The EU/Greece agreement is a Neo Colonial Agreement says Costas Lapavitsas - Exit is only Strategy

ATHENS: HERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE EUROPEAN UNION NEO COLONIALISM OUTLINED BY COSTAS LAPAVITSAS.

NOW THE POLITICAL FORCES IN GREECE NEED TO RISE UP AND IMPLEMENT IT - SYRIZA'S POLITICS ARE DEAD - KILLED BY TSIPRAS - A NEW MOVEMENT INCLUDING CPG ML, KOE AND OTHER REVOLUTIONARIES NEED TO OPEN THE NEW ALTERNATIVE

DEMOCRACY AND CLASS STRUGGE SAYS OUR CRITICISM OF COSTAS LAPIVTSAS IS THAT HE DOES NOT TALK OF NECESSITY OF THE LEFT BREAK FROM SYRIZA ORGANISATIONALLY AND WANTING TO EXIT EUROZONE WHILE STILL CLINGING TO EUROPEAN UNION MEMBERSHIP.

THE ILLUSION THAT SYRIZA WILL IMPLEMENT EXIT STRATEGY MUST BE EXPOSED.

THE IDEA OF SOCIAL EUROPE IS ALSO AN ILLUSION - IT IS NOW A NEO LIBERAL UNION AND THAT REALITY HAS TO BE RECOGNISED.

SYRIZA IS NOT THE LIMIT OF OUR DREAMS COSTAS LAPAVITSAS EVEN IF IT IS YOURS.

READ OUR STATEMENT HERE :

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/greece-there-is-great-disorder-under.html


Greece says No to the Carthaginian Peace !

Behrooz Navaii - Statement by Maoist Group Shouresh

 

 

Statement of the Maoist Group Shouresh

                 on the sudden loss of Comrade Behrooz Navaii



On the 1st Tir 1394 (22nd June 2015)
^{after a period of being unaware about the condition of comrade Behrooz NavaiI (Kamran Mahjoob), we were informed by his Facebook and his brother that he was suffering from severe illness and passed away full of pain and suffering caused by class society, however, he left a legacy of revolutionary aspiration and knowledge and practice for us.}

Comrade Behrooz Navaii was a hard-working member of communist movement who strived to advance revolutionary aspiration until the last breath and did not even stop momentarily his intensive revolutionary activities along the path of victorious revolutions for the international proletariat.

This Comrade with his theoretical knowledge about revolutions in the world was a former supporter of the Organisation of Fedayeen Guerrillas.

He had been shot in the head at the time of his arrest and therefore had to take medicine for decades to deal with severe pains. This bullet had been shot by the servants of imperialism to damage the revolutionary front of the proletariat and therefore he finally became a martyr for liberation of the proletariat.

Comrade Behrooz Navaii had a good command of Farsi, English and Kurdish languages and he was a prominent internationalist. He was very popular in revolutionary media of Iran, India, Nepal, Philippines, Palestine, Kurdistan and the US.

The global status of this precious comrade wherever the revolutionary communist front is advancing had become absolutely clear to us when messages of commiserations from four corners of the world were sent to his Facebook page after his death.

Despite of his global prominence, while the young revolutionary forces were referring to him as their comrade and admirable brother, it is deplorable that he remained anonymous in the communist movement of Iran.

As much as we are aware, in relation to his valuable contributions, one can refer to the focus of his activities on the current revolution in India in the form of People’s War under the leadership of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Translations by the comrade to Farsi includes: "Bold talks of the chairman of the Communist Party of India (ML- Naxalbari) written by comrade Ajit on resistance against Operation Green Hunt", and also "Interview with comrade Ganapati the leader of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) which can be accessed by clicking on these titles.

Moreover, he has translated an article entitled, "One year later: Nandigram and struggle against compulsory replacement in India" which will be published soon in the section of "People’s War" in the website of the Maoist Group Shuresh. It is necessary to state that regrettably it was agreed to defer the publication of comrade’s works to announcing the declaration of the group emphasizing Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and criticising the dogmato revisionist line of Avakianism.

Other important translations by him includes "Nine letters to comrades" written by Mike Ely which is along the path of exposing modern revisionism dealing with Bob Avakian’s so called New Synthesis.

Despite having various physical pains he did not stop his efforts and told us that he was writing an introduction for the translation of an article by Comrade Azad (a great Maoist and one of the leaders of People’s War in India), who more than fifty years ago wrote about global importance of the revolution in India, which will be published by the website of Shuresh.

Also, he has translated other works such as "Walking with the Comrades" written by Arundahati Roy; "Eyes on Maobadi" by Mike Ely; "Revolution in India: Lalgarth sparks of hope" by Sam Shell and … all of which will be published in a special edition by the Maoist Group Shuresh.

Furthermore, comrade played an effective role in daily activities to support revolutions in India and South Asia as well as forming circles of revolutionary youth in the US to initiate struggles against dogma revisionism of Bob Avakian, which has promoted the role of a leader to a prophet.

Although our collaboration with this revolutionary and determined comrade was short, but we are aware of the impact of this loss and believe it will be difficult to fill the gap of losing a revolutionary with such capability, selflessness, modesty and honesty.

Finally, we express our deep sorrow for losing comrade Behrooz Navaii and give our commiseration to all comrades and emphasize that whilst our movement has not been able to overcome economism and pacifism, it has lost another genuine revolutionary which has pleased imperialists and revisionist.

However, our message to the steel tigers who are in fact nothing more than paper tigers against the revolutionary masses is: dear comrade we are aware that no one will write a poem for your death but we will lit the prairie fire in the first entrenchment of liberating people’s of Iran in your name.

Maoist Group Shouresh


The above statement was read in Parsi to an event organised by Tjen Folket in Norway recently to remember Comrade Behrooz Navaii .

 A memorial committee to Behrooz Navaii was also set up with a view to publishing his Parsi translations of articles on the People's War in India as a permanent memorial to his work.

If you have any of Behrooz Navaii Parsi translations on India  and Peoples War which could be included in a publication in his honour please sent them to nickglais@yahoo.co.uk.

See Also :
http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/in-memory-of-comrade-behrooz-navaii.html

LINK TO SHURESH SITE IN ENGLISH
http://www.shouresh-iran.com/search/label/English

Greece a People Betrayed by Tariq Ali

Democracy and Class Struggle says the analysis of Tariq Ali is good but his resignation to defeat is bad - defeat requires implementation of agreement - resistance has only just began.

The Communist Party of Greece ( Marxist Leninist) says

"The people must fight against disappointment, fatalism, and fear and organize their forces and resistance, everywhere"

Democracy and Class Struggle agrees with comrades of Communist Party of Greece (Marxist Leninist) and applaud their leadership in struggle.

VISIT SITE OF KKE ML HERE :
http://www.kkeml.gr/

Greece: Songs of Resistance and People's War - Songs to renew the spirit of Struggle for Greek National and Social Liberation

SEE ALSO: 

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/greece-majority-of-syrizas-central.html

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/greece-13th-july-statement-from.html

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/statement-from-koe-communist.html

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/greece-there-is-great-disorder-under.html

GREECE: THE MAJORITY OF SYRIZA'S CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS REJECT THE AGREEMENT!

ATHENS NOW: AN EXPLOSIVE SITUATION!
MASS RALLY THIS EVENING IN FRONT OF THE PARLIAMENT!
THE MAJORITY OF SYRIZA'S CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS REJECT THE AGREEMENT!

1. The discussion in Parliament on the agreement has started and the vote is expected for late this evening. Tsipras has declared in his interview to the public broadcast yesterday that the agreement was bad, that he "didn't believe in it" but, basically that there was no other solution. He also said that he was not going to jump out of the boat.

2. A strike against the agreement was announced today by the confederation of civil servants ADEDY. This is the first test on the social front. The participation in the strike seems rather low but the real peak is this evening's gathering in front of the Parliament, when the vote will happen. 

3. An impressive wave of statements are issued by Syriza's local and regional branches rejecting the agreement and calling the leadership to withdraw it even at the last moment. These statements are vote by overwhelming majorities and usually near-unanimously. 

A text rejecting the agreement has already been signed by an absolute majority of central committe members . 

In the last meeting of the political secretariat of the party only a small minority were in favour of the agreement and for supporting the government. Euclid Tsakalotos who reported on the agreement said that it wasn't politically sustainable. 

The secretary of the party, Tassos Koronakis, supported by others, asked for the government to resign and a "special task" government to be constituted as a transition to snap elections in November, at the time of elections in Spain. 

The Left Platform disagreed with this proposal explaining that this would mean that Syriza MPs would condone a for months technocratic cabinet applying austerity and called the government to withdraw the agreement immediately.

4. The Left Platform annnounced that it will not vote the agreement today. 

In an internal meeting, impressively attented yesterday and widely reported by the media (journalists came en masse although it was made clear that they were not welcome...), Panagiotis Lafazanis categorically rejected the agreement, explained that Grexit was the only solution and that the government should prepare it. 

The LP will hold a public meeting next Monday in Athens to present its alternative proposal and called for the Grexit. The trade-union sector of the party, overwhelmingly controlled by the LP, is playing a leading role in organizing protests againts the agreement. 

Athens, July 15, 2 pm.

SOURCE : REPORT FROM STATHIS KOUVELAKIS ON FACEBOOK

 

 

SEE ALSO :   http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/greece-there-is-great-disorder-under.html

Greece: 13th July Statement from Communist Party of Greece (Marxist Leninist) - Down with the new anti-people agreement and the continuation of barbarity!

These comrades are showing leadership even if we have disagreement with their line in the past - they speak to the need of the hour - Democracy and Class Struggle offers a Red Salute to KKE ML comrades.

A week ago the SYRIZA-ANEL government asked the people to say “no” at the troika proposals and the “recessional policies” that the so called institutions wanted to implement. Today, and after a resounding “no” by the people, they cosign an antipopular agreement much worse than the rejected proposal, a new memorandum that extends and deepens the barbarous policy of austerity, unemployment, overtaxing, and of labor and social middle-ages.

This is not just a contradiction, but the culmination of the erratic and adventurist policy of SYRIZA, the end of the self-illusions about the possibility of a so-called “pro-people policy” and a so-called “alternative course” inside the imperialist wolf-pack of the EU.

This marks the end for the dead-ends of a policy that has hidden and still hides the true, barbaric nature of imperialism and the true role of imperialist alliances like the EU and NATO. This is a policy which on the one hand was subjugated under the Western imperialist yoke and on the other assumed that could exploit imperialist contradictions and play with them by throwing glances East-side.

This new antipopular and antilabor agreement is living proof of the complete failure of this policy and of the collapse of the illusions about the negotiation margins with the imperialist hawks.

It will follow now a new round of a barbaric assault against popular and labor rights. This time this assault will be in the name of “national consensus” and with the support of the whole bourgeois swarm (old and new), of all the political forces that had promoted this barbaric policy for five years now.

This SYRIZA policy “managed” also to legalize and bring forth again all those political forces that had caused the people's wrath and rage and had led to long and tough struggles during the years 2010-2012.

The burden of resistance against the new round of barbarity and the overthrow of this agreement falls again on the shoulders of the working class, the toilers, the unemployed, the pensioners and the youth. This will be done through the launching of new resistances in the direction of building a broad Resistance Front for the defense of popular rights.

It is clear that we also have to fight against the new illusions that have already started to spread by Tsipras and his leading SYRIZA group. His comments about “financial stability”, “possibilities for recovery”, “debt restructuring” and “assured funding” are just lies similar to those accompanying the first two memorandums. Even his assurance that “Grexit is in the past” is nothing but wishful thinking.

The people must not be fooled neither by Tsipras' attempts to sugar the pill through the so called “growth package of 35 billion” or his assurances that the burden will not fall only on the shoulders of the poor. It is clear that every penny that the imperialists will give as loan will be paid back  manifold.

SYRIZA and Tsipras appear as guarantors of social justice and popular sovereignty when at the same time they cosign an agreement that serves the imperialist interests and the interests of capital, foreign and local.

The people must not be carried away by the nagging and gabble of the left section of SYRIZA because they had also helped to disarm ideologically and entrap the people. They had contributed to the illusions about “left governance” under the imperialist yoke and capitalist domination. They still spread illusions that a policy which will “simply” leave the country inside the EU but outside the Eurozone is something possible under the imperialist-capitalist domination.

They are the same persons who in their naivete and adventurism, and as government ministers, wanted us to believe that to change imperialist protectors would change things for the better.

The CPG (m-l) calls the people to rise up against this new assault.

We must take to the streets en masse.

We must participate on the first mobilizations of 14 and 15 July 2015.

The people must fight against disappointment, fatalism, and fear and organize their forces and resistance, everywhere.

DOWN WITH THE NEW EU-IMF-GOVERNMENT AGREEMENT AND THE           PARLIAMENT ACTS THAT GO WITH IT!

DOWN WITH MEMORANDUMS OLD AND NEW!

NO WAITING, NO TOLERANCE!

WE MUST DEFEND OUR LIVES AND RIGHTS THROUGH STRUGGLE!
 

GREECE OUT OF THE EU AND NATO!

THE PEOPLES DO NOT NEED PROTECTORS!

International Bureau

Athens 13 July 2015

E Mail: info@kkeml.gr

Address: Emmanouil Benaki 43 Athens Greece

Postal Code: 10678

Statement from (KOE ) Communist Organisation of Greece - Saturday 11th July in Athens

Democracy and Class Struggle publish this information about the (KOE) Communist Organisation of Greece members of Parliament has it is one of the few public statements from KOE we have seen in recent days.

Our publication is not approval of the political line of KOE but the provision of information for comrades to make their own judgements about line questions.

Below you may read the PUBLIC statement of the 4 SYRIZA MPs of KOE in which they explain the reasons why they didn’t participate in the voting session in the Hellenic Parliament.

STATEMENT

We decided not to participate in the voting because: ·

This process is not just a negotiating mandate but it represents our commitment to a Third Memorandum, drawn up on demand of the Troika.

This decision will plunge the country into greater deadlocks. ·

We marched for years in the path of the anti-memorandum movement, we committed ourselves in positions and programs that clearly aimed at solving peoples’ problems.

Our aim was their liberation from the suffocating neoliberal surveillance programs, which made people poorer, which bargained away public wealth, which demolished any collective conquest.

We fought to stop the transformation of our country to a debt colony and to a protectorate. ·

Just few days after the resounding 'NO' that Greek people voted in the referendum, we cannot approve, as a basis for discussion with the lenders, the same issues that our people rejected despite the unprecedented conditions of blackmail.

An agreement that, in its outcome (after the negotiation procedures end) will probably be even more burdensome. Moreover we are being asked to approve a package of measures with fast track procedures that directly refer to the practices of previous governments. ·

It is unacceptable that a Left Wing Government loads on its shoulders a Third Memorandum, to implement policies and measures that even the most purebred pro-Memoranda political forces struggled to avoid.

With this plan, many projects and hopes will be canceled. Furthermore it becomes obvious that this plan ignores all the wishes and aspirations of the Greek people. ·

Despite the huge support it received from the people, the Greek government has made strategic mistakes.

Its illusions led to a dead end, which left the country with two painful choices/alternatives: a Third Memorandum or a ”Grexit”, but without any preparation of the people.

All our warnings raised after February 20th were ignored. · Citizens do not want the old political system to return. However, such an agreement does not stabilize the government but brings it into direct conflict with the masses and all the movements developed in the past. ·

To the extent that the government will follow such a hopeless and unpopular policy -and if there are no other political developments- it should be assumed that we cannot, as MPs of SYRIZA, support this course.

We were elected with a program, we are committed to the people to promote an anti-memorandum policy, and we consider that Politics and Morality should meet again. ·

Our choice not to participate in tonight's vote signifies our opposition to the procedure followed, and mainly states in the clearest way the need for a total change of direction.

The fight for a political, economic and social way out goes on, thanks to the large reserves of courage of our people. Athens, Saturday 11 July 2015, 04:00 AM

Vassilis Chatzilamprou, MP of SYRIZA for Achaia Dimitris Kodelas, MP of SYRIZA for Argolida Vassilis Kyriakakis, MP of SYRIZA for Fthiotida Eleni Sotiriou, MP of SYRIZA for Attica

Further information study KOE newspaper:
http://edromos.gr/

See also: http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/greece-there-is-great-disorder-under.html

Greece: There is Great Disorder under Heaven - The Situation is Excellent : Statement from Democracy and Class Struggle

Democracy and Class Struggle says in Greece a last minute agreement has just been reached among the European Union bourgeoisie with Greek bourgeoisie  - cuts to pensions. reform of labour market  etc etc

This should come as no surprise, much of it was it the Tsipras letter of the 30th of June before the Referendum.

Democracy and Class Struggle called for the immediate resignation of Tsipras when that letter became public.

However this is an agreement among the bourgeoisie and an not an agreement  among the people.

Tsipras represents the classic social democratic parliamentary betrayal of the masses which historically has led to  growth of Fascism. Varoufakis exited becuase he did not want to be like German Social Democrat betrayer Hilferding in Greek History.

Syriza was already split before this agreement - now is the time for a formal break of revolutionaries within Syriza like the Communist Organisation of Greece to leave  - any failure to leave and exercise revolutionary leadership at this time will be fatal to revolutionary Left in Greece for another generation.

Has comrade Mao said There is great disorder under the heavens and the masses are looking for revolutionary leadership - those comrades in KOE in CPG ML and other Maoist comrades in Greece have an historic opportunity to offer leadership to the Greek Masses and prevent another historic social democratic betrayal with its terrible consequences.

The agreement with European Union may be signed but has not yet been realised in Greece.

The situation is excellent comrades seize the time and provide the Greek masses with a revolutionary leadership not based on bourgeois parliamentarism but the New direct Democracy of the Greek Squares.

Statement from Democracy and Class Struggle isssued 13th July 2015

See Also: http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/statement-from-koe-communist.html

Restricted service until 12th July

Stathis Kouvelakis: "Europe has declared war on Greece" interviewed by Sarah Halifa-Legrand

 

Stathis Kouvelakis, Syriza central committee member and Professor of political philosophy at King’s College London, argues that the Greek crisis marks the end of the illusion of a democratic Europe. "There have been no negotiations", he says. "That term isn’t adequate for describing what has happened."



Why has the Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras finally called a referendum?

Even as Tsipras signed the latest set of Greek proposals, the European institutions remained determined to subject him to a genuine humiliation exercise, demanding that he go still further, beyond what he could handle politically: it had become clear that his own party, his parliamentary majority and even a growing part of society were not ready to accept any more concessions.

How have we reached this point, after five months of negotiations?

There have been no negotiations. That term isn’t adequate for describing what has happened. The European institutions have maintained the same line since the beginning: namely, that of imposing an austerity plan on the new Greek government, forcing it to remain within a framework identical to that of its predecessors and thus showing that electoral contests in Europe can have no effect on what policies are followed, a fortiori when it is an anti-austerity party of the radical Left that wins them. What we call the negotiations were merely a deadly trap – one that has closed in on Tsipras. His error was not to have understood this in time. He thought that if he pushed the discussions as far as possible, the Europeans would ultimately decide on compromise rather than take the risk of a rupture. But they have not conceded anything, while he has given up a lot over the last five months: he has made enormous concessions, public opinion has got used to the idea that an agreement was possible, and the public coffers are empty.

Did Tsipras not also make a mistake in thinking that he could achieve less austerity even while remaining in the Eurozone?

I am part of the tendency within Syriza that has believed from the outset that wanting to reconcile a rejection of austerity with staying in the euro is a contradiction.

And with the ECB deciding to cut off the Greek banks’ main means of financing in February, we saw that it was not indeed possible. The currency weapon has served as a means of pressure on the Greek government in order to force it to renounce its anti-austerity policy. The most recent episode in this blackmail was the Eurogroup compelling Tsipras to close the banks for the whole week, by refusing to extend the current programme. The goal is a clearly political one: by taking the Greeks hostage and creating a situation of panic, particularly among the middle classes and the wealthy, they are attempting either to force the government not to go as far as staging the referendum, or else to dictate the conditions in which it takes place and help the "Yes" camp. Europe has declared war on Greece.

Greek society seems very divided…

Yes, two tendencies are now clashing. The "no" camp is based on a whole part of the population that is already very heavily affected by austerity, and which perceives the Troika’s new demands as an attempt to humiliate Greece. But the "yes: camp, strengthened by the fear provoked by the banks closing, is also putting together its forces. There can be no doubt that this referendum is a very brave political act. That’s something that we have forgotten, as politics has been run down all over Europe: that important political decisions are always risky ones.

What are the possible scenarios for after the referendum?

A victory for "yes" would be a major defeat for Tsipras, and it would doubtless force him to organise fresh elections. Conversely, a victory for "no" would strengthen his determination faced with the European institutions, giving him a mandate different from that of the 25 January general election: it would now be a matter of breaking with austerity whatever the consequences – including if that meant leaving the European framework. When he announced that the referendum was going to be held, it was the first time that the word "euro" didn’t appear at all in his speech. That’s no chance thing.

Is this Europe’s death certificate?The whole way that the Greek crisis has played out marks the end of a certain idea, or rather, a certain illusion of Europe. Everyone can see its anti-democratic character, which respects only the law of the strongest, as well as its neoliberalism, with its disdain for any form of democratic control. Everyone has been able to see that even though Syriza sought only a partial, moderate, pragmatic rupture with austerity policies, without challenging the fundamentals of the European framework, the clash has been an ultra-violent one. Simply because this government was not ready to capitulate to the neoliberal diktats. Even if the European Union manages to defeat the Greeks’ resistance, it will, I believe, pay a very heavy price for its attitude. Greece is just the most advanced point of the European crisis: the EU’s project has less and less support among public opinion across the continent.

Interview by Sarah Halifa-Legrand for Le Nouvel Observateur; translated by David Broder.

Source: http://www.versobooks.com/blogs/2082-stathis-kouvelakis-europe-has-declared-war-on-greece