1 – The Working Group (WG) of the International Meetings of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) held, on May 11, 2013, in Lisbon, a preparatory meeting of the 15th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, which will be held in Portugal next November.
A total of 9 delegations took part in this preparatory meeting, between members of the Working Group and other Parties that take part in the process of the International Meetings.
The Working Group analysed various aspects relating to the preparation of the 15th International Meeting and the importance of it taking place in Europe, against the backdrop of the profound crisis of capitalism and of the European Union, and in particular in Portugal, where intense struggles by the workers and the peoples have been taking place.
The Working Group was informed of the preparatory work for the 15th International Meeting and called for the broadest participation by all Communist and Workers' Parties that take part in this process, so as to ensure that the Meeting may represent an important moment of exchange of experiences and of definition of lines of joint or convergent action, with a view to defending the interests and aspirations of the workers and peoples and the struggle for social justice, progress, peace and Socialism.
2 – The Working Group decided that the 15th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, which will be hosted by the Portuguese Communist Party, will be held in the city of Lisbon, on November 8, 9 and 10, 2013, with the theme:
“The deepening crisis of capitalism, the role of the working class and the Communists' tasks in the struggle for workers' and peoples' rights. Imperialism's offensive, the realigment of forces on the international level, the national question, class emancipation and the struggle for socialism”
The Working Group was informed of the program of celebrations of the centenary of Álvaro Cunhal, an outstanding personality of the world Communist and revolutionary movement, as well as of the invitation which the PCP will extend to the delegations attending the 15th IMCWP to be present at the commemorative rally that will be held on November 10, the centennial of Álvaro Cunhal's birth.
3 – The Working Group exchanged information and points of view regarding the situation in each country and worldwide. During this debate, solidarity was expressed with the Portuguese workers and with the workers of the European continent in general, who face a spiralling economic crisis and attacks against economic and social rights, against the sovereignty of peoples and democracy, with devastating social effects. It was stated that the situation in the European continent very clearly shows the true nature and goals of the process of capitalist integration in Europe – the European Union – which is increasingly proving to be a pole with an imperialist nature.
Great concern was also expressed with the situation in the Middle East and with the very real danger of more widespread military conflicts in the region. The participants expressed their most vehement condemnation of the recent Israeli attacks against Syria and drew attention to their possible role within the framework of a large-scale aggression against Syria by the alliance between NATO and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Denouncing the foreign interference and instigation of the Syrian conflict, the participants reaffirmed their solidarity with the Syrian people and their struggle for economic, social and political rights, as well as in defense of their country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Reiterating every people's right to organize in defense of its rights and to choose its own destiny, the participants called upon the workers and the peoples of the whole world to mobilize and fight for peace in the Middle East, against imperialist threats and aggressions - namely against Syria, Lebanon or Iran - and to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Solidarity was reaffirmed with the ongoing struggles in various continents, such as Latin America, against the imperialist offensive, for progress, independence and sovereignty, for peace, for the right to development and to build alternatives to imperialism's hegemonistic domination. In this sense, the participants expressed their firm solidarity with Cuban people and its socialist revolution and reaffirmed the comittment to to continue the struggle for the total liberation of the Cuban five patriots. Firm solidarity was also expressed with the Venezuelan people and with the social and political forces that are resisting the attempts, by the reactionary right-wing and extreme right-wing forces with imperialism's assistance, to challenge the popular will, expressed in the 14th of April elections, to pursue and deepen the Bolivarian revolution.
The participants expressed their concern with the recent developments in the Far East and the South Pacific region and drew attention to the dangers resulting from the militarization of the South Pacific spear-headed by US imperialism, an added factor of instability which is indissociable from the most recent crisis in the Korean peninsula.
The participants, highlighting the dangers that result from the simultaneous deepening of capitalism's crisis and from the intensification of imperialism's offensive, call upon the workers and the peoples to intensify their struggle.
The Press Department of
Portuguese Communist Party
Lisbon, May 11, 2013