Fight against imperialism, fight for revolution

I

1. The triumph of the Russian Revolution of 1917 opened a new epoch in the historical development of humanity: the epoch of imperialism and proletarian revolutions. Two fundamental elements are contained in this characterization, one, the development reached by capitalism to monopolistic levels that put it in the condition of an imperialist capitalism and, the other, the beginning of the epoch of the destruction of the capitalist-imperialist system, of the triumph of the revolutionary struggle of the working class for socialism.
2. Lenin specified with absolute certainty the elements present in capitalism at the end of the 19th century, which allowed to conclude that it had reached its highest stage of development and, at the same time, its final phase. “Imperialism arose as a development and direct continuation of the fundamental properties of capitalism in general. But capitalism changed into capitalist imperialism only when it reached a certain, very high, degree of its development when some of the fundamental characteristics of capitalism began to become its antithesis when the features of the epoch of transition of capitalism to a higher economic and social structure took shape and manifested themselves along the whole line. What is fundamental in this process, from the economic point of view, is the substitution of free capitalist competition by capitalist monopolies. [Monopoly is the transition from capitalism to a higher regime. If it were necessary to give the briefest possible definition of imperialism, it would have to be said that imperialism is the monopolistic phase of capitalism…”, says Lenin in Imperialism: superior phase of capitalism.
3. He also points out that there are five fundamental features which make it possible to define imperialism, but warns that this takes into consideration “purely economic fundamental concepts”; and that it is necessary to take into consideration “the historical place of this phase of capitalism concerning capitalism in general”, in that sense imperialism represents in itself “a particular phase of development of capitalism”. He specifies that the export of capital accentuates the divorce between the rentier sector and production, which “imprints a stamp of parasitism on the whole country, which lives from the exploitation of the work of a few countries and overseas colonies”. Thus, “the world has been divided into a handful of usurious States and a gigantic majority of debtor States. [The rentier State is the State of parasitic and decomposing capitalism”.
4. In the political aspect, “imperialism is, in general, a tendency to violence and reaction”. The financial capital and the monopolies “provoke everywhere a tendency to domination, and not to freedom”.
5. “The characteristic feature of the period under consideration,” says Lenin, “is the definitive division of the planet, definitive not in the sense that it is impossible to divide it up again –on the contrary, new divisions are possible and inevitable– but in the sense that the colonial policy of the capitalist countries has already completed the conquest of all the unoccupied lands of our planet. For the first time, the world is already divided up, so that from now on there can only be new divisions, that is to say, the passing of territories from one new ‘owner’ to another…” For this division, in Stalin’s words, “…the imperialists need war, because it is the only means of dividing up the world, of dividing up the markets, the sources of raw materials and the spheres of utilization of capital.”

II

• The technological-scientific development experienced by humanity, introduced into the processes of production, has meant the working class the subjection to forms and levels of greater exploitation of their labour power. In the capitalist system, these developments are not instruments to achieve the welfare of the workers and the people, but to accentuate the extraction of surplus value.
• The advances produced in the productive forces have not changed the exploitative and oppressive nature of the prevailing system; on the contrary, they sharpen its internal contradictions which reveal the validity of the Marxist-Leninist analysis of capitalism and the inevitability of its collapse. Nor are these advances leading to the disappearance of the working class, as some bourgeois analysts interested in annulling its revolutionary role point out; the very development of the productive forces has led, in recent years, to the numerical growth of the proletariat at the world level.
• The process of concentration and centralization of capital continues inexorably in the respective countries and at the planetary level, it develops from the exploitation of the labour force of millions of men and women, from the extraction of surplus value that these generate, which is made possible by the existence of private property over the means of production. The powerful monopoly groups exploit the working class of their respective countries and millions of workers all over the world, in an unusual form of concentration of production and accumulation.
• In these circumstances, the contradiction between capital and labour, between the working class and the bourgeoisie, a determining contradiction in the capitalist-imperialist system, is sharpened. The events taking place in the world today, regardless of what sectors of the bourgeoisie, social democracy and revisionism claim, show that the working class has not lost its status as a revolutionary force, as the ideological and political vanguard in the struggle for revolution and socialism. The position of the working class in developed countries has undergone important changes, it is now, mainly in its composition, the industrial proletariat is in the minority and the tertiary sector is the main sector, and this has an impact on social and political behaviour, it presents difficulties for the work of the parties.

III

1. The domination of capital is global, there is not a single country in the world free from the interference and exploitation of finance capital coming from one or another country or imperialist power; the political interventionism of these states is also general, particularly of the largest capitalist economies, circumstances that widen and deepen the existing contradiction between the oppressed peoples and nations with imperialism.
2. The circulation of imperialist financial capital, whether in the form of loans or direct foreign investments, accentuates the economic and political dependence of the countries receiving capital, and opens the doors for the plundering of raw materials and the exploitation of the labour force. The high rates of profitability and return to their sources of origin are assured by governments led by the pro-imperialist bourgeoisie, fattened on the crumbs left by these capitals. 
3. The powerful monopoly groups –with their states– impose on the dependent countries the economic programs and policies of “development”, articulating their economies to the needs of accumulation of big international capital. The scarce manifestations of resistance by governments are responded to with pressure, threats and, if these are maintained, sanctions, coups d’état and blockades. The sovereignty of the dependent countries, despite being an inalienable right, has become a formally written statement in the constitutions, as it is permanently trampled upon. In order to exercise their domination, imperialist countries appeal to the establishment of repressive reactionary regimes, promote “constitutional coups”, violate human rights, restrict public freedoms and, when the conditions are present, respect the canons of bourgeois democracy.  There are regimes which, despite exhibiting sovereign and patriotic postures, prostrate themselves before one or another imperialist power while promoting the thesis of the globalized world and the need not to isolate themselves. The result of these policies in the social sphere is manifested in the deterioration of the living conditions of the workers and the people, the growth of poverty and extreme poverty rates, unemployment and underemployment, in the successive waves of migrants from the dependent countries to the big capitalist economies; in response, there is growing discontent, dissatisfaction, the anger of the peoples and the desire to fight against those responsible for the way things are going. The contradiction between the exploited and the exploiters, between the workers and the people and the ruling classes is sharpened.
4. The high development of informatics and digital technology is provoking a greater and unusual concentration of wealth in the big monopolies, particularly in the so-called “technological giants”, which have perfected mechanisms on which production processes, banking, commerce, employment, information, exercise of politics, etc., depend. The five big tech companies (Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft) have their headquarters in the United States, but their tentacles are spread all over the planet, their technology reinforces the mechanisms of interference and ideological-political control of imperialism, to the point that some scholars have coined the term “era of surveillance capitalism”, to point out the scope and connotations of the use of this technology. Teleworking and homeworking: the bourgeoisie sells it as positive for the family, but in reality, it isolates the workers, alienates them from the trade unions, and burdens them with individual burdens.

IV

1. In analysing the current characteristics of the capitalist-imperialist system, we can see that it preserves the essential traits exposed by Lenin.
2. We live in a multipolar world, in which several countries and imperialist powers compete to maintain or expand their presence or influence in different regions of the world, to control parts of the world market, and to have spaces for the realization of their capital. This gives rise to the inter-imperialist contradictions that constitute one of the elements that mark the characteristics of the epoch of imperialism. These contradictions express the struggles to achieve hegemony, which sometimes turn violent, sooner or later leading to war.
3. It is essential to look at and understand how these contradictions are expressed. U.S. imperialism continues to be the world’s leading power, even though several indicators are showing that it is experiencing a certain decline. Notwithstanding this, it maintains its economic, political and military primacy, it has not lost the ability to articulate and lead alliances with imperialist countries, mainly from the West (as is happening today in the face of the war in Ukraine), to confront those it considers its main competitors and enemies, that is, China and Russia.
4. The United States continues to be the largest economy on the planet, it is estimated that by 2023, its GDP will represent 15.45% of the world GDP, followed by China, Japan, Germany, and India, the distance of the first two separately, concerning the countries that are below is great; it concentrates the largest number of the largest monopolies on the planet, in the list of the top ten, nine are American, of the 100 largest, 61 are from that country; it has the largest military force on the planet and its military spending is also the highest, with an estimated 173,000 soldiers deployed throughout the world in 254 bases and military facilities. Through international organisations, it has managed to impose the rules of its policy and create an order according to its particular interests.

*(in billions of dollars)

Source: https://es.statista.com/estadisticas/600234/ranking-de-paises-con-el-producto-interior-bruto-pib-mas-alto-en/

1. With the exception of China, there is no other power that today disputes world hegemony with the United States, as was the case in the last century when Germany and the U.S. disputed the space left by the decline of British imperialism. The search for hegemony is the highest expression of the inter-imperialist contradictions, the fact that other imperialisms do not dispute that place does not mean that they are outside the confrontation between them.
2. The process of development of China as a power is accelerated, it has achieved this in the last 40 years, surpassing old imperialist countries like England, Germany, France, Italy and Japan. Chinese capital is expanding to all continents as loans or direct investments. The Asian giant has become the biggest lender to low and middle-income countries, it is also one of the biggest creditors; the weight of Chinese capital in the US economy is enormous; China is the biggest exporter on the planet, and the US is the biggest importer in the world. So far, China has not carried out any military occupation in another country, but its war industry and the purchase of military equipment are among its main activities, and one of the central objectives set out in the penultimate congress of the CCP establishes the need to have a “world-class army”, in its international relations supports reactionary governments such as Israel.
3. Russia maintains a political protagonism in the world, which has been increased by the invasion of Ukraine and the exacerbation of the contradictions with the European Union bloc and NATO; however, the presence of Russian capital in the world is small, the articulation of industrial and financial monopoly groups in the Russian economy with foreign influence is also small. Imperialisms such as the English, German, Japanese, French and Italian have lost ground concerning the situation they used to occupy.
4. The inter-imperialist confrontation leads to the constitution of regional pacts and blocs to confront common enemies, in which they incorporate dependent nations with the consent of the native ruling classes, becoming pawns in the inter-imperialist dispute. In some cases, these are formally established agreements, in other cases they are the result of a coincidence of interests and medium-term projects. The European Union, the AUKUS, NATO, the Shanghai Treaty, and the China-Russia pact are examples of this. However, the constitution of these blocks or agreements –is not forever– and does not eliminate the existing contradictions among the members themselves.

V

• In the zones of influence of each of the imperialist countries, they become the enemy and main target of the working class and the people in their struggle to break the chains of external dependence, a substantial element of the struggle to achieve social and national emancipation (as is the case, for example, in Africa, where French imperialism has a significant presence); however, due to its economic, political and military power, U.S. imperialism is the main enemy of the workers and peoples worldwide.
• The imperialist capitalist system has managed to impose the “legitimacy” of its domination and to show itself as an expression of an interdependent world; the majority of the working masses in all countries, are victims of ideological manipulation by the monopolies and the ruling classes in each country. We reaffirm the fundamental contradictions the one that opposes labour to capital, dependent countries to imperialist countries, monopolies and imperialist countries to each other.
• In opposition to this situation, in all countries and at different levels, sections of the working class and the peoples identify the evil role played by imperialism concerning their respective countries; they condemn economic and political interventionism, oppression, warmongering, wars of aggression against the peoples; they are ready to combat these actions. However, there are unilateral views that condemn the power that acts directly or in a more overt manner towards them and place expectations on the aid or support that another imperialist state could give to achieve progress or emancipation. These assessments respond, in some cases, to the political limitations of the working class and the people to understand the capitalist-imperialist system comprehensively, in other cases, they are the result of the influence of political forces that are at the service of one or another imperialism, of social democracy, opportunism and revisionism.
• THERE ARE NO GOOD AND BAD IMPERIALISMS, there are no good and bad imperialist countries. They all represent the interests of imperialist finance capital; they exist on the basis of the exploitation of the labour of the working class, the oppression of the peoples and the plundering of the wealth of the countries; by its nature, imperialism engenders exploitation and violence. They are enemies of socialism and communism, of the revolutionary forces and particularly of the Marxist-Leninists.
• The struggle of the working class and the peoples for social and national emancipation must be guided by a policy of class independence, this is a condition for the full realisation of the strategic objectives of the revolution of the proletariat. This implies placing the defence of the interests of the working class and the peoples at the centre and targeting the big bourgeoisie and imperialist domination. Class independence is not denied, on the contrary, it supposes the possibility and necessity of taking advantage of the inter-bourgeois contradictions that in a concrete moment and a specific social formation present themselves; in the same way, a policy of class independence of the proletariat supposes the necessity of taking advantage of the inter-imperialist contradictions, to weaken the domination of the determined target as principal and to strengthen the bloc of the revolutionary forces. The communist party must adequately take advantage of the inter-imperialist contradictions with a just and correct policy according to the concrete conditions, keeping in mind the teachings of comrade Enver Hoxha that “one cannot depend on an imperialist country to fight another”.

VI

• The social revolution of the proletariat is, in essence, an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movement, the two elements are inextricably linked. The struggle of the peoples against the domination and oppression of imperialism is one of the fundamental axes of the revolutionary policy of our parties, because it strikes at the heart of the system of domination and exploitation of international capital, because it attacks the machinery that sets current capitalism in motion. In the dependent countries, the program of the social revolution of the proletariat intertwines the fulfilment of anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist and democratic tasks; in the countries of great capitalist development, the socialist program of the working class will liquidate the great transnational monopolies, the domination that they exercise, the power of the state and the domination of the bourgeois class.
• The party of the proletariat works for the constitution of a great front of the anti-imperialist struggle of the peoples, understood this –above all– as an element of political order, given the great difficulties for the construction of an organisational structure at the international level. The social sectors victims of the oppression of imperialism are susceptible to being incorporated into its actions, becoming objective allies of the working class for its struggle; so are other revolutionary, left-wing, progressive, democratic forces. In each country, we must work to build the ideological, political and organisational sphere of the anti-imperialist front to win leadership and hegemony.
• The anti-imperialist front is a broad front, in which the policy of unity of the party of the proletariat is expressed. We propose to attract to it the masses of the working class, the poor and middle peasantry, the youth and women of the popular sectors, the education workers, the progressive and democratic intelligentsia, and sectors of the urban petty bourgeoisie that repudiate the policies of imperialism. This policy must take into consideration the concrete conditions of each country, especially considering the interests and differentiated behaviour of the classes and sectors according to whether they are developed capitalist countries or dependent countries.
• Its actions are expressed in the denunciation and combating all policies promoted by imperialism that affect the sovereignty of countries, the right to self-determination of peoples, that violate human rights, that promote warmongering, military aggressions and wars, that affect freedom and democracy, that destroy nature and the environment, that promote racist, xenophobic, homophobic, supremacist conceptions; it raises the struggle against political and military blocs and the establishment of military bases, against the plundering of natural resources, in opposition to cultural intrusion, cosmopolitanism and the promotion of the North American way of life, among other aspects.
• Opposition to state policies that benefit the interests of the powerful international monopoly groups has an anti-imperialist character due to the targets it hits; the internationalist solidarity of the peoples also has such a connotation.
• The promotion of this policy requires finding organisational forms and instruments of local, regional or world character that fulfil the function of spaces of coordination of political proposals and actions of struggle, that are structured around programs that multilaterally confront imperialism, in some cases, or that act on particular aspects.
• In the anti-imperialist movement, different currents and political forces intervene, some of which are susceptible to work with them to incorporate them into the anti-imperialist front; however, not all of them are consistent and fully anti-imperialist, because, their vision of the world scene leads them to look only at US imperialism as the enemy of the peoples and underestimate the other imperialisms; there are also sectors of social democracy and revisionism that are anti-American, but not anti-imperialist.
• It should be kept in mind that from various sectors of social democracy and opportunism, the theses are put forward that China and Russia are great powers and not imperialist countries, that they make a counterbalancing to the US and contribute to restraining the expansionist and hegemonic appetites of the American and European imperialists, therefore, they should be considered as friends of the workers and the peoples. These are ideas that are widely circulated and contribute to the confusion of the workers, the peoples and the sectors of the classes and middle strata that are interested in fighting against imperialist domination and oppression.
• For the party of the proletariat, it is fundamental to develop a work of clarification of these phenomena, in order to develop a genuine anti-imperialist consciousness among the masses. This is patient and systematic work, targeting the capitalist-imperialist system in general, taking into account the actions and policies promoted by the imperialist countries against the workers and peoples to unmask them, to show that they are equally enemies of the peoples.
• The neo-colonial policy of imperialism was imposed and is maintained with the use of force and violence, but it is also maintained with ideological cohesion. In the ideological battle, the big international bourgeoisie and the powerful monopoly groups have the advantage, having sown in the minds of the peoples the admiration for the “fantastic” development achieved by the big capitalist economies, particularly those of the West, which supposedly have solved and facilitated the life of the population. This chimaera causes impoverished sectors of the peoples to nestle the idea of the “American dream”, of the promising future in the most developed capitalist centres.
• The ideological affectation of the youth, due to the conceptions and social practices promoted by imperialism is great. Individualism, hedonism, admiration for violence, worship of idols that promote these points of view have gained strength in them. To distance the youth from these points of view and to channel them towards democratic, progressive and revolutionary ideas is fundamental; in general, the ideological confrontation of the conceptions promoted by imperialism among the workers and peoples is indispensable to strengthen the struggle against imperialist domination.
• The world of our days –in a good number of countries– is witnessing the resurgence of ultra-reactionary forces and, some of them, openly pro-fascist and fascist. The party of the proletariat must take into account these circumstances which make it necessary to raise the banners of democracy and public freedoms under threat, the obligation to propose the formation of democratic and anti-fascist programs and fronts and to work seriously for their constitution. The struggle against fascism becomes the main task where fascist and pro-fascist policies are growing. We must take into account the fact that fascism has strong popular support because social reformist governments have failed and frustrated popular desires, and the limitations of our parties, which makes it easy to pay attention to the preaching of fascism. In general terms, we communists must not underestimate the threat of fascism.
• In all countries, a fundamental task for communists is the construction of the anti-imperialist front, an indispensable instrument in the emancipatory struggle of the working class and the peoples. Everywhere the struggle for revolution and socialism confronts the imperialist capitalist system. It is not possible to conquer the emancipation of the working class and with it the liberation of humanity without fighting and defeating imperialism and the chains of dependence; the social revolution and national liberation form, in the dependent countries, a single great task; the destruction of the imperialist monopolies is an obligatory task of the revolution and socialism.
• The anti-imperialist front will allow the fight against capitalism in each country, it will lead to the conquest of the revolution and socialism if it is led by the working class and its party. If this condition is not fulfilled the struggle of the proletariat, of the other working classes and peoples could even conquer victory, but the final destination of these battles will not be the elimination of wage slavery, it will not be the revolution and socialism. It could be, as has happened, the elimination of the domination of an imperialist country and the transfer of dependence to another imperialist country.
• The Marxist-Leninist parties and organisations propose in our countries, taking into account the specific conditions, work for the formation of organisational bodies that include the working class, the other oppressed and exploited classes –consisting mainly of the urban and rural semi-proletariat, the poor peasantry and the oppressed nations–, women and youth, in which the nature of the imperialist capitalist system is debated, policies and activities are coordinated to advance the democratic and social liberation struggle and to confront the imperialism. These initiatives must be coordinated from the CIPOML and promoted multilaterally.
• Each party and organisation has important experiences in the forging of anti-imperialist unity in its country, these practices should be studied in order to advance at the international level.
• The Seminar “Problems of the Revolution in Latin America” is an experience that has been allowing the exchange of opinions and points of view of various political organisations, the denunciation of imperialist policies of aggression and plunder, the learning of its participants from the experiences of others and a certain level of coordination of internationalist actions, of solidarity and aid among revolutionaries, workers and peoples.
• Initiatives that should be strengthened are the Meeting of Trade Unionists of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the Meetings of Women Workers that develop in Latin America. We must draw lessons from these experiences to promote new tasks and challenges and develop these in other regions.
• The denunciation and struggle against imperialism requires us to keep in mind some general banners that must be concretised in a specific way in each country and region:

– Defence of national sovereignty

– Opposition to the plundering of natural resources

– Denouncing and combating foreign indebtedness of countries.

– Combat the predatory policies of the monopolies and imperialist countries against nature.

– Condemnation of imperialist cultural interference.

– Denouncement of wars of aggression

– Opposition to imperialist war

– Denouncement of the imperialist military blocs, NATO, the Shanghai Pact, the AUKUS, the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, the European Union.

– Development of the most active solidarity with the workers and peoples who struggle for their social emancipation and against imperialist domination in the different latitudes.

December, 2023