"communists" Who Declare Support for Nato and Private Industry

Scan page 6

By John Lister and Enrique Alvares Carrillo (left), along with Socialist Party leader Felipe Gonzalez and arch Francoist Manuel Fraga after the signing of the reactionar In last week's 'Socialist Press' we examined the theoretical positions argued by leaders of the Spanish and Italian Communist Parties. In this article we intend to look at some much more recent pronouncements by spokesmen of these self-styled "Eurocommunist" parties.

These show even more clearly the way in which the "new" phenomenon of "Eurocommunism" is in reality the extension of the Stalinist perspective of "socialism in one country" and "peaceful coexistence" with capitalism, under conditions where the Communist Party leadership comes under acute pressure.

Open collaboration

The critical weakness of the capitalist class and its state regime in these countries and the revolutionary potential of the working class have forced the Stalinist leaders-determined at all costs to preserve the status quo of class relations on which their bureaucratic existence is based-into new levels of open class collaboration in which the Communist Parties' traditional links to Moscow have been called into The results have been dramatic. In Spain alone, over the last year the Communist Party has:

*denounced proletarian internationalism.

*denounced the dictatorship of the proletariat.

*scabbed on strikes and demonstrations.

*praised the "democratic" Francoist regime.

*lauded the Francoist army.

*adopted the flag of the Francoist monarchy as its own.

*defended the of the monarchy.

*supported bases in Spain.

*signed the anti-working class Moncloa Pact with the Francoist regime.

*expelled one of its members who killed a fascist in self defence.

Its leader, Santiago Carrillo, has:

*appeared on public platforms with fascists like Manuel Fraga.

*sent condolences to the Francoist police when some of them were killed *crossed a strike picket line in the United States.

All of this is only in keeping with the long history of class betrayal of the Spanish Stalinists since the 1930s, when they were responsible, along with the KGB, for the murder of Trotskyists and other left-wing militants, and for the Popular Front policy that ensured the defeat of the working class in the Civil War.

Decorated

It was a member of this party, Ramon Mercader, who on Stalin's orders, murdered Trotsky in 1940.

Mercader, still said to be a member of the Spanish CP, now lives in the Soviet Union and has recently been decorated by Brezhnev.

These are just a few examples of the historic and recent record of the Spanish Communist Party.

So the Party's latest pronouncement is in one sense on of the most superfluous political statements ever made.

At last week's meeting of the leadership it was agreed that a resolution would be put to the Party's April Congress removing the description "Leninist" from the party's statutes.

Melifluous

The Party is to call itself "revolutionary Marxist"-a phrase which it manages to invest with such a melifluous sound that even the most savage bourgeois breast would be soothed.

Politically redundant as may seem, this new move Carter an important new symbol of the Spanish CP leaders' attempt to bury completely its past links, however distorted they may have been, to the communist tradition of the Russian revolution and confirm its increasingly total compromise with the Spanish ruling class and its state.

Meanwhile in Italy the Communist Party continues to press for direct CP participation in the next government.

This call for a grand coalition follows on years of loyal support for Christian Democratic governments, and connects with a willingness to slash workers jobs and living standards in the name of "solving" the crisis of Italian capitalism.

Luciano Lama, the 2245 Prime Minister Suarez • Moncloa Pact. of the CP-dominated trade union federation, the CGIL, has given a lengthy interview to the capitalist newspaper Repubblica, designed to woo the capitalists into accepting the CP's "historic compromise"

Second priority

In this, not for the first time, he shows himself ready to scab on every single struggle of the working class.

Echoing class traitors in the labour movement, Lama said:

"In order to help relieve unemployment, the improvement in workers' living standards will have to be given second priority.

"To impose overmanning on firms would be a suicidal policy.

"Up to now we have fixed a certain level of wages and of employment and demanded that the economy be adapted to them.

"Well, it is necessary to be intellectually honest; that was stupid. In an open economy all the variables depend on each other"

The unions, Lama went on, must develop an overall economic programme:

"This proposes to the workers a policy of sacrifices —not marginal but substantial sacrifices"

Bitter hostility While growing numbers of workers expressed their bitter hostility to this open invitation to sackings, wage cuts and speed up, the Governor of the Bank of Italy said, as well he might, that Lama's were "fine and courageous words"-a reaction shared by virtually the entire capitalist press.

A local union official in Turin commented:

"We were already having problems putting our programme over to the rank and file; these declarations won't make the task any easier."

Cross-breed

These positions of the Spanish and Italian CPs were illustrated in more detail in a discussion programme, Analysis, on BBC Radio 4, two weeks ago, in which Spanish CC member Manuel Ascarate and Italian economics spokesman Giorgio Napolitano took part.

The strange cross-breed of Stalinist, so cial-democratic and bourgeois rhetoric that expresses the reactionary views of these "Eurocommunists" was well demonstrated by Ascarate:

"We are an independent party, absolutely independent.

"We give the judgement that we consider corresponds to the interest, I would say of the cause of peace, of the development of peaceful coexistence, the development of the fight of the people for their liberties, for the betterment of their conditions.

On policy of Spain that can contribute to international peace and a good settlement of problems that we fix our international policy.

"We had a Central Committee on Saturday and Sunday.

"We have now a proposal that we submit to the whole party-giving the definition of our party as a Marxist Revolutionary party and proposing that we don't call ourselves a Marxist-Leninist Partythough we continue to recognise the historic and decisive role that Leninism has played.

Berlinguer with a Catholic cardi

Scan page 7

"Eurocommunist" CP leader Berlinguer-Stalinist bureaucrats are subject to a dual pressure. he Italian CP has moved closer to Church as well as bourgeoisie.

"The monstrous and rapid development of Soviet opportunism finds its explanation in causes analagous to those which, in the previous "Stalin has reconciled the Communist parties generation led to the flowering of opportunism in capitalist countries, democracies with their national bourgeoisies. This stage namely, the parasitism of the labour bureaucracy, which had success- passed. The Bonapartist procurer has played his role. fully solved its "social question" on the basis of a rise of the productive "Henceforth the Communo-chauvinists will have to worry about their own hides, whose interests by no means always coincide with the "But since the Soviet bureaucracy is incomparably more powerful than the labour bureaucracy in capitalist countries, and since the "When the American Browder deemed it possible to declare before feeding-trough at its disposal is distinguished by its almost unlimited a senate committee that in case of a war between the United States and capacity, there is nothing astonishing in the fact that the Soviet variety the Soviet Union his party would be found on the side of its passionateof opportunism immediately assumed an especially perfidious and vile ly beloved fatherland, he himself might have possibly considered this "As regards the ex-Comintern, its social basis, properly speaking, "But in reality, Browder's answer is an unmistakable symptom of is of a twofold nature. On the one hand, it lives on the subsidies of the a change from a "Moscow" to a "national" orientatioh. The Kremlin, submits to the latter's commands, and, in this respect, every "stratagem" arose out of the necessity of adaptation to imperialist ex-Communist bureaucrat is the younger brother and subordinate of "The cynical grossness of this stratagem (the turn from the "On the other hand, the various machines of the ex-Comintern "fatherland of the toilers" to the republic of the dollar) reveals the feed from the same sources as the Social Democracy, that is, the super- profound extent of degeneration that has occurred and the full extent profits of imperialism. The growth of the Communist parties in recent of the dependence of the sections of the Comintern on the public years, their infiltration into the ranks of the petty bourgeoisie, their installation in the state machinery, the trade unions, parliaments, municipalities, etc., have strengthened in the extreme their dependence ... In that imperialist country which happens to be on national imperialism at the expense of their traditional dependence camp with the USSR during the war (if any such is found), of the ex-Comintern will, naturally, "defend" Moscow. 'Ten years ago it was predicted that the theory of socialism in one "This defence, however, will be of no great value, for in such a country must inevitably lead to the growth of nationalist tendencies in country all parties will "defend" the USSR. (In order not to comprothe sections of the Comintern. This prediction has become an obvious mise itself with its imperialist ally, Moscow would probably order the Communist Party not to shout too loudly, and might possibly try to "But until recently, the chauvinism of the French, British, Belgian, Czechoslovak, American, and other Communist parties seemed to be, "On the contrary, in countries of the hostile camp, i.e., precisely and to a certain extent was, a refracted image of the interests of Soviet where Moscow will be in greatest need of defenders, the ex-Comdiplomacy ("the defence of the USSR"). Today, we can predict with munist parties will be found completely on the side of their imperialist fatherland: this course will be infinitely less dangerous and far more "The growth of imperialist antagonisms, the obvious proximity of the war danger and the equally obvious isolation of the USSR must "The ruling Moscow clique will reap the just fruits of fifteen unavoidably strengthen the centrifugal, nationalist tendencies within the comintern. Each one of its sections will begin to evolve a patriotic (A Fresh Lesson, Writings of Leon Trotsky (1938-9), p.70-2).

"This change means from the organisational point of view not that we abandon democratic centralism, because we think that practically every party needs a certain degree of centralism.

"What we are beginning to do now that we are a legal party and the new statutes that are proposed for our Congress put this very clearly -all the offices in the Party will be elected by secret votes and all the results will be announced.

"I can announce to you that in the Central Committee, when we discussed article about the definition of the party as a Marxist party there were two votes against in the CC and forces in the USSR.

character.

the Soviet bureaucrat. of the Kremlin.

fact.

assurance the inception of a new stage. one abstention.

"Usually now in our CC (and not to say in the provincial committees and so on) it is very frequent that there are votes against and abstentions.

We work on the basis of majority rule and free discussion of all the opinions and decisions that are made in the party"

Anathema

Such "openness" of course is designed not to open up CP ranks to discussion on a revolutionary programme, which remains anathema to the Stalinist leadership, but to appease bourgeois public opinion.

Napolitano pointed out that the Italian CP has lost supporters to the left:

"We had very sharp discussions and we had conflicts. There were people who abandoned our party. There are people who are now for instance in some extreme left groups who were in the past secretaries of federations or something like this.

"For instance there was a secretary of the Milan federation, one of the most important organisations of our party, who never accepted our condemnation of Stalinism and who is now in a small extreme left wing group.

"I mean we have had so many, so deep and so sharp disputes in our party on all these problems that it is absurd to say that only the leaders impose certain strategic line on militants the in our party".

But course Napolitano knows that "discussion" within such a mass party without the intervention of a conscious alternative leadership cannot seriously threaten the worked-out positions pushed by the whole apparatus of the Central Committee.

The distance these CP leaders. have travelled from even the semblance of a socialist programme was indicated when the discussion moved on to nationalisation. Ascarate announced:

"We believe that there must be a public sector of the economy. It will be a state sector that can have different forms related to regional and local authorities and so on.

"We believe that for this public sector in Spain the question of energy will be very important-a nationalised energy body that can co-ordinate all this policy.

"But at the same time we are in favour of keeping private initiative in a very broad part of the economy.

"In any case we strongly support the maintenance of private enterprise in what we call small and medium property, because in this sphere the experience has even shown that nationalisation or to create a state economy in these sectors hinders even the economic solution of the problem-it is going backwards in satisfying the needs of the people.

"They are questions that you cannot solve by a socialised economy and we believe it is necessary to keep the private enterprise and coexistence between the public sector and a sector of private initiative"

*Private initiative" of course is an arch-Tory pseudonym for capitalism. But if Ascarate speaks up for "small and medium" property, Napolitano went further still-opposing nationalisation of even the giant Fiat car monopoly:

"We think that in Italy the economic public sector is already big enough to influence the general development of the national "We are convinced that the small and middle private enterprise is a fundamental pillar of the Italian economy and must not only be respected but concretely helped by the state.

"As far as the great private enterprises are concernedbeginning with Fiat, we have Trotsky no intentions to nationalise it, we do not think it is necessary for general reasons.

"We think on the contrary that the country requires a democratic flexible planning based on some essential guidelines.

"A few days ago according to recent opinion polls a good half of Italian private industrialists took a position in favour of a Communist participation in government"

A brief glance at these policies of the Italian CP make it clear why industrialists have such faith in them.

And while the US imperialists fret on the possible "dangers" to NATO, Napolitano points out that the CP has declared 100% for the Italian bourgeoisie and its allies, and against the Soviet Union!

"We made a very clear choice. We have no dilemma to face because we are loyal to our country and not to anybody else and we are loyal to the international alliances of our country.

"We don't ask for a unilateral withdrawal from NATO. A few months ago after a very important discussion a common statement on foreign policy was signed by all democrate parties beaucrats, the Socialists and so on.

"I don't see what question policy on its own account.

"defence of the USSR"

statement as a simple strategem.

"patriotism"

opinion of the bourgeoisie" dissolve it altogether).

profitable.

years' prostitution of the Comintern." could think worries knowle really arise. I don't President Carter's are based on a serious dge of our policy"

Adaptation

President Carter's worries are not based on knowledge of the policies of the Italian CP, then the same can be said of the apparently strong electoral support given to the Stalinists by Italian workers.

A Trotskyist party in Italy or in Spain, beginning from a clear understanding that "Euro-communism' represents an adaptation by counter-revolutionary Stalinist leaders to the problems and needs of their "own" bourgeoisies, would certainly be able to win sections of advanced workers from these parties.

Only the Trotskyist programme offers an independent road for workers to take action in defence of their jobs, wages, and democratic rights, combined with the necessary understanding of the historical origins, evolution and role of Stalinism to enable workers to fight their bureaucratic leaders.

The building of parties based on the fight for that programme in practice is an urgent task in the mounting political and economic crisis of Italy and Spain.

Stalin of imperialist has now been in the same the section