on the basis of speculation using mortgage debts. They were cooked up by US mortgage agencies “Freddie Mack” and “Fanny Mey”. Such debts are usually issued under mortgage credits given to people. Its value is calculated on the mortgage interest being paid. Such debts are paid off on the backs of money being paid by mortgage holders. The colossal debts accrued on housing credit, created due to default on mortgage payments led to the agencies being unable to carry out their commitments to paying off their debts. Banks and market speculators had to sell at lower prices. Those who took out loans under mortgage debts now have to give back to the banks additional loan sums in connection with the devalued mortgage debts. If money is unavailable anywhere, they can lend from another bank or declare bankruptcy.
The whole point is that capitalists speculated using mortgage debts not just in the USA but in other bourgeois countries. The domino effect began to destroy other financial pyramids. US banks and stock market speculators began to plug holes by their deals and loans. This automatically led to a fall in lending to real production and issuing consumer credit to the population. Many commodities in such a situation in a capitalist economy become “surplus to requirements”. Thus began another crisis of over-production. The income of the population are too small to buy these commodities. The warehouses are overflowing. The absence of sales led to stagnation in trade. As a result, the capitalists are reducing production output and are laying off workers. There is a huge wave of bankruptcies. The petty bourgeoisie is also suffering from all this.
We need to prepare
As is well known, today’s Russia survives exclusively on the backs of supplying raw materials to other countries. The sale of oil, gas, timber and metals is done in dollars. The central bank of Russia, expressing the interests of the major monopolist bourgeoisie is artificially raising the exchange rate of the dollar and euro, buying them in large amounts on the domestic market. It is namely therefore that the rotten greenback is not backed up by anything and seriously rose in value at the end of 2008. Why then are the Russian authorities interested in the growth in the exchange rate of the dollar and euro? Today the country is being run by the bourgeoisie- raw material dealers, who had split up and robbed for themselves a great living out of selling off gas, metals and oil. It is namely in their interests that the exchange rates of foreign currencies are going up. The bourgeoisie- raw material dealers sell inside Russia a currency handout at a higher rate from the sale of raw materials, providing for themselves with this a large profit in roubles. At the same time, the growth in the euro and dollar pushes up prices on imported products. And this pushes up inflation, especially in the sphere of foodstuffs.
Because of the world crisis, investment companies and banks across the whole capitalist world have begun to draw capital out of securities. Therefore, Russian banks and companies which until now were actively given credit on Western markets, have finished up in conditions of a shortage of money to return former credits to Western banks and continue getting credit for expanding production.
Such a crisis, naturally like before, hits the working class and peasantry hard. Therefore 2009 will be a year of strikes, political strikes and other forms of social upheaval. The Bolsheviks need to prepare for this, and keep preparing. The task of the AUCPB is in directing these just social upheavals into the necessary revolutionary channel. Otherwise, they will end in nothing, like in Greece for example. In that Balkan country there are the revolutionary masses, but no revolutionary party. This is just the problem. The forces were not found that would lead along the correct path the masses who rose up – along the path towards overthrowing bourgeois power. In Russia it will be different. Is there in our country, Russia, a force able to lead upheavals of the masses? There is such a party! – as Lenin said. To this, 2009 was declared a Stalinist year.
THE PREDATORY ESSENCE BEHIND A MASK OF WORDS OF PEACE
No end to the crisis in sight
World GDP in 2009 will fall by 1.7% which will be the first lowering of the indicator since World War II. Such is the forecast by the World Bank according to AFP agency. The drop will occur on the basis of the contraction of economies of the developed countries of the world, the GDP of which will fall during the year on average by 2.9%.
On 30 March, the World Bank published a forecast of GDP growth for Russia this year. According to the WB, the country’s economy will fall by 4.5% (according to the Russian government, the fall in GDP will be 2.2%).
Another thing that will add to the fall of world GDP will be a fall in the volume of commodities which will be reduced by 6.1% compared to last year. The reason for this lies in the continuing fall in demand for commodities on the world market brought about by the global financial-economic crisis.
According to the forecast of the European Central Bank, the fall in GDP in the Euro zone in 2009 will be from 2.2% - 3.2%.
According to official US data, the economy of that country this year will fall by 0.5 – 1.3%.
(Lenta.ru: Novosti, 1. 04.09).
The G20 Summit
The leaders of the 20 major economic world powers that held their summit in London at the start of April were happy at the results. “We held a very productive summit”, noted US president Barak Obama.
The countries of the “great twenty” (G-20) are to allocate on supporting the economy, 5 trillion dollars by 2010, declared Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown, presenting on 2 april the results of the meeting of the leaders of the G-20 in London. Included in the line of international financial institutions the decision adopted to allocate towards the struggle with the crisis, 1.1 trillion dollars.
Gordon Brown at the press-conference noted that “rare unity on key questions has been achieved”. He said that the parties had agreed “decisively to put an end to” so-called “tax havens” (that is, off-shore zones where in particular our (Russian) domestic oligarchs “launder” money), and also put an end to “banking secrecy the way it is now”, bring about firm control over the “shadow” side of banking activity, establish a single international rules covering financial accountability, etc.
French president Sarkozy especially noted that since the times of the Bretton-Wood agreements (July 1944), the Anglo-Saxon financial model dominated the world. “I won’t criticize it, in it there were advantages, but obviously its time has passed”, he stated.
At the same time, a number of observers note that the domination of the US dollar across the world is continuing. Not long before the summit, Russia, China and Kazakhstan proposed the forming of an alternative currency on the basis of SDR – Special Drawing Rights (special rules for lending and borrowing) – cashless payment, an emission of the IMF, coming out of the exchange rate of the dollar, euro, Yuen and the pound sterling. (SDR-s were introduced in 1969 and are allocated only in cashless form as an accounting entry used mainly for balance of payment settlements; at the present time, they are not used very actively in the global economy). However, on the eve of the summit, this question was scrubbed out of the order of the day. An arch opponent for the formation of a single world currency was US president Barak Obama, who at the threshold of the summit declared that the dollar is strengthening, and investors believe the US currency to be the strongest. “The US is a country with the strongest economy and most stable political system in the world. I believe in the American economy and in the dollar”, assured the US president. At the same time, like specialists say, in the US, like before, industrial production is continuing to fall and unemployment is rising. The US budget has for several years been made up in deficit, which in the 2009 financial year is expected to reach 1.8 trillion dollars, and the US national debt back in last autumn exceeded 10 trillion dollars. Therefore the question on the further existence of the dollar as an international reserve currency is still on the cards, believes analyst of the London New Economic Foundation, Woodworth. “Plainly speaking, the dollar is today like an remote controlled bomb, sitting in the bank vaults of the G-20 countries”, notes expert of RBK Daily. “And the remote control is in the hands of the US president”. The program of measures to stimulate the US economy proclaimed by Barak Obama, demands colossal inputs of money”, cites Woodworth. “It is hard to see from where the US Federal Reserve plans on getting the money for all these projects stated by the president”, notes the expert. “And there are serious grounds to suspect that the Americans are going to simply print this money”. An uncontrolled dollar emission will inevitably lead to a devaluation of currencies of all countries preserving them in US currency. According to the opinion of Woodworth, “today’s summit would have been better to have called not the G-20, but the G-19 plus Obama”. If the “twentieth” feels that their reserves being preserved in US currency is under threat, the question on the rejection of the dollar will inevitably be brought up again.
Meanwhile, though, the dollar continues to preserve its financial power over the world. It is thought that in this lies the main result of the summit of “twenty”.
The continuing steady decline of the economies of Russia and Ukraine
According to data by Roskomstat, during the first two months of this year, Russia’s GDP fell by 8%. By the end of February, the volume of industrial production compared to February 2008 fell by 13.2%, freight transport – by19.1%, foreign trade turnover – by 40.2% (!).
Speaking on 6th April in the Russian State Duma with the first report, prime-minister Putin had to say that “2009 will be very difficult for Russia”. “Russian marketers and social institutes have survived the crisis” declared the minister. The state supported the banks, he noted. This year, the state will inject into the struggle dealing with the consequences of the crisis, 1.4 trillion roubles from the federal budget alone, and on the whole – 3 trillion roubles. The main budget parameters approved by the government are: income – 6.7 trillion roubles, spending – 9.7 trillion roubles, budget deficit amounting to 7.4% of GDP. The priority of the anti-crisis measures was in the restoration of business activity and domestic demand. At the same time, Putin spoke out against supporting enterprises with few prospects and that, “aid in this case must be provided directly to the citizens”, he said. What that means, I think, is clear to readers – this means bankruptcy and closures of enterprises and, as a consequence, people will finish up on the streets, and the only entire support they will get will be expressed in unemployment benefits. In his speech talking about tax policy, Putin declared that “now the whole world is envying us”. What is this envy about? It lies in the single rate of income tax that is the same for the rich and poor alike and stands at 13%. Naturally, the bourgeoisie of the whole world envy the Russian capitalists who are paying an extremely low rate of income tax and on this, pocket huge amounts of capital. By words of the prime-minister, such equality of tax for people with large and small incomes is not very fair, but “no there will be no such social justice”, firmly stated Putin. The head of government asked “not to overemphasize against the bankers”. “You can call them what you want, insult them, call them “fat cats” etc, but serious tasks lie ahead of us…”.
By the very content of his speech in the Duma and direction of the anti-crisis measure, Putin clearly expressed the class bourgeois character of his own government – a government of oligarchs and major capital. For the oligarchs – rescuing the banks and preserving their billions in profits. For the working people – at best, unemployment benefits, and also police batons, like what happened in Vladivostok.
Ukraine
The economy of Ukraine is being hit hardest by the crisis of all out of all the countries of Eastern Europe. Ukraine’s GDP fell in January-February 2009 by 25-30% compared to the same period last year. President Yushenko was forced to declare this when speaking in the Supreme Rada (upper house) on 31 March. Obviously, the president has piled the blame of responsibility for the actual crisis of the economy of Ukraine onto the government led by Yulia Timoshenko, as if he is a sideline observer and answers to nothing in the country. I want to remind the reader that in February, the GosKomStat of Ukraine refused to publish monthly reports on the state of the GDP and announced that will publish information on a quarterly basis. As the media notes, thus the government hopes to hide the fact that the economy has collapsed. But the truth cannot be hidden. Analysts note that in February, industrial production in Ukraine fell by 31.6% compared to February last year (the world’s biggest collapse!).
In his appeal, the president once again had to remind us of the “golodomor” (state instigated famine). But Yushenko hides from the working people of Ukraine the truth about the famine in the USA in the years of the Great Depression of 1929-33 where in New York alone each year on average a thousand people died from starvation alone.
We Bolsheviks have repeatedly pointed out that full responsibility for the starvation of the working people lies with capital, the capitalist means of production and the unrestrained greed of making money by the bourgeoisie for which the suffering the hungry torment for the man of labour means nothing compared to the profits and super-profits being squeezed out of him at any price.
The president’s proposal on introducing changes to the Constitution by a two-housed parliament etc, brings nothing other than contempt by the working people to this politician- puppet. The working people of Ukraine understand well that the essence of this lies not in Constitutional amendments from which life does not improve, but the essence in the authority’s utter contempt to their own people which have been made hostage by the power’s irresponsible, talentless and criminal policies. And we are talking here about the entire structure of power: the presidential vertical of power, the government and parliament and also the local organs of power which are only trying to lay responsibility on each other, but themselves continue to greedily pillage and oppress the working people, aiming to lay the entire depth of the crisis onto their shoulders.
At the same time, in several questions the president with the prime-minister come out in rare unity. We are talking here about the usual IMF financial handouts, or about providing financial aid in the plan of modernization of the GTS (gas transportation system) of Ukraine. And unity appears only when these insatiable predators smell the possibility of once again profiting from it all.
At an international investor conference in Brussels on 23 March, the EU-Ukraine declaration on modernization and utilization of Ukraine’s GTS was signed. And it was signed without Russia’s participation. The Russian delegation having been present at the conference headed by minister for energy Sergei Shmatko, walked out of this event with indignation. From the Ukrainian side, prime-minister Timoshenko signed the declaration in the presence of president Yushenko (who, we note, politely handed a pen to Timoshenko; but when she flew to Russia last year in order to some how solve the gas crisis, the president took the plane off the prime-minister. Yes, the EU is not Russia). On part of the EU, the document was signed by European commissioners Benit Ferero-Valdner and Andris Pibalgs, and also presidents and chiefs of banks: European Investment EBRD and World Bank. Ukraine was pledged a loan amounting to 2.5 billion dollars at “discount rate” paid back over 7 years. “Discount” rates mean Ukraine’s GTS fall actually under full EU control. But like specialists on energy questions note, this declaration is nothing more than a declaration of intentions. Meanwhile nobody intends to give Ukraine any money. At the same time, Ukraine in an hour lost all the trust on part of the Russian leadership. The pledge to the government of Timoshenko by Russia of credit of 5 billion dollars went up in smoke. The planned meeting of the prime-ministers of Russia and Ukraine to be held at the start of April was postponed indefinitely. Once again another spiral of aggravation has begun between Russian-Ukrainian relations. Obviously in such a way, at the threshold of presidential elections, Timoshenko has decided to “correct” her image of “pro-Russian” policy in the orange electorate.
By signing the above declaration, high-minded well-fed Europe showed Russia too, (today – bourgeois Russia, we note) her place – a place as a raw-material appendage, a supplier of energy resources to Europe, and Russia’s opinion that nobody is really interested in.
In whose interests is this all in? Namely another aggravation of relations between Ukraine and Russia and pitting of Russia against the EU. Obviosly, in the interests of US imperialism, continuing to carry out its policy of establishing world domination and full hegemony in whole world of US-Zionist transnational capital.
In connection with this, one cannot briefly stop on the “peace-loving” proposals and “peace-loving” rhetoric by new US president Barak Obama.
The mask of the peace-maker, concealing the aggressive essence of US imperialism
The mass media broadcast the first meeting of the presidents of the US and Russia Barak Obama and Dmitry Medvedev (1 April in London on the eve of the G-20 summit) as if it was a break in the area of Russian-US relations, like their “overload”. At this meeting, the presidents discussed a complex of questions about security, the limiting of strategic offence weapons and two-sided relations.
The sides made a joint statement in relation to problems of concern to Russia and the US.
The presidents declared the aims of their countries to achieve a reduction in strategic offence weapons (SOW-s) and adopted the decision to start inter-governmental talks in order to prepare a document on the reduction of SOW-s by December 09.
It has been said that “Russia and the USA still have disagreements over the Anti-Missile Defence system (AMD)”, however it has been noted that Moscow and Washington have agreed jointly to strengthen European security” taking into account the proposals set forth by “the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev from June 2008 on these questions”.
Obama and Medvedev have agreed that “reviving dialogue between Russia- NATO is a positive step”.
And Russia, along with the US recognize the right of Iran to develop its own civilian nuclear energy, but are calling in Tehran to fully abide by the UN Security Council resolution and collaborate with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency).
Both sides have agreed that the “launching by Pyongyang (DPRK) of a ballistic rocket may undermine peace and stability in the region”.
On the question of last years’s conflict in South Ossetia, the parties, having noted that they “do not agree on the cause and consequences of the operations in August last year”, did agree that “we must continue efforts in the direction of a peaceful and speedy normalizing of the unstable situation in the Caucasus”.
The presidents agreed to “undertake efforts with the aim of Russia’s speedy entrance into the WTO and to continue the work on creating favorable conditions for the development of Russian-US economic ties”.
“Today we have outlined a large and ambitious plan for the work of our governments”, declared the presidents.
In July, the US president intends to visit Moscow, and pledged to learn the Russian language.
At the final press conference of the G-20 summit in London, Medvedev described his meeting with the US president as good: “it seemed to me that we were successful in finding a connection”. By words of the Russian president, in the world it is necessary to preserve internal stability and relations with our neighbours, about which “he openly spoke about to his new comrade Barak Obama”. The Russian president especially emphasized that modern-day Russia is not the USSR, “and not even a post –Soviet state”. Russia’s choice is no different from the choice of other countries, and it would like equal rights of participation in common European affairs, he emphasized.
The fact that “Russia’s choice” does not differ from the choice of other countries, Russia’s president is absolutely right. Russia, like other major powers in the world has already for 18 years been developing (if one can use that word for the processes that are taking place in Russia and the other former republics of the USSR) along the imperialist path (more accurately, not developing , but degrading). Well, concerning the question “equal rights in participation in European affairs”, then about the given “equal rights”, it is better to say, the Declaration by Ukraine-UE on modernization of the Ukrainian GTS (built, by the way, during Soviet times and inextricably connected technologically to the GTS of Russia), and where Russia was not even allowed near to the signing of this declaration. Russia is a raw material appendage of the West, a supplier of gas, oil, diamonds, gold, fur-skins, timber and other natural wealth to the West for next to nothing – for paper US dollars, backed up by nothing, the printing of 100 dollar bills which cost the US a mere 3 cents (!). A raw material appendage – that’s “equal rights” for you.
During a public speech in Prague on 5 april, Obama declared: “the nuclear question is the most dangerous legacy of the cold war”. During the speech, he also noted that the US is ready to reject the plan for locating the anti-missile defence (AMD) system in Europe, if Iran stops developing its own nuclear program: “If the threat from Iran subsides, then the motivation for forming an AMD in Europe will disappear”, declared the US president.
Thus before us stands a peace-maker, a kind of fighter for peace and equal rights collaboration between peoples in the face of US president Obama. But this time, it is no more than a mask, no more than a cover for the peace-loving phraseology of the predatory, aggressive essence of US imperialism.
What in practice means a significant reduction in the missile-nuclear potential of Russia, jointly with the US, even if we assume that the US will honestly fulfill the treaty obligations (which, by the way, has never ever been done)? Russia is from all sides surrounded by US-NATO troops, so the only restraining factor remaining until this day is the nuclear missile, the nuclear missile potential inherited from the USSR, although it has lost significant part of its might due to physical and moral aging.
Indeed, under the SOW treaty do not fall medium range missiles, winged missile, medium range bombers and other operational- tactical weapons.
As we know from previous speeches and statements made by Obama, he intends to withdraw troops form Iraq and concentrate on Afghanistan in the fight against “terrorism and drug trafficking”. But all this is no more than verbal camouflage, verbal covering up the true aims of the USA. in actual fact as was noted in the Supplement to the Statement by the Secretariat of the CC AUCPB from 7 March 09 (in connection with the statement by the leadership of the “Yabloka” party from 28 February 09 on “overcoming Bolshevism……”) (see Raboche-Krestyansky a Pravda No4 (145)), the US intends to deploy in Afghanistan, together with their own NATO allies, a 200 thousand troop contingent, and also deploy missiles in Afghanistan at old Soviet bases aimed at the Urals, Western Siberia and China. And for this, they certainly won’t need strategic weapons, since medium range missiles deployed on Afghan plateaus with an average height above sea level of 2 thousand metres, will take under their aim the entire European part of Russia (including Moscow and Leningrad), the Urals and Western Siberia. Considering that Russia is already inside a tight US-NATO ring (in the West, former countries of the socialist camp and also the Baltic states, in the South, in the Central Asian republics, also are military bases and airfield of US-NATO; in the East, a large American group concentrated in South Korea and also Japan has not abandoned its revengeful mood), a reduction of strategic nuclear potential of Russia, like Obama is proposing will inflict serious and irreversible detriment to its security and give US-NATO imperialism unarguable superiority to use in its struggle for raw material resources and world hegemony. To agree to that means to betray Russia’s national interests.
And at the NATO jubilee summit that took place on 3 -4 April in France and Germany, there was not verbal peace-loving rhetoric. The main talks were made up of the relationship of the alliance with Russia, the situation in Afghanistan and, participation in the summit of two new members of NATO – Albania and Hervinia (thus, including these two countries, the number of members of NATO has grown to 28 countries), and the electing of a new Secretary General of NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, the final declaration of the NATO summit was held in a spirit of the “cold war”. NATO spoke as a consolidated critic of Moscow concerning the war in South Ossetia. In the declaration, the alliance demands that Russia allow unhindered access for observers of the Organisation for Security of Europe onto the territory of Georgia, “including its regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia”. NATO speaks in favour of Georgia’s territorial integrity in “its internationally recognized borders” and continues to demand that Russia recall Abkhasia and South Ossetia. On the question concerning the Anti-Missile Defence system, NATO fully supports the US. “To the largest extent in the “spirit of the cold war” has been held a section of a document concerning the situation with conventional weapons in Europe”, noted Rogozin.
The summit also confirmed the former decision that Ukraine and Georgia must become members of NATO, however no time was given for their entrance.
And already Robert Gates, chief of the Pentagon is absolutely open about this.
In an interview with American TV station PBS on the 7 April, Robert Gates declared: “our policy is that we need the AMD system. This same policy was supported by the Bush administration. We need the AMD system in place for defence against rogue states, such as Iran and North Korea. And our program is aimed at this”.
According to Gates, the US is up against “two threats:on part of tactical ballistic missiles used in the theatre of military operations (TMO), and intercontinental ballistic missiles which may appear in such countries – rogue states like North Korea”. “We will substantially increase our chances of opposing the threat of TMO – on part of Iran or groups of Hezbollah”, he noted.
Of late,Gates informed that “we intend to concentrate on defending our troops, allies and friends, will allot an additional 700 million dollars towards using the best weapons systems, using the one in service in particular “TAAD” and “SM-3”. “We also will add another 200 million dollars to re-equipping another 6 warships equipped with “Idzhis” Zenith-missile complexes, for anti-missile defence”, he pointed out.
In the interview with PBS, the minister reassured that the Pentagon “is continuing research directed at the building of systems for destroying ballistic missiles at thei start stage of their trajectory”. “There are several such projects, including secret ones”, Gates added.
Full and absolute openness. The US president is compelled to hide the aggressive essence of US imperialism behind a mask of a peacemaker. And the notorious hawk P. Gates does not need any verbal disguise. He directly says that the Anti-Missile Defence system is needed by the US, true, but lies, by referring to the threat by “rogue states” (such a high-minded- coarse attitude of the US military and politicians towards other countries, countries with the highest and centuries-long old ancient history which are carrying out their on policy independent from the USA, not subordinating themselves to US demands and not betraying the national interest of their own countries and peoples, not handing themselves over to the transnational corporations or transnational banks, although in actual fact, the AMD system is directed against Russia in order to grade the significance of her strategic nuclear missile potential.
At least we should grateful to Gates for his directness, since he is not feeding us with peace-loving fairytales and pledges, but clearly and precisely talking of the dangers of US military machine for the fate of the world.
The growth of protest mood across the whole world
Working people of the whole world understand all too well that imperialism is seeking a way out of the financial-economic crisis brought about by itself on the backs of ordinary people. And therefore it is no coincidence across the entire globe many thousand strong protests are taking place against imperialism and it exploitative policies. The working people are protesting against the fact that the multi-billion finance injections are going mainly not towards reviving the real sector of the economy and not rescuing the bankrupt banking institutions. And indeed the upper management in the banking sector, despite the bankruptcy of their own banks doesn’t forget to pay to themselves multimillion -sized bonuses. That is what happened in Germany, where the losses at “Dresden-Bank” amounted to 6 billion euros, and 9 top senior management rewarded themselves with bonuses amounting to 58 million euros. Senior management of a number of bankrupt financial institutions awarded themselves with multimillion dollar bonuses.
Many thousands of protest took place the same time as the G-20 summit and the NATO session. Czechs protest during Obama’s visit to Prague, against the plans for building a US missile defence shield.
The struggle of the working people of Ukraine for their rights
The struggle of the working people of the republic of Ukraine for their rights, for the chance to provide their families with some kind of fairly good existence.
The people’s masses are ever more becoming convinced in the fact that capitalism and the bourgeoisie are merciless and cynically indifferent in their treatment of working people. Wage arrears by the end of March according to official data have exceeded 1.6 billion gryvna. And the bourgeoise together with our rulers are not bothered one bit, since they are living off the backs of the working people and their families.
Thus, at the famous LAZ (Lvov Bus factory) wage arrears amount to 6 million gryvna. But the workers of the factory (2 thousand of them) are being made to sign up for compulsory redundancy. In Rovensky region and other regions, the peasants are made to give milk to pigs since to sell the same milk is not profitable enough due to its low purchase price.
The housing -communal service is completely worn out, together with the sewerage system. The pipes are old and have long rusted and decayed, washing away the soil, eroding the roadway, and already in Kiev during a short period of time, several cars have just fallen underneath the asphalt. The authorities, to the benefit of the IMF intend to raise again the price of gas, end all subsidies in order level the tariffs with world prices, just to get the desired billions of dollars in credits which, as is known, are going into rescuing the drowning banks, and it is we together with ordinary people of Ukraine who will be paying back the loans. Together with this we have the IMF demanding an increase in the retirement age. And this means that many men will simply not live until retirement age, since at present, the average life span for a man in Ukraine stands at 59.
In Kiev, the end of March and start of April was marked by mass protests by transport drivers, doctors, students and other categories of working people against the anti-people’s policy of the city soviet headed by mayor Chernovetsky, who in particular did not jeject plans to raise tariffs in the housing communal sector by several times.
The workers of the Khersonsky machine-building factory (former combine factory) are continuing their struggle for their rights. According to the Ministry of industrial policy, since 25 March, 130 workers began work on the testing of the technical condition of the factory and its readiness to produce after a 6 month closure (by fault of the authorities, we add). The ministry informs us that there is a portfolio of orders from various countries of the world that are offering the chance to the enterprise to work effectively. But this is all just in perspective. At the same time, the ministry “modestly keeps quiet” about the fact that the administration plans to sack several hundred workers. What perspective of “effective work” can there be?! Understandable that all these statements by the ministry are nothing more than an attempt to lull to sleep the vigilance of the striking workers collective. The workers declare that management is going to sack namely workers of the main specialties without whom there can be no talk of full valued work being done. And since the end of March, they have again started to block the entrance to the factory.
On events in Moldavia
At the start of April, parliamentary election took place in Moldavia. According to preliminary data, the communists won the majority, having gained 61 seats which provides them with a majority in parliament and allows them to elect the president of Moldova. (In Moldavia, the president is elected by parliament). And this immediately caused a storm of protest by the opposition, parties of the liberal-democratic type, of openly pro-Romanian, pro-Western orientation. Tens of thousands of protest people, mainly young people were brought out onto the streets: students, college students and school pupils. Bottles and stones were thrown at the parliament building, and a storm of the parliament building and presidential residence began, where wholescale destruction took place and fires were started. The protesters tried so hard, that they even burnt the Declaration on the independence of Moldova was burnt. As a result of the disorder, around 180 law enforcement workers were wounded along with more than 100 picketers, 60 of which from both sides finished up in hospital. The Central Executive Committee of Moldavia announced the election results where the communists had won 60 seats in parliament. That is to say, they are going to have to negotiate with the opposition, since for the electing of the president, 61 votes are needed. At the same time, the protests ended (on the evening of 9 April).
The special characteristics of the above manifestations lie in the fact that they took place under anti-communist slogans, one of which was: “Down with the communists”! One needs to note that neither V. Voronin, nor the PCRM (Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova) are communists in the true sense of the word. This is the same kind of opportunistic party as the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU) and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and other such parties like them in other republics. These are parliamentary type parties, recognizing bourgeois democracy and legality. It is no wonder that V. Voronin during the disorder held talks with foreign diplomats, having requested assistance from Western countries in restoring order in Moldavia and having reminded them that international observers judged the election that took place to be fair. But Voronin, despite his predecessors is not an open pro-Romanian politician like M.Snegur and P.Luchinsky were in their time. In the disorder that took place, Voronon blamed the Romanian side. Romania in its turn, condemned what had happened in the neighbouring state, pointing out “violence against state institutions cannot be justified”, and emphasized that it is “very important to respect the inalienable rights of citizens to freedom of assembly and peaceful protest”.
What took place in Moldavia was similar to an attempt to carry out a colour revolution. But the anti-communist slogans indicated that it could come from an orange shade and turn into a brown colour, that is, into a fascist character.
Together with the victory of the extreme right wing (All-Ukrainian “Freedom” alliance “Svoboda” of Oleg Tyanibok of the former Social-National of Ukraine), at the recent elections that were held in Ternoplosky regional soviet, one can note that the Ziono-US “masters of the world” may, attempting to save imperialism from collapse, turn to the establishment of openly fascist regimes in some countries.
Obviously, this will speed up the death of the imperialist system which has outlived itself, but fascist regimes will inevitably lead to the strengthening of repressions against the working class and its vanguard - the communist revolutionary movement.
A large task stands before the working people of Ukraine – not to allow the spreading of fascism throughout the country. And for this it is necessary to establish firm and unbreakable ties of Bolshevism with the working class and other ranks of the working people, ever more actively and decisively rising up to the struggle for their rights and also for the unity of actions of all anti-fascist forces.
A. MAEVSKY, Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolshevisk (CC AUCPB), 9 April 2009
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