In the long struggle of the communists for organising and carrying out the revolution, establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat and building the workers’ society, socialism, towards the strategic goal of the classless society, communism, it is necessary to keep in mind the processes, the successes and victories achieved, as well as the turning points, setbacks and defeats.
Since the publication of the Manifesto of the Communist Party, the struggle for revolution and socialism has been conceived and waged as an international revolution of the proletariat, but also as a struggle waged within the framework of the national state.
The International Workers’ Association or First International (1864) was the first experience of the conscious international proletariat in organising its struggle across national borders. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels played a decisive role in defining the strategic objectives of their struggle and their ideological-political conceptions; at the same time, they confronted and exposed the political positions alien to the ideology of the proletariat present within the IWA.
The First International fulfilled the purpose for which it was founded. After its dissolution (1876), Karl Marx said that “far from being dead, the International has developed from a level on which many of its original attempts have already been realised”.
The development of the consciousness and organisation of the proletariat created the conditions for a new body to coordinate the struggle on an international level, and the Second International was born, consisting mainly of working-class parties. At the beginning, it fought a hard struggle against bourgeois and petty-bourgeois thinking within the workers’ movement.
Revisionism and opportunism seized the Second International and it ceased to fulfil its function, its revolutionary character was destroyed and it became a tool in the service of bourgeois power. Lenin declared: “The Second International is dead, defeated by opportunism; down with opportunism and long live the Third International, purged not only of the ‘renegades’ but also of opportunism.” “The Second International fulfilled its task by carrying out a useful preparatory work for the previous organisation of the proletarian masses within the long ‘pacifist’ epoch of the cruellest capitalist slavery and the most rapid capitalist progress of the last third of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.”
In the first decades of the 20th century, it fell to Lenin and the Bolshevik Party to confront and combat the theses of revisionism, the call for the proletarians to enlist in the armies of the bourgeoisie and, above all, the great task of organising the revolutionary struggle for socialism.
In 1919, the Constituent Congress of the Communist International, also known as the Third International, was held in Moscow with the direct participation of Lenin and Stalin. Its contribution to the ideological, political and organisational development of the International Communist Movement is unquestionable; the policy defined by the First International to confront Nazi-fascism during the Second World War was fundamental in organising the forces of the working class and the peoples in the struggle against this political expression of the most reactionary and anti-communist sectors of the big bourgeoisie and the financial oligarchy.
Proletarian internationalism from then on took on the dimension of promoting the united struggle of communists and proletarians, solidarity with the freedom and independence fighters in the colonial and semi-colonial countries, the certain possibility that these processes would advance uninterruptedly towards revolution and socialism.
In 1943, the International was dissolved on the grounds that the communist parties had attained the maturity and experience to act without the need for an international centre of leadership and that the reasons for the creation of the Communist International had been fulfilled. History has shown that, despite their verbal recognition, not all parties had committed themselves to the principles of Marxism-Leninism, which is why, in some of them, views and positions contrary to the ideology of the proletariat appeared later; we also see that it is always necessary to have a body for discussion and coordination of the communist and workers’ parties at the international level.
Since the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), revisionism and opportunism have taken over the leadership of the Soviet party and state and have established themselves in the leadership of most of the communist parties.
Faced with the betrayal of the revolution and socialism, the Chinese Communist Party took up the defence of Marxism-Leninism in appearance and for a time appeared as a reference for the proletarian revolutionaries of the various communist parties. With time, anti-Marxist positions appeared, which were and are fought by the Marxist-Leninist parties and organisations.
The Party of Labour of Albania, PLA, affirmed in Marxist-Leninist principles and in the practice of proletarian internationalism, developed an intense internationalist activity in the 1970s and 1980s, contributing to the dissemination of its experience and denouncing the leadership of the Soviet party and state as traitors and opportunists.
In the ranks of the communist parties of all countries there were revolutionary militants, trained in the principles of Marxism-Leninism, fierce fighters, who took part in the struggle for revolution and socialism against fascism, who did not accept these “new ideas” promoted by the revisionist Khrushchevists, who persisted in proletarian revolutionary positions, who resisted and fought ideologically and politically, and who finally realised that there was no place for them in these pacifist and reformist formations, that the organisation of real communist parties was necessary.
A large number of parties were formed, which separated their positions from revisionism and opportunism, raised the banner of revolution and socialism and were directly involved in the organisation of the working class and the peoples for the struggle against capitalism, for socialism. These new parties raised the principles of communism, the struggle for revolution and socialism, the responsibility to become parties of a new type, they defined themselves as Marxist Leninist Communists. Later, new Marxist-Leninist parties emerged as an expression of the necessity to fight for revolution and socialism.
For the new Marxist-Leninist parties, the responsibility was imposed to organise and carry out the revolution in their countries, to be part of the organisation of the international revolution of the proletariat and to rebuild the proletarian internationalism that had been overthrown by the revisionists.
It was necessary to confront positions such as those which proposed to limit the activity and political responsibility of the parties within their own national borders; opinions regarding the “autonomy” of the parties, which, under the pretext of proletarian internationalism, intended to interfere in the internal problems and affairs of the parties, or that the existence of an international organisation of communist parties could become a centre for the leadership of the revolutionary struggle.
The struggle for the unity of the communists at the international level was carried out under difficult conditions. Discussions, bilateral and multilateral meetings were held, agreements were made. In the beginning, these multilateral meetings were held in Europe and Latin America. As a result of these activities, the International Review Theory and Practice (10 issues) was published, the International Anti-imperialist and Anti-Fascist Youth Camps were initiated.
The Marxist-Leninist parties, going beyond the regional borders, gathered for an internationalist meeting in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (1992). On this occasion, with the participation of parties from Europe and Latin America, internationalist positions were taken, a joint declaration was adopted and a new meeting was convened in the Netherlands (1993) under the auspices of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey. This meeting marked a new step in the process of building the international unity of Marxist-Leninist parties and organisations. A Joint Declaration was discussed and a new International Meeting of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations was called for August 1994 in Quito, Ecuador.
The Quito Conference was held with the participation of 15 Marxist-Leninist parties and organisations, which discussed and approved different ideological and political materials. We remember here once again comrade Raul Marco, founding member of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Spain, who died 4 years ago, and his contribution to the foundation and development of our conference.
The Quito Conference is the starting point of a new stage of the International Marxist Leninist Communist Movement. A way in which the parties and organisations are integrated to develop the struggle of the working class and the people for revolution and socialism.
The COMMUNIST PROCLAMATION, which is recognised as the Quito Declaration and serves as an ideological and political reference, was approved.
The main points of the plenary were the foundation of the INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF MARXIST-LENINIST PARTIES AND ORGANISATIONS, ICMLPO, the formulation of the ORGANISATIONAL RULES OF ICMLPO, the publication of the INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE UNITY AND STRUGGLE and the continuation of the INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CAMPS.
The Communist Proclamation reaffirms the validity of the revolution and socialism, the revolutionary principles of Marxism-Leninism, proletarian internationalism, the demarcation of positions with revisionism and opportunism in all its manifestations, the role of the proletariat as the leading class of the process of social and national liberation, the dictatorship of the proletariat, the necessity of the communist party, democratic centralism and the path of revolution.
ICMLPO, the International Organisation of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations, is the ideological, political and organisational integration, the reference centre of the struggle for social emancipation. The life of the ICMLPO is expressed in the activity of its member parties and organisations, in the plenary meetings, in the fraternal debate among its members, in the formulation of general and specific orientations for the organisation and the struggle of the workers and peoples, in the internationalist solidarity, in the role of the Coordinating Committee, the COCO, in the publication Unity and Struggle, in the regional meetings and activities.
The Plenary Sessions of the Conference
The plenary sessions of the ICMLPO are held annually in Europe, Africa and Latin America; they develop an important exchange of experiences, the work for the formulation of the general line of the ICMLPO, the guidelines for the impulse and the international coordination of the class trade unionists, women, youth, as well as the analysis of the different tactics and forms of struggle, the anti-imperialist struggle, the fight against fascism, the defence of democracy and freedom.
In the 2007 session, an important document entitled “The Present Situation and Our Tasks” was adopted, which serves as a tactical basis for the parties of the conference. It contains an analysis of the nature of capitalism and imperialism today, the revolutionary character of the proletariat and the vanguard role of the communist party.
In October 2016, the 22nd Plenary Session in Denmark adopted the Communist Platform, which is one of the basic documents of the ICMLPO, together with the Quito Declaration and the Rules of Organisation.
Several resolutions and documents were adopted concerning the international and national tasks of the parties and organisations on: the trade union work of the communists, the youth movement, the anti-imperialist struggle, the confrontation with the imperialist war, the international working women’s movement, etc.
The ICMLPO has launched campaigns of solidarity with the revolutionary processes, for the freedom of Francisco Caraballo and Hamma Hammami.
In the period 1994-2024 there were 28 ICMLPO plenaries. Each one of them has approved orientations and resolutions for the fulfilment of the responsibilities of organising the revolution and coordinating the internationalist tasks.
The Coordinating Committee, COCO
The COCO was created to play a coordinating role between the parties and organisations of ICMLPO. It is made up of parties from the different continents.
The COCO carries out its tasks more or less regularly. It organises the plenary meetings, the publication of the magazine “Unity and Struggle”, the international camps of democratic, anti-imperialist and anti-fascist youth, women and trade unionists, it coordinates the organisation of the regional meetings of the ICMLPO.
It has been developing its activities regularly; recently, with the help of technical means, it has been holding its meetings in time and contributing to the exchange of experiences; however, it is necessary to point out that there is a lack of better attention to the ideological, political and practical problems of the internationalist activities and the activities of the parties and organisations.
It is necessary to establish mechanisms and methodologies that allow a more permanent and fluid relationship between the parties and the COCO and vice versa, in order to evaluate and unify the Conference in the concrete analysis of the conjuncture.
The Regional Meetings
Marxist-Leninist parties and organisations have been holding meetings in Europe, Africa and Latin America.
These activities allow the exchange of experiences and opinions among the parties, the formulation of specific orientations for the promotion of the revolutionary struggle, the organisation of solidarity with the struggle of the workers and peoples, the denunciation of repression and the fight against the reactionary and anti-communist positions of the bourgeois regimes.
Unity and Struggle
The International Review of Unity and Struggle is published every six months in Spanish, English, Turkish and in some countries in the national language. To date, 48 issues have been published in print and online.
It was conceived as a tribune to present the experiences and views of the parties on the problems of revolution and socialism, on the struggle of workers, women and youth.
The magazine makes it possible to know who we are, our history, aspects of great importance to know the experiences we are accumulating; it plays an important role in the political education of the militants, in the dissemination of the ideals of socialism and communism. Through the journal it has been possible to contact proletarian revolutionaries in different countries and to contribute to the organisation of different Marxist-Leninist parties.
It is necessary to discuss the use of the journal Unity and Struggle, its distribution among the workers and revolutionaries. Insist on the regular participation of all parties, as there are parties that have not contributed to any issue and others that do so very irregularly.
International Camps of Democratic, Anti-Imperialist and Antifascist Youth
This ICMLPO initiative takes place every two years in Europe and Latin America. A preparatory committee is set up to coordinate and organise each camp.
It is an event that organises the discussion of the problems of young workers and students, sports, artistic and political activities.
In 2017, in order to involve broader sectors of youth, it was decided to introduce the democratic character of its platform. From now on they will be called International Democratic, Anti-imperialist and Antifascist Youth Camps.
It should be noted that although they were conceived as an initiative to unite broad sections of the youth, the tendency to limit themselves to the sphere of the youth organisations of the parties persists.
Meetings of Class-Based Trade Unionists
This initiative was born to take care of the trade union work of our parties and to unite the different class-conscious currents of workers that exist within the labour movement. The first meetings had an intercontinental scope, taking place in Europe and Latin America.
Later, because of the difficulties in Europe, it was necessary to concentrate efforts in Latin America.
The organisation of these events in Europe did not continue; 12 editions of the Latin American and Caribbean Meetings of Trade Unionists have been held in different Latin American countries.
These meetings made it possible to discuss the problems of trade union organisation, the fight against neo-liberalism and the anti-imperialist struggle. Through them it has been possible to make contact with workers in countries where Marxist-Leninist parties do not yet exist.
It is necessary to insist on the broad character of the meetings so that the proposals and approaches of the ICMLPO reach other sectors of trade unionists.
Meetings of Latin American and Caribbean Women
Three editions of the Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Meeting have been organised.
These are events in which the women’s organisations of our parties, other women’s organisations of party positions and collectives of women’s rights activists participate.
They are actions in which the debate on the nature of the women’s struggle, the organisation of solidarity initiatives, the confrontation of bourgeois and petty-bourgeois positions on the women’s movementare raised.
It is necessary to insist on the participation of all parties and the invitation of other collectives.
Marxist economic Seminars
The Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Venezuela has developed the Marxist Economic Seminar. This is an event in which a good part of the Latin American parties and other organisations and initiatives participate. Despite the importance of the subject, the participation of other ICMLPO parties is limited.
This seminar discusses the structural and conjunctural problems of the situation of the workers and the countries.
International Seminar, Problems of Revolution in Latin America
This event has been held annually in Quito since 1997. There have been 28 editions. Marxist-Leninist parties, other revolutionary parties, trade union and social organisations, democratic and anti-imperialist personalities participate.
The seminar has managed to establish itself among the communists and other revolutionary organisations and sectors, it is a platform for the expression of revolutionary politics, a reference for the anti-imperialist fighters.
A methodology has been established that includes the elaboration of papers and proposals on the theme of each event, the discussion of the different proposals, the organisation of solidarity with the fighters and the victims of repression.
It has allowed us to make contacts and establish relations with other revolutionary collectives, some of which have joined the ICMLPO.
The different events and activities of the ICMLPO have been conceived as spaces where proletarian revolutionaries, other revolutionary organisations and personalities, trade union and social activists come together and to a large extent these objectives have been achieved. However, there is a tendency to organise and develop them as if they were exclusively communist meetings, which limits the possibility of broadening and spreading revolutionary positions.
The ICMLPO is a reality, a reference point for the activity and struggle of the communist parties in their countries and internationally, and it is also gaining recognition among important sectors of the working class, among revolutionaries inspired by Marxism-Leninism, but its presence and influence are still small and limited.
Certainly, the ICMLPO must play a more dynamic role in promoting its organisation, its policies and its proposals. This objective will be achieved if every party promotes the ICMLPO, its publications, its magazine and its documents, if in fact the ICMLPO is recognised by the working class as its organiser and leader.
The CPOML is part of the process of building a new Communist International that includes the Marxist-Leninist parties and organisations that are being formed in other countries. This is a goal that demands the work of the ICMLPO as an international collective and of each of our parties and organisations.
There are party organisations and collectives that claim to be ML in different countries and continents, just as there are internationalist initiatives that do the same. We propose the need to open the discussion of the different programmes and proposals in order to broaden our forces and demarcate ideological and political positions.
The Marxist-Leninist parties participating in the ICMLPO are struggling in about thirty countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In Asia, the parties are organised in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran.
In Europe, the parties in Albania, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Turkey.
In Africa, the parties of Benin, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Morocco.
In Latin America: Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Peru.
In North America, the American Labour Party.
Almost immediately after its creation, a natural purge took place, several of the parties that participated in the Quito Plenary marginalised themselves, mainly because their presence was formal and also because they wanted to capitalise on it for their own positions.
The ideological and political debates that developed within the ICMLPO led us to take organic decisions to exclude parties that had political positions that differed from Marxism-Leninism. Among them are the Red Flag of Venezuela, the Communist Party of Proletarian Action of Chile, the Bolivian Revolutionary Communist Party, the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Uruguay.
It is necessary to take into account the uneven development of the Marxist-Leninist parties and organisations, the difficulties and problems for their establishment and growth in the life and struggle of the working class, within the framework of the ICMLPO.
The uneven development of the parties and organisations is expressed in the establishment among the working class and the people, in the political life of the society and the state, in the assimilation of the revolutionary theory and the social practice; it has to do with the repressive nature of the regimes and the bosses.
In several countries, the existence of the working-class party has been expressed for several years as a party-building organisation, without taking the steps to be constituted as a proletarian party.
There are parties and organisations that are members of ICMLPO that repeatedly fail to attend the scheduled meetings and activities. Material difficulties prevent some of them from participating, but there are also cases that show an unwillingness to solve these problems.
The ideological and political struggle within the ICMLPO contributes to the affirmation of the parties and organisations, to the elaboration of orientations for the work in the working class, among women and youth, to the unification of the internationalist tasks. It is necessary to insist that in the plenaries of the conference the parties and organisations carry out criticism and self-criticism of our activity and of the other members of the ICMLPO.
It must be remembered that there are issues on which it has not been possible to achieve full ideological and political unity, such as the war in Ukraine, the nature of the government in Venezuela, the question of Palestine, the fight against revisionism in all its manifestations and the politics of social democracy.
We are still small parties; we are not present in some of the largest and most populous countries on the planet. Our struggle makes us grow and develop. We suffer from deficiencies in the assimilation of Marxism-Leninism. The political influence of workers, women and youth in society and in the trade union movement has objective limits that need to be addressed. Responding to these circumstances is the responsibility of each of our parties and organisations, but it is also an obligation to be fulfilled in the debates, activities and tasks of ICMLPO.
The ICMLPO is the current expression of the unity of the Marxist-Leninist parties, its cohesion and progress is confirmed in the development and struggle of its member parties and organisations.
There are important challenges for our parties:
– To reaffirm ourselves as communist formations guided by Marxism-Leninism and, with the guidance of these principles, to elaborate programmes and proposals, slogans and voices of order for the organisation of the workers’ struggle.
– Consistently take up the tasks of organising the revolution in each country.
– To link ourselves more closely with the working class and other working classes in the cities and the countryside. The revolution will be the work of the masses and it is the responsibility of the party to bring revolutionary ideas into the organisation and struggle of the working class.
– To work to lead the independent struggle of the working class for its immediate demands and project it into the denunciation and struggle against the bosses and capital.
– To develop incessantly the connection of the party, its policies and proposals with the youth masses.
– To lead the struggle against the bosses’ government and their policies.
– To present ourselves to the working class and the people as the party that will organise and lead the struggle for people’s power and socialism.
– To improve the capacity of revolutionary communication and propaganda. The communist newspaper is a necessity that must be fulfilled, ensuring mass circulation and regularity. The internet is not enough.
– Develop the direct action of the party with the masses, all its organisations and militants. Social and political struggle.
– Actively participate in the elaboration and dissemination of Unity and Struggle among revolutionaries, leftists and workers.
– To contribute to the formation of new Marxist-Leninist parties.
– To continue the consistent denunciation and exposure of the various variants of opportunism and revisionism which constitute an obstacle to the building and consolidation of Marxist-Leninist parties.
International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations
ICMLPO