On the 150th anniversary of the birth of V I Lenin

 Joint Statement of Communist and Workers' Parties

We honour the great revolutionary leader V.I. Lenin, we are committed to continuing his work!

The Communist and Workers' Parties, which co-sign this Joint Statement, would like also in this way to honor a great revolutionary and theorist of scientific socialism, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, as April 22 marks the 150^th anniversary of his birth.
 Especially in the current conditions, and while the pandemic of CoVID-19 is spreading, tragically demonstrating the great shortages of health systems in capitalist countries as well as the anti-social and parasitic nature of the capitalist system, in the face of the new crisis, the burdens of which will be again put on the workers' shoulders, the aggressive nature of capitalism and the escalation of imperialist competitions, which pose new dangers to peace and peoples, we feel an even greater need to refer to the historical physiognomy of V.I. Lenin. A personality that dedicated his life to the cause of the working class and other popular strata, to the struggle for the abolition of exploitation and the construction of the socialist society.

We honour V.I. Lenin as the founder of the contemporary working-class party, the "party of a new type", which was firmly separated from the opportunism and apostasy of the old social-democratic parties. Such was the Bolshevik Party, which was at the forefront of the class struggle of the proletariat and the other oppressed strata of Russia. Lenin's party led Russia's working class to victory by overthrowing the exploiting classes and establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat, the workers' and peasants' government, in the service of the interests of the many, the exploited and the oppressed. V.I. Lenin defined and substantiated the leading role of the Communist Party, not only in establishing workers' power but also in constructing socialism.

We honour V.I. Lenin as the theorist who, taking into account the particular reality, further developed the constituent parts of Marxism, i.e. philosophy, political economy, and scientific communism. As an opponent of any opportunistic and revisionist distortion of revolutionary theory and practice, dogmatism, sectarianism, and parliamentary illusions, without denying the intervention through the parliament.
His works, such as What the friends of the people are and how they fight the Social-Democrats, The Development of Capitalism in Russia, What Is to Be Done, Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution, Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, Marxism and Revisionism, The Collapse of the Second International, Socialism and War, On the Slogan for the United States of Europe, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, The State and Revolution, The April Theses, Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder, The Immediate Tasks of the Soviet Government, and The Great Initiative are milestones in the propagation and development of Marxism and revolutionary struggle. Lenin's valuable theoretical work is still timely and serves as a beacon for the ideological-political education and action of every new generation of revolutionaries.

We honour V.I. Lenin as the leader of the Great October Socialist Revolution, which about a century ago shook the world. The victorious revolution illuminated the power of the class struggle, the power of the exploited and the oppressed -when they take the case of their interests into their own hands and turn the wheel of history forward- in the direction of social liberation. The October flame led and accelerated the establishment of a number of Communist and revolutionary Workers' parties. Lenin had an insightful strategic ability and skillfully handled alliances, abilities that he devoted to the cause of the socialist revolution.

We honour V.I. Lenin as the leader of the world's first socialist state, which for the first time established workers' power based on new revolutionary institutions, such as the Soviets, sought the economic functioning of society on a new basis, the basis of the satisfaction of contemporary people's needs and the multi-faceted free development of all people, not the profitability of the few. The USSR, the first socialist state in the world, which was realized with the special contribution of V.I. Lenin, brought to the fore new unprecedented economic, social, political, and cultural achievements for the working class and the wider popular strata that had a profound effect on historical progressive developments around the world. It was a support to the peoples in the struggle for socialism and peace.

We honour V.I. Lenin as the great internationalist, the leader who raised the flag of proletarian internationalism against the treacherous attitude of the Second International during the imperialist World War I, opposed bourgeois nationalism and other bourgeois views such as the cosmopolitanism of the capital, and led the establishment of the Third Communist International, which made a major contribution to the international labor and communist movement and today is a basic source for drawing useful lessons from the experience it accumulated through its action. Lenin's positions on colonialism led the Communists to understand the issue of colonies and inspired them to lead the anti-colonial struggles, both in colonial countries and colonies.

We honour V.I. Lenin as the tireless and consistent opponent of the imperialist war, the defender of peoples' struggle for national and social liberation, social justice, peace, and socialism.
The counter-revolution and capitalist restoration cannot conceal the achievements of Socialism. The disasters and injustice we are experiencing, the acute problems and the suffering of the working class, the small-middle strata, the peasantry and the peoples overall caused by capitalist exploitation and oppression, emphasize the necessity and timeliness of socialism all over the world.
The Communist and Workers' Parties denounce the wave of silence as well as the reactionary and anti-communist distortion that has been unleashed around the world by the political forces that serve the interests of the capital against V.I. Lenin to the workers and the youth. We struggle for the continuation of his work, we are committed to continue defending and propagating his legacy and we call on the workers and the people to learn from it.

22/04/2020

SolidNet Parties signing the Joint Statement

1. Communist Party of Albania
2. PADS, Algeria
3. Communist Party of Argentina
4. Communist Party of Armenia
5. Communist Party of Australia
6. Party of Labour of Austria
7. Communist Party of Azerbaijan
8. Democratic Progressive Tribune of Bahrain
9. Communist Party of Bangladesh
10. Communist Party of Belarus
11. Communist Party of Belgium
12. Brazilian Communist Party
13. CP of Brazil
14. Communist Party of Britain
15. New Communist Party of Britain
16. Communist Party of Bulgaria
17. Party of Bulgarian Communists
18. Communist Party of Canada
19. Communist Party of Chile
20. Socialist Workers' Party of Croatia
21. AKEL, Cyprus
22. Communist Party of Bohemia-Moravia
23. Communist Party of Denmark
24. Communist Party in Denmark
25. Force of the Revolution, Dominican Republic
26. Communist Party Ecuador
27. Egyptian CP
28. Communist Party of El Salvador
29. Communist Party of Finland
30. United Communist Party of Georgia
31. German Communist Party
32. Communist Party of Greece
33. Hungarian Workers Party
34. Communist Party of India
35. Communist Party of India (Marxist)
36. Communist Party of Kurdistan – Iraq
37. Tudeh Party of Iran
38. Workers' Party of Ireland
39. Communist Party of Ireland
40. Communist Party of Israel
41. Communist Party, Italy
42. Italian Communist Party
43. Jordanian Communist Party
44. Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan
45. Workers' Party of Korea
46. Party of the Communists of Kyrgyzstan
47. Lebanese Communist Party
48. Socialist Party of Latvia
49. Socialist Party, Lithuania
50. Communist Party of Luxembourg
51. Communist Party of Malta
52. Communist Party of Mexico
53. Popular Socialist Party- National Political Association, Mexico
54. Communist Party of Norway
55. New Communist Party of the Netherlands
56. Communist Party of Pakistan
57. Palestinian Communist Party
58. Palestinian People's Party
59. Paraguayan Communist Party
60. Peruan Communist Party
61. Communist Party of Poland
62. Portuguese Communist Party
63. Philippine Communist Party (PKP-1930)
64. Communist Party of Ukraine
65. Union of Communists of Ukraine
66. Communist Party of the Russian Federation
67. Communist Workers' Party of Russia
68. Communist Party of the Soviet Union
69. Union of Communist Parties - CPSU
70. New Communist Party of Yugoslavia
71. Communists of Serbia
72. Communist Party of Slovakia
73. South African Communist Party
74. Communist Party of Spain
75. Communist Party of the Workers of Spain
76. Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain
77. Communists of Catalonia
78. Communist Party of Sri Lanka
79. Communist Party of Swaziland
80. Communist Party of Sweden
81. Sudanese Communist Party
82. Syrian Communist Party
83. Communist Party of Turkey
84. Communist Party of Venezuela

Other Parties signing the Joint Statement

1. Union of Communists in Bulgaria
2. Communist Revolutionary Party of France
3. Pole of Communist Revival in France
4. Shiso-Undo, Japan
5. Communist Party of Puerto Rico
6. JVP Sri Lanka
7. Galizan People's Union
8. Communist Party, Switzerland
9. Party of Communists, USA