Counterrevolution and revolution in the 21st century Ludo Martens, Chairman of the Belgian Labour Party, 2001

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Counterrevolution and revolution in the 21st century
Ludo Martens,
Chairman of the Belgian Labour Party, 2001
September 11, 2001 was, above all, the anniversary of the coup d'état organized by
American imperialism against the national democratic government of Allende in Chile.
Since September 11, 1973, the country has plunged into terror, which caused the
death of 30,000 Chilean communists, revolutionaries and partiots.
But September 11, 2001 was also the day when Asia, Africa and America, the
peoples of the world realized that the heinous crimes committed by imperialism
against them would sooner or later be avenged... On this day, the United States, the
only superpower that has conferred the right to govern the world, was struck by a
series of military actions previously unseen in U.S. history.
Symbols of the economic domination of American imperialism over the world, the
twin towers of the Manhattan World Trade Center, were destroyed by these attacks.
The Pentagon, which spends $300 billion or more a year to plan wars, interventions
and covert operations of the United States around the world, has suffered a huge
blow of enormous destructive power.
If the famous filmmaker had suggested this case as the basis of the script, he would
have heard a firm "no" from American film companies: "This script is implausible!"
Doubt still exists: this implausible scenario could well have been carried out with the
participation of a Certain American Intelligence Service.
I was in Congo that day. About 5 p.m. I met a member of Parliament on the street.
Very excited he hugged me and exclaimed, "This is a gorgeous, gorgeous day! This
evening in Kinshasa, in a poor neighborhood where there was no electricity, people
sat in front of their homes in the dark and discussed what had happened: "Bin Laden
became the strongest man on earth. Americans are trembling!"
Juvenal Sibomana, a Congolese citizen living in France, was in Bukawu on
September 11th, Bukawu, a martyr's city occupied by the U.S.-backed Rwandan
army. Sibomana testifies: "When the attack was announced (in the U.S. - Ed.)
everyone ran to their TVs. Looking at the screen, many of them could not resist and
applauded. They were all Christians. They rejoiced: "Finally, Americans can feel what
it's like to see Rwandan bombs fall on us. That evening, the news spread at the
speed of lightning to the farthest villages. They talked about winning."
In Kinshasa, I received an email conveying the reaction of the great Italian artist
Dario Fo, Nobel laureate in literature in 1997: "The biggest speculators feel like fish in
the water in an economy that kills tens every year millions of people in poverty; what
do 20,000 deaths mean in New York? It doesn't matter who committed the carnage, it
is violence that is the legitimate child of the Culture of Violence, Hunger and Inhuman
Exploitation." Newsweek, a magazine of a major American bourgeoisie, wrote on
November 8 that in many countries of the world "the people were happy to weaken

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the world superpower." "The anti-war demonstration in Rio de Janeiro carried a
banner "150,000 deaths in Hiroshima. Who did it?" another banner read: "One
minute of silence - to those who died in America. 59 minutes to the victims of
American politics." Andres Hurtado, a celebrated Colombian journalist, published an
open letter to the United States in the newspaper El Tiempo: "May heaven teach you
humility." Rosemary Murano, a Brazilian feminist, compared the attacks against the
United States to the "slave revolt."
The heart of American military power has been hit hard, the twin towers representing
the world domination of the dollar destroyed: the 21st century opens a very symbolic
act.
The 20th century was a dress rehearsal for the worldwide struggle with capitalism
and imperialism, for independence and socialism.
The 21st century will witness the destruction of imperialism, to be more precise,
American imperialism around the world. We formulated this thesis in 1997 on the
occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Great October Revolution.
What is now called "globalization" is essentially a new stage in the general crisis of
the global system of imperialism, which has been characterized by the exacerbation
of all the contradictions inherent in the system since its inception in the early
twentieth century.
The new phase began with the triumph of the counterrevolution in the Soviet Union
and the socialist countries of Europe in 1989-1990. It is characterized by the
destruction of international law established after the victory in the war against fascism
and the unleashing of a number of large-scale wars of aggression. The United States
has embarked on a warpath on a global scale.
The new phase can also be distinguished by the constant deepening of the economic
crisis of the capitalist economy and the limitation of "spare exits" still available to the
capitalist system.
Revolution and counterrevolution in the Soviet Union
Let's look at the first characteristic of the new phase of the general crisis of
imperialism: the complete restoration of capitalism in the Soviet Union and Eastern
Europe in 1989-1990, the restoration that eliminated the power that confronts
imperialism at the planetary level, and plunged these countries into a terrible
economic and political crisis.
In order to properly assess the counter-revolution, it is necessary to speak first of all
about the rise of revolutionary forces on a global scale in the first half of the 20th
century. This century began in Europe with the transformation of liberal capitalism
into monopolistic capitalism. In order to escape the effects of crises at the national
level and to maximize profits, monopolies pushed their governments to conquer
colonies and export capital to colonies. Crises and competition led to the First World
War, which caused ten million deaths and marked the first phase of the general crisis
of the global system of capitalism. Social democratic parties, which led the working
class in those years, shamefully betrayed the revolutionary principles of Marxism, got
used to the tail of the aggressive bourgeoisie and sent workers to the imperialist
slaughter.

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Only the Bolshevik party managed to bring the revolutionary struggle to the fall of
reactionary classes, tsarism, landowners and a large bourgeoisie. Following Leninist
political guidelines, Stalin since 1923 directed the construction of socialism. He
turned the Bolshevik Party into a mass party that brought four miracles to life:
socialist industrialization, collectivization and modernization of agriculture, a cultural
revolution that turned the country of the illiterate into a country intellectuals and
cultural workers, the organization of the Red Army, armed with the latest weapons.
From 1929 imperialist countries, which were not well "provided" colonies once again
began to frantically prepare for war. Thus begins the second phase of the crisis of the
imperialist system. The Second World War, which broke out in 1939, was further
proof that imperialism leads to war. Thanks to Stalin's insight and the Bolshevik party
and the heroism of the Red Army and the working masses, the Soviet Union with
victory emerged from the greatest and most destructive war that history knew. The
popularity of socialism has reached the top. All over the world, workers and peasants
have seen that there is an alternative to the exploitation and barbarism of capitalism
and imperialism.
World capitalism was greatly weakened by the devastation caused by the war in
Europe, and so the Soviet Union was able to lay democratic principles in the Charter
of the United Nations, principles that imperialism has never accepted and always
tried to trample when he allowed the balance of power.
1949 After defeating Japanese fascism, the people of China, under the leadership of
Mao Tse-dong and the Communist Party of China came out with victory from the 22-
year anti-imperialist revolutionary war.
With the victory of socialism in China, capitalism and imperialism suffered a second
strategic defeat, and the balance of power on a global scale developed in favor of
peoples and the working class.
Inspired by the victory of the Soviet Union in the war against fascism and the
liberation of China, the revolutionary movement of the working class has acquired a
new driving force around the world, the revolutionary struggle for independence
erupted from India to the Arab world and the Black World Africa.
The growing power of socialist and anti-imperialist, national and democratic
revolutions was undermined from 1956-1960, when representatives of the
opportunistic movement came to power in the Bolshevik party.
In fact, the capitalist counterrevolution of 1989-1990 was prepared politically and
ideologically by the rise to power of Khrushchev's group in 1956. All the principles of
Marxism-Leninism were eliminated one by one. The revisionists stated that socialism
had finally won, that the class struggle in the Soviet Union had ceased, and therefore
the dictatorship of the proletariat over the bourgeoisie and bourgeois elements was
no longer needed. The fight against imperialism was curtailed, Khrushchev said, "We
want to be friends with the United States and cooperate with them in the struggle for
peace and prosperity of peoples." The revolutionary theory was distorted and finally
eliminated. Bourgeois ideas and actions are ingrained among party and state cadres.
After the restoration of the principle of capitalist profit in 1965, other principles of the
capitalist economy were gradually asserted. Personal enrichment was developing, as
well as the "black" capitalist sector of the economy. The counterrevolution in the
Soviet Union was essentially the result of the work of "Soviet" reactionaries and anti-

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communist forces that infiltrated the party and the state. Stalin has always noted that
the fortress is easiest to take from within...
The imperialist forces, which supported openly reactionary, even fascist movements,
also contributed to and helped this revisionist movement to lead the party.
Ideological, political and economic degradation led in 1990 to the complete
restoration of capitalism in its wildest forms. The consequences were devastating for
the working masses. In 1997, the products of the Soviet Union industry fell to 57%
from the level of 1990 (in Ukraine to 39%). people have incomes below the
subsistence level.
Russia is twisted by the debt stranglehold of imperialism, its debt is 200 billion dollars.
The importance of the ties of the Russian mafia major bourgeoisie and international
capital is illustrated by the illegal export of billions of dollars over 10 years.
The experience of the 20th century teaches us that the development and application
of a revolutionary political and organizational line determines the victory of the cause
of socialism. The Soviet Union of Lenin and Stalin faced from 1917 to 1953 with
problems that no other people in the history of the liberation struggle had suspected.
The difficulties were so great that all opportunists found "arguments" to predict the
impossibility of the task. Some of them claimed that the Soviet Union is not yet ready
for socialism, others said that it is impossible to build socialism in one country. But
the fantastic political and organizational work carried out under Stalin allowed the
Soviet people to overcome most of the horrific difficulties.
The 20th century also teaches us that the adoption and application of an
opportunistic political and organizational line can only lead to the regression of the
revolution and, ultimately, to the elimination of all that has been conquered and the
restoration of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.
Since 1968 (the year of the creation of the Belgian Labour Party - Ed.) we have been
surrounded by various bourgeois currents with "left" phraseology, which have
informed us that the socialist state of the dictatorship of the proletariat cannot
degrade and return to capitalism, beyond except in cases of counter-revolutionary
civil war or imperialist aggression. All these opportunists claimed that Khrushchev
and Brezhnev were right when they claimed that socialism had finally triumphed in
the Soviet Union and that the restoration of capitalism was no longer possible. In fact,
they helped the bourgeois and imperialist destroyers complete their efforts to destroy
everything that remained socialist. At crucial moments, the counterrevolution
demagogically used "Marxist" or "Leninist" talking points to mask its actions on the
restoration of capitalism. At the same time, they waged furious and incessant
campaigns to attack and destroy all revolutionary principles, pretending that they
were only opponents of the so-called "Stalinism".
We saw Mr. Gorbachev, after 1985, preaching "a return to Leninism" in all his
speeches... to complete the destructive work begun by Khrushchev and Brezhnev.
In 1990, at the XXVIII Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union,
Gorbachev publicly acknowledged that his struggle against "Stalinism" was aimed
primarily at the restoration of capitalism. Gorbachev said: "The totalitarian Stalinist
regime will be overcome. Ideological diktat frees the way for freedom of opinion."
"The benefits of a market economy have been proven on a global scale... The

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transition to market relations should be the main content of the radicalization of
economic reform."
Throughout the world, many progressive and revolutionary movements were
influenced by some form of anti-Stalinism wrapped in Leninist phraseology; the
"glasnost" course has revealed the true nature of the process. Soviet MP Yuri
Koryakin said: "Like many others, I was against Stalin, but for Lenin. But if we really
want change, we have to get to the bottom of it. And the origins are that in each of us
Marx, Engels and Lenin. But Stalin," he said. Alexander Yakovlev, the chief ideologist
of "glasnost," explained that the work on political destruction had been carried out
systematically and methodically for many years. The fight against Stalin was actually
aimed against Marxist heritage. "In politics, everything has to be its turn. Public
opinion cannot be ignored... Everyone recognizes that Marx created the doctrine of
humanity. No, nothing like that. He created a doctrine of class struggle that we must
get rid of."
Under the pretext of fighting Stalinism, Khrushchev and Yakovlev not only restored
mafia capitalism, but also contributed to the revival of the fascist movement in the
USSR and the socialist countries of Eastern Europe.
Now that the game is over, we can easily understand the true nature of the forces
behind the "left" demagoguery.
In Belgium, Ernst Mandel (one of the ideologues of international Trotskyism - Ed.)
stated: "Perestroika is a real new revolution. Our movement has adhered to the same
provisions for 55 years, and was called counter-revolutionary for it. Today it is clear
who were the real counter-revolutionaries and who are the real revolutionaries." "The
reformer Yeltsin represents the direction that wants to reduce the giant bureaucratic
machine. In doing so, he is following in Trotsky's footsteps." When in 1991 Yanayev
tried to stop the mad course of disaster by organizing a coup against Gorbachev,
Mandel wrote: "It was necessary to prevent the coup, and therefore to fight on
yeltsin's side."
The consequences of Gorbachev's "Leninist" demagoguery and his group are well
known: restoration of wild, mafia capitalism, dismantling of the Soviet Union,
unleashing reactionary civil wars in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, seizure
of power Thus, the period of the 1960s and 1990s teaches us the same examples, as
the period of the 1930s and 1950s teaches us on positive examples the persistent
and relentless struggle against the enemies of socialism and imperialistism
Underground.
After the counterrevolution took place in the Soviet Union, I reread excerpts from the
judicial report "The Trial of the Right-Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Center" held in 1938.
fought against the foundations of the socialist system, using pseudo-revolutionary
phraseology. They put forward a demagogic platform to unite the former bourgeois
and landowners and all the forces that wanted to destroy socialism in the Soviet
Union. "Behind the brilliance of Trotskyist and Bukharaphin phraseology, they are
preparing the restoration of capitalism." To achieve their goal of seizing power, the
opposition came into contact with imperialist countries, including Nazi Germany. The
report says that "right-wing and Trotskyists are the front line of international fascism,"
a "block of traitors." "The process reminds us that the two worlds came face to face
as two mortal and irreconcilable enemies, the world of capitalism and the world of
socialism. The logic of class contradictions pushes the remnants of exploitative

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classes in the USSR and exploitative classes abroad to even more violent attacks
against the working state." The process showed the importance of the international
social democracy as an entity serving imperialism, which supported all its power of
the forces of conspirators with the Soviet Union. The trial showed links between the
conspirators and the intelligence services. The indictment noted that the Bukharins
and Trotskyists were preparing "the separation of Ukraine, Belarus and the
dismemberment of the Soviet Union."
Today we understand that Gorbachev and Yeltsin effectively and fully fulfilled the
program for which their predecessors Bukharin and Trotskyists were convicted in
1938. U.S. intelligence agencies for a number of years!
It is also very important that even such a Trotskyist leader as Mandela admitted that
Gorbachev "implemented in practice" the program of the Trotskyist international, and
Yeltsin "struggled against bureaucracy" just like Trotsky!
Crisis threatens the foundations of the imperialist order
The economic crisis that has hit the capitalist economy is also a sign of a new phase
of the general crisis of the global system of imperialism. This is the second
characteristic of the new phase.
This is especially true of the American economy, which lives on a powder keg. The
United States is heading for an economic crisis that will shake the world more than
even the 1929 crisis.
On the eve of the 21st century, the United States is virtually bankrupt. The total debt
is 184% of GDP. Since 1995, the debt of citizens has increased by 7.9%, while the
debt of companies by 9.7%. Of the total amount of debt - 18,000 billion dollars: 3,400
account for the Federal Government, 1,300 - the share of local authorities, 7,200 -
the share of "households", 6,500 - the share of non-banking companies. At the same
time, Bush wants to introduce a new tax cut program that would increase the budget
deficit (or drastic cuts to social spending that Clinton has already undertaken).
Households are becoming more and more immersed in a debt pit. Savings have
become negative, which means that consumers' expenses are higher than their
income.
The capitalization of the United States Stock Exchange increased from 3,000 billion
in 1990 to 16,600 billion in 1999. This growth is not in line with industrial growth.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which estimates the commercial wealth produced by
the country, grew on average by only 5.2% per year during this period (1991-1999).
Consequently, financial markets are heavily inflated. The exemplary fall in high-tech
stocks in 2000 made this apparent. Nasdaq (an index that reflects the size of high-
tech stock investments) then lost 60 to 70% of its price, meaning that more than
$4,000 billion has turned into smoke. The current balance of the United States on
transactions with other countries (commerce, services, interest, dividends, transfers,
etc.) is in persistent deficit. The deficit was $445 billion in 2000.
Such a significant deficit is formed only if $445 billion is not returned to the United
States each year, in the form of capital, or foreign investment (mainly European and
Asian), exchange investment, bank loans and But can we expect foreign capitalists
and shareholders to invest 445 billion or more each year? Especially when you
consider that the American economy is entering a period of recession... U.S.
hegemony depends on the dollar. A stable dollar attracts capital. But the situation

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can change to the opposite. If funds for one reason or another stop pouring in, the
balance of payments will become negative. In this case, the dollar will go into a
tailspin, and no one will know when this process will stop.
At the world level, American imperialism can no longer count on a "spare way out" of
the crisis that it used in the sixties and seventies, driving the third world countries into
debt. The debt of the dependent countries amounted to 2.141 billion dollars in 2000.
In total, this amounts to almost exactly 2.500 billion dollars. Debt servicing costs $338
billion to Third World countries and 50 billion to Eastern European countries. This
represents 21.8 per cent of third World export earnings and 49.6 per cent for Latin
America.
The "end of the crisis" has also made the overproduction in the most important
industries even more difficult. The automotive industry can produce 375 million cars a
year, but sales did not exceed 56 million in 1999. Overproduction in the steel industry,
according to OCDE, amounted to 340 million tons in 1998, compared to 150 million in
1989.
The economic laws of monopolistic capitalism are relentless. When the system does
not withstand the weight of overproduction and crises, the thirst for profits pushes
monopolies to war, the last way to "sell products" and get a reliable income thanks to
the sacrifices that fall on the share of workers ...
In this regard, the international columnist of the New York Times wrote with disarming
directness. Thomas L. Friedman explained that the "global free market" cannot exist
without the military force of the world... "For globalization to work, America must not
be afraid to act like the almighty superpower it actually is. The invisible hand of the
market will never work without an invisible fist. McDonald's can't thrive without
McDonnell-Douglas, the F-15 developer, and the hidden fist that keeps the world safe
with "Silicon Valley technologies" such as the United States Army, Air Force, Navy
and Corps Marines." This should open the eyes of those who believe the fable
spread by the apologists of capitalism, who argue that "free market and democracy"
goes hand in hand. No, the free market and the war are inseparable couples...
The United States is preparing world wars
The third characteristic of the current phase of the general crisis of imperialism is the
orientation to militarism and war.
After the counterrevolution in the Soviet Union, the United States ruled the world as
the only superpower. The United States immediately took advantage of the first war
of strategic importance against Iraq, intending to take control of the oil resources of
the Middle East, especially the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia.
In 1991, in a paper entitled "The New Centennial War", we analyzed the significance
of the aggression that the imperialist coalition had undertaken against Iraq. What we
wrote 10 years ago is now confirmed and intensified by today's aggression against
Afghanistan.
"The Gulf War shows that the West is ready to mobilize all its capital and technology
to perpetuate its empire of exploitation and terror. Imperialism has become an
inhuman, diabolical system whose existence is incompatible with the mere survival of
billions of people in the Third World... The conditions of surrender imposed on Iraq
are proof that the economic recolonization of the Third World countries is now ending

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with military and political recolonization. We return to colonial enslavement... The
great victory of Western barbarism in the Gulf of Persian and this huge hype around
the "duty of intervention" announces new wars... The reaction of the peoples of the
Third World to the beginning of the Iraqi Holocaust offers hope for a new dawn for
humanity. Five centuries of genocide, carnage and humiliation have taught
oppressed peoples hatred of oppressors. Despite the terror organized by regimes
cooperating with imperialism, peoples are organized to fight. They do everything
possible to control science and technology - the weapon of their liberation. The
heroism shown today by the peoples of Iraq and Palestine will give new impetus to
the struggle of all the oppressed peoples of Africa, Asia and South America and all
the working imperialist world. Whatever the vicissitudes of the New Hundred Years
War, imperialism will fall and nations will eventually emerge victorious."
After the aggression against Iraq, American imperialism provoked several wars in the
former Soviet Union: in Georgia, between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in Tajikistan and
especially in Chechnya, wars that claimed several hundred thousand lives.
In its quest for absolute world domination, American imperialism does not want to
turn capitalist Russia into a competitor. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the
United States wants to dismember Russia. One of the main rebel leaders in
Chechnya, Basayev was trained in Afghanistan in a military camp funded by the CIA,
led by "freedom fighter" Gulbuddin Hekmatyar... Basayev fought in the First Chechen
War in 1995. Basayev was an "libertarian" who actively engaged in the field of drug
trafficking, organizing an international network of prostitution, printing counterfeit
dollars, transporting radioactive materials... Here is a portrait of an exemplary soldier
of the free world, "made in the United States" ...
Since 1991, German and American imperialism has provoked armed conflicts
between different nationalities in Yugoslavia. The aim was to introduce NATO troops
into the Balkans and establish military bases there. In 1998, the aggression against
Yugoslavia was a terrorist act that violated the basic principles of the UN Charter. For
78 days, Yugoslavia was subjected to terrorist bombings that destroyed factories,
hospitals, bridges, power plants and killed thousands of civilians.
The ensuing destruction was estimated at at least $100 billion! The introduction of
the American army into the Balkans precedes new wars in the Caspian Sea for
control of oil sources and paves the way for major wars against Russia.
Africa in particular suffered after the counterrevolution in the Soviet Union, which
created a new balance of power at the world level. Africa was attacked by the
Americans and their allies in Somalia in 1993. From August 2 to the present day in
the heart of Africa, in the Congo, the aggressive war and occupation organized by
the United States finally devastated the country and caused the death of 3,750,000
Congolese!
U.S. aggression against Afghanistan on October 7 thoiss a new development of the
U.S. course for world war. The war against Kabul is not directly related to the attacks
in New York and Washington. The American intervention in Afghanistan, aimed at
controlling the routes leading to Asia's oil fields, was predicted long before these
incidents. Former Pakistani Foreign Minister Niaz Naak stated in July 2001 that
"American government officials informed him of the American plan to launch military
action against the Taliban regime and replace them with "moderate" Afghans by the
government. The action should be held from bases in Tajikistan. He was also told
that if a decision was made to support the action, it could be held in mid-October."

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If imperialism, thanks to the occupation of Afghanistan, can control the oil of Asia, it
will be an expression of hostility towards Russia and China. China planned to
transport oil from Central Asia. The U.S. military presence will make this impossible.
The occupation of strategic bases means the approach of an aggressive war.
The United States' focus on militarism, war and fascism was evident until 9/11.
Bush's rise to power was in fact a coup d'etat by the most reactionary factions of
American monopolies, especially those associated with the military industry. This is
the harmony of hundreds of millions of dollars achieved through fraud and other
violations by which transnational monopolies decided to impose the government of
militarists-Republicans. Joseph Beaden, a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, said the missile defense system Bush wants to introduce would
cost $500 billion and would be effective at just 90 percent against ballistic missile
attacks.
The United States' focus on fascism became even more pronounced after 9/11. The
Assistant Chief of the General Staff said the United States had not planned military
operations of this magnitude since World War II. And it is said about the operation
against the poorest country in the world, lying in the ruins of an incessant war! This
clearly shows that the aggression against Afghanistan is just an "exercise" ahead of a
large-scale war against China and possibly Russia. The head of the British General
Staff said after two weeks of bombing that the conflict could "last 50 years." It is worth
noting that the focus on fascism also appeared in American domestic politics. On
November 13, Bush signed a military decree that "the case of those accused of
terrorism, foreigners" would be carried out by a "special military, not a civilian court."
Indictments may be secret, defendants will not have the opportunity to appeal and,
as the New York Times puts it: "the rights of protection will be somewhat limited."
It can be argued that after 9/11, American imperialism, declaring the so-called "fight
against international terrorism" that will last for many years, paves the way for an
international fascist dictatorship. This political line has been represented among the
American monopolistic bourgeoisie since the end of World War II.
In 1944, the United States allowed the entry of about 10,000 high-ranking Nazi war
criminals - Germans, Ukrainians, Latvians, Russians, etc. Many of them were
recruited by the special services in anti-communist propaganda services, research
institutes. The most famous of these was General Gelen, the head of Nazi
intelligence in the Soviet Union, surrendered to the Americans. Under the agreement
between the Allies, it was to be handed over to the Soviet Union, but Washington
decided... take him to work for the U.S. intelligence agencies, to whom he handed
over various materials and intelligence network!
The United States also hired the Nazis, Klaus Barbie, Alois Bruner, the German Nazi,
Otto von Bolschwing, one of Eichmann's top aides, and hundreds of other criminals.
In 1945, General Patton even offered to change allies and "dreamed of arming a
couple of Waffen SS divisions to include them in the Third American Army "and lead
against the Reds"!"
On August 6 and 9, 1945, American imperialism destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
killing 443,000 people without any military need. It was a real terrorist act,
unprecedented in scale. The use of the atomic bomb was, first of all, a "warning" to

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the Soviet Union. English Marshal Alan Brook said: "Churchill considered himself
capable of destroying Russian industrial centers."
The aggressive war against Korea began in 1950 and was a continuation of the anti-
Soviet, anti-communist war started by the Nazis and continued by the Americans.
Korea was destroyed by the war, there was a policy of "discarding (communists -
Ed.) an attack on China and even the Soviet Union was planned. American terror has
brought 5 million deaths to the Koreans.
The war in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos was fought with the same attitude and claimed
4 million lives.
During the seventies, American imperialism met even more strongly resistance
around the world.
The balance of power changed during the eighties. This was due to two main factors.
First, the continuing degradation of the Soviet Union and the subsequent restoration
of capitalism. Secondly, the opportunism of the bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeoisie
in the former colonies that participated in the liberation struggle, only to guarantee
their interests and enrich themselves.
Once capitalism was restored in the Soviet Union, American imperialism continued
the policy of world domination "inherited" from Nazi Germany.
The UN Charter imposed on imperialists as a result of the long struggle of the Soviet
Union and the revolutionary peoples after the war against fascism was immediately
rejected as a mere piece of paper by the United States.
To the great revolutionary struggle for peace, independence and socialism
The beginning of the twentieth century was characterized by the emergence of large
capitalist monopolies, which dominated various sectors of the economy of imperialist
countries. But the capitalist way of production then still shallowly penetrated into
various countries and territories of Asia, South America and Africa.
The beginning of the 21st century is characterized by the emergence of global
monopolies, which dominate certain sectors of the world's economy.
The unification of capitalist Europe has given rise to never-before-seen
concentrations. "Mergers and accumulations" in Europe amounted to 1.218 billion
dollars in 1999 and 1.478 billion dollars in 2000, which is a truly qualitative leap. The
maximum amount for the Eighties was $148 billion. In 1996, the amount of 253 billion
dollars was reached...
According to the World Investment Report in 1988, the number of car manufacturers
operating on the world market will fall from 15 to 10 or even 5. "People who sit in the
German Chamber of Management are afraid that they will not be among the
magnificent top five companies in this market, they will no longer be competitive in
the future."
This fundamental economic evolution has three consequences.
First, the deadly struggle between the leading American, Japanese and European
monopolies will become even more ferocious and will spread to all markets of all
continents.
Secondly, the oppressed around the world realize that their oppression and
exploitation are generated by transnational capital and "protected" by its military
forces. The development of revolutionary consciousness is now possible in the
masses, and this development is an urgent necessity.

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Finally, the contradictions between these global monopolies, supported by various
imperialist Powers, and the dependent countries will deepen further. The factions of
the local bourgeoisie in Asia, South America and Africa will inevitably rise up against
the domination of imperialism.
The experience of the great Chinese revolution proved that only the Communist Party,
with the support of the working class, peasantry and patriotic petty bourgeoisie, can
bring the anti-imperialist revolution to its ultimate goal - national and social Release.
But globalization and the rise of imperialism around the world will inevitably push new
bourgeois forces to fight imperialist domination. Reports from the American press
suggest that Bin Laden represents something other than a small group of fascist
Islamists. Usman William Pfaff writes: "Saudi Arabia is also attacked by the children
of the Saudi elite, such as Mr. Bin Laden... who have declared their enemy not only
America, but also their own leaders, whom they regard as corrupt." The New York
Times agrees that Bin Laden represents an important current among Saudi Arabia's
major bourgeoisie: "They are the elite of Saudi society, prosperous and respected
people with reputations and investments around the world. But the U.S. government
now claims that one of the most important figures of Yasi al-Kadi and many other
influential Saudi citizens transferred millions of dollars to Osama bin Laden." A
faction of the Saudi major bourgeoisie that opposes 5,000 members of the dynastic
elite because they did not create industry and blocked the economic development of
the country? The elite neglects its own country, but serves American imperialism by
placing billions of petrodollars in American banks, which evokes the anti-American
posture of another faction. The fall of the feudal pro-American regime in Saudi Arabia
and the establishment of an anti-American regime could change the entire strategic
situation in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf.
Imperialist globalization, which has exacerbated all the contradictions of the
imperialist world with the necessity of giving rise to a counter-offensive of all popular
forces suffering from poverty, overexploitation, oppression, terror and war.
More than ever, the three main revolutionary currents of our time must go hand in
hand: the democratic, anti-imperialist revolution in dependent countries, the socialist
revolution in capitalist countries and the construction of socialism in countries that
have rid themselves of imperialist and capitalist exploitation.
There is growing concern around the world that the capitalist way of production is
more incompatible with the simple survival of mankind, that imperialism has become
a system of genocide.
Never before have there been such sharp contradictions between the public nature of
production and private property on means of production, private property, which has
become a way for the potential for production development with its insolvent the duty
to maximize profits for a tiny class of capitalists.
Factories and other enterprises can produce and grow only if they bring great profits
to capitalists, leaving most of humanity, which has become redundant and useless,
vegetating in inhumane conditions.
Contradictions are exacerbated by the accelerated development of productive forces
and technology, allowing the production of almost unlimited quantities of products -
on the one hand, and the minuscule solvency demand limited by terrible poverty of
the vast majority of humanity on the other hand. In a world where billions of people
are deprived of everything, "overproduction" has become permanent!

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Capitalism can guarantee the profits required by a small number of shareholders,
only undermining the physical and spiritual health of workers, maintaining illiteracy,
unleashing reactionary civil wars, supporting fascist gangs, provoking genocide,
armed violence, embargoes, famine, uncontrolled growth of diseases and epidemics...
Humanity can no longer tolerate such barbarism and inhumanstate.
Exploitation and terror, which are the hallmarks of imperialist globalization, will
inevitably ignite the flames of new national, anti-imperialist revolutions, even more so
than in the 20th century.
The development of national and democratic revolutions, led by communist,
revolutionary and anti-imperialist forces, will allow the victorious peoples to enter the
stage of the socialist revolution. Opposing the violence of imperialism, that is,
monopolistic capitalism, the masses of dependent countries understand that under
the capitalist system they have no way out
Experience has shown that even the revolutionary bourgeoisie, such as the
revolutionary bourgeoisie that led the anti-colonial war in Algeria, cannot preserve the
conquests of the people. Driven by selfish interests, the factions of this bourgeoisie
switched one after another to the side of imperialism, returning Algeria back to the
state of the colony.
Only the working class, allied with other working classes and patriotic forces can
consistently and completely make an anti-imperialist revolution and prepare the
transition to a socialist revolution that will eliminate human exploitation human in all
forms.
More than ever in capitalist countries, socialism is an absolute necessity for the
survival, spiritual and cultural development of the masses. More than ever, the
development of technology makes socialism feasible.
A time passes when a part of the masses in imperialist countries could "have income"
from super profits derived from dependent countries. Overexploitation,
unemployment, repression, racism and fascism make the lives of the masses more
and more difficult. The orientation of large factions of the bourgeoisie to war is fraught
with great danger for workers.
Continuing the struggle on different fronts, the working class will gain class
consciousness, understand that its freedom, material well-being and cultural
development are incompatible with the existence of a capitalist system.
The power of the working class, supported by the masses, taking all necessary
measures to destroy the dictatorship of the major bourgeoisie, is necessary to
change the existing economic and social system. Tough measures against capitalist
and imperialist barbarism involve first the implementation of true democracy,
democracy of the masses.
Over the past ten years, the tremendous development of productive forces has
provided humanity with a potential that allows the peoples of the world to free
themselves from backwardness. Through these material conditions, society can
quickly overcome disease, hunger and malnutrition, illiteracy and ignorance. All this
will be realized on the condition that society frees itself from the diabolical straitjacket,
in which private property is a means of production. Subject to transformation on a
socialist basis.
The free market is planning maximum profits for a tiny minority, owners of means of
production. Today, the "plan" of the free market is the maximum exploitation of hired
workers of capitalist companies. Also in this "plan" terrible poverty, hunger for billions

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of "excessive" population. 60,000 transnational monopolists plan production and
sales all over the world, expanding beyond "their" country. In 1999, their sales
amounted to 14,000 billion dollars. Public-owned socialism will plan production in a
way that caters to meet the needs of the masses. This planning will have national
and international dimensions.
Socialist planning and governance will be carried out openly, under the control of the
people, with one sole purpose - to meet the interests and material and cultural needs
of the masses.
Socialism will develop universal learning, science and technology, and productive
forces faster and on an infinitely broader basis than imperialism does today.
In the current international situation, solidarity with countries that firmly protect
independence from imperialism while maintaining their socialist system is important.
In an extremely difficult international situation, even when faced with the same
problems faced by all third world countries, Cuba, China, the DPRK, Vietnam and
Laos represent the future of humanity, as they are internationalists and communists.
In 1919, as a result of the formation of the Third International, the Communists
became the most organized force in the world. Because of opportunism and
revisionism, the international communist movement is divided. But imperialist
globalization confronts all workers with the same enemies. Sharing experience and
analysis, formulating common policies and organizing common work is more than
necessary for the progress of any struggle. Faced with the global policies of
American imperialism, NATO, the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO, oppressed
around the world will have to confront their common policies of liberation and
development.
The Belgium Labour Party makes a modest contribution to the International
Communist Seminar, which represents some 150 parties and organizations in Asia,
Africa, South and North America, former socialist countries and Europe. Socialism
will create an international federation of Socialist Republics. It will be guided by the
principles of solidarity and mutual assistance in order to replace the obstacles to
progress with planned development. Proletarian internationalism leads to the
unification of peoples, the elimination of national and ethnic barriers, the
disappearance of discriminatory actions and relations, chauvinism, mutually
beneficial exchange between peoples, knowledge exchange without commercial
considerations, harmonious and proportionate development of all areas of the world,
based on planned production that takes into account the needs of all humanity.