As we meet in Congress the world faces the real danger of global war arising from the conflict in Ukraine, where NATO is funding, arming and training its proxy and facilitating mercenaries and fascist paramilitaries. We condemn the escalation of violence in the region since the US-orchestrated coup of 2014, including the killing of 14,000 people in the Donbass by Ukrainian forces and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, which has resulted in the death and displacement of countless civilians. The proximate cause of this situation has been the expansion of NATO and its project to constrict its imperial competitor, Russia, by establishing large bases of troops and mass destructive weapons along its western and southern borders. We oppose the active collaboration of the Irish political establishment in NATO/EU strategy to escalate the war in Ukraine.
Our solidarity is with the working-class of Ukraine and Russia, who are the immediate victims of this war, especially with the soldiers and civilians who are cannon fodder in an inter-imperialist rivalry. We join with the peace forces of the world in demanding a ceasefire and for an end to sanctions. Sanctions that are having the greatest impact, not on the ruling classes, but on the working-class of Russia and of Europe.
At the same time as the war in Ukraine the US, in particular, is engaged in provocative behaviour in relation to Hong Kong and Taiwan, and is threatening DPR Korea, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Syria and Iran, while both Britain and the US are involved in Saudi Arabia’s merciless onslaught on Yemen.
We are witnessing the growing militarisation of the South China Sea by imperialist forces, led by the USA, in its escalating aggressive actions and encirclement as it attempts to contain and restrain the growing global economic and political influence of the People’s Republic of China. We express our solidarity with the People’s Republic of China as its asserts and defends its economic and political sovereignty from imperialist provocation and aggression.
We continue to witness the accelerating militarisation of the European Union with the open intention of creating a military force (PESCO) under the direct command of the Brussels commission, to enhance its muscle as a political and economic imperial power. We note the increasing probability that the EU is facing renewed internal stresses and strains, as conflicting interests and strategies of the member states pull in different directions, exacerbated by the conflict in the Ukraine.
This poses a challenge to working-class and democratic forces across the EU to find common goals to defend national democracy and sovereignty. The working-class cannot allow reactionary forces to claim democracy and sovereignty as their arena of struggle. We are aware of the growing potential of inter-imperialist rivalry posing an increasing threat to world peace.
We extend our unyielding solidarity with the people of Cuba who have stood their ground for socialism and socialist values, despite sixty years of blockade and economic war waged by the United States. The achievements of Cuba in building and maintaining universal healthcare, an exemplary education system, and socialist democracy under these circumstances has to be saluted. Our sympathies go to the Cuban people on the disastrous fire and loss of fuel stocks in Matanzas. Cuba continues to be the beacon of hope, of resistance to imperialist domination to the peoples of Latin America, and to millions of oppressed and exploited peoples across the globe. It stands out as an alternative way forward, a more democratic and egalitarian system of social development, free from domination, subservience and freedom from exploitation.
We also express our solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela and the struggle of the working people of Venezuela to defend and advance the revolutionary process. In particular, we express our solidarity with the Communist Party of Venezuela and the Venezuelan trade union movement, resisting forces within the state who wish to oppress them and restrict the capacity to defend the working-class.
To the working people of the Middle East, we offer our solidarity in their struggles to defend their social gains and against reactionary religious regimes. Israel – the trojan horse of imperialism in the region – continues in its violent oppression of the Palestinian people. The Israeli military repeatedly bombs the densely populated Gaza strip, with huge casualties and loss of infrastructure, while the extrajudicial killing of civilians and administrative detention of political prisoners in the West Bank continues unabated, with some taking to hunger strike to fight their unlawful imprisonment. All this is carried out with the backing and acquiescence of the imperialist powers, principally the United States and the European Union.
In India, we commend the people for organising the largest mass mobilisation human history has ever witnessed. The peasant struggle aimed to repeal three agricultural laws, which essentially placed farmers at the mercy of finance capital. The struggle was led by left forces against the authoritarian BJP government. The struggle was well organised, lasting for more than one year, during which time over 500 people lost their lives as part of the largely peaceful protest. The struggle succeeded when the authoritarian government repealed the laws. We convey our unyielding solidarity with the peasant movement and progressive forces in their resistance to oppression by a fascist government.
We express our solidarity with all communist and progressive forces on the African continent struggling to advance the economic and social interests of the working-class and peasants. We commend these revolutionary forces for their steadfastness in building socialism, while dealing with the dual impact of the global environmental crisis and the imposition of unfair trading practices imposed by trade blocs such as the European Union, which have destroyed local agricultural markets, affecting tens of millions of people across Africa. Imperialism continues to recalibrate the mechanism of neo-colonial controls. We express solidarity with all those who oppose the militarisation of the continent and the spreading network of US military bases and controls.
There is now, as never before, the need to build a worldwide movement for peace and anti-imperialist solidarity. We express our continued support for the role played by the World Peace Council to bring unity to all peace forces.
We express our solidarity with the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) and will encourage cooperation between workers’ organisations in Ireland with the WFTU.
The Communist Party of Ireland will work to bring unity to the international communist and workers’ movement, a unity that is absolutely necessary and is central to building the forces to defend world peace and to challenge the global strategies of imperialism. We reaffirm that anti-imperialist unity is the central challenge for today’s workers’ movement – both nationally and globally – and that the Communist Party of Ireland will play its part in building that unity.
