The Unbearable Truth behind the 2004 Athens Olympics

SPECIAL TO IN DEFENSE OF COMMUNISM.

Twelve years have passed since the glamorous and much celebrated XXVIII Olympiad in Athens. For more than a decade hundreds of articles have been written about the 2004 Olympics' cost- an immense total cost of billion euros- as well as about the abandonded venues. 

However, before going to these issues, we will refer to what we regard as the most significant issue: the cost in human lives. A cost which cannot be counted in euros or olympic medals. At least 13 workers were killed ("work accidents") during the construction works of the Olympic venues. 

Rio Olympic Games- A celebration for the capitalist elites and multinational corporations, not for the people

COMMENTARY:

These days, the beautiful city of Rio De Janeiro is divided by a wall- on one side are the new, luxurious Olympic venues which are ready to host athletes from all over the world; on the other side, there is a complex of multiple favelas where poverty, misery and gangs dominate. This divided face of Rio mirrors the immense class-based inequalities in Brazil; a capitalist country of over 200 million people which is the world's ninth largest economy by nominal GDP. 

More than 20% of Brazil's population lives below poverty line and less than 2 million brazilians (1% of the total population) owns 13% of the total household income. According to Forbes, the 15 richest families in Brazil are worth an estimated $122 billion- that means approximately 5% of the country's GDP. This is the social and economic framework of the country which hosts the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. 

Erdogan vs Coup: The two sides of the same coin

COMMENTARY.

By Nikos Mottas.

It is certainly too early in order to draw solid conclusions about the attempted military coup in Turkey. The developments and the information we receive are rapid and continuous. Numerous questions arise: Who was really behind the attempted Coup? What were the real motives of this action? How will Tayip Erdogan and his government respond in the next few days? However, what is sure is the framework within which the developments in Turkey are taking place: It is a framework of inter-bourgeois contradictions which reflect a sharp rivalry between different parts of the Turkish Capital.

The attempted military coup- as well as the almost immediate response from Erdogan and AKP supporters- reflect a situation of internal war within Turkey's bourgeoisie. Taking into account the significant geostrategic role of Turkey in the region, we can understand that this intra-bourgeois, intra-capitalist war consists part of broader inter-imperialist contradictions in the Middle East.

The situation in Turkey cannot be explained on the basis of the- nevertheless existing- political rivalry between pro-Islamists (Erdogan) and Kemalist forces; It is a deeper and much more complicated situation. The internal political turmoil in Turkey is interdependent with the imperialist activity in the region- with the ongoing war in Syria and the relations of the Turkish government with foreign powers such as the US, NATO, Russia, the EU, ISIS etc.

Black Lives Matter- but, not in Capitalism

COMMENTARY:

The recent murder of 37-year old African American Alton Sterling by police in Louisiana is another tragic episode in the long chain of racist crimes in the U.S. The United States of America- the metropolis of Capitalism- has a devastating tradition of racial discrimination. A tradition of human chattel slavery back in the 18^th and 19^th century, of lynchings and mob violence against African-Americans, of racial segregation and discrimination against black people in the post WW2 decades.

Racism is an inseparable element of the capitalist exploitative system; it is in the very nature of Capitalism to produce, promote and feed racism. After all, the exploitation of the working class by the capitalists becomes easier and more effective when there are divisions among workers. For that, racism consists a valuable tool of the capitalist establishment in creating disunity within workers. What is best for the exploitative system rather than a splitted working class, filled with racist poison?

Writing for TIME magazine, after the murder of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, the former basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was correctly pointing out: “And, unless we want the Ferguson atrocity to also be swallowed and become nothing more than an intestinal irritant to history, we have to address the situation not just as another act of systemic racism, but as what else it is: class warfare” (TIME, 17 Aug. 2014).

One year since the Greek bailout referendum: KKE's position has been fully vindicated

One year since the Greek Bailout Referendum: KKE's position has been fully vindicated.

By Nikos Mottas.

5/7/2016.

It's been a year since the bailout referendum was held in Greece. The whole story surrounding the referendum, as well as what followed the referendum result, consists a major episode in a series of deceptions created by the Tsipras' coalition government. The referendum's question was whether the Greek people agreed or not with the bailout conditions proposed by the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank [1]. The outcome was a triumph of the “No” vote with 61.31%, while a 38.69% of the voters choosed the “Yes” choice.

However, the referendum itself was proved a political fraud. The SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government- and Prime Minister Tsipras personally- openly advocated in favor of the “No” vote. Thousands of “No” supporters gathered in mass demonstrations, while the country lived a short but intense polarised period, trapped between the “No vs Yes” dilemma. A fake and illusive dilemma, which had nothing to do with the real interests of the working masses who, once again, found themselves entrapped in bourgeois political antagonism.

Greece’s biggest supermarket chain files for bankruptcy leaving 12,000 employees in uncertainty

The Marinopoulos supermarket chain, one of the biggest in Greece, applied for Bankruptcy in Operation.  An Athens court will discuss the request on July 1st, 2016 and until then the company will have protection from its creditors. 

The move is considered a big blow with a possible domino effect threatening to send 11,000- 13,000 people to unemployment. The Company with 700 stores across the country is said to owe 500 million euro to some 2,500-3,000 suppliers, while the debts to the state and social security funds are over 40 million euro.

The employers did not give any information to the unions, who have organized protests outside the supermarkets and the offices of the chain, all over Greece to protect the employees’ job positions.

Capitalist Crisis: Austerity and poverty for the people, profits for Greek shipping giants

This is Capitalism- For the vast majority of the Greek people the capitalist economic crisis of the last 7 years means harsh austerity, cutbacks in wages and pensions, mass lay-offs, destruction of the small businesses and new taxes for the low-income families. But for the Greek shipping companies- a dominant power in international maritime industry- the crisis is an opportunity for more profits.

Greek shipping giants are more powerful than ever and the value of the Greek merchant fleet is approximately $90,000,000,000 (90 billion) says the report of German "Die Welt". The Greek shipping industry is by far the most powerful, taking into account that the respective shipping industry of Germany (the 4th largest merchant fleet globally) has a value of $42 billion- less than half of the Greek one.

#Brexit triumphed, but Capitalism is still here

COMMENTARY:

With 52% over 48%, the voters in Britain decided in favor of a Brexit in yesterday's EU referendum. The Communists of Britain who stood against the EU and the mainstream media propaganda deserve our congratulations for their stance and struggle. A significant proportion of Britain's working class- the class which has been largely affected by the antiworker, antipeople EU policies- voted in favor of 'Leave'. However, the triumph of Brexit does not change the capitalist framework of the country: the power remains in the hands of the bourgeoisie, the monopolies continue being the dominant force of British economy, the working class remains under capitalist exploitation. 

Britain's working class must have no illusions whatsoever: Unemployment, zero-hour contracts, layoffs, cuts in wages and social services will continue. The country, as a powerful imperialist member-state of NATO, will continue paying huge amounts in defense budget and participating in criminal, imperialist interventions.

SYRIZA and New Democracy remain loyal to the interests of Greek industrialists

Both Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis addressed the annual meeting of the Federation of Greek Industries (SEV), assuring the Capitalists about their commitment to the anti-worker, anti-people policy. PM and SYRIZA leader Tsipras invited the industrialists in a "fruitful and constructive dialogue" ahead of the second evaluation of the 3rd memorandum which, among other things, includes collective redundancies and a new law that will restrict the right of the labour unions to decide mass strikes.

Mexico: Massive strike against anti-people reforms imposed by the Peña Nieto government

Source: Telesur.

Doctors' leaders have condemned the killing of at least eight people during a teacher’s protest last Sunday in the state of Oaxaca.

As protests led by the militant CNTE teachers' union in Mexico continue, the country's doctors are set to join in the job action, calling for a national strike on June 22 to protest a neoliberal reform to the health system imposed by President Enrique Peña Nieto.

The group #YoSoyMedico17, which is comprised of doctors, pediatricians, surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses, has been joined by more than 200,000 physicians from 32 states in opposing the so-called Universal Health System reform by Peña Nieto. The medical professionals say the measure is a "disguised way of privatizing health in Mexico," and said doctors were not consulted on the reform, according to Animal Politico.

The European Union and the crisis of capitalism-lessons from Greece

Source: inter.kke.gr.

On the 14/06/2016, The Workers Party of Ireland held an event in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on the topic:  «The European Union and the crisis of capitalism-lessons from Greece. A delegation of the KKE headed by Elisseos Vagenas, member of the CC and Responsible for the International Relations Section of the CC of the KKE had been invited to speak at the event. Below you can find his introductory intervention at the event.

Dear comrades and friends,

We are very pleased to be here today with you in Northern Ireland, at the invitation of the Workers’ Party of Ireland, in order to discuss the situation and developments in Greece, as well as the conclusions that the workers can draw from them.

PM Tsipras praises Greek Shipowners, SYRIZA's love-affair with the big Capital goes on

In Defense of Communism, with info from 902.gr.

The Greek shipping industry is a global power in the maritime sector. In 2015, the Greek Merchant Navy controlled the world's largest merchant fleet in terms of tonnage. Shipowners from Greece epitomize the power of the Greek bourgeoisie- according to a 1975 law, they have at least 70 tax breaks (!), while their fortunes are estimated in billions of dollars. 

The Greek Prime Minister- and SYRIZA's leader- Alexis Tsipras choosed the Maritime exhibition "Posidonia 2016" in order to express his strong will to serve the interests of the shipping industry. Addressing the event in Athens, Tsipras called the ship-owning billionaires to "trust the government" and praised the Greek shipping capital for it's "plan" and "vision". In his effort to convince the shipping giants that his government is an ally of the bourgeois-class, Alexis Tsipras said: "We feel the need to convince the Greek shipowners to trust us as far as we try to reform the Greek economy".

What the Capitalist Economic Crisis in Greece has taught us

By Nikos Mottas.

It was six years ago, on May 2010, when the then Prime Minister George Papandreou, in a televised message from the picturesque island of Kastelorizo, was announcing Greece's entry to the support mechanism of the IMF and the EU – the 'memorandum phase'. The economic crisis in Greece had manifested itself a year earlier, in 2009, when it entered in a phase of rapid recession, following the outbreak of global financial crisis in 2007-2008. Today, after four bourgeois governments (Papandreou, Papademos, Samaras, Tsipras) and three memorandums of harsh austerity packages, we can draw some significant conslusions. What did the Capitalist Economic Crisis in Greece teach us?

1. The Source of the Crisis.

Contrary to various bourgeois interpretations and theories of the economic crisis (over-consumption, casino-capitalism, etc.), there is one clear, scientifically proven, reality: Capitalism itself contains in it's DNA the inevitability of crises. Capitalist production, with it's contradictory character and anarchy, contains the seed of such crises. In Capitalist economy lies the motive to push capitalist reproduction to extremes levels, to accumulate immense profits, thus giving a monetary speculative form to the appropriation of surplus value from the working class labour. The devaluation of capital (either commercial or financial) and the devaluation of labour power (as a commodity), has occurred repeatedly in the past and will certainly occur in the future for as long as the exploitative system called 'Capitalism' exists.

Brexit: Why workers in Britain should vote to leave the EU

Why British workers need a Brexit.

Source: Proletarian (CP of Great Britain, Marxist-Leninist), 

Issue 71, April 2016. 

Leaving the EU would undoubtedly weaken the ability of British, European and even US imperialists to dominate the globe, thus taking our struggle for socialism one small step forward.

“From the standpoint of the economic conditions of imperialism – ie, the export of capital and the division of the world by the ‘advanced’ and ‘civilised’ colonial powers – a United States of Europe, under capitalism, is either impossible or reactionary ...

“Of course, temporary agreements are possible between capitalists and between states. In this sense a United States of Europe is possible as an agreement between the European capitalists ... but to what end? Only for the purpose of jointly suppressing socialism in Europe ... On the present economic basis, ie, under capitalism, a United States of Europe would signify an organisation of reaction.” (On the slogan for a United States of Europe by VI Lenin, 23 August 1915).

On the developments in Brazil - The dilemmas of bourgeois management and the necessity of the anti-capitalist struggle

The people must disentangle themselves from the dilemmas of bourgeois management.

Source: Rizospastis, 22/5/2016 / Reproduced from inter.kke.gr.

The developments in Brazil, the escalation of the political crisis have been at the centre of attention internationally.

This is not strange, as we are talking about the 7th largest economy in the world, the 5th largest country in terms of area and population, and the largest country in the planet's southern hemisphere. A country that in previous years witnessed high levels of capitalist growth, indeed in 2011 it replaced Britain as being the world's 6th largest economy.

It plays a significant role in the framework of the BRICS alliance (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) as well as in important inter-state capitalist unions (.e.g.Celac, Mercosur/Unasur) that are being promoted in the American continent. We should also bear in mind that since 2004, i.e. in the period of the "progressive" governments, it has been the head of the military intervention in Haiti, which is being carried out under the mantle of the UN.

KKE: The anti-people work of the government has been acknowledged and approved via the Eurogroup agreement

Communist Party of Greece: Statement of the Press Office of the KKE on the Eurogroup Agreement, 25.5.2016 / Source: inter.kke.gr.

The anti-people work of the government has been acknowledged and approved via the Eurogroup agreement on the completion of the assessment.The agreement confirms that the downward spiral is endless, as each tranche installment has new anti-people measures as its precondition. Similarly, any "lightening" of the debt, which was not created by the people, will be accompanied by a new raft of measures in the various phases of its discussion, regardless of how the competition between the IMF and sections of the bourgeois classes of the EU will be expressed and regardless of what its result will be.

The lies of the SYRIZA-ANEL coalition will unravel quickly, as the laws that have just been passed are not the last difficult measures, as the government officials pretended in the previous period.

KKE: "The SYRIZA-ANEL government is purposely serving the most brutal Capitalism"

Thanasis Pafilis, KKE MP.

Addressing the Greek Parliament on Saturday, KKE's parliamentary representative Thanasis Pafilis underlined that the reality itselt vindicates what the Communist Party was openly saying to people. He pointed out that the government, the opposition party of New Democracy and the other bourgeois parties serve the common strategy of the EU; a strategy that aims to please the demands of the Capital.

MP Pafilis unleashed an attack against Tsipras' coalition government underlining that the government follows a predicable course as long as it follows the wild capitalist system with it's iron laws. "You say that you save the most brutal Capitalism in order to move to Socialism [...] You made your choice. The fight is about who is going to have the upper hand" Pafilis said and added: "You are in the road of capitalist development, in the road of social injustice, the road of poverty of the people and new profits for the big capital and we are along with the people, in the road of the (system's) overthrow. Because, finally, as it was proved in the past and is also proved now, the social systems doesn't change from within. They change and overturned from peoples' struggle and social revolutions".

Turmoil in France: Hollande's social-democratic government fiercely attacks workers' rights

Do it like Tsipras! The social-democratic government of Francois Hollande has unleashed a horrific attack against working class rights with it's anti-labour 'El-Khomri' law.

220,000 French workers have blocked roadways, burned police cars, and violently rioted in opposition to measures that limit pay and expand poor working conditions.

On Tuesday, French transportation workers took to the streets in a wave of weeklong strikes and protests in opposition to new Brussels-backed 'labor reforms' forced through by executive decree last week, without parliamentary approval.

€600,000 for Hitler's political descendants: How the EU funds Neo-Nazi Parties

Here's another prove of how Imperialist institutions, instruments of the European bourgeoise, promote fascism and nazism. We republish here an article appeared on EurActiv (27 April 2016) which reveals that the EU gave 600,000 euros to the so-called 'Alliance for Peace and Freedom' (AFP)- member of which is the prosecuted for criminal activities Greek Neo-Nazi party of 'Golden Dawn'.

European Parliament funding of neo-Nazi conference rings alarm bells.

 By Daniel Mützel.

The far-right Alliance for Peace and Freedom (APF) party has received EU-funding to the tune of €600,000, highlighting the ease with which neo-fascist groups have access to European Parliament financing. EurActiv Germany reports.

“It is a terrible and disturbing state of affairs that we are helping to finance such activities,” Swedish MEP Marita Ulvskog told EurActiv.de, in relation to a financing scandal uncovered by the Expo Foundation. Expo, a Swedish anti-racism magazine, reported that the Parliament had granted €400,000 to a foundation linked to the APF and a further €197,625 in funding that will be used to organise a neo-Nazi meeting in Stockholm this summer.

Capitalists' terrorism against strikers in Greece- Reaction by Labor Unions

In Defense of Communism © Report.

Info from 902.gr.

On the occasion of the 48-hour General Strike against the anti-people law of the SYRIZA-ANEL government, major employers in Greece have tried to terrorize workers by using any possible means. In a statement issued on Friday (first day of the strike), PAME condemns the "employers terrorism and the repression orgy against the nationwide strike". In Athens, dozens of striking builders were persecuted and brought to the police, while Greek shipowners tried to terrorize dockworkers in Piraeus and the port of Volos. 

PAME points out: "We demand from the government to release now all the trade unionists and to stop the environment of terror. Terrorism will not pass. Everyone in the Strike. Everyone in the struggle. Everyone in the demonstrations".