First Published: In Struggle! No. 219, September 23, 1980
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Malcolm and Paul Saba
Copyright: This work is in the Public Domain under the Creative Commons Common Deed. You can freely copy, distribute and display this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit the Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line as your source, include the url to this work, and note any of the transcribers, editors & proofreaders above.
At the current time, the world is in considerable disorder. The capitalist countries, including the revisionist countries, are going through a period of profound crisis. The peoples of different regions are openly struggling against oppression and exploitation. The proletariat is resisting the measures taken by the bourgeoisie to deal with the crisis.
In this situation, which is accompanied by major political upheavals and which opens up the possibilities for revolutionary struggles as well as a real danger of war, we are forced to remark that communist forces are not playing their role of giving political leadership to the proletariat and the peoples. On the contrary, they are weak, divided, isolated and sometimes inexistant or absent from important struggles on the national and international levels. The Marxist-Leninist movement is experiencing a deep crisis. Several trends and tendencies exist within its ranks. But the lines of demarcation which divide them are often only formal.
The criteria for distinguishing Marxist-Leninists from revisionists remain the basic principles of class struggle, proletarian revolution, the dictatorship of the proletariat and proletarian internationalism.
Therefore the under-signed organizations refuse the new line of demarcation between Marxist-Leninists and revisionists which certain would like to impose on the international communist movement which is based solely on the condemnation or not of the Chinese revolution and more specifically the teachings of Mao Zedong.
Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations will become the force needed for succesful socialist revolution only if they are able to qualitatively and quantitatively raise their activities in the class struggle in their countries and to unite among themselves. The political and ideological bases for this unity should constitute a genuine victory over the different forms of revisionism, including the one based on the “three worlds theory”, and this within their own ranks as well.
The under-signed organizations and parties met to exchange their present points of view on these questions. They came to the conclusion that a deeper and broader debate is needed on the level of the entire Marxist-Leninist movement.
That is why they have become involved in the organization of a first international conference where these problems will be examined on the basis of individual and collective contributions formulated and widely circulated beforehand by the participating organizations.
The organizations which have signed this call and which respect the principles of the equality and independence of the different Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations consider that these contributions can deal with any question which an organization participating in the conference feels should be dealt with.
However, they hope that the following points will be discussed:
– class analysis of the different countries, including the U.S.S.R.;
– summation of the building of socialism and its failures;
– the weight of past errors in the international communist movement, particularly the, application of principles such as the equality of parties, democratic centralism and collective leadership in Marxist-Leninist organizations;
– the process of moving from the democratic popular stage to the socialist stage;
– the question of alliances, of work in united fronts and trade unions, and more-generally the relation between the party and the masses;
– the national question in the dominated countries and in the multinational imperialist countries.
The undersigned organizations call on the Marxist-Leninist forces in the different countries to fully participate and collaborate in this project.
The under-signed organizations invite the entire international communist movement to study, consider, and draw up documents, and to organize bilateral and multilateral meetings with the goal of deepening the ideological and political debate around all the currently important questions.
The Revolutionary Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)(L’Exploité), Belgium
The Marxist-Leninist Organization of Canada IN STRUGGLE!
The Communist Organization (Marxist-Leninist) EN AVANT PROLÉTAIRES of France
ECH-CHOOLA of Tunisia
September 13, 1980
* * *
RCP(M-L) (L’Exploité) of Belgium. Formed in 1976 following a break with the CP(M-L) of Belgium (Clarté-L’Exploité). L’Exploité has in fact existed since the late sixties. It united with Clarté in 1973 and remained united until 1976. The RCP(M-L) (L’Exploité) is particularly active in Wallony, the southern (French-speaking) part of Belgium, notably in the Charleroi region where the coal industry is dominant. It has published L’Exploité for more than a dozen years and supports the struggles and strikes of the working class in the region.
The Communist Organization (M-L) EN AVANT PROLETAIRES of France. Formed in 1977. It published a monthly organ, the newspaper Combattre, which is characterized by its continual and concrete denunciation of French imperialism. Given its limited forces, EAP defines its main work as being to implant itself in the working class in France. Its militants are active in a certain number of trade unions and popular struggles, notably in the opposition to the nuclear industry.
EN-CHOOLA of Tunisia. It began its activities with the publication of the newspaper Ech-Choola in 1973. It actively participates in the struggles of the masses to defend their unions given the dismantling of the unions by the Bourguiba dictatorship in 1978. EN-CHOOLA defines its main task as being that of building the Marxist-Leninist party in Tunisia. In the struggle to overthrow the dictatorship, it is working for the unity of the Marxist-Leninists with the patriotic and democratic forces. It publishes certain texts in French including some articles from its newspaper.