The messages and activities of the Communist Parties around the world in commemoration of the October Revolution (updated)
Russian Communist Workers' Party:
Dear comrades!
The Central Committee of the Russian Communist Workers' Party warmly congratulates all the comrades on the anniversary of the principal event in the history of the mankind, the principal feast of the working people all over the world – on the day of victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution!
99 years ago, in October 1917, our ancestors, the revolutionary workers, poor peasants, soldiers and sailors realized this historic breakthrough to the future, overthrew the hated power of the exploiters, established their own Soviet power, and began construction of a new, socialist society overcoming enormous difficulties.
The great achievements of the USSR confirmed the correctness of the chosen path of the working people, confirmed the correctness of the Marxist-Leninist theory on the inevitability of the toppling of the bourgeois dictatorship in a revolutionary way and the establishment of the proletarian dictatorship. It was the most democratic government in the world - the power of the workers themselves and for the workers. It was the most democratic and free society, where the working people were masters of their country and their lives.
The proletarian dictatorship is necessary for the victory of the working class in its struggle against the capital, for the successful construction and development of socialism as the first phase of communism, which means the complete destruction of the division of society into classes, and for ensuring full welfare, and free and all-sided development of the entire society.
Soviet experience has shown the need for the revolutionary vanguard - the party of the working class as the leading force of construction and development of a new society. Leninist proposition that there can be no revolutionary movement without a revolutionary party has been confirmed. The Leninist theory of party fully preserves its meaning in our time. This party was the party of the Bolsheviks, the party of Lenin. Under its leadership in the Soviet Union, many fundamental and exceptionally important issues, which have never been solved and cannot be solved in any capitalist country was solved. This was confirmed by the experience of the parties in the countries of socialist fraternity. Namely, the problem was solved by full employment, by providing free education and medical care, and by making use of achievements in science and culture. In the USSR, almost free housing, public services, transportation and other vital needs of everyone had been practically available. Not only the satisfaction of basic material and spiritual needs of all members of society was really ensured, but also the conditions for the comprehensive development and perfection of the individuals were created. Even the human life in any capitalist country is not as secure as it was in the socialist Soviet Union.
Soviet experience has also convincingly demonstrated that the economic basis of the realization, strengthening and development of the Soviet power as an organizational form of proletarian dictatorship is the social ownership of the means of production, systematically organized and direct social production, the purpose of which is to ensure full welfare and free all-sided development of all members of society.
25 years ago, everything changed in our country after the temporary restoration of the order of exploitation. Now in the capitalist Russia working people again work like slaves for their masters and the masters appropriate their labor, live in luxury calling themselves national elite.
Our party has long been thoroughly analyzed the causes, mistakes and the conditions under which it became possible to move away from the fundamental principles of socialist construction, the shift to market reform and, ultimately - the restoration of capitalism in our country.
Today, the bourgeoisie, trying to strengthen their domination, escalates the offensive against the working class and the entire impoverishing people. They advocate with their ideological weapon neo-liberal and social-democratic theories of social partnership and class collaboration, civil peace, blatant nationalism and clericalism in the guise of patriotism and nationality; and they obscure the description of revolutions. Revisionism and opportunism promoted and cultivated by the imperialists inside the world communist movement complete and provide this arsenal of the bourgeois methods.
But it is impossible to destroy the people’s dream for a fair and free life. Bolsheviks showed all the world how to make this dream come true. It should be clear that struggle is necessary to reach happiness. It is time to stop to endure the humiliation of the new masters and to believe the fairy tales sacked by the parasites about national unity! It's time to work hard to move forward for the victory of the new October!
What does a revolution mean in today's Russia? This means the overthrow of the brutal power of the "golden calf" - the power of the capitalists and bureaucrats. It means a return to public ownership of all the wealth plundered by the bourgeoisie. This means to reiterate the well-known "The guard is tired" and to disperse to hell all the masters, councilors and senators, mayors, prefects and governors, who smugly subjugate our entire working people. This means to return power into the hands of those, who with their work and minds will create all the material and spiritual benefits and who will establish the Soviet power.
The history does not recognize any limits on revolution. A revolution was and will be a matter of the young and spirited, because it is the rejection of the old, obsolete, impedient development. With a breakthrough to a new, higher and advanced. So in the science, technology and culture. And in the life of human society.
Nobody can stop and reverse the historical development of society. The struggle will continue. As Lenin said: "Emergence of a revolution does not depend only on us. But we will do our job, and it will never disappear."
Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours!
Congratulations, dear comrades!
We will pay tribute to this remarkable day with new efforts in the struggle!
Down with the power of capital!
Long live the socialist revolution that liberates the working people!
Forward to victory in October!
Communist Party of Bolivia (R):
LONG LIVE THE 99TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT REVOLUTION OF WORKERS, PEASANTS AND SOLDIERS!
As comrade Stalin would say, it was a revolution with an international character, with a worldwide character, because it represents a radical turn in the history of the humanity, a turn from de old world, the world of capitalism, to the new world, the world of socialism. It was the suppression of all sorts of exploitation of man by man, the suppression of each and every one of exploiting groups, the establishment of the proletariat dictatorship, the establishment of the power the most revolutionary class among all oppressed classes that have existed until today, the organization of a new society, a classless socialist society.
The triumph of the great revolution led to the destruction of the old state replacing it with a new state, which was of great importance in the world. It was the first state founded by workers, the Soviet Republic of Russia, and then the great Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which were all material products of political creation of the proletariat.
The humanity is aware of the fact that the USSR liberated and saved her from fascism, which is a dreadful monster of imperialism, principally the Yankee imperialism. The humanity is aware that only socialism, the first phase of transition to communism, can lead us to complete material and spiritual happiness of the humanity under the all-powerful ideology of the proletariat: Marxism Leninism, led by the new type of Communist Party.
Despite the restoration of capitalism, initiated by Khrushchev since the 20th Congress of the CPSU, the humanity is aware that sooner or later the revolution will come in waves of masses from the third world countries, organized and led by their Communist Parties who got rid of revisionism, because this is the tendency in this stage of crisis of the world capitalism, very much in spite of the speculations of the heterodox and the postmodern fractions, all of which are at the service of the capital and the imperialism.
We the communists of Bolivia, standing with their right fists high and singing the communist international, salute the ninety-ninth anniversary of the great socialist revolution of November 7th, 1917 (October 25th in the Russian calendar) of workers, peasants and soldiers.
LONG LIVE MARXISM LENINISM!
MASSES MAKE THE HISTORY AND THE PARTY LEADS THEM!
National Secretariat
Communist Party of Bolivia (R)
Communist Party of Russian Federation:
Speech of Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, head of the Communist Party faction in the State Duma of the Russian Federation
Dear compatriots! My comrades and friends!
I wholeheartedly congratulate you on the 99th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution!
Red October is one of those landmark achievements in the history of the world, which eventually becomes sound and significant. Today it is obvious - the further we move away from this event, the more our country is losing its social gains, whereas the light of the revolutionary October looks more convincing.
Our revolution clearly showed what working people, free of oppression, is capable of. What historical peaks in work and battle, science and technology, culture and arts people can reach when the state is doing everything to uncover its potential.
In the recent times of crisis, experience of Soviet socialism persistently knocks at our doors. The path specified by Vladimir Lenin, has not lost its relevance and correctness. I am convinced that socialism is the future of our Homeland. The peoples of Russia regain their right to free labor, a decent life, and social protection.
With a sense of particular pride, we are going to celebrate in the coming year the centenary of our revolution. Communist Party devotes the October call in its ranks to this event. I am sure that the young communist militants will strengthen our forces, and together we will continue to fight for the triumph of the ideals of socialism, peace and friendship among peoples.
I wish you good health and success!
Communist Party of Vietnam:
A delegation of Hanoi authority on November 7th laid a basket of flower at the statue of Vladimir Ilych Lenin in Ba Dinh district’s Lenin park to mark the 99th anniversary of the Russian October Revolution.
The delegation was led by Vice Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee and Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung.
The city’s leaders also expressed their respect for Lenin for his great contributions to the world’s revolutionary cause.
The same day, other institutes and agencies in the city also commemorated the event.
It is an annual activity of Hanoi to express gratitude to Lenin, who is one of the leading political figures and revolutionary thinkers of the 20th century. He masterminded the Bolshevik take-over of power in Russia in 1917 and also was the architect and first leader of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)./.
CPV/VNA
Communist Party of India (Marxist):
October Revolution: A New Path for Humanity
Booklet on the occasion of the year long Centenary Celebrations 2016-17.
Historical impact of the revolution on India
"...The impact of the Russian Revolution saw the beginnings of organized working class movement in India. Before 1918, there was no serious effort to organize the industrial workers, strikes were occasional. The working class movement, which began in 1918, saw a wave of working class organizations and between 1919 and 1921, a number of strikes swept the country.... Muhajir groups set out for Russia via Afghanistan to become acquainted with the Russian Revolution. They were freedom fighters who were dissatisfied with the outcome of the Khilafat movement. Some of them became the first Communists from India.... Prominent writers and poets like Subramania Bharathi, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Rabindranath Tagore greeted the news of the revolution from Russia. Bharathi wrote a song `New Russia’, a few weeks after the October Revolution. Rabindranath Tagore visited Russia in 1930. Impressed by the new society being built there, he wrote in his `Letters from Russia’ that: “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I could have never believed that in just ten years they have not only led hundreds of thousands of people out of the darkness of ignorance and degradation and taught them to read and write, but also fostered in them a sense of human dignity. We need to come here specifically to study the organization of education...”
For the full text see the link.
Communist Party, Turkey:
Communist Party, Turkey held regional meetings on the day of multi anniversaries of: the October Revolution, the launch of Gelenek and the reclaiming of the name of TKP (Communist Party of Turkey)
Meetings started with the International Anthem and proceeded with a video show on the occasion. KP leaders addressed the meetings, stating the recent political developments and conditions in Turkey besides indicating the activities and strategies of struggle of KP within the working class and other popular strata.
See the link.
Communist Party of Ukraine:
Greetings from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine to the fraternal Communist and Workers' Parties on the 99th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution
Dear Comrades and Friends!
On behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, all the Ukrainian Communists, and me personally please accept cordial congratulations on the 99th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution!
We wish you courage and endurance, harmony and mutual understanding, political firmness and determination in practicing ideas of the October Revolution. We wish you further successful struggle against capitalist barbarism, the exploitation of man by man, against globalization and terrorism, revival of fascism, for the preservation of world peace, to restore true democracy and socialism!
We wish all of you strong health, optimism, new achievements and accomplishments for the good of the working people!
The proletarian victorious socialist revolution was succeeded on unforgettable days of October 1917 at the sixth part of the globe. After that the world's first state of workers and peasants with the Bolshevick government was formed and ruuled by the whole world proletariat leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.
Great October Socialist Revolution, with the continuing international importance, radically changed the course of development of all mankind, started the beginning of a new Epoch of the world history - the era of transition from capitalism to socialism.
This Revolution ruinned principle of sanctity and eternity of the private property, rejected any justification for the war for profit, approved justice as an essential value of human civilization, destroied the bourgeois theory that the workers are not able to manage and organize the state and production.
Catalyzing national liberation and anti-colonial struggle the October Proletarian Revolution became a beacon lighting the way to a better life for the peoples of the world oppressed by international imperialism and colonialism.
Under its influence the bourgeois governments of many countries were forced considering interests of its population to take the global socio-political transformation and democratization of a civil bourgeois society.
We - Communists of Ukraine are convinced that the restoration of capitalism in the USSR and in other countries is only a temporary retreat of socialism. Human progress is irresistible. At the beginning of the twenty-first century socialism is not only the dream of millions, but the reality of social and political life.
On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, which the progressive humanity will be celebrating next year we have to use a good opportunity to thoughtfully reflect on the distance traveled, the time to evaluate the causes of socialism defeats in the 1990s, synchronize our joint efforts with the Leninist course. First of all the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties in Moscow in 2017 is required to achieve it.
We - Communists of Ukraine are deeply convinced that progressive mankind will never forget what the Soviet people bore the brunt of the fight against fascism and saved the world from Fascism, defended the gains of the Great October Revolution. We must do everything to stop a resurgent and assertive neo-Nazism supported by the US and EU in some countries, especially in our Ukraine.
Communist Party of India:
Carry Forward the Message of Great October Socialist Revolution
S Sudhakar Reddy, General Secretary, Communist Party of India
This November 7 (2016) marks the beginning of the hundredth year of the Great October Socialist Revolution and world over peace-loving progressive forces under the banner of the communist and workers parties will be celebrating its triumphant and glorious march through the pages of history. In India too the day will be observed throughout the country. As you all know the national executive of our party has decided to observe a year-long celebration of the day beginning with this November 7. The hundred years since 1917 have been years of hard toil and struggle, of great achievement and victory of unsurpassed heroism and valour for the force of revolution, both in the land of Lenin and in the world arena, upholding the right of the oppressed and the exploited for emancipation from all kinds of exploitation and march towards an egalitarian society. The banner of the Great October Socialist Revolution is today the banner of all those who stand for an end to imperialism and capitalism, to hunger and exploitation, against right reaction’s concerted attempts to turn back the clock of human progress and for man’s well being and progress.
The birth of the first socialist state in 1917 no doubt had changed the entire face of the earth. It was the most significant event of the last century heralding a new era and a new destiny for mankind. It overthrew the exploitative Czarist empire in Russia and brought into existence a new society based upon the equality of man and power of the working class. It breached the walls of world imperialism for the first time in history and struck a major blow to its might, provoking the forces of world imperialism to unleash all kinds of intimidation, boycott and surveillance against the new born state. Despite all attempts to tarnish the birth of the first socialist state, the success of the revolution brought inspiration for the toiling people all over the world and hopes of a new life. The people of Asia, Africa and Latin America groaning under the yoke of colonialism found a new ally in the form of a whole state.
In the decades that followed the October Revolution, the people of the erstwhile Soviet Union made tremendous progress in all fields of human endeavour and raised the living standards of its people to high levels. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of Soviet Union, the Soviet people literally crossed the new frontiers in social and economic development, marched towards “to each according to his needs” guaranteeing rights to the people that are even today unthinkable in any other society. No wonder such advancement of Soviet society irked the forces of exploitation further.
Today when once again world imperialism after its failure to lead a uni-polar world is attempting to crush the forces of peace, social progress and human development it must be noted here that ever since, Lenin issued the decree of peace — the very first step taken by the young socialist state — the people of the Soviet Union has been fighting for peace, against the dark forces of war and carnage. Their deciding role in crushing the Hitlerites hordes in the Second World War, their indomitable courage and heroism saved mankind from the terror of Nazi domination. It led to the birth of a new alternative — the world socialist system — that gave unparalleled impetus to the national liberation movement in the colonial countries. As a result more than a hundred newly free nations have emerged on the world scene.
The Great October Revolution stood firmly against imperialism and the forces of war and plunder, of exploitation and oppression and as a friend indeed of the suffering people and subjugated nations, upholding the cause of national liberation movements, allying with forces anti-imperialism and social progress. Our own freedom struggle has drawn inspiration and strength from the October Revolution, from the success of the first socialist state. The bonds that were forged between the victorious revolution in Russia and our national liberation movement grew stronger and achieved a new content after the country achieved independence. It blossomed into many sided co-operation in the fields of economy, trade, agriculture, education, scientific research, sports, culture, etc.
In today’s India when the rightwing forces are trying their best to undo all that we have achieved since our independence, it must be borne in mind that the Soviet assistance has provided powerful weapon for our struggle for economic self-reliance, for independent economic development against feudalism, monopoly, neo-colonialism and multi-nationals. Not only in economic matters but on political issues also the Soviet Union has stood by India, whether the issue Kashmir, Goa or Bangladesh. The abiding friendship and co-operation for mutual benefit between India and Soviet Union have been exemplified in the Indo Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.
The Great October Revolution will definitely continue to shine as the lode star for the toiling people in their onward march for all the times to come. It underlines the everlasting validity of the principles of Marxism Leninism and proletarian internationalism. It provides the impetus to the oppressed and the exploiter to fight on till their goal is reached. On this historic day were affirm our pledge to carry forward the banner of Great October Socialist Revolution, of Marxism Leninism, of proletarian internationalism and fight against the right wing forces in the best traditions of the world communist movement.
Long live the October Revolution!
Portuguese Communist Party:
RESOLUTION PCP CENTRAL COMMITTEE:
Centennial of the October Revolution – Socialism, necessary today and for the future
The year 2017 marks the centennial of the October 1917 Socialist Revolution. The October Revolution is the major event in the historical process of emancipation of the exploited, the oppressed, the workers and the peoples, a process which has been marked by important revolutionary events from the days of primitive society, through slavery, feudalism and capitalism.
After thousands of years of societies in which the socio-economic systems have been based on the exploitation of man by man, the October Revolution began a new epoch in the History of Humankind, the epoch of the transition from capitalism to socialism. It was the first revolution that, through far-reaching democratic transformations in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres, and by ensuring social progress and justice, and corresponding to the yearnings of the workers and the peoples, undertook the edification of a society without exploiters, nor exploited people.
1
In our times, after the course of the Twentieth Century and 100 years after the October Revolution, when the capitalist system, with its exploitative, oppressive, aggressive and predatory nature and the tragic consequences which it entails, is afflicted by its worsening structural crisis, it has become even more evident that capitalism is responsible for the growing problems and dangers confronting Humankind. The reality of the world today proves the importance and scope of the October Revolution's goals, and affirms socialism as a requirement of today and for the future.
2
To commemorate the centennial of the October Revolution means to assert it as the most advanced achievement in the milennia-long process of the liberation of Humankind from all forms of exploitation and oppression.
To commemorate this centennial is to expose the nature of capitalism, with its dramatic social scourges and the threats which it poses for the life of the peoples and even for Humankind's survival. It is to highlight the relevance and the validity of socialism, to reaffirm the need and the possibility of a revolutionary overcoming of capitalism, by socialism and communism.
To commemorate this centennial is to value the role of the working class, of workers and peoples, in the transformation of society. It is to underscore the strength that results from their unity, organization and struggle. It is to reaffirm that the success of the resistance against the current offensive by big capital and imperialism, and the achievement of their social and national emancipation, lies in their own hands.
To commemorate the October Revolution is to pay tribute to those who made it and to assert socialism's great political, economic, social, cultural, scientific, technological and civilizational achievements in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and its immense contribution to the advancement of the emancipation struggle of the workers and the peoples.
To commemorate this centennial means to make good use of the teachings of the, previously unheard of, processes of building socialism in the Soviet Union and in other countries, of the successes and defeats, of the advances and retreats, of all the long struggle that preceded them, as important experiences that enrich and inspire the ongoing struggle for socialism and communism.
To commemorate the October Revolution is to, on the basis of Marxism-Leninism, take the initiative and oppose the ideological offensive against socialism and communism, stressing the roots and the role of anti-communism and anti-Sovietism, as tools of capital in the class struggle.
The October Revolution and the subsequent historical experience of building socialism should not be marked as historically dated, fixated events from the past, but rather as the source of important teachings, and an example of transformations and achievements which are reflected and are updated in the revolutionary praxis of today, and which project into the future.
To commemorate the October Revolution is to assert that the future does not belong to capitalism, it belongs to socialism and communism.
3
On November 7th, 1917 (October the 25th according to the old Russian calendar), the Russian proletariat, with the Bolshevik Party's vanguard role, guided by a revolutionary theory, with the notable contribution of Lenin, took its future into its own hands. It rose to power and launched, in a victorious revolution, the foundations of a new society, in a country that had been ravaged by imperialist war (World War I), and with a people that suffered exploitation, repression, hunger and illiteracy.
The revolution embodied the yearnings of the millennia-long struggle of the exploited and the oppressed, from the slave revolts of Antiquity, to the peasant revolts of the Middle Ages, the French Revolution of 1789 – which was part and parcel of the defeat of feudalism and the advent of capitalism – to the working-class insurrections of the 19th Century.
The October Revolution had, as historical harbingers, from which it drew important lessons, the 1871 Paris Commune – the first, albeit short-lived, historical experience of the conquest and exercise of power by the proletariat, clearly superior also in terms of political democracy; the 1905 Russian Revolution – the first great popular revolution with an organized role of the working class and working people; and the February 1917 Revolution, which marked the end of Czarist power, already with a tested working class and a Party that was organizationally and ideologically prepared to assume the leadership of the struggle of the working and popular masses in taking power.
The October Revolution undertook the task of putting an end to all forms of social and national exploitation and oppression, and significantly adopted, as its first measures, the decrees on peace and on the abolition of latifundio property of the land.
The October Revolution was an inspiring revolutionary undertaking which, resisting and overcoming complex situations and difficulties – boycotts, sabotage, intervention by imperialist powers, civil war, economic blockade, treason – and, in an irregular and bumpy process, transformed into reality the aspirations and dreams of the workers, the exploited, the oppressed, those who were discriminated against, paving the way for the construction of a society hitherto unknown to Humankind.
The Socialist Revolution transformed the old and backward Russia of the Czars into a highly developed country, capable of containing, as it did for decades, imperialism's goal of world-wide domination.
The USSR, in a historically short time span, achieved significant industrial and agricultural development, eradicated illiteracy and generalized access to education and sports , did away with unemployment, ensured public healthcare and social protection, guaranteed and promoted the rights of women, children, young people and the elderly, expanded the impact of vanguard artistic movements and of the forms of cultural creation and fruition, achieved high scientific and technological standards, putting into practice forms of democratic participation of the workers and the masses of the people, undertook to solve the complex issue of oppressed nationalities, raised the values of friendship, of solidarity, of peace and cooperation between the peoples.
The Soviet Union was the first country in the world to put into practice, or develop like no other, fundamental social rights, such as the right to work, the 8-hour maximum working day, paid holidays, the equality of rights of men and women in the family, in society and at work, maternity rights and protection, the right to a home, free medical care, a universal and free social security and free education. The Soviet Union scored pioneering achievements for Humankind, such as putting the first artificial satellite into Space – Sputnik – and the first man in Space – cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.
The Soviet Union, the Soviet people under the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, achieved successes and conquests of major international impact, that stimulated the struggle of the workers and the peoples of the whole world.
Under the impact of the victory of the October Revolution, numerous Communist Parties were created all over the world, the international Communist movement arose, the workers' movement and its ideals became stronger, the ideals of Marxism-Leninism propagated among the masses – as happened in Portugal, where on March 6, 1921, the Portuguese Communist Party was founded.
The USSR, the Soviet people, the Red Army, gave a decisive contribution towards the victory over Nazi-fascism in World War II, in a heroic struggle that cost over twenty million lives.
After the victory over Nazi-fascism, and due to its example and enormous prestige, to the strength of the ideals of socialism which it projected, and to its solidarity and activity in international affairs, the USSR gave major support to the peoples who chose, and fought for, the edification of socialist societies, to the struggle for and achievement, by millions of workers, of rights and freedoms in capitalist countries and to the dynamic of struggle of the national liberation movement, the downfall of colonialism and the achievement of independence for numerous peoples and nations that had, for centuries, been subjected to colonial yoke.
The Soviet Union stood in solidarity with the Portuguese Communists and people in their struggle against the fascist dictatorship in Portugal, and with the April [1974] Revolution – an achievement of the Portuguese people, an assertion of freedom, social emancipation and national independence.
The USSR and the socialist system were an often decisive factor for achievements and advances that were, for the first time ever, won by the workers and peoples in their world-wide struggle for emancipation.
4
The disappearance of the USSR and the defeats of socialism in eastern Europe, the causes of which were analyzed by the 13th, 14th and 18th PCP Congresses, had an undeniable and profound negative impact on the world balance of forces, on the consciousness of the masses and on the development of the struggle for socialism. An enormous regression occurred, in the political, economic, social and cultural conditions of the peoples of those countries and for other peoples of the world.
The world's evolution following the defeats of socialism thus highlighted, even further, the importance of socialism's historical achievements and the civilizational advances associated with it, and underscored the superiority of the new social system in solving the problems and in materializing the aspirations of the peoples.
The nature of capitalism did not change, and the need for its revolutionary overcoming persists. The Twentieth Century was not that of the “demise of Communism”, but the Century in which Communism was born as a new and superior society.
5
The current world situation reveals the exploitative, aggressive and predatory nature of capitalism.
Submerged in its structural crisis, capitalism has nothing more to offer the peoples than further accumulation, centralization and concentration of wealth, heightened exploitation, more social inequality and injustice, attacks against social and labour rights, the denial of democratic rights and freedoms, the plunder and destruction of resources, interferences and aggressions against national sovereignty, militarism and war which are being taken to all corners of the world in its imperialist stage.
Millions of workers are driven to unemployment, precariousness, the most violent forms of exploitation. Millions of human beings are deprived of their fundamental rights, and left to poverty, hunger, undernourishment and subjected to child labour, slave labour and all kinds of trafficking. Millions of human beings are the victims of imperialist aggressions and are fleeing war and destruction. Entire peoples are doomed to underdevelopment, dependence, national oppression.
Capitalism, by its own nature, cannot overcome its irreconcilable contradictions – namely between capital and labour, between the social character of production and its private appropriation – and embarks on an inexorable concentration of capital, with productive disorder. Hungry for the appropriation and concentration of capital, capitalism not only does not give answers to the problems of Humankind as, with the capitalist appropriation and instrumentalization of the immense potential opened up by labour, by scientific and technological progress and development, it increases social injustice, contradictions and inequality. Capitalism is a system that permanently clashes with the needs, the interests and the aspirations of workers and peoples.
More than ever, socialism emerges with redoubled relevance as a requirement of the process of emancipation of the workers and the peoples.
6
The PCP raises as a goal for the Portuguese people the building of a socialist society, based on the reality and experience of the Portuguese Revolution, and critically assimilating the world revolutionary experience.
In proposing its Programme «An Advanced Democracy – The values of April in the future of Portugal», the PCP considers that the materialization of this project – an economic, social, political and cultural democracy – is a process of profound transformation and development of Portuguese society. However, as the Programme states, «the liquidation of capitalist exploitation is a historical task that can only be achieved with the socialist revolution».
The PCP reiterates the need to cover with determination all the necessary phases and stages that are necessary to achieve that supreme goal. Today's battles to protect, restore and win rights, for a break with right-wing policies and to achieve a patriotic and left-wing policy, are part and parcel of the struggle for an advanced democracy, in the same way that the latter is part and parcel of the struggle for socialism.
In its Programme, the PCP «states as fundamental goals of the socialist revolution in Portugal the abolition of exploitation of man by man, the creation of a society without antagonistic classes, inspired by humanist values, democracy understood as complementary in its economic, social, political and cultural aspects, the permanent and creative participation of the masses of the people in all aspects of national life, the constant raising of the material and spiritual well-being of the workers and the people in general, doing away with discriminations, inequality, social scourges and injustice, materializing the equality of rights for men and women in life and ensuring the participation of young people in the country's life, as a dynamic and creative social force». And it adds that «in the framework of the essential goals, the socialist system in Portugal will inevitably assume specificities and originalities that will result, not just from the country's objective reality, but also from the concrete forms that the class struggle will take on until then, as well the economic, social, cultural and political evolution and the reality of the international affairs».
Faithful to its ideals of liberation, we celebrate the centennial of the October Revolution, whose values grew profound roots and are a demand for today, which project into the future as goals, experiences and aspirations for the future of Portugal and of Humankind.
7
The Central Committee of the Portuguese Communist Party decides that the commemorations of the Centennial of the October Revolution will take place under the slogan «Centennial of the October Revolution – Socialism, necessary today and for the future». The programme of these commemorations will be revealed in a Public Session to be held on November 7 of the current year.
The programme of commemorations will take place throughout 2017, with a high point in the Meeting of November 7 – Centennial day – and will end on December 9, with an event with a strong cultural component.
The programme of the commemorations, which will begin in January, with an event coinciding with the anniversary of the liberation by the Red Army of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, will mark important historical events with significant relation to the October Revolution, and will encompass initiatives and activities that will express multiple facets, events, dimensions and aspects of the October Revolution and of the process of building socalism, and will expose the nature of capitalism and its disastrous and ruinous repercussions for Humankind, asserting socialism as a necessary thing, today and for the future.
Among other initiatives, we highlight: the holding of a series of debates and other topical activities, namely a Seminar on «Socialism – necessary today and for the future»; an important expression in the 2017 Avante! Festival, namely with a major exhibition; an initiative on May 9 (Victory Day) on the issues of Peace; a specific treatment in the pages of Avante!, O Militante, and on the Internet, with the creation of a dedicated site; the publication of information materials, namely an exhibition in print for wide circulation, leaflets and posters; on an editorial level, the re-edition of works on the October Revolution and the construction of socialism, namely by Lenin and Álvaro Cunhal, promoting their study, as well as specific editions for the centennial; the promotion of initiatives and activities specifically geared toward young people; the promotion of cultural (cinema, theater, music, literature, visual arts, etc.) and scientific initiatives.
The programme of the commemorations, in its scale, scope and contents, must express the importance and the political and ideological significance of this event for the struggle of the workers and the peoples in defence of their rights and sovereignty, confronting imperialism's offensive and for progressive and revolutionary transformations, for socialism.
So that the commemorations may take on the necessary scale and repercussion, their programme must be prepared as of now, with guidelines and initiatives integrated within the Party's overall activity.
The Central Committee calls on all those who stand for peace, justice and social progress, and who fight for a society of freedom and plenty – in which the State and policies are entirely at the service of the well-being and the happiness of human beings – to join in these commemorations.
***
Achieved through different paths and stages, Socialism is becoming with increasing clarity, the goal of the peoples, a prospect and pre-requisite for a future of full human liberation and fulfillment.
The PCP reaffirms that «over a shorter or longer historical period, through the struggle for the social and national emancipation of workers and peoples, it is the replacement of capitalism by socialism which, in the 21st century, continues to be the real possibility and the most solid prospect for the evolution of Humankind».
The PCP reaffirms its unshakable commitment to fight so that socialism may become a reality in the future of the Portuguese people.